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This July, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio marks the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing with a range of programmes exploring how this historic event inspired musicians and writers and changed the way we view our own planet.

On ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 2, award-winning singer KT Tunstall puts her Eye To The Telescope to reveal how astronomy has inspired her music; Charles Hazlewood looks at the musical legacy of the space age in Moonbathing; and there's a special broadcast of Jeff Wayne's hugely successful The War Of The Worlds recorded at the O2 Arena.

As part of a special week of Night Waves on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3, author and journalist Michael Goldfarb remembers the crucial series of happenings that stole world headlines in the summer of 1969.

Michael remembers how the Moon landing was not only a scientific breakthrough but also arguably the world's first global media event – with an incredible 500 million TV spectators.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4's celebrations include a special Archive Hour with astronaut Buzz Aldrin who, along with Neil Armstrong, set foot on the Moon in 1969, and an adaptation of HG Wells' The First Men In The Moon for Book At Bedtime.

Elsewhere on Radio 4, novelist Jeanette Winterson explores the Moon's influence on writers and artists and Richard Hollingham tells of a British-based robotic mission to send probes to the Moon that could launch as soon as 2012.

Over on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live, Up All Night will be hosting a special Space Night with listeners' own memories of the space race and special guests.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing in July 1969, Charles Hazlewood explores how space has been imagined by musicians and songwriters in Moonbathing (18 July, Radio 2).

Featuring new interviews with, among others, Daniel Lanois, Roger McGuinn and Les Paul, along with input from David Bowie and Brian Eno, Charles asks what their memories of the period are and what the musical legacy of the space age really is.

When KT Tunstall was a little girl, her physicist father used to take her to the St Andrews Observatory in her pyjamas, and so began a lifelong fascination with space travel which inspired her first album.

From the early days of the space programme, artists have been intrigued by the wonders of space. Set against a soundtrack of space-inspired music from David Bowie to The Killers and The Byrds to Brian Eno, Eye To The Telescope (25 July, Radio 2) is KT Tunstall's personal take on our continuing fascination with the final frontier.

Inspired by HG Wells' famous novel, the prog rock and classical album The War Of The Worlds was released in June 1978. To date, the album has sold over 15 million copies and spent an incredible 330 weeks in the UK album chart as well as winning two prestigious Ivor Novello Awards.

Radio 2 broadcasts a recording from London's O2 Arena of the multi-media stage version produced to mark the 30th anniversary of the album. (21 July, Radio 2).

The production features Jeff Wayne conducting and stars Jennifer Ellison, The Moody Blues' Justin Hayward and Manfred Mann's Chris Thompson; as well as the voice of Richard Burton.

Jeff Wayne says: "Thirty years ago, and after three years of preparation, composition and production, my musical version of The War Of The Worlds was launched, and for me and all those associated with its creation, it has been a remarkable journey.

"Perhaps not as breathtaking as actually landing on the Moon, HG Wells did take our imaginations to Mars, and was the catalyst for me as a composer and producer for what remains the story that launched science fiction.

"It is a privilege to be associated with Radio 2's season of programmes celebrating the Moon landing, with a special recording from London's 02 Arena of a complete live performance as part of our 2009 UK and European Tour of The War Of The Worlds."

Author and journalist Michael Goldfarb was a boy in America as July 1969 approached, but he can still remember the crucial series of happenings that stole world headlines that summer.

As part of a week of special Night Waves on Radio 3, Michael remembers how the Moon landing was not only a scientific breakthrough but also arguably the world's first global media event – with an incredible 500 million TV spectators (2 July, Radio 3).

In Radio 4's Archive Hour – Walking On The Moon (11 July) Buzz Aldrin, the man who, along with Neil Armstrong, set foot on the Moon in 1969, presents memories of the public as they watched the Apollo 11 mission land on the Moon.

People's memories of the 1969 moon landing can be emailed to manonthemoon@bbc.co.uk or via the memory share page on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ website.

The Inconstant Moon (13 July, Radio 4) by Jeanette Winterson celebrates the Moon as an inspiration to artists throughout the centuries.

Jeannette reflects on the myths and legends associated with the Moon and explores its role in religion and as an inspiration for writers, musicians and artists.

In Give Me The MoonLite (20 July, Radio 4), presenter Richard Hollingham tells the story of the British MoonLite project – a robotic mission dreamed up by space scientists at University College London and the University of Surrey.

They plan to send probes into the Moon's surface in a bid to reveal details that have never before been explored and the mission could be ready for launch as soon as 2012.

HG Wells' The First Men In The Moon is Radio 4's Book At Bedtime (20-24 July) and tells the story of penniless businessman Mr Bedford who retreats to the Kent coast to lick his wounds where he meets Cavor, a brilliant scientist.

Cavor succeeds in developing a material which negates gravity, and the duo embark on an expedition to the Moon, but neither is prepared for what they find – freezing nights, boiling days and sinister alien life – a world on which they may be trapped forever.

The First Men In the Moon is read by Tim Pigott-Smith.

Over on Radio 5 Live, Up All Night hosts a special Space Night through the night on 21 July from 1.00 to 5.00am including a phone-in special from cult figure Dr Karl, listener memories of 1969 and a look back at just how important the Moon landings really were to the human race.

The above programmes are broadcast as part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing.

Full programme details

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 2

• Moonbathing, Saturday 18 July, 10.00pm
• Jeff Wayne's The War Of The Worlds, Tuesday 21 July, 10.30pm
• Eye To The Telescope, Saturday 25 July, 10.00pm

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3

• Night Waves, Thursday 2 July, 9.15pm

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4

• Archive Hour – Walking On The Moon, Saturday 11 July, 8.00pm
• The Inconstant Moon, Monday 13 July, 3.45pm
• Give Me The MoonLite, Monday 20 July, 9.00pm
• Book At Bedtime – The First Men In the Moon, Monday 20 July, 10.45pm

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live

• Up All Night – Space Night Special, Tuesday 21 July, 1.00-5.00am

Notes to Editors

Radio 3's Night Waves Summer Of '69 Letters week features:

Woodstock 15-18th August 1969, Monday 29 June, 9.00pm

Manson Murders 10th August 1969, Tuesday 30 June, 9.00pm

The film, Medium Cool, released August 1969, Wednesday 1 July, 9.00pm

Moon Landing 20th July 1969, Thursday 2 July, 9.00pm.

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