Episode Data

When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions

update

Season 0

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  1: Freedom 7

  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.

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  2: Friendship 7: John Glenn

  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.

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  3: Proud Conquest: Gemini VII & VI

  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.

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  4: Debrief: Apollo 8

  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.

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  5: The Flight of Apollo 11

  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."

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  6: Disc 1 Extras - Ed White Spacewalk

  A brief clip of Ed White - the first American to take a spacewalk as he exits the craft into space for the first time.

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  7: Disc 1 Extras - Nasa Interviews

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  8: Disc 1 Extras - Mission Clips

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  9: Disc 2 Extras - Apollo 13

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  10: Disc 2 Extras - Nasa Interviews

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  39: Highlights from NASA Movie 'Four Days Of Gemini 4'

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  11: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips

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  12: Disc 3 Extras - Skylab First 40 Days

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  13: Disc 3 Extras - NASA Interviews

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  14: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips

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  16: Disc 1 Extras - Nasa Interviews - Michael Collins: Astronaut

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  17: Disc 1 Extras - Nasa Interviews - Joe Kosmo: Space Suit Engineer

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  18: Disc 1 Extras - Mission Clips - Mercury Training

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  19: Disc 1 Extras - Mission Clips - Ed White's Extravehicular Activity

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  20: Disc 1 Extras - Mission Clips - Gemini 6 & 7 Rendezvous

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  21: Disc 1 Extras - Mission Clips - Gemini 8 Docking with Agena

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  22: Disc 1 Extras - Mission Clips - Gemini 9 Docking Attempt

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  23: Disc 2 Extras - Nasa Interviews - Al Bean: Astronaut

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  24: Disc 2 Extras - Nasa Interviews - Gene Kranz: Flight Director

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  25: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips - Apollo 8 Launch & Stage Separation Sequences

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  26: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips - Apollo 8 Lunar & Earth Orbit

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  27: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips - Apollo 9 Lunar Module in Earth Orbit

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  28: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips - Apollo 11 Astronauts Return and Parade

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  29: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips - Apollo 16 Rover Test Drive

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  30: Disc 2 Extras - Mission Clips - Apollo 17 Night Launch

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  31: Disc 3 Extras - Nasa Interviews - Shannon Lucid: Astronaut

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  32: Disc 3 Extras - Nasa Interviews - James Croker: Aerospace Engineer

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  33: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips - Skylab Tour

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  34: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips - Skylab Zero Gravity

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  35: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips - Shuttle STS-1 Launch

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  36: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips - Shuttle STS-1 Landing

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  37: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips - Shuttle STS-31 Hubble Deployment

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  38: Disc 3 Extras - Mission Clips - Shuttle STS-61 Repairs

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  40: Highlights from NASA Movie - Apollo 13-Houston, We've Got A Problem

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  41: Highlights from Nasa Movie 'Skylab - The First 40 Days'

• _{Monday, March 1st, 2010}

  15: Moon Landing Special

  NASA unlocks their vaults and lends their footage to the Discovery Channel to form this fascinating HD series. Narrated by Gary Sinise, this collection of training videos, home movies and more detail some of the first missions to the moon.

Season 1

• _{Sunday, June 8th, 2008}

  1: Ordinary Supermen

  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.

• _{Sunday, June 8th, 2008}

  2: Friends and Rivals

  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.

• _{Sunday, June 15th, 2008}

  3: Landing the Eagle

  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.

• _{Sunday, June 15th, 2008}

  4: The Explorers

  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.

• _{Sunday, June 22nd, 2008}

  5: The Shuttle

  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.

• _{Sunday, June 22nd, 2008}

  6: Home In Space

  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.