If you want to understand how we got to Interstellar or The Martian, you have to look at 1998. Specifically, you have to look at HBO. Long before every streaming service had a hundred-million-dollar budget to play with, Tom Hanks and Imagine Entertainment decided to reconstruct the Apollo program. Honestly, the From the Earth to the Moon episodes don’t just tell the story of the moon landings; they serve as a masterclass in how to turn complex engineering and bureaucratic grit into genuine, heart-pounding drama.
It was a massive gamble.
At the time, it was the most expensive miniseries ever produced. We’re talking $68 million in late-90s money. That’s a lot of taxpayer—well, subscriber—dollars. But what Hanks, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer realized was that the story of Apollo wasn't just about Neil Armstrong’s boots hitting the dust. It was about the guy who had to figure out how to fold a map in zero gravity. It was about the wives in Houston who had to deal with Life Magazine photographers on their lawn while their husbands were literally hurtling through a vacuum.
The Structure That Changed Everything
Most people expect a chronological slog when they sit down for a historical miniseries. You know the drill. Part 1 is the beginning, Part 2 is the middle, and so on. But this show didn't do that. Each of the twelve From the Earth to the Moon episodes takes a wildly different stylistic approach.
One week you’re watching a gritty, handheld documentary about the Apollo 1 fire. The next, you’re in a lighthearted, almost screwball comedy about the "Original 19" astronauts and their training. "Spider," the fifth episode, is basically a deep-dive procedural about the Grumman engineers building the Lunar Module. It sounds boring on paper. It’s actually one of the most riveting hours of television ever made. Why? Because it treats the creation of a fragile, tinfoil-covered spacecraft like a high-stakes heist movie.
📖 Related: Wrong Address: Why This Nigerian Drama Is Still Sparking Conversations
Breaking Down the Standout Chapters
If you’re revisiting the series or diving in for the first time, some segments carry more weight than others. You’ve got the heavy hitters like "Can We Do This?", which covers the chaotic early days of Mercury and Gemini. It sets the tone. It tells you that NASA wasn't this polished, perfect machine—it was a bunch of guys in short-sleeved shirts trying to figure out physics on the fly.
Then there is "1968." This is arguably the emotional peak. It juxtaposes the absolute chaos of that year—the assassinations of RFK and MLK, the Vietnam War, the protests—with the Apollo 8 mission. When the crew reads from Genesis while orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve, the contrast is jarring. It’s a reminder that while the world was tearing itself apart, three guys were looking back at a tiny blue marble and realizing how fragile it all was.
The episode "Is That All There Is?" takes a sharp turn into the psyche of the later missions. By the time Apollo 12 rolled around, the public was already starting to lose interest. Imagine that. Walking on the moon had become "routine" in less than a year. The episode captures the camaraderie of Pete Conrad, Al Bean, and Dick Gordon, showing a side of the program that was less about "one small step" and more about three best friends having the adventure of their lives.
The Technical Accuracy Is Downright Obsessive
Tom Hanks is a space geek. That’s no secret. But the level of detail in these From the Earth to the Moon episodes is bordering on pathological. They used real lunar transcripts for much of the dialogue. The cockpit mockups were so accurate that former astronauts who visited the set reportedly had flashes of muscle memory.
👉 See also: Who was the voice of Yoda? The real story behind the Jedi Master
They didn't just use "movie science."
They hired Dave Scott, the commander of Apollo 15, as a consultant. He wasn't just there to look at the costumes. He was there to make sure the actors moved like they were in 1/6th gravity. He made sure the geological terms used by the actors in the "Galileo" episode—which focuses on the scientific training of the astronauts—were 100% accurate. You don't see that often. Usually, Hollywood "dumb-downs" the science to make it digestible. HBO assumed the audience was smart enough to keep up.
Why We Still Talk About It in 2026
We are currently in the middle of the Artemis era. We’re going back. Because of that, these episodes feel more relevant now than they did ten years ago. We’re looking at the same problems: budget cuts, technical failures, and the sheer, terrifying audacity of leaving Earth.
The series doesn't shy away from the ego, either. These guys weren't saints. They were competitive, sometimes arrogant, and often deeply flawed. "The Wife's Tale" (Episode 11) is a gut-punch because it strips away the "hero" narrative and looks at the cost of the Space Race on the families left behind. It’s messy. It’s real. It shows that for every man on the moon, there was a woman at home holding a family together while the world watched her through a telescope.
✨ Don't miss: Not the Nine O'Clock News: Why the Satirical Giant Still Matters
The Final Mission: "Le Voyage Dans La Lune"
The series ends in a way most people don't expect. Instead of a montage of the remaining Apollo missions, the final episode, "Le Voyage Dans La Lune," weaves together the story of the very last moon landing (Apollo 17) with a dramatization of Georges Méliès’ 1902 silent film of the same name.
It’s a bit avant-garde for a historical drama.
But it works. It connects the ancient human desire to reach the stars with the cold, hard reality of 1972 technology. It’s a poetic bookend. It reminds us that before there were slide rules and liquid oxygen, there were dreamers with cameras and paint.
How to Experience the Series Today
If you're planning a rewatch, don't just binge them all in a weekend. Each episode was designed to stand alone as a mini-feature film. To get the most out of the experience, follow these steps:
- Watch the Remastered Version: HBO released a Blu-ray and digital 4K remaster for the 20th anniversary. The original CG was a bit clunky (it was 1998, after all), but the updated effects are subtle and much more immersive.
- Pair with "A Man on the Moon": The series is heavily based on Andrew Chaikin’s book. If you find a particular episode fascinating, read the corresponding chapter in Chaikin's book. The depth of the reporting is insane.
- Research the "Forgotten" Astronauts: After watching episodes like "Spider" or "Galileo," look up the real people involved, like engineer Tom Kelly or geologist Leon Silver. Their real-life contributions are even more impressive than the dramatizations.
- Check the Artemis Parallels: As you watch, look at the current Artemis mission profiles. You'll start to see where modern NASA is learning from the mistakes and triumphs highlighted in the series.
The legacy of the From the Earth to the Moon episodes isn't just about nostalgia. It’s about the fact that doing the impossible is a choice. It’s a choice made by thousands of people working in sync, often under impossible deadlines. It’s a reminder that we can do big things, provided we’re willing to sweat the small stuff first.