"Explorer 1" is the second episode of "Beginnings Of The Space Age". The 60-minute documentary reveals how JPL and the U.S. Army could have been the first to place a satellite into Earth orbit, had they only been given the chance. That opportunity was lost when the Eisenhower administration, unsure of what the Soviet reaction would be to a satellite launched (in part) by the U.S. Army military, hesitated and assigned the project to a civilian-led program called Vanguard. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957, shocking the world and creating the "Race for Space" in the midst of the Cold War. Only after the Vanguard rocket exploded on the launch pad were JPL and the U.S. Army given its chance. The result was Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite, which also achieved the first space science results.
Dramatic, moving and deeply human, ARMSTRONG offers the definitive life story of Neil Armstrong: fro...
Three billion miles away a grand-piano-sized spacecraft is speeding through the outer solar system a...
The captivating tales of the people and events behind one of humanity's greatest achievements in exp...
What’s it like to dedicate your life to work that won’t be completed in your lifetime? Fifteen years...
Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus in...
The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generat...
A unique behind-the-scenes access to NASA’s ambitious mission to launch the James Webb Space Telesco...
The inspirational rise of SpaceX as well as Elon Musk's two-decade effort to resurrect America’s spa...
Aspiring teenage astronauts reveal that a journey to Mars is closer than you think.
From the unique vantage point of 200 miles above Earth's surface, we see how natural forces - volcan...
With access to the scientists and engineers responsible for the Curiosity rover's on-the-ground expe...
The inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ...
The Dream Is Alive takes you into space alongside the astronauts on the space shuttle. Share with th...
The Apollo 17 mission was the final opportunity to collect first hand information about the history ...
The Wonder of it All focuses on the human side of the men behind the Apollo missions through candid ...
National Geographic's riveting effort recounts all 12 crewed missions using only archival footage, p...
The Future of the Planet is at stake by biblical brophecy to spaceborn calamity.
William Shatner presents a light-hearted look at how the "Star Trek" TV series have influenced and i...
In an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UF...
Never-before-heard audio tapes recorded with Neil Armstrong during the final years of his life revea...