Outer space surely is a fantastic and wonderful thing. We know so little about it and it has provided us with endless fictional tales of space exploration and adventure. But there have been real adventures as well and this collection looks at various aspects of man’s exploration of that great unknown.
In the Discovery Channel’s Space Flight Collection you get four specials:
When We Left Earth: Moon Landing Special: (43 min.) A look back at the space program and the events leading man into space then to the moon then eventually landing on the moon. The NASA footage here is breathtaking and this special includes never before seen moonwalk footage.
Exodus Earth: Titan: (44 min.) This one is a lot more silly. A British scientist, Basil Singer, wants to figure out what it’s going to take to fly to Titan, one of the moons of Saturn.
Coming Home From Space” The Challenge of Reentry: (49 min.) A very fascinating look at the challenges and troubles of space shuttle reentry. It also talks about the shuttle Columbia that blew up on reentry in 2003.
Starship Orion: Future of Space Travel: (48 min.) This one looks at the future of space travel, however, when the future is 2009, you can’t help but laugh. This is kind of interesting, but not the strongest ending for this collection.
The Landing special is surely the strongest piece in this collection with the Reentry piece being a close second. The other two are mostly filler to make you feel like you’re getting a good deal in buying this. If you’re really into space I guess this would be an interesting rental, but I don’t see any reason why someone would want to watch this more than once.
The episodes are presented in a mixed aspect ratio, most of it not modified for widescreen TV’s which is kind of annoying. Sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound. These specials all look fine. Nothing great, but nothing terrible either. These are all very obviously made for TV specials.
No Special Features.
Space Flight Collection gives an interesting look at the history of the Apollo program and the challenges of reentry, but the other two specials aren’t that interesting. At 50% interesting I’d say you can skip this one.
Gaiam and Travel Channel present Space Flight Collection. Running time: 187 minutes on 1 disc. Rating: Not Rated. Released: September 25, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
