# Space documentaries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481 "2009-07-18T22:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/1 "2009-07-18T22:33:03Z")
Just checking out my video shelf. Here are the space documentaries I have. (I also have docudramas _Apollo 13_ and _The Right Stuff_, and science fiction such as _2001: A Space Odyssey_; but this is just a list of the documentaries.) [ul][li][_Test Flights: Beyond The Limits_](http://www.amazon.com/Test-Flights-Beyond-Limits-Collectors/dp/6305070873) (1998). Not really a ‘space’ set, but it involves flight testing that helped pave the way.[/li][li][_Moon Shot_](http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Shot-Inside-Apollo-Project/dp/6303126707) (1994) The Inside Story of the Apollo Project.[/li][li][_Freedom 7: America’s First Space Flight_](http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Americas-First-Space-Flight/dp/B000LP4R4O/) (2006). I wanted to start a [Space Film Festival](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=431558), but no one was interested. This film was the subject of that thread.[/li][li][_Project Gemini: A Bold Leap Forward_](http://www.amazon.com/Project-Gemini-Bold-Leap-Forward/dp/B00009XYYC) (2002).[/li][li][_The NASA Collection_](http://www.amazon.com/Nasa-Collection-1-Apollo-11/dp/B000MMMTH8) (2007).[/li][\*][_NASA: 50 Years of Space Exploration!_](http://www.amazon.com/NASA-50-Years-Space-Exploration/dp/B0000AOV3M) (1999).[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/2 "2009-07-18T23:40:53Z")
[_For All Mankind_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097372/) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/3 "2009-07-19T05:03:29Z")
_[When We Left Earth](http://www.amazon.com/When-We-Left-Earth-Missions/dp/B001BEK8CY/ref=pd_sim_d_4)_ - lots of great restored NASA archival footage, along with interviews of key figures, spans the space program from Mercury to ISS. _[Hail Columbia!](http://www.amazon.com/Hail-Columbia-IMAX-James-Whitmore/dp/B00005MEPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1247978724&sr=8-1)_ - IMAX doc about the shuttle’s first mission; or get it with 4 other IMAX docs in _[The IMAX Space Collection](http://www.amazon.com/Collection-Columbia-Planet-Destiny-Mission/dp/B00005MEPI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1247978724&sr=8-8)_. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/4 "2009-07-19T14:43:35Z")
Not exactly per the OP, but I highly recommend the “[From The Earth To The Moon](http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Moon-Signature-Tom-Hanks/dp/B000A0GYD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1248014544&sr=8-1)” box set. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/5 "2009-07-19T15:02:41Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Not exactly per the OP, but I highly recommend the “[From The Earth To The Moon](http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Moon-Signature-Tom-Hanks/dp/B000A0GYD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1248014544&sr=8-1)” box set. An excellent series, which is indeed on my Space shelf. But not exactly a documentary. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/6 "2009-07-20T17:57:08Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _[When We Left Earth](http://www.amazon.com/When-We-Left-Earth-Missions/dp/B001BEK8CY/ref=pd_sim_d_4)_ - lots of great restored NASA archival footage, along with interviews of key figures, spans the space program from Mercury to ISS. I enjoyed that last time they played it. It’s going into my shopping cart. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/7 "2009-07-20T20:03:16Z")
[In the Shadow of the Moon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/) ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/8 "2009-07-23T00:24:24Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _[When We Left Earth](http://www.amazon.com/When-We-Left-Earth-Missions/dp/B001BEK8CY/ref=pd_sim_d_4)_ - lots of great restored NASA archival footage, along with interviews of key figures, spans the space program from Mercury to ISS. I agree, this was a great series. In part because it went beyond Apollo. The moon missions were manned spaceflight’s greatest achievement, but Skylab – nearly complete mission failure jury rigged to operational status with bailing twine and NASA ingenuity – is a great story, as was the stuff with the Hubble repair mission they chronicled. There’s lots of cool stuff in the space program that suffers historically because it isn’t quite as cool as the coolest thing in the history of the human race. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/9 "2009-07-23T01:35:28Z")
[quote=“Johnny\_L.A, post:1, topic:503481”] [li][_Moon Shot_](http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Shot-Inside-Apollo-Project/dp/6303126707) (1994) The Inside Story of the Apollo Project.[/li][/QUOTE] 'Tis a pity this doc was never released on DVD! My favorite documentaries include the shows [If We Had No Moon](http://www.amazon.com/If-We-Had-No-Moon/dp/B000H2B8WK/), and [95 Worlds and Counting](http://www.amazon.com/95-Worlds-and-Counting/dp/B000H9L2EW/). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/10 "2009-07-23T02:14:49Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > 'Tis a pity this doc was never released on DVD! If you haven’t read it, I recommend the _Moon Shot_ book from which the television miniseries was made. Alan Shepard is one of the co-authors. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-documentaries/503481/11 "2009-07-23T02:53:13Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > If you haven’t read it, I recommend the _Moon Shot_ book from which the television miniseries was made. Alan Shepard is one of the co-authors. I have the book and have read it twice. Excellent read! And yes, I keep checking to see if the documentary is available on DVD. I like the part where Alan Shepard is asked if he would have landed anyway if the radar altimeter had failed to lock on the Moon’s surface (which would have caused an abort). Shepard smiled slyly and said, ‘We’ll never know.’ (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)