NASA: A Christmas Gift from 2003
Oct. 12th, 2004 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolphins_logLast Christmas Juli gave me a set of 5 DVDs called "NASA: 50 Years of Space Exploration". It's starts with the Mercury / Redstone flights and goes all the way to present day.
The first DVD gave me a different title then the printed cover. This title was "NASA: Triumph and Tragedy." That was probably a hard one for them to title. In examining the episode titles I see that they devote an entire episode to Challenger called "Disaster and Investigation." The second to the last episode on the fifth disc simply reads "The Story of Columbia" and the back cover there is the crew picture of STS 107. There is no indication that the episode will discuss the crash of the Columbia. The Columbia crashed last year and the copyright on the disk set is also last year. I'll have to wait and see.
I remember being very pissed off at the news service back in 1986, when they repeatedly showed Challenger's short flight on the news. One broadcast showed it three times in their one report, a 10 minute segment. But now ... I suppose I'm ready to look at it. It's certainly a major part of NASA's history.
I've been fascinated by the change in quality of the episodes as I get through the discs. The Mercury and Gemini episodes are washed out and the sound is scratchy and in monotone. The Apollo episodes are a little better in sound quality. Back when I watched the Lunar landings live on television I recall being delighted at the better visual quality of the Apollo 17 broadcast compared to the Apollo 11 broadcast. And these discs show that as well.
I suppose, with the cutbacks that NASA went through after Apollo 17, they also cut corners with their filming. The Spacelab and Apollo/Soyuz episodes are somewhat washed out and the sound is degraded.
I'm half way through the third disc. It deals with the first four flights of Columbia. These were the test flights of the Space Transportation System before certifying them for routine use. Now I'm getting clear sound and clear pictures. They aren't up to current standards yet.
Or maybe it's just me. One of the notable missing segments is the Apollo 1 fire. I would think that back in the 60's the general thought would be to ... not talk about the tragedies. Less so in the 80's. Now ... I would like to think we are a little more mature, that we can discuss them openly.
Or, again, perhaps it's just me. Perhaps that's why I'm willing to look at the disasters, not with morbid curiosity, but to understand, and perhaps to honor those who lost their lives in reaching for the stars. It makes the successes that much more significant.
The episode of Apollo 17 is called "On the Shoulders of Giants", and references a quote by Sir Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton was once asked how he had managed to accomplish so much. He answered
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
While all of the accomplishments of those that have gone before certainly make them "Giants", I can't help but think that those that lost their lives perhaps have the most claim to the title "Giant".
As you can see, I'm enjoying my Christmas Gift. Thank you, Juli.
Mars Polaris by Tangerine Dream
The first DVD gave me a different title then the printed cover. This title was "NASA: Triumph and Tragedy." That was probably a hard one for them to title. In examining the episode titles I see that they devote an entire episode to Challenger called "Disaster and Investigation." The second to the last episode on the fifth disc simply reads "The Story of Columbia" and the back cover there is the crew picture of STS 107. There is no indication that the episode will discuss the crash of the Columbia. The Columbia crashed last year and the copyright on the disk set is also last year. I'll have to wait and see.
I remember being very pissed off at the news service back in 1986, when they repeatedly showed Challenger's short flight on the news. One broadcast showed it three times in their one report, a 10 minute segment. But now ... I suppose I'm ready to look at it. It's certainly a major part of NASA's history.
I've been fascinated by the change in quality of the episodes as I get through the discs. The Mercury and Gemini episodes are washed out and the sound is scratchy and in monotone. The Apollo episodes are a little better in sound quality. Back when I watched the Lunar landings live on television I recall being delighted at the better visual quality of the Apollo 17 broadcast compared to the Apollo 11 broadcast. And these discs show that as well.
I suppose, with the cutbacks that NASA went through after Apollo 17, they also cut corners with their filming. The Spacelab and Apollo/Soyuz episodes are somewhat washed out and the sound is degraded.
I'm half way through the third disc. It deals with the first four flights of Columbia. These were the test flights of the Space Transportation System before certifying them for routine use. Now I'm getting clear sound and clear pictures. They aren't up to current standards yet.
Or maybe it's just me. One of the notable missing segments is the Apollo 1 fire. I would think that back in the 60's the general thought would be to ... not talk about the tragedies. Less so in the 80's. Now ... I would like to think we are a little more mature, that we can discuss them openly.
Or, again, perhaps it's just me. Perhaps that's why I'm willing to look at the disasters, not with morbid curiosity, but to understand, and perhaps to honor those who lost their lives in reaching for the stars. It makes the successes that much more significant.
The episode of Apollo 17 is called "On the Shoulders of Giants", and references a quote by Sir Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton was once asked how he had managed to accomplish so much. He answered
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
While all of the accomplishments of those that have gone before certainly make them "Giants", I can't help but think that those that lost their lives perhaps have the most claim to the title "Giant".
As you can see, I'm enjoying my Christmas Gift. Thank you, Juli.
Mars Polaris by Tangerine Dream
