When We Left Earth

[Neroon]

^
Oh, definitely. I'm glad they're doing this now because these guys aren't getting any younger. Of the original Mercury Seven, only Malcolm Scott Carpenter and John Glenn are still with us.

Bingo. When Wally passed beyond the rim last year, I was thinking the same thing. When my daughter watches "From the Earth to the Moon", she frequently comments how glad she is that Deke was able to make it up one time.

The Mercury Seven roster:
* M. Scott Carpenter (1925 - ) MA-7 (Aurora 7)

* L. Gordon Cooper, Jr (1927 - 2004) MA-9 (Faith 7), Gemini 5

* John H. Glenn, Jr (1921 - ) MA-6 (Friendship 7), STS-95

* Virgil I. Grissom (1926 - 1967) MR-4 (Liberty Bell 7), Gemini 3, Apollo 1

* Walter M. Schirra (1923 - 2007) MA-8 (Sigma 7), Gemini 6A, Apollo 7

* Alan B. Shepard, Jr (1923 - 1998) MR-3 (Freedom 7), Apollo 14

* Donald K. Slayton (1924-1993) Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

 

[Canadave]

Fantastic series.

I highly reccomend it.

Indeed!

I've watched through episode 5. My current sig is quoting John Young from the series.

I loved his bits. He seems so nonchalant about it all, but he was there in the middle of it. Gemini, Apollo, and the first flight of the shuttle, the only astronaut to fly all three.

When We Left Earth was amazing, even in standard defenition it looked great.

I haven't seen this series, but having seen him (and many of the other Apollo astronauts) in In the Shadow of the Moon, I have to agree, he was amazingly nonchalant.

Is Michael Collins in this series? He was surprisingly hilarious in ItSotM.

 

[ladyheather69]

Highly recommend it. Unbelievable footage.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Highly recommend it. Unbelievable footage.

Agreed. That, combined with all the wonderful interviews, really gave me for the first time (to such a large degree) a sense of how incredible, and awe inspiring, the entire space program was and is.

 

[Squiggy]

We've seen the first several episodes, up through the stories on the shuttle. High quality work, imho, if for no other reason than they got Neil Armstrong himself to talk.... and at length! From what I had heard he'd become a rather reclusive and bitter old man. He may still be for all I know, but he really comes though in this miniseries.

Neil isn't "bitter" per se...just old. He doesn't want to talk about the same thing he's been talking about for the past 40 years. I mean, how many times can you hear "What was it like" or "Did you mean to say "One small step for A man?" before just saying "fuck it" and retiring.

 

[Jack Bauer]

So good I watched the same episode of it twice in one night. I never do that kind of thing.

 

[Seven of eleven]

Caveat to those who haven't seen it yet: I thought it was going to be about the human race's exploration of space but it's completely about about the American space programme. It was a tiny bit propagandistic and never went into tremendous detail but it was still quite interesting with truly amazing visual footage.

 

[Warp Coil]

Considering all of the annoyances involved in getting the show ready for air, I haven't watched it. Just like I haven't seen "Planet Earth", or, well, most of Discovery's big event specials within recent memory.