<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">Race to Mars blasts off this weekend in high definition </TD><TD class=buttonheading align=right width="100%">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Wednesday, 19 September 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>
Race to Mars blasts off this weekend in high definition
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Space Age initiated by Sputnik, this weekend the Discovery Channel will be premiere two new television programs in high definition - Race to Mars and Mars Rising.
The original 10-hour, $20-million dollar Canadian television production is the most expensive science television project in production this year worldwide and will also be seen by audiences in the U.S., France and Japan later this fall.
Premiering with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, September 23rd at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT on Discovery Channel and Discovery HD, “Race to Mars” is a four hour fictional account that imagines and simulates the first manned space mission to the Red Planet.
Race to Mars tells the story of an international team of six astronauts (four men and two women) who embark on a 56-million kilometre, 583 day mission in a capsule the size of two school buses.
The drama unfolds in the first episode, as the mission led by American Commander Rick Erwin (Michael Riley) is plagued by electrical power system malfunctions and the crew considers aborting the mission.
Following four one hour episodes of the fictional Race to Mars, Discovery will premiere “Mars Rising”, a six-hour companion documentary series that explores the science and technology being developed and tested today that could make a future mission to Mars a reality.
Shot in HD in over 90 locations, the show captures interviews, training sessions and experiments in the United States, Russia, Chile, China, Europe and across Canada, including the Canadian Arctic. Over 300 scientists from diverse backgrounds and nationalities were consulted for the series and more than 60 space experts, including former and current astronauts, appear on camera. Among the subjects explored through the series include spaceship design, possible trajectories, rocket fuel, finding new life forms, new thoughts on astronaut selection and training, space suit engineering, medical training for deep space, blasting through the Mars atmosphere, life support systems and robotics.
Experts appearing in the series include: James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars and Lunar Exploration at NASA; Paul Delaney, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Toronto’s York University; and Academy-Award winning filmmaker James Cameron (‘Titanic’) who is a member of NASA’s special advisory committee. The astronauts interviewed for the show include Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian mission specialist and the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit; Canadian astronaut Dave Williams; retired NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, who spent 132 days aboard the ISS Mir in 1997; and Jeffrey Hoffman who was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Mars Rising is narrated by William Shatner and premieres with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, October 7th at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT and details the significant challenges facing a mission to Mars.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Wednesday, 19 September 2007 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2> Race to Mars blasts off this weekend in high definition
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Space Age initiated by Sputnik, this weekend the Discovery Channel will be premiere two new television programs in high definition - Race to Mars and Mars Rising.
The original 10-hour, $20-million dollar Canadian television production is the most expensive science television project in production this year worldwide and will also be seen by audiences in the U.S., France and Japan later this fall.
Premiering with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, September 23rd at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT on Discovery Channel and Discovery HD, “Race to Mars” is a four hour fictional account that imagines and simulates the first manned space mission to the Red Planet.
Race to Mars tells the story of an international team of six astronauts (four men and two women) who embark on a 56-million kilometre, 583 day mission in a capsule the size of two school buses.
The drama unfolds in the first episode, as the mission led by American Commander Rick Erwin (Michael Riley) is plagued by electrical power system malfunctions and the crew considers aborting the mission.
Following four one hour episodes of the fictional Race to Mars, Discovery will premiere “Mars Rising”, a six-hour companion documentary series that explores the science and technology being developed and tested today that could make a future mission to Mars a reality.
Shot in HD in over 90 locations, the show captures interviews, training sessions and experiments in the United States, Russia, Chile, China, Europe and across Canada, including the Canadian Arctic. Over 300 scientists from diverse backgrounds and nationalities were consulted for the series and more than 60 space experts, including former and current astronauts, appear on camera. Among the subjects explored through the series include spaceship design, possible trajectories, rocket fuel, finding new life forms, new thoughts on astronaut selection and training, space suit engineering, medical training for deep space, blasting through the Mars atmosphere, life support systems and robotics.
Experts appearing in the series include: James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars and Lunar Exploration at NASA; Paul Delaney, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Toronto’s York University; and Academy-Award winning filmmaker James Cameron (‘Titanic’) who is a member of NASA’s special advisory committee. The astronauts interviewed for the show include Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian mission specialist and the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit; Canadian astronaut Dave Williams; retired NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, who spent 132 days aboard the ISS Mir in 1997; and Jeffrey Hoffman who was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Mars Rising is narrated by William Shatner and premieres with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, October 7th at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT and details the significant challenges facing a mission to Mars.
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