Nat Geo follows Nasa back to the moon

Disney-owned US factual cablenet National Geographic has commissioned an event series chronicling the history-making Artemis Missions that will send a woman to the moon for the first time.

Courteney Monroe

Return To The Moon (working title) is being produced by Simon and Jonathan Chinn’s Lightbox prodco, the producers behind docs including Man On Wire and Searching for Sugarman.

The series will have access to Nasa and film over the next four years to chart the progress of the missions. The director will be Jerry Rothwell (How to Change the World, The Reason I Jump).

The premium series will track the Artemis programme right up to the moment Nasa lands the first woman and the next man on the moon. Viewers will get a rare look behind the scenes, taking them on a once-in-a-generation journey and introducing them to Artemis’s key players.

Courteney Monroe, president of content at Nat Geo, said: “For more than 130 years National Geographic has created a legacy of bringing landmark stories and achievements to world audiences. With extensive access to this history-making mission, we can once again inspire the world with a story of courage, imagination, passion and self-sacrifice through the eyes and the hearts of the Artemis team.”

Following the model of the Nat Geo magazine’s coverage of the early days of the Apollo programme, National Geographic will report from and photograph in the labs and in the field to record major milestones.