Customer Reviews

When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions is a great production done by the Discovery Channel on the early years of NASA to today. It has great interviews of the surviving astronauts and members of mission control and NASA. The films and footage from the all the missions and flight tests are great.

The series on TV was so great, I decided that instead of just recording it off the dish, I bought the DVD set. Even though the DVDs had no playing problems or defects, after putting the DVD in the player I noticed several things wrong. These are the reasons that I give the product 2 stars.

1. Contrary to belief, this DVD set is not the same DVD set being offered at Discovery Channel. This set contains 3 DVDs, not the 4 being offered at the Discovery Store or on TV. The 3 DVD set on this page does not include the 4 hours of bonus footage that is included with the set at Discovery Store or [...].

2. The discs are DVD-R. I did not see this when I ordered the DVDs, but the DVDs are really DVD-Rs, the same format that you burn DVDs in your recorder or burner. Plus, the Discovery people didn't even put chapters inside the episodes, so if you wanted to go to a specific point in the episode, you will have to fast forward to it.

3. One big mistake that is definitely the fault of Discovery is that on the DVD case it says that it is 16:9 widescreen. When I played the DVDs, they were all full screen.

As I stated before, the two star rating is not on the content of the episodes, but the way this product was released by Discovery. If I knew that this DVD set had only one of the issues I listed above, I would not have purchased it.

If you want to get the real final version of When We Left Earth, search [...] because I saw that the 4-Disc version will be released in September.

This is a collection of many of NASA mission documentation, such as photos and films, with the verbal comments of the astronauts that flew them. It covers all the major space flights, starting with the X-15 and Mercury, and ends with the latest Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. It also includes very rare interviews with astronauts that are not seen publicly but were part of NASA's history. My favorites were Neil Armstrong on the X-15 and John Young on the Columbia Space Shuttle.

As with most NASA documentaries, there are some misplaced films placed during certain events. The most famous of these were the Saturn V stagings scenes, where the second stage separation was actually part of Apollo 4 (the first Saturn V launch in November 1967), and the third stage separation which is really the Saturn 1B staging. Only real space nuts, like me, would recognize them.

Not considering these and other technical details, which added plenty to the action scenes, the story in each chapter is easy to follow from the beginning to the end. I saw these chapters first on the Discovery/Science Channel, and I like the DVD version, too, which naturally has no commercial intermissions. For those who only saw the broadcast version of the space missions, this will actually be more entertaining and satisfying to watch. And for those history buffs like me, who collect as much as possible before the NASA films degrade, this is a complete and quite accurate effort from the Discovery Channel, and probably the only place where you can listen to most of the original astronauts who flew these missions and who are still with us on Earth.

As for me, I wish that The Discovery Channel would also release the six "Moon Machines" chapters which covers the Apollo missions in much more detail, but with interviews and comments from the engineers and scientists who developed the spacecraft, navigation, and space suits that got us to the Moon. This would be a very satisfying addition to my collection and a recommendation to sell together with the other NASA videos here at Amazon.

The first reason to buy this DVD has already been covered in other reviews. The picture is superior to previous NASA documentaries.
The second reason is that the makers of the film somehow managed to get Neal Armstrong to contribute on screen commentary of his experiences on both Gemini 8 and Apollo 11. His commentary ends when program gets to the part where he begins his historic first walk on the Moon. Still, it is great to finally see him in a documentary of this type.

This might be the most extraordinary documentary I've ever seen; the original archive footage is vivid, and it's especially clear when you play the DVDs on a large screen. The interviews add special insight into what the people involved with NASA's beginnings have really accomplished. For me, the most moving segments were the ones depicting the Apollo moon landings and struggles of the space shuttle program. For anyone with an interest in space exploration or engineering, I would highly recommend getting "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions". It's a documentary from which you can't help getting a sense of awe, even if the actual events seem like boring history now. It's history that can be relived just by watching this incredible miniseries.

This is a great complement to "From the Earth to the Moon" and even more can be learned about the space program with this series. FtEttM, while based on actual events is not a documentary, and actors portray the real guys.... In this series, the real guys are here to tell the story.

I was AMAZED at the ton of new footage and the quality of the film that was remastered into High Def. Excellent stuff.

This is a fantastic show about the history of the Space program in the US. It's something everyone should show their children, to understand the race to the Moon, the history of the space program, and American achievment.

I saw this on TV and was originally skeptical since I'm not a big fan of Discovery Channel (I prefer BBC documentaries). However, I was quite impressed with the "When We Left Earth" series. Each episode contains great original NASA footage and interviews with the original astronauts and key players. I frankly found myself wondering how they even got some of those shots in space (and pretty good quality, even in the 1960s footage). The interviews are insightful and reveal interesting trivia (such as the revelation that, had he survived, Gus Grissom would probably have been the first man to walk on the moon). Definitely recommended for space fans.

I've been watching this series on Discovery and I'm amazed at the clarity of the footage. I can't wait to receive the DVDs and view all the bonus footage.

This will look great on my shelf next to Planet Earth!

5 stars is an insult...I give it all the starts in the galaxy!