When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions: Difference between revisions

| image = File:Whenweleftearth.jpg

| image_size =150px 150

| caption = DVD/Blu-ray case

|first_aired last_aired = {{StartEnd date|2008|67|813|United States}}

| genre = [[Documentary film|Documentary]], [[science]], [[space exploration]], [[historical]]

| narrated = [[Gary Sinise]]

| country =[[ United States]]

| num_episodes = 6

| network = [[Discovery Channel]]

| language =[[English language|English]]

| runtime = 6 hours (6 1-hour-long episodes, originally aired as a [[Double feature|double bill]])

'''''When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions''''' (or '''''NASA's Greatest Missions: When We Left Earth''''' in the UK) is a 2008 [[Discovery Channel]] HD documentary miniseries consisting of six episodes documenting American [[human spaceflight]], spanning from the first [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] flights throughand the [[Project Gemini|Gemini program]], to the [[Apollo program|Apollo]] moonand its Moon missions and landings]], to the [[Space Shuttle]], missions and the construction of the [[International Space Station]]. It was created in association with [[NASA]] to commemorate the agency's fiftieth anniversary in 2008. It first aired on June 8, 2008, and concluded on June 22. Each airing consisted of two hour-long episodes.

The miniseries was created in association with [[NASA]] to commemorate the agency's fiftieth anniversary in 2008. It first aired on June 8, and concluded on June 22. Each airing consisted of two hour-long episodes. The miniseries was then released on DVD on July 10, 2008, and was released on Blu-ray disc on August 12.

Discovery partnered with NASA in September 2007 to create the series.<ref name="space" /> The Discovery team went through 500 hours of archived film and selected 150 hours of it to be transferred to high definition.<ref name="abcnews">{{cite web|url=httphttps://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5014530&page=1|title=Discovery's 'When We Left Earth' aims high|last1=Keveney|first1=Bill|date=June 8, 2008|publisher=ABC News|access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref> Discovery donated the high definition film back to NASA.<ref name="space" /> The airing of the miniseries was timed to coincide with NASA's 50th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2008/06/the-nasa-missions-when-we-left-earth/|title=The NASA Missions: When we left Earth|last1=Ford|first1=Matt|date=June 7, 2008|access-date=February 3, 2018|publisher=Ars Technica}}</ref>

The series was narrated by actor [[Gary Sinise]], who played astronaut [[Ken Mattingly]] in the 1995 film ''[[Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13]]''. It was executive produced by Richard Dale and Bill Howard and edited by Peter Parnham and Simon Holland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/arts/television/06eart.html|title=50 Years of NASA's Home Movies|last1=Schwartz|first1=John|publisherwork=New York Times|date=June 6, 2008|access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref>

The score was composed by [[Richard Blair-Oliphant]] and conducted by [[BenBenjamin Wallfisch]] ([[Atonement (2007 film)|''Atonement'']] 2007, ''[[The Soloist]]'' 2009). Music and sound were nominated for a 2009 [[News and Documentary Emmy Award]] for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Sound.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://richardblairoliphant.com/when-we-left-earth/|title=When We Left Earth, Composer|date=16 December 2016 |publisher=Richard-Blair Oliphant, Composer|access-date=February 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://emmyonline.com/news_30th_nominations|title=Nominees For The 30th Annual News & Documentary Emmy® Awards Announced By The National Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences|publisher=The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|access-date=March 18, 2018|archive-date=July 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705193229/http://emmyonline.com/news_30th_nominations|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The astronauts involved with the film believed the high definition version of the footage helped capture what they really saw. Astronaut [[Charlie Duke]] said, "[It] captures what we see and what we felt and what we experienced, the reality, the vividness, the emotional side of it."<ref name="space" /> Cary Darling of ''Herald and Review'' said that the miniseries is less about NASA's setbacks, and more about a "great-to-look-at, old-fashioned hero worship of those who dare to reach for the heavens."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17140165/|newspaper=Herald and Review|date=June 8, 2008|page=31|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=February 3, 2018|last1=Darling|first1=Cary|title='When We Left Earth' traces NASA adventure}}</ref> ''High-Def Digest'' said this documentary was special because of its focus on human elements instead of scientific milestones, but wished it could have focused on efforts by other countries as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1564/whenweleftearth.html |title=When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions |last=Staff |first= |date=October 16, 2008 |website=High-Def Digest |publisher=[[Internet Brands]] |access-date=February 20, 2018}}</ref>

* {{imdbIMDb title|1233514|When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions}}

[[Category:Discovery Channel original programming]]