Original title
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions
Released
6/8/2008
Origin country
US
Genre
Documentary
Production companies
Discovery, Dangerous Films
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
1
Number of episodes
6
A miniseries documenting American human spaceflight, spanning from the first Mercury flights through the Gemini program to the Apollo moon landings, the Space Shuttle, and the construction of the International Space Station. It was created in association with NASA to commemorate the agency's fiftieth anniversary in 2008.
May 5, 1961, Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. pilots the Freedom 7 capsule to become the first American in space. Covering 300 miles and lasting just 15 minutes, this suborbital flight etched Shepard's name in our collective minds.
On February 20, 1962, Astronaut John Glenn pilots the Friendship 7 and becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. Relive launch footage from Cape Canaveral, including the exhilarating moments of re-entry, landing and recovery.
On December 15, 1965, NASA achieves a rendezvous in Earth orbit with two piloted spacecraft. Gemini 7, with Command Pilot Frank F. Borman II and Pilot James A. Lovell Jr., already in space for more than 10 days, meets with Gemini 6, guided by Command Pilot Walter M. Schirra and Pilot Thomas P. Stafford.
On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 blasts into space aboard a Saturn V rocket with Mission Commander Borman, Command Module Pilot Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders. Their mission: to embark on the first flight around the Moon, preparing for those who would later land on its surface.
Apollo 11, with Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, becomes the first mission to land humans on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The daring mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal expressed in his thrilling 1961 speech, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
A brief clip of Ed White - the first American to take a spacewalk as he exits the craft into space for the first time.
Interview from NASA's Archives: Michael Collins, Astronaut.
Interview from NASA's Archives: Joe Kosmo, Space Suit Engineer/Designer.
Mission Clip: Mercury Training
Mission Clip: Gemini 4
Mission Clip: Gemini 6 and 7
Mission Clip: Gemini 8
Mission Clip: Gemini 9
Highlights from the NASA film: Apollo 13: Houston, We've Got A Problem
Interview from NASA's Archives: Al Bean, Astronaut
Interview from NASA's Archives: Gene Kranz, Flight Director
Mission Clip: Apollo 8 Launch & Stage Separation Sequences
Mission Clip: Apollo 8 Lunar & Earth Orbit
Mission Clip: Apollo 9 LM in Earth Orbit
Mission Clip: Apollo 11 Astronauts Return & Parade
Mission Clip: Apollo 16 Rover Test Drive
Mission Clip: Apollo 17 Night Launch
Highlights from the NASA Film: Skylab: The 40 First Days
Interview from NASA's Archives: Shannon Lucid, Astronaut
Interview from NASA's Archives: James Crocker, Aerospace Engineer
Mission Clip: Skylab Tour
Mission Clip: Skylab Zero Gravity
Mission Clip: Shuttle STS-1 Launch
Mission Clip: Shuttle STS-1 Landing
Mission Clip: Shuttle STS-31 Hubble Deployment
Mission Clip: Shuttle STS-61 Hubble Repair
NASA selects seven men to become the first astronauts. They're all test pilots, prepared to risk their lives. No one has ever survived a vertical launch on top of a rocket, but it's the only way they know to put an astronaut into earth orbit. NASA and America's first astronauts, the Mercury Seven, are on a journey into the unknown. Six of the men ride into space, each launch taking NASA further forward in their quest to conquer space.
Nine new astronauts arrive at NASA - their mission, to test all the procedures required to land men on the moon and bring them safely back to earth. Each Gemini mission launches two men into space, leading to some of NASA's greatest moments - Ed White's spacewalk, the first orbital rendezvous of Gemini 6 and 7, and Neil Armstrong's first space docking.
The Apollo program is set to achieve the ultimate prize of the Space Race, landing men on the moon. But a fire breaks out in the pressurized capsule of Apollo 1, resulting in the deaths of three beloved astronauts. However, NASA rebounds, launching men into deep space and landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
Apollo 13 puts the astronauts to the ultimate test, returning a damaged spacecraft back safely to earth. Apollo 17 sends man for the longest mission yet to the surface of the moon, but it's the last lunar mission for generations. Now, it's time for a new phase in the program. Converting an unused Saturn V rocket, NASA launches Skylab, America's first space-station.
For its first 20 years, NASA launches capsules carrying a maximum of three people. But new requirements for a bigger cargo bay prompt a breakthrough in spacecraft design. The development of the re-usable shuttle leads to a revolutionary approach to space travel. Meanwhile, the pioneers of NASA's manned programs are leading the way into the modern era of the space-age.
One of the most complex instruments ever built, the Hubble Space Telescope is expected to transform our understanding of the Universe. But once it is in orbit NASA discovers a serious problem, a defective main mirror. NASA sends a team of astronauts to fix the problem in its greatest and highest profile mission since the Apollo era. It gives NASA the confidence to begin construction on the International Space Station.
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