Product Description

The timing for this release could not be better, as we enter 2009 we approach the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong s historic moon landing. Also NASA have recently celebrated their 50th anniversary and these factors, alongside the TV success of NASA s Greatest Missions, have raised the profile of this release. Fully restored masters will guarantee that this is the best the original footage has ever looked. Official NASA backing; exclusive interviews and never-before-seen bonus features ensure the UK release of this definitive collector s edition DVD is absolutely top quality. We join the heroic men and women of NASA who have dared the impossible on some of the greatest adventures ever undertaken, the quest to reach out beyond Earth and into the great unknown of space! It is now possible to relive all the most exciting moments in NASA s history. See the phenomenally powerful space rockets launch men into space. Experience the incredible sensation of the first spacewalk and watch in awe as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon for the very first time. Included are candid interviews with the astronauts, scientists and engineers who made it all happen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2379 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-23
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 530 minutes

Customer Reviews

Awe inspiring: NASA's greatest missions on DVD...
This is a great Discovery Channel documentary series from 2008 on the American space program.

With a running time of almost 9 hours, you get loads of footage and information about the main NASA missions from the last 50 years. Each disc contains two, one-hour long episodes covering a different set of missions and developments and some bonus footage.

Original footage from the space program is interlaced with present-day interviews from Astronauts including: Glenn, Young, Carpenter, Borman, Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins, Cernan, Duke etc. In their absence, other Astronaut's achievements are discussed by their surviving colleagues and wives. Other key NASA personnel are also interviewed including legendary flight director Gene Kranz.

Aside from some understandably grainy archive footage of early mission control films, picture quality is very good and frequently excellent. For instance, the first spacewalk by Ed White which is astounding, or the first ever Gemini rendezvous which I'd never seen before.

I did read a critical review of the soundtrack and narration of the films, but I thought it was generally quite good. Narration is by American actor Gary Sinise and for the most part the orchestrated soundtrack helps the documentary move along building tension and drama.

It's worth considering this series if you're interested in the history of the space program and I found it vastly more entertaining than any recent release at the cinema; there are no actors or computer graphics in these films and the spaceships are real too...

Summary of Disc contents:
Disc One
Episode 1. Ordinary Supermen (the first seven)
Episode 2. Friends & Rivals (Mercury & Gemini missions)

Disc Two
Episode 3. Landing the Eagle (Apollo missions)
Episode 4. The Explorers (Apollo 13)

Disc Three
Episode 5. The Shuttle (development, testing, tragedies)
Episode 6. A Home in space (International Space Station & Hubble)

Disc Four Bonus Disc/Original NASA films.
Freedom 7
Friendship 7: John Glenn
Proud Conquest: Gemini 6 & 7
Apollo 8 Debrief
The Flight of Apollo 11

---

Very Useful at School
The same as the Greatest Missions on Discovery Science on Sky TV except commentary is american not british. I use it at school, the hubble footage ties up with GCSE telescopes, and it's the fortieth anniversary this year so any excuse to show the moon landings. The footage is very good for silencing "The internet says the moon landing were fake sir" comments.

WYSIWYG! What you see is what you get!
What you see is what you get with this set. I ordered this set as I wanted a nice set of DVDs covering NASAs biggest highs and lows, and that is exactly what you get with this set, at a great value price.
I like the packaging, featuring individual slimline DVD cases within a cardboard outer, it sits nicely within the others sets and being slimline doesn't hog too much shelfspace!
The set covers the from the first in space, to orbits, the space race, men on the moon, Apollo 13, the Shuttle Era (including the low points of the disaster), Hubble and Skylab. The four disc set covers a lot, probably not as in depth as others but well enough for most-which also keeps it interesting and moving along fast. Interviews with Astronauts throughout with their viewpoints and feelings are a great feature as well.
Highly recommended for anyone wishing to have a good set of historic moments in space flight and America's space program.