BBC Documentaries

Moonshot (2019x148)

: 16, 2019

With July 2019 marking the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, eyes across the world will be turned to the skies. To celebrate this seminal event, Wales's NASA-recognised astro-photographer Alyn Wallace sets out to capture his ultimate moon images, taken in iconic locations around Wales. Along the way, Alyn will celebrate Wales's internationally recognised and protected 'dark skies'. In a time when light-pollution blights so much of the country Wales is blessed with a network of Dark Skies Reserves that astronomers have singled out as world-beating places to look at the night sky. Alyn will also explore Wales's connections to the moon and will get close to a piece of actual moon rock from the Apollo 12 mission (which is one of the most valuable exhibits in Cardiff Museum). He also visits Wales's most significant observatory in the Brecon Beacons Dark Sky Reserve. and discover the story of John Dillwyn Llewelyn, a Victorian photographic pioneer, who, from his home near Swansea, took one of the first ever pictures taken in Wales - a photo of the moon. Finally, Alyn attempts an ambitious shot of the rising full moon over the Brecon Beacons: bringing the story of the moon landings to an iconic Welsh landscape.