Product Details

• Actors: When We Left Earth
• Directors: na
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Discovery Channel
• DVD Release Date: September 30, 2008
• Run Time: 258 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001BEK8CY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,798 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #21 in Movies & TV > DVD > Documentary
• Learn more about "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (Limited Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Since the dawn of mankind, we have stared up at the lights in the sky and wondered... Now join the heroic men and women 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! To celebrate 50 years of incredible achievements, the Discovery Channel has partnered with NASA to reveal the epic struggles, tragedies and triumphs in a bold chapter of human history. Along with the candid interviews of the people who made it happen, hundreds of hours of never-before-seen film footage from the NASA archives - including sequences on board the actual spacecraft in flight - have been carefully restored, edited and compiled for this landmark collection.

*Packaged in spectacular, limited-edition tin.
*Original NASA footage digitally remastered in high-definition featuring exclusive ''never before seen'' footage
*4 hours of bonus footage not seen in TV broadcast.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

255 of 287 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars So near but so far ... October 15, 2008

By P. White

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Here's why I like this set:

The image quality is (mostly - see below) very good. Even with the 16mm film source the extra resolution of Blu-Ray is apparent and some of the film is staggeringly effective. As has been stated in another review, the modern interviews are pristine.
The variety and scope of the clips is excellent. The makers have sourced every possible movie from private hands (cine films) and NASA and there's a great deal I've not seen despite 40 years of interest in the subject.
The narration is well written and appropriate. This feels like a story with narrative rather than a straightforward documentary.

Here's why I dislike this set and think it's a wasted opportunity:

Despite the quality of the film clips there are some that have clear and very obvious visible and not just minor anomalies but persistent great big black blobs in the same place on the screen. This 'dirt' persists across clips taken at varied times, even months apart and in very different locations, so it wasn't on the original film. That means, logically, that it's a projection fault and that it wasn't spotted during the HD transfer to Blu-Ray. that's VERY disappointing.
More importantly there's the issue of the music. I'm British and (until recently) our TV documentaries used the original audio soundtrack alone rather than additional music. If music was used then it was sparingly and appropriate and it certainly didn't get in the way of the original audio. During this presentation the music is near permanent. It never stops except for a few seconds here and there. It drowns out narration and more importantly it all but removes the original audio.... Subtitles are provided for capcom recordings (voices to and from the spacecraft) but they wouldn't be needed if the infernal music would just shut up! Not only that but the music isn't of good quality and is stupidly over-blown, false drama in every moment. The scenes are dramatic enough, leave them alone please. In the extras there are standalone clips of the astronauts training (etc) and I though at least with these there'd be the original audio but no, the music is even worse and there's NO original audio at all. Shameful. I realize that this is the norm for American TV documentaries (Nothing personal, you make the best TV in the world on the whole) but it ruins the experience and should be resisted.

So, a very very good set partially spoiled by the music and some transfer anomalies. If you can cope with the music then don't let the anomalies put you off. It's probably the best NASA footage on Blu-Ray so far but it could have been the best full stop. Read more ›

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of this world!! November 3, 2008

By Kropotkin

Format:DVD

Please forgive the tacky title - but I couldn't resist it. The 4 disc set is pretty bloomin' brilliant - cleaned up pictures and sound mean that this (along with "in the shadow of the moon")has the best images you are going to see this side of Spacecraft films exhaustive (and relatively expensive)collections.
It doesn't just focus on one aspect but covers all of NASA's manned programs.
Extra interviews with various astronauts (including Neil Armstrong and John Young) and a fair range of extras mean that this is a top notch set and is ideal for a newbie or someone with an active interest in the space program.

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." September 4, 2008

By Albatross

Format:Blu-ray

Excellent documentary on the Space Program.
The older footage has been remastered and looks good.
The HD sequences of the launches look amazing.
The musical score is great.

The Space Race with the Mercury program. Project Gemini.
The Apollo missions with the massive Saturn V rockets.
The Challenger mission segment has candid admissions (Story Musgrave).
Footage of the first untethered EVA by Bruce McCandless is great.
The Hubble Telescope repair mission puts you in the EVAs.
Construction of the International Space Station.
Disc 4 is a Bonus Disc of original NASA films.

My only complaint with this package is the Blu-ray case. They could have used a better center hub for holding the discs. The one they used makes it difficult to remove the discs for viewing.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best NASA documentary ever made June 26, 2008

By FlashbangBob

Format:DVD

I've seen every NASA/space documentary that I can find and this one is with out a doubt the best. I expected to see mostly old footage that had been in every other documentary but I was very surprised at how much I had never seen before.

The documentary is basically a history of NASA and covers 5 main areas. The Mercury program which was sending the first men into space to determine if people could survive in zero gravity. Next was the Gemini program which was to learn how to live in space and safely return. Next was the Apollo program which was landing a man on the moon and safely returning him to earth. Next was the Skylab program, being able to do research in space. Finally, there is the ISS program with the space shuttles. This covers the initial building of the International Space Station, the Shuttle creation with coverage of both the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

Up until this point, I felt that the Tom Hanks narrated documentary, "From the earth to the moon" was the best I'd ever seen. I think that this one surpasses it. I particularly liked all the interviews with past Astronauts and Flight Directors. The documentary makers did a brilliant job getting so many key people to be interviewed.

Even if your not particularly interest in space travel, I would suggest that this documentary is very inspiring and it really proves that people can achieve the impossible if collectively we try hard enough. It's worth a look just for all the new footage.

Overall, a very well put together and exciting documentary - even for those of us who've covered this subject extensively.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars According to the Discovery Channel website September 30, 2008

By Ursus Somnolicus

Format:DVD

The six hour-long episodes include:

ORDINARY SUPERMAN
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. The Mercury astronauts and engineers need to figure out how to launch a man into space on top of a converted intercontinental ballistic missile.

FRIENDS AND RIVALS
For Project Gemini, a new generation of 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.

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 Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. But NASA's astronauts and engineers turn tragedy into triumph with the first manned launch of the formidable Saturn V rocket, lifting three astronauts into deep space for the first time. Two missions later and NASA is ready to land men on the moon in the ultimate test of America's spacefaring vision.

THE EXPLORERS
Now that NASA has mastered the lunar round trip, they want to explore more of the moon's mysteries. With Apollo 13, they face their biggest crisis in space -- returning a damaged spacecraft back safely to earth. Undaunted, NASA launches more moon missions and a new lunar rover that allows wide-ranging lunar surface expiditions.... Apollo 17 is the longest moon mission and the last time man would set foot on the moon for generations. In a new phase of the space program, NASA converts an unused Saturn V rocket into Skylab, America's first space-station. But by the time it reaches orbit it's badly damaged. For the first time, astronauts will have to work outside the spaceship to save the space-station.

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 reusable shuttle leads to a revolutionary approach to space travel, but somebody has to test fly it in space for the first time. That requires a true test pilot, John Young, the man who sat alongside Gus Grissom on the first Gemini flight. NASA's manned programs are again leading the way, but space travel remains as dangerous as ever and tragedy again strikes NASA when the Challenger explodes.

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 that leaves Hubble short-sighted. NASA sends a team of astronauts to fix the problem, but it won't be easy. It is NASA's greatest and highest profile mission since the Apollo era. It gives NASA the confidence to begin construction on the International Space Station. More astronauts are in space simultaneously than ever before. And despite the tragedy of Columbia, NASA's astronauts are pioneering the way back to the moon, Mars and beyond. Read more ›