''Man on the Moon'' is a 2006 television opera in one act by

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmin ...

with a libretto by Nicholas Wright. It relates the story of the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

Moon landing A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United St ...

on 20 July 1969 and the subsequent problems experienced by

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

, the second man to walk on the Moon. The opera, about 50 minutes long, was commissioned by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and first shown on 26 December 2006. The director was Rupert Edwards. In 2007, it won the Opera Special Prize at the 2007 Festival Rose d'Or in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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The opera chronicles the preparations for the Apollo 11 mission, the journey and the landing. But it also deals with Aldrin's marriage break-up and the short-lived nature of fame.Cached version of Channel 4's synopsis
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* Operas by Jonathan Dove One-act operas English-language operas 2006 operas Operas for television Operas set in the 20th century Operas based on real people Operas set in the United States Plays by Nicholas Wright Cultural depictions of Buzz Aldrin Operas set on the Moon Aviation plays and operas {{english-opera-stub

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