When We Left Earth - The NASA Missions (4-Disc Set in Limited Edition Tin)

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Product Reviews

(3 stars) - Amazon's Road to Rip-Offs
This is not a review of the product, which I haven't had time to watch yet, but rather of Amazon's assinine policies regarding their pricing. The day I bought this, a month ago tomorrow, it was $12.99 as a lightning deal in the gold box specials. The next day it was back up to $36 and I felt good about my purchase, but now, a month later, the price is back down to $11.99 as the regular price! This sort of pricing policy most certainly DOES NOT encourage one to purchase the so-called lightning deals, and instead cheapens the image of Amazon as being a deceptive organization more determined to clear their warehouse than to provide quality deals to loyal customers.

(4 stars) - Nice Video
Not great but it's nice. I got it on one of Amazons deals, probably wouldn't buy otherwise, but it is nice to have. I'm not really into the space stuff so this is just a really basic review. Like the video quality, really like the images of earth and the music selection. To me it's just nice background stuff. We put this on for our 3 year-olds "quiet time". You can choose from a pretty big selection of classical music to play while the video is on. I haven't really sat down and watched this from start to finish, just listen to the music and stop and watch images as I'm walking by. I've done this enough to have seen quite a bit of it by now though.

(5 stars) - A Strong Overview Of The US Manned Spaceflight Program
"When We Left Earth" is a very strong effort made by the Discovery Channel, presented here on four DVDs with several hours of bonus footage that was not televised. The set chronicles the United States' spaceflight program from its inception during the cold war, through the International Space Station. The Mercury program gets a lot of attention due to all the "firsts" and the extremely high-risk nature of the flights, and, of course, Apollo gets the bulk of attention due to the extremely complex nature of the missions, and the amazing imagery of the lunar flights and landings. I was pleased that while Apollo 11 was featured prominently, that other Apollo missions were also discussed (Apollo 15 got the short shrift). I was happy to see Gemini featured so extensively: it's frequently glossed over despite the critical nature of the work performed in the program, which in large part allowed Apollo to succeed.

The shuttle is featured as well, and no account of the shuttle would be complete without a recounting of the "Columbia" and "Challenger" disasters, which are discussed candidly. The ISS is also discussed in glowing terms despite its tortuously long, political, and convoluted birth. I was especially pleased with the interviews with astronauts (I greatly enjoyed the interviews with the reclusive Neil Armstrong, the soft-spoken John Young, and the laconic Charlie Duke), engineers, and members of Mission Control (notably Gene Kranz), which are extremely illuminating.

The set is not perfect, and everyone would make changes based on personal preferences, but overall the balance between being a complete historical account of NASA, and selecting the most significant events in manned spaceflight is very good. The price for the set is very reasonable, and I recommend it to anyone, and especially anyone interested in a high quality and succinct overview of NASA history.

As of this writing the future of manned US spaceflight is very much in doubt, and I appreciate the effort that the producers went through to present a balanced, concise history of the space program, emphasizing what is possible when intelligent, dedicated individuals are given a goal and the funding to achieve the goal.

(5 stars) - Lots of great original footage
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.

(5 stars) - Very impressed!
As a child of the '60s I have always been incredibly drawn to the entire space program. I can remember sitting in our house watching (on a black and white TV with aluminum foil on the antennas so we could hopefully get a better signal) when the moonwalk occurred, so when I received this DVD tin set as a present for Christmas, I was thrilled. I was even more excited when I watched the first DVD - the entire production is thoroughly well done, and I highly recommend this set for the entire family.

Lots of movies nowadays are not geared for the family - most of the time there is too much like violence, cursing and sex that takes away from the viewing experience. Nothing to worry about with this inspiring set - it makes you proud to be an American and proud to know that whatever we set our minds to, with God's help, we can achieve anything.

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