History Honors Neil Armstrong with Day of Special Programming, 8/28

HISTORY will honor the legacy of Neil Armstrong in a daylong programming event, tomorrow, Tuesday, August 28.

Failure is Not an Option (8am)

No one lived the adventure of America's manned space program more fully than Gene Kranz, the Mission Control Flight Director known to moviegoers from Ed Harris' Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in the feature film Apollo 13. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION is based upon Gene Kranz's best-selling book. This world premiere program provides an insider's view of over 30 years of technological innovation and human determination, seen from the ground up. This is not just another space documentary - it is the untold story of the engineers in Mission Control. Mission Control was presented with a never-before envisioned disaster after an explosion in space, and against all odds managed to bring the astronauts back alive. Executive Producer for History is Carl H. Lindahl. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION is produced for The History Channel by Lone Wolf Pictures.

Moonshot (10a, 4p)

Neil Armstrong will always be intrinsically tied with the extraordinary and breathtaking mission of Apollo 11, the first manned landing on the Moon. Moonshot is interlaced with original NASA footage transferred to high definition and puts viewers aboard the rocket and takes them on the eight-day round-trip to outer space. Life behind the scenes and edge-of-your-seat moments in space are dramatized in a film that stretches from the crew's earliest days at NASA to the moment when Neil Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin stepped on the Moon. From home life and families, to the moon itself, this is the remarkable story of one of the most chronicled events in history. Using a script based on transcripts from the mission, contemporary documents, books and interviews, the show incorporates news footage from around the world, including that of the iconic CBS anchor Walter Cronkite. Together, the drama and original material present a close-up glimpse of one of the most stunning and courageous personal and technological achievements of man...and one of the defining moments of modern history.

Our Generation: Apollo 11: The Moon Landing (12p)

With one small step for man, the dream of a hopeful nation finally became a reality. It was a tumultuous time for an embattled generation, but for one brief and shining moment, there was unity and wonderment at the great potential of mankind.

Tech Effect: Apollo 11 (12:30p)

In 1961, President Kennedy challenged the United States to put a man on the moon before the decade ended. Just under the wire in July of 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person ever to set foot on the lunar surface. In this episode of Tech Effect, the culmination of the remarkable technological advancements of that decade are explored in the context of the lunar landing. The technology ranges from the Saturn V, the largest rocket ever built, which sent the astronauts into orbit, to the handmade computers on board the lunar module with less power than an ordinary handheld calculator. Spacesuits had long been in development to provide greater mobility and comfort to the astronauts, factors of great importance for the first moonwalk. Finally, Americans wished to share in the accomplishment of this impressive and long awaited goal, which resulted in the development of lightweight cameras brought aboard the lunar module, and a deep space network of satellites around the world to beam the pictures live into the homes of 600 million viewers.

Modern Marvels: Apollo 11 (1p)

As mankind's greatest achievement of the 20th century, Apollo 11 stood as the pinnacle of science, exploration, flight and especially technological prowess. With the passing of Neil Armstrong, exploration of the moon is again back in the spotlight. Yet at the time, we would have been amazed by the fact that it was accomplished at all. In scarcely 10 years, America went from rocketing monkeys in 10-minute flights that scraped The Edge of space to landing a man on the moon. We forced the technology of the time to the bitter edge - engineering, metallurgy, communications, computing - all these and more were driven to their limits for this grand adventure. And then there were the men aboard the flight. Leaving the Earth on July 16, 1969 were Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Mike Collins. Each was blessed with special skills and abilities, and each would perform his duties without hesitation or error. They too were pushed to the limits of skill and endurance.

HISTORY(R) and HISTORY(R) HD are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network's program offerings are hit series such as American Pickers, Ax Men, American Restoration, Ice Road Truckers, Top Gear, Pawn Stars and Top Shot, as well as acclaimed specials including Vietnam in HD, Gettysburg, America the Story of Us, WWII in HD, 102 Minutes That Changed America. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, eleven Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network's signature initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactive features that allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.