It began with the Soviet satellite Sputnik beeping over America's skies in 1957 and entered overdrive with President Kennedy's challenge in 1961 to reach the moon by the end of the decade. The early days of the Space Race were full of urgency, uncertainty, huge risks, and even bigger rewards. Witness NASA's first team of astronauts endure a crash course in space travel, presented through rare archival footage, interviews, and objects on display and in the vaults of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

The conflict in Vietnam, racial tensions, and a pair of shocking assassinations in 1968 threaten to fray the social fabric of America beyond repair. NASA tries to stay on track and meet the deadline JFK set to send a man to the moon and back. Through rare archival interviews, images that still resonate with wonder, and objects from the Smithsonian Institution, see how Apollo missions 7, 8, and 9 set the stage for humankind's greatest voyage.