posted 04-23-2019 07:01 PM               

In July 1969, when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins traveled to the moon and planted the American flag on the lunar surface, it brought the nation and the world together. Though the billions spent on the moon shot were controversial, especially among civil rights leaders, it would make America the world leader in technology.

Featured in the episode are interviews with Margaret Hamilton, a pioneering female software engineer whose coding made the moon landing possible; "Hidden Figures" Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden; astronaut Michael Collins, who was among the three who strapped themselves to an explosive rocket and hurtled into the unknown; and Charlie Duke and Gerry Griffin, who provided the astronauts with a crucial lifeline to Mission Control as they dared to attempt the impossible.

Hugh Brown: In 1969, Hugh Brown was part of the Apollo 11 team that maintained communication between mission control and the Apollo spacecraft. Weeks before the historic launch, Hugh’s team detected Russian interference that put the mission at stake.

Parrish Hirasaki: Many women worked behind-the-scenes and made pivotal contributions to the historic Apollo 11 mission. Parrish Hirasaki, a heat shield specialist for the Apollo program, was one of them. She shares her experiences overcoming the gender roles of the 1960s to work on the historic flight.

John Hirasaki: After completing a nine-day mission, Apollo 11 successfully returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. John Hirasaki, a mechanical engineer with NASA, spent more than two weeks in quarantine with Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins.