Inside the Space Station

Rating:
Summary: Very Good, Informative, But Not Entirely Balanced
Review: If this is the same set of (3?) documentaries that very recently premiered on the Discovery channel, then it contains almost 3 hours of very good and informative though not entirely balanced programming. NOTE: **No running time is listed in the contents or technical information**. This show is basically a glossy promotional 'puff piece' for the very worthwhile but (in the past) troubled International Space Station. There IS some discussion about the tortuous political, financial and technical journey the Station went through before becoming a reality. But many of the problems are handled in a once-over-lightly manner, that brooks little negativity. Which is good, I suppose. ANY space endeavor needs support these days. I.S.S. truly is a geopolitical and engineering labor that has tested the resolve of 3 Presidents and no less than 3 Nasa Administrators. But it is finally coming together relatively nicely and after watching this well-photographed and slickly-made program, you'll wonder why there was so much moaning and where the years have gone. The Space Station is needed badly, because the benefits from space, at least for the short term, will come from near-Earth space. And then the Station needs to be completed A.S.A.P. because Mars (and maybe the Moon) Awaits!

Rating:
Summary: Out Of This World!
Review: In my opinion this video should be on the shelves of every school science library! It is truly an EXCEPTIONAL video that not only documents the construction of the International Space Station, but reaches beyond to help viewers understand the need for the space station and for future space exploration! The video's photography, music, and dialogue captivates the audience from the very beginning and never lets up until the closing credits. I showed this video to my sixth grade science classes and every one of my students agreed that it was one of the best educational and documentary type videos viewed.

Rating:
Summary: Out Of This World!
Review: In my opinion this video should be on the shelves of every school science library! It is truly an EXCEPTIONAL video that not only documents the construction of the International Space Station, but reaches beyond to help viewers understand the need for the space station and for future space exploration! The video's photography, music, and dialogue captivates the audience from the very beginning and never lets up until the closing credits. I showed this video to my sixth grade science classes and every one of my students agreed that it was one of the best educational and documentary type videos viewed.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good, Informative, Too SHORT
Review: NOTE: **No running time is listed in the contents or technical information**. THIS IS NOT the same set of 3 documentaries that very recently premiered on the Discovery channel. It is only the 45 minute documentary of the above title. It is a good, informative though not entirely balanced program. This show is basically a glossy promotional 'puff piece' for the very worthwhile but (in the past) troubled International Space Station. There IS some discussion about the tortuous political, financial and technical journey the Station went through before becoming a reality. But many of the problems are handled in a once-over-lightly manner, that brooks little negativity. Which is good, I suppose. ANY space endeavor needs support these days. I.S.S. truly is a geopolitical and engineering labor that has tested the resolve of 3 Presidents and no less than 3 Nasa Administrators. But it is finally coming together relatively nicely and after watching this well-photographed and slickly-made program, you'll wonder why there was so much moaning and where the years have gone. The Space Station is needed badly, because the benefits from space, at least for the short term, will come from near-Earth space. And then the Station needs to be completed A.S.A.P. because Mars (and maybe the Moon) Awaits!

Rating:
Summary: not inside the space station
Review: Out of about 45 minutes total, maybe 15 minutes are in space. Of this some is space station Mir, some is looking at Earth, and only maybe 7 minutes is actually "inside the space station". Most of the Video is things like survival training in Alaska, people designing robots for space, or computer simulations of what the space station is planned to look like. So it is mostly not what I was expecting/hoping for. But the short time that was in space was very good.

Rating:
Summary: not inside the space station
Review: Out of about 45 minutes total, maybe 15 minutes are in space. Of this some is space station Mir, some is looking at Earth, and only maybe 7 minutes is actually "inside the space station". Most of the Video is things like survival training in Alaska, people designing robots for space, or computer simulations of what the space station is planned to look like. So it is mostly not what I was expecting/hoping for. But the short time that was in space was very good.

Rating:
Summary: not inside the space station
Review: Out of about 45 minutes total, maybe 15 minutes are in space. Of this some is space station Mir, some is looking at Earth, and only maybe 7 minutes is actually "inside the space station". Most of the Video is things like survival training in Alaska, people designing robots for space, or computer simulations of what the space station is planned to look like. So it is mostly not what I was expecting/hoping for. But the short time that was in space was very good.

Rating:
Summary: National security
Review: This show left me very concerned with the way NASA handles national security and technology transfer issues.

There are foreign people everywhere in this program. For instance at some point in the show, NASA congratulates itself for having Europeans in the X-38 program. We even get to see French guys fooling around the prototype.

NASA would like to transfer reentry technology for future launchers (and missiles) to Europe, it would not behave differently.

Hasn't the Chinese spying in Los Alamos been enough???

Rating:
Summary: A Good Introduction
Review: While I was disappointed that this wasn't the full three hour doco shown on Discovery, I did enjoy this DVD immensely. It managed to capture the excitement of the project and illustrate some of the issues the designers and builders faced when creating the station.

Oh, by the way, to the guy who was concerned about all the foreigners involved in the construction, last time I checked it was the INTERNATIONAL space station. Get a grip.

Cheers