When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions

Of all the DVD sets out there documenting the history of NASA, I think this one is the best of them (and I've seen them all, I think.)Firstly, the interviews with the surviving astronauts are wonderful. All of them are human, funny, honest, interesting and have new things to say. Neil Armstrong showing us his dry wit and faux-melodrama recapping was a highlight. How amazing that the doco team was able to bring out that side of his personality we've not seen before from a very shy and introspective man.Other talking heads are of similar quality, Kranz, Borman especially. The conflict between Kraft and Carpenter is not sugar-coated either. You get both sides and make your own mind up.Look, it's old footage. The sound isn't consistent. For audio/videophiles this isn't a test set. But it's a great history of the space program which focuses on the men and women involved, and how each step was painstakingly taken with great daring and risk, but also with courage and purpose and vision. That sounds overly sentimental, but to me it was inspiring as many other NASA docs have not been. And there is considerable footage that I hadn't seen before and most of it is amazing quality.For anyone who wants a capsule of NASA's history, this one will do it. There are other supplemental sets which focus more on engineering aspects, or give you the complete mission reports, but this is an overview from the crews' perspective without getting into detail too deeply.It's very well-edited, paced nicely and nothing is repeated or duplicated so no wasted time hearing the same old stuff again from somebody else, which happens in the older series.I loved it. Right to the top of my faves list, up there with From the Earth To the Moon, in fact they make a nice couple - the dramatic re-enactment mini-series, followed by the real guys talking about what actually happened.Great work Disco channel. Didn't think you had it in you any more.

This is literally the best movie I have ever watched! I can never seem to over-watch it. I have seen this series so many times, and I still find new stuff in it.The first DVD is about the Mercury and Gemini programs, which were NASA's experiments to see how man could handle being in zero-gravity. This DVD has cussing in it, and so I would not recommend the very first disk for children like me to watch. The second DVD is about the Apollo missions and a little bit about Skylab, which was the very first space station built by Americans. This second DVD does talk about the Apollo 1 tragedy, where three astronauts died in a fire during the countdown and launch rehearsal for Apollo 1. That part is really sad, but if you ignore that part, it is a wonderful DVD. In fact, that second disk is my favorite one out of the whole series!The third DVD is about the space shuttles and the International Space Station. It does talk about the two space shuttles that blew up. Those parts are very sad, and they were terrible losses. But I do try to get past them and continue on with the movie. The fourth disk has original NASA films on it. It touches on a few Mercury and Gemini missions, talks about the Apollo 8 debrief, and has the landing of the Eagle (on Apollo 11).All of the DVDs (except the fourth) have interviews with the astronauts, their wives, and the men who worked at NASA in Mission Control, all now elderly (and some as not so elderly) people. It is amazing to listen to their comments on the different missions. And some of the comments are so funny!The music of this movie is so beautiful! Part of the reason why I love this film so much is because of the music. The music matches what's going on perfectly.I would say this series is certainly worth it. If you are buying it for your kids, make sure they don't watch the very first disk because of the cussing. Thankfully, there is no other cussing in the rest of the DVDs. Please don't let the tragedies make you change your mind on this film: I think it is 100% worth it, and I am certainly NOT over-exaggerating! Relax with a cup of hot coffee or tea and enjoy the times when we left earth!!!If you want to see one of the real space shuttles and the real Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury capsules, you must go to the Smithsonian Air and Space museums in Washington DC, USA. They are absolutely incredible!!!

EXCELLENT dvd about NASA and the space program. My 11 year old grandson is into space and loves to watch this with his friends. Adults enjoy it too. Good quality of pictures. Highly recommend this for any age who wants to learn about NASA.

WHEN WE LEFT EARTH - THE NASA MISSIONS (BLU-RAY) is a very fine four disc DVD set that documents the entire US manned space effort including: the X-15 Program, Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, the Skylab Space Station, the Shuttle, the Hubble Telescope repair and upgrade mission and the ongoing joint International Space Station program. The quality, scope and modest price make this DVD an excellent buy.It featured excellent beautifully edited footage, great music, interesting and informative narratives provided by NASA technical staff, and covers virtually every major step of the American manned space effort. This film includes some of the most beautifully recorded sequences I have ever watched on Blu-Ray. Especially good was the job of editing and assembling the many visual sequences. I believe the editors made an effort to mix in high definition footage with low so as to really highlight the difference. NASA astronauts and flight controllers provided the narratives where they had some direct involvement in the sequence.Spacecraft Films has also produced some excellent and comprehensive productions by offering official footage from the National Archives, US Air Force, and NASA digitally enhanced. However, this collection by the Discovery Channel was superior in every way to anything I have watched to date. I was not dissapointed with this fine feature and feel that every armchair astronaut will enjoy this great DVD available from Amazon for under $40.