Colonization of the Moon the Soviet leadership made some of its first public pronouncements about landing a man on the Moon and establishing a lunar base. Crewed exploration of the lunar surface began in 1968 when the Apollo 8 spacecraft orbited the Moon with three astronauts on board. This was mankind's first direct view of the far side. The following year, the Apollo 11 Apollo Lunar Module landed two astronauts on the Moon, proving the ability of humans to travel to the Moon, perform scientific research work there, and bring back sample materials. Additional missions to the Moon continued this exploration phase. In 1969,
The First Men in the Moon (2010 film) HD. It was made available on BBC iPlayer for a period of 7 days until 26 October 2010. Following the original broadcast BBC Four repeated BBC Two's biographical drama "" starring Michael Sheen as H. G. Wells, the author of "The First Men in the Moon". The title of the film is a reference to Wells' most famous novel "The War of the Worlds". The show received generally positive reviews, with criticisms focusing on the story, pacing, and special effects. "The Guardian"'s Tim Dowling found Gatiss' adaptation to have "brilliant" elements, such as setting the film as the 60-year-old "kinematographic"