James May on the Moon

Forty years since those first "small steps" were taken on the Moon, BBC Two and BBC Four take a voyage "out of this world" with a season of programming to celebrate this momentous historical event. As the season's centrepiece, Top Gear's James May makes his own, personal mission to travel to the ends of Earth in two one-off documentaries on BBC Two and BBC Four.

Throughout the rest of the month, BBC Two and BBC Four celebrate the auspicious events of 20 July 1969 with programmes featuring in-depth interviews and insights from the people who were there at the time, together with amazing, restored archive footage.

The Season kicks off as James May takes a "giant leap" into space history to discover the stories of the heroes behind this historical event.

James fulfils the childhood dream he has fantasised about experiencing since watching the Apollo landings from his family sitting room, when he flies to the edge of space. To get a taste of how it felt to be an Apollo astronaut, James experiences zero gravity on the infamous "Vomit Comet". He also endures the bone-crushing gravitational forces of a simulated launch in the massive Saturn V rocket, from an Air Force centrifuge chamber.

James's most memorable experience is a rare and privileged flight 70,000 feet above Earth in a U-2 spy plane. Wearing a full space suit, James looks down onto the curvature of Earth and up into the blackness of space from the comfort of his cockpit. It is an experience which finally helps him understand how the Apollo astronauts felt as they looked back at Earth from the surface of the Moon.

To add to his experience, James also visits some of the veterans of the space race. He meets Apollo 16's Charlie Duke, who gives James his verdict on the road-handling of the Lunar Rover; Alan Bean, who takes him for a spin in his 1969 Corvette, which also happens to be one of three matching cars driven by the Apollo 12 crew; and Apollo 17's Harrison Schmitt – one of the last men to visit the Moon – gives James a guided tour of a Saturn V
rocket.

Viewers can switch straight over to BBC Four after this programme to join James May on his rare and privileged flight, 70,000 feet above Earth, in James May At The Edge Of Space.