When We Left Earth

[Candlelight]

Is this a good doco series? I only just found out about it.

Considering I was about to start pitching a very similar idea for a documentary I think I won't bother now!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is this a good doco series?

Absolutely. Get to your nearest HDTV and catch it on Discovery HD Theater.

Also get the Blu-Ray version when it comes out (buy it from Discovery's own webstore if possible; they are releasing it first).

 

[Candlelight]

Discovery doesn't broadcast in HD yet in NZ. Will have to watch the SD version, but will be buying the HD DVDs when they come out for sure.

That's High Definition DVDs, not the defunct format...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Also, if you haven't seen the earlier (HBO) series From the Earth to the Moon, check that out as well. Both are excellent pieces of work.

 

[Neroon]

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.

 

[Trekker4747]

Fantastic series.

I highly reccomend it.

 

[Candlelight]

Also, if you haven't seen the earlier (HBO) series From the Earth to the Moon, check that out as well. Both are excellent pieces of work.

No I've seen those, but I think I missed the last couple (I've seen up to the Apollo 13 episode at least). I enjoyed those as well.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Fantastic series.

I highly reccomend it.

Indeed!

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

 

[Neroon]

Also, if you haven't seen the earlier (HBO) series From the Earth to the Moon, check that out as well. Both are excellent pieces of work.

I'm hosting a marathon viewing session of this next weekend, for several friends who have never seen the series. Gotta finish building that LEM for the front yard, then go buy some Tang.......

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Also, if you haven't seen the earlier (HBO) series From the Earth to the Moon, check that out as well. Both are excellent pieces of work.

I'm hosting a marathon viewing session of this next weekend, for several friends who have never seen the series. Gotta finish building that LEM for the front yard, then go buy some Tang.......

They used a *real* LEM for episode 5, can you believe it? (It would have gone to the Moon aboard Apollo 18 or 19, can't remember which)

 

[Adm. Bonz]

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.

 

[Mistral]

Also, if you haven't seen the earlier (HBO) series From the Earth to the Moon, check that out as well. Both are excellent pieces of work.

If you want to see greatness in audio/visual watch these amazing things...

 

[Bloodwhiner]

I thought it glossed over the NASA missteps and was somewhat propagandistic for the agency. It could have been a bit more critical or at least explored the mistakes a bit deeper and how those decisions changed the future shape of NASA.
But it was still fascinating and incredible to watch.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

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.

Armstrong's not at all reclusive or bitter. He is a private and modest man though--that more than any other reason is why he's stayed out of the limelight. He's had a very active and successful post-Apollo life--it's just he doesn't like to go before the cameras.

I thought it glossed over the NASA missteps and was somewhat propagandistic for the agency. It could have been a bit more critical or at least explored the mistakes a bit deeper and how those decisions changed the future shape of NASA.
But it was still fascinating and incredible to watch.

A bit of cheerleading? Perhaps. But I also think the series caught the atmosphere of that time pretty well. We were optimistic about the future. We honestly felt that we would make it to Mars by the 1980s; that nothing could stop us as long as we were willing to take the risks. Were there NASA missteps and corner cutting? You better believe it. Apollo 1 should never have happened. It was partly the result of "Go Fever" which led to taking unwarranted shortcuts, partly the result of the use of pure oxygen, and also partly the result of an improperly learned lesson. The hatch was sealed the way it was because of what happened to Liberty Bell 7 when its explosive bolts blew. Had the Apollo 1 hatch been equipped with explosive bolts, it's very probable that Grissom, White, and Chaffee would be with us today.

The thing is, today we're so risk averse that a program as ambitious...as daring...as Apollo isn't possible. Congress and the media would crap kittens.

 

[Samurai8472]

I liked learning about our over confidence in the shuttle that lead to the challenger shuttle disaster. Also finding out the hubble space telescope was misaligned when it was launched.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

I liked learning about our over confidence in the shuttle that lead to the challenger shuttle disaster. Also finding out the hubble space telescope was misaligned when it was launched.

You see, I didn't like learning about that--I felt sad--but then, I had what amounted to an almost ringside seat when Challenger exploded. I saw the shuttle explode from the front yard of my house. When I saw those clouds and the vapor trails, I knew immediately what happened and I felt sick inside just as I did as a child when I heard about Apollo 1. I also cheered when Discovery years later successfully went up as that proved that the Challenger disaster couldn't keep us down.

There's an often fine line between taking necessary risks and cutting corners and between confidence and "Go Fever". Space exploration is dangerous and, if we continue manned missions to the Moon and Mars as I hope we do, we are going to lose more people. As Q said, space is not for the timid--it's dangerous out there.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Space exploration is dangerous and, if we continue manned missions to the Moon and Mars as I hope we do, we are going to lose more people.

But as Gus Grissom himself once said: The conquest of space is WORTH the risk of life.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Oh, I agree 100%. Unfortunately, we have become such a risk averse culture that we, in many ways, are in danger of becoming afraid of our own shadow. Should you do everything you can to minimize the risk? Most definitely. But the risk will always be there. As the old saying goes, "Fortune favors the bold."

 

[Neroon]

Armstrong's not at all reclusive or bitter. He is a private and modest man though--that more than any other reason is why he's stayed out of the limelight. He's had a very active and successful post-Apollo life--it's just he doesn't like to go before the cameras.

I am VERY glad to hear that, because what I said earlier was only heard through others.

Nevertheless, having so much of him onscreen and talking so determinedly and animatedly was a BIG reason why I've enjoyed this series.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

^
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.