Nat Geo orders Israeli moon landing doc from Arrow Media

National Geographic has commissioned Arrow Media for a “fast-turnaround” of Mission Moon-Lander (WT), a story of Israel’s historic moon launch.

The special tells the story of Israel’s first ever mission to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon.

Beresheet, the spacecraft funded by non-profit organisation SpaceIL, launched successfully this February from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The 1 x 60-minute special, follows SpaceIL, founded by three young Israeli engineers Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Winetraub as they build, launch and land the spacecraft.

It is exec produced by Lucie Ridout for Arrow Media and was commissioned by Carolyn Payne at Nat Geo.

Nat Geo will air the special in April 2019.

Ridout said: “From the preparation and launch to landing and science on the moon, we are covering all stages of this first privately-funded mission to the moon. Our camera teams are following SpaceIL’s engineers and mission control; expert interviews with SpaceIL members and specialist experts will give key insights into the mission; and use of Space IL’s existing archive footage will allow us to tell key points of the story.

“We also have access to SpaceIL’s footage feed, beaming back images of its journey through space and the landing on the moon’s surface.”

Arrow’s portfolio of space programming includes the BAFTA- and RTS-winning Live From Space (National Geographic/Channel 4), Destination: Jupiter (CuriosityStream), and America’s Secret Space Heroes (Smithsonian Channel).