an anime television series. The manga is published by Shogakukan, while the anime is directed by Iku Suzuki and animated by Studio Hibari. The first episode of the anime aired on Japan's WOWOW satellite network in a special advance broadcast on February 4, 2007. The regular broadcast schedule began on March 3, 2007.The story follows a pair of mountain climbers who decide to become astronauts. Ōtagaki says, in the preview special of the anime, that his goal in writing the story was to create a realistic space drama that features the political elements involved in modern space missions. Ken Noguchi, a professional mountain climber, provided inspiration to the creators of Moonlight Mile for their depictions of ascending Mount Everest. Gorou Saruwatari and Lostman are mountain climbers who have ascended some of the highest mountains around the world. At the peak of Mount Everest, they see the ISA Space Station in the sky above and become determined to go into space. At the same time, ISA begins a program to research and obtain a new energy source which has been discovered on the moon. Gorou and Lostman attempt to join the program through different approaches: Lostman becomes a pilot and Gorou takes a job as a construction worker.