"Mission Moon"

Houston Chronicle
05/1/2020

There would be no moon landing without Houston.

The astronauts lived and trained here. The lunar lander was designed and built here. Mission controllers, responsible for ensuring the astronauts reached the moon safely and on schedule, were based here. Fifty years later, Houston has remained instrumental in NASA’s exploration of the universe. So it seemed only fitting that the Houston Chronicle endeavor on a sweeping project about the nation’s moon mission, the city’s role in it and the future of the space program.

Planning began a year before the anniversary when NASA reporter Alex Stuckey began writing a memo that would encompass those topics. As the nation got closer to July 20, 1969, the project expanded to include the entire newsroom and a historical podcast. It even resulted in a book. Stuckey and editors developed a list of nearly 100 stories, assigning them to reporters across the newsroom. The stories, written by nearly every Chronicle staff reporter, ran every day for months leading up to the 50th anniversary.

At the same time, the podcast, Cigarettes and Rocket Fuel, involved pulling historical newspaper articles from the time and reporting on the news of 1969, as if it was happening now. The more than 20 podcasts --  aired on our fictional radio station, KHCN-AM 4747 in Houston -- involved extensive research and some character acting. Mission Moon became the Chronicle’s most comprehensive project in its history, a giant leap in collaboration, teamwork and creativity for a moment that defined a nation. We are proud to submit this work for your consideration.

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Submitted by Elizabeth Pudwill.