Produce a live television event from a $100 billion studio that’s 250 miles above
the Earth’s surface and traveling at 4.9 miles per second? That will be the task
at hand this spring for National Geographic Channel (NGC) Worldwide with a
television event that will literally take viewers beyond the stratosphere.
NGC President Howard T. Owens announced today Live from Space, a
spectacular, groundbreaking two-hour television event from Arrow Media to be
broadcast live from the International Space Station (ISS) and Mission Control in
Houston this March.
With unique access to and footage from the ISS and Mission Control, National
Geographic Channel will take its viewers into orbit with astronauts Rick
Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata from the ISS, while astronaut Mike Massimino
(most notably known for fixing the Hubble Telescope) will participate from live
from Houston. Live from Space will air on NGC in 170 countries, and on Channel
4 in the U.K. It will also simulcast on NGC’s Spanish-language network in the
U.S., Nat Geo MUNDO.
The ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes, meaning NGC will quite literally take
viewers on a trip around the world. We’ll see incredible shots of the planet, from
sunset and sunrise, to city lights and green aurora, to lightning storms and
shooting stars.
For those fascinated by the recent emergency spacewalks to replace a vital
cooling system, Live from Space will show even more intimately what it takes to
run this floating world. From space, Mastracchio and Wakata will give viewers a
fully guided tour, showing how they live for months in microgravity. In their own
words, learn how they sleep upside down, stay fit, maintain personal hygiene
and, of course, (that question everyone is always curious about), how they use
the toilet. They’ll conduct never-before-broadcast experiments that demonstrate
the real-world value of the science conducted on the floating laboratory. We’ll
also show how science in space is benefiting people on Earth such as the ISS’s
robotic systems, which are the inspiration for a neurosurgical robot that
removes brain tumors. Astronauts, flight controllers and researchers will be
featured in original segments from the ISS and NASA Mission Control during the
course of the two-hour live event.
It won’t just be the astronauts doing the talking, either. Viewers will be able to
chat via video with Mastracchio and Wakata and have their faces beamed into
space to join the conversation. A first-of-its-kind second-screen experience will
also allow viewers to track the space station while exploring the interests of
people under its path. This “social-media telescope’ will give viewers real-time
insight into the collected cares of Earth’s inhabitants. (Further details on this to
be announced shortly.)
“Everyday at NGC our team tries to reach for the stars,’ says Owens. “Now we
are literally able to do it! We are honored to have secured such amazing access
to the station and the astronauts living there, and are exhilarated by the
tremendous challenge to show Earth … live.’
“We’re thrilled to be making this unique event for NGC Worldwide,’ adds Arrow
Media’s creative director, Tom Brisley. “The technological and logistical
challenges of broadcasting live from space may be enormous, but there’s no
bigger buzz than creating mind-blowing content that works in micro gravity, on
the world’s largest spacecraft!’
Live from Space will premiere in March to coincide with COSMOS: A SPACETIME
ODYSSEY, a joint venture between Fox Broadcasting Company and National
Geographic Channel. More than three decades after the debut of “Cosmos: A
Personal Voyage,’ Carl Sagan’s stunning and iconic exploration of the universe
as revealed by science, COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY sets off on a new
voyage for the stars. Sagan’s original creative collaborators – writer/executive
producer Ann Druyan and astronomer Steven Soter – have teamed with Seth
MacFarlane (“Family Guy,’ “American Dad’) to conceive the 13-part series that
will serve as a successor to the Emmy Award- and Peabody Award-winning
original series. Hosted by renowned astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse
Tyson (“Death By Black Hole,’ “Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier’),
the series will explore how we discovered the laws of nature and found our
coordinates in space and time. It will bring to life never-before-told stories of the
heroic quest for knowledge and transport viewers to new worlds and across the
universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale.
After more than 50 years of manned space flights, Live from Space will launch
cable television into orbit with an event that is not to be missed.
Live from Space is created by Arrow Media. Creative director and executive
producer at Arrow Media is Tom Brisley; Arrow Media executive producers are Al
Berman and Sally Dixon. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is
Madeleine Carter, vice president of production is Char Serwa, senior vice
president, production & development is Noel Siegel; executive vice president of
programming and strategy is Heather Moran; and president is Howard T.
Owens.
