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Author Topic:   Space Shuttle: Final Countdown (Smithsonian doc)
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-04-2012 12:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As part of the celebratory activities surrounding the delivery of space shuttle Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian Channel will debut a new documentary about the history of the space shuttle program.

Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown will premiere on April 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. It was produced by Darlow Smithson and narrated by Eric Meyers.

The hour-and-a-half documentary delves into the development of the space shuttle, its first flight, life on orbit, the loss of Challenger, the deploy and servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope, construction of the International Space Station, the loss of Columbia, and the retirement of the program.

The program features new interviews with shuttle astronauts Mike Mullane, Hoot Gibson, Jeff Hoffman, Terry Hart, Rhea Seddon, Story Musgrave, Michael Foale, Eileen Collins, Joe Engle and Dick Covey. Also featured are managers, engineers and flight directors Wayne Hale, Tom Moser, Gene Kranz, Bill Reeves and Scott Hubbard, as well as Smithsonian curators Valerie Neal and Roger Launius.

More information will become available as the air date approaches but based on an advanced screening, this will be a documentary worth watching. If you do not get the Smithsonian Channel, it will be released on DVD as part of a two-disc air and space collection on May 15.

Lasv3
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From: Bratislava, Slovakia
Registered: Apr 2009

posted 03-04-2012 11:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lasv3   Click Here to Email Lasv3     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Already available for pre-order at Amazon, running time 257 minutes.

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-04-2012 06:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Smithsonian Channel release
Smithsonian Channel Presents "Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown" Sunday April 22

For 30 years, it was America's flagship in space, flying more miles, completing more missions, and delivering more hardware than any other spacecraft in history.

Now, as the Space Shuttle enters America's pantheon of air and space achievement, Smithsonian Channel marks the end of an era with the premiere of Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown on Sunday, April 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Through interviews with NASA scientists, administrators, astronauts and Smithsonian Institution historians, Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown, tells the definitive story of the Shuttle era: its incredible achievements, its devastating tragedies — and the dream to make space travel affordable and routine.

The special is premiering just days after the Space Shuttle Discovery, the most accomplished vehicle in the fleet, is scheduled to make its much anticipated journey from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, where it will go on permanent display. The Smithsonian is planning a four-day celebration for its arrival.

When Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011, it was the program's 135th and final mission. And while the Shuttle program's tragedies — Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 — left indelible scars in the national memory, its achievements are less known and deserve recognition. Without the Space Shuttle there would be no Hubble Telescope, which transformed our understanding of the universe. With its enormous cargo bay, the Shuttle became a workhorse for transporting satellites and scientific equipment to space, enabling the construction of the International Space Station. It was also a powerful symbol of international collaboration.

The Shuttle itself, a re-usable spacecraft capable of bursting through the atmosphere and returning safely to Earth, was an extraordinary technical achievement.

Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown tells the truly epic story of the Shuttle's creation, its many staggering achievements and the painful tragedies that cost the lives of 14 crew members, including Christa McAuliffe, who was scheduled to be the first teacher in space but who died in the Challenger disaster. Over its 30 years, the Space Shuttle took 355 astronauts into space. It completed 21,152 Earth orbits and flew a total of 542 million miles — enough to reach Jupiter.

Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown is produced by Darlow Smithson Productions for Smithsonian Channel, Channel 4 and Endemol Worldwide Distribution. The film is directed by Jeremy Hall, produced by Clare Bradbury and executive produced by Julian Ware and Tom Brisley for Darlow Smithson. Executive Producers for Smithsonian Channel are David Royle and Charles Poe.

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 04-22-2012 12:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A tune-in reminder that Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the Smithsonian Channel.

astro-nut
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From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 04-29-2012 05:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for astro-nut   Click Here to Email astro-nut     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Did anyone watch this special on the space shuttle? What are your recommendations/reviews? Would this be worth buying on DVD?

MikeSpace
unregistered
posted 05-03-2012 04:12 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I saw a documentary of the shuttle program last week on Smithsonian Channel and am 90% sure it was this.

New found respect for Young and Crippen. Kranz is quoted as saying something like 'one of the best crews ever assembled' and Mullane mentioned how little testing had been done before STS-1.

Someone can help; I think I read the SRBs had never been tested in their launch [vertical] position until the STS-1 launch. Yes? No? Kind of?

I really liked it.

arjuna
unregistered
posted 05-03-2012 04:25 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I liked the first 3/4 (and the material leading up to and including STS-1 was particularly good), but it ended too abruptly, as though they had to cut out 20 minutes from the end in order to make it fit into a 2 hour slot with commercials. I recall that there was only about 5 or 10 minutes of stuff after recounting the Columbia disaster, and so the whole thing sort of seemed to end on a bit of a depressing note to me.

Overall, I liked it and it was worthwhile but the shortcomings in the second half were such that taken as a whole, it wasn't the definitive Shuttle documentary. If I'm right about the editing, perhaps the DVD will include more material on ISS construction and how the Shuttle laid the pathway to the next phase of LEO operations.

APG85
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Registered: Jan 2008

posted 05-05-2012 09:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for APG85     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Does anyone have any suggestions on what is the best Space Shuttle documentary DVD to purchase? Maybe this is it... so far?

MOL
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Posts: 98
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 05-06-2012 07:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MOL   Click Here to Email MOL     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
DVD will be released on May 15. Part of a two disc, four hour set called "The Smithsonian Channel: Air and Space Collection" which includes "Space Shuttle: The Final Countdown," "History in HD: America In Space," "Concorde: Flying Supersonic," and "America's Hangar."

pupnik
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Posts: 114
From: Maryland
Registered: Jan 2014

posted 04-27-2016 07:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for pupnik     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
For those of you with Comcast this is on OnDemand until June in the Smithsonian Channel section.

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