I enjoyed it, although I think the *cue suspense music* getting so close to *dum dum duuuum* d...ee..aaath on each planet is a bit boring now *peacful "the storm has gone" music*
They did mention Nuclear engines on the show, and on the website they mention that it's a nuclear thermal rather than nuclear electric - A fusion reactor super heats hydrogen and spits in out the back. Nuclear engines are a lot more powerful than conventional chemical engines. That's why Nasa monkeyed around with them in the 60's and early 70's (NERVA), albeit using fission reactors. So I guess the mission has been planned on direct transits rather than the usual gravity assist grand tours that the Voyager probes did. As for the graphics, I thought they where pretty good. Some of the Venus / Mars scenes you could see where the Atacama desert ended and the CG began, but it wasn't that bad. And the ship and landers where very well done - I like the way they've managed to make it look as if we could build it -even down to the details like the observation dome on the ship. That's a copy of the cupola that's going to be flown to the ISS once shuttle flights recommence. I'll be watching next week to see what happens to the good ship Pegasus.
watched it, enjoyed it and will be catching the next one, tis good to see that the TV licence money gets spent on decent shows and not just on showing repeats
Dont start on about TV lisense and how much it cost. My house mate had the clever idea that the money to make the program could be better spent on 3rd world poverty. I also pointed out so could the money she spends on fags which didnt go down too well..
I assume she was taking the same tack as 'We shoudn't spend all this cash on Space, lets save the whales, end poverty and live on tofu and lentils'. It amazes me that people still use this argument against space exploration. The whole of Nasa's budget is less than 1% of the US total budget. ESA's is probably less than that on a like for like comparison. As for the other space faring nations, I guess it's much the same. Russia does everything on a shoestring, and China like the US probably spends more on Defence than on their space program. Add it all together and the total amount spent on Space probably wouldnt even register against the Global economy. Just tell her to quit smoking, adopt a panda and go hug a tree.
They actually mentioned (on the follow-up show after the repeat sunday afternoon) how much it costs each of us in the country to fund a typical ESA space mission. 50p - the price of a Mars bar i think they said Can anyone now see the direct link between the rise in obesity cases in previous years and the lack of any real progress in space in recent times???? We're eating our way to some kind of mass horrific sun-related radiation death, stranded on the planet cos we'd rather stuff our munting cakeholes full of big macs rather than eat lettuce and donate the spare change to the ultimate goal and purpose of mankind.... Guys, we're f**ked....
Agh good job I was prepared on sunday or else i would of missed it, stupid bbc site saying bbc3 when it was actually on bbc2. I would expect the second part to be repeated this coming sunday. Btw I really enjoyed it, yet again the beeb showing it can make decent shows
Yeah, I've been watching it and I'm thoroughly impressed. It demonstrates once again that British TV is pretty much the best in the world... Good suspension of disbelief-- you just go with the story. Technology is credible, special effects are good, with nice exploration of some of the human issues and difficulties of travelling into space. I just wish they would have done more episodes. As for those who will moan at us that space exploration is a waste of money, quote to them T.S. Eliot: If we don't look outward, we will not achieve inward understanding.
Even I watch it over here in Belgium. I'm so lucky I can receive some English channels It's really good.
Excellent series. And the whole loss of a crew member was handled well - you can imagine a crew 'mutinying' after an event like that. I only hope there's more (Extra footage) on the DVD. I know that the book expands on the story, with extra renderings of the locations and Pegasus.
Excellent was the general opinion at work today. God yeah, it could have been an 10 part series quite easily.
It was awe inspiring - even stayed up till 3am to catch the recording i'd made (was out at the Mark Thomas gig in london whilst it was on). I just kinda sat there, feeling really gutted that i won't live to see such a tremendous achievement actually take place. Nevermind, i've got my dad's satellite tracking gear to be playing with in the meantime....
I got bored quickly of the second episode and stopped taking notice of it. At one point suddenly when someone died, I asked -H- on MSN who'd died, and he had no idea, he was preoccupied with something else too.
