John Glenn: American Hero

The Voyagers

September 2010 •English

In the summer of 1977, NASA sent Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 on an epic journey into interstellar space. Together and alone, they will travel until the end of the universe. Each spacecraft carries a golden record album, a massive compilation of images and sounds embodying the best of Planet Earth. According to Carl Sagan, “[t]he spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.” While working on the golden record, Sagan met and fell madly in love with his future wife Annie Druyan. The record became their love letter to humankind and to each other. In the summer of 2010, I began my own hopeful voyage into the unknown. This film is a love letter to my fellow traveler. - Penny Lane

Lunar

May 2017 •English

In the year 1957 the cold war expands to space. The Soviet-Union sends Sputnik as the first manmade object into earth-orbit. 3 years later Yuri Gagarin enters space as the first man in space. The so called "Space Race" seems to be decided. But in 1961 President Kennedy promised to send American Astronauts to the Moon. The Apollo Project was born. A space ship had to be built that is strong enough to escape earth's gravitation, land on the moon and bring the crew safely back to earth. Motion Designer Christian worked with his brother and Composer Wolfgang for 18 months on this shortfilm. The foundation were thousands original NASA photographies, taken from the Astronauts during the Apollo Missions, which were released in September 2015. It is an animated collage using different techniques to bring the stills to life.

Searching for Skylab, America's Forgotten Triumph

February 2019 •English

The first American space station Skylab is found in pieces scattered in Western Australia. Putting these pieces back together and re-tracing the Skylab program back to its very conception reveals the cornerstone of human space exploration.

Apollo 17, on the Shoulders of Giants

January 1973 •English

A documentary about the Apollo 17 mission to the Taurus-Littrow on the moon, the final lunar landing mission in the Apollo program, December 1972. Produced by A-V Corporation for NASA. The film was distributed both as an ephemeral film (shown to an audience via a 16mm film projector), and was also shown on TV (and was shown on both public and commercial stations per a search of vintage newspapers).

The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station

September 2021 •English

In unusual circumstances, scientists from different countries work together to achieve a common scientific goal. Locked in their spinning space lab, they are isolated from the world — family and friends - and can only watch from the outside as life on Earth continues without them. The space station is a monument not only to the weaknesses of humanity, but also to its ability to do the impossible for the sake of life in space.

Miniverse

April 2017 •English

What if you could get behind the wheel and race through space? We scale down the Solar System to the continental United States and place the planets along the way to better appreciate the immense scale of the Universe. See space as never before, with Mars looming over the Freedom Tower and Jupiter towering above the Lincoln Memorial. Join former astronaut Chris Hadfield - a YouTube sensation for his performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” aboard the International Space Station - and his interstellar hitchhikers Michio Kaku and astronomers Derrick Pitts and Laura Danly. It’s a joyride from coast to coast - and from the sun to Pluto.

One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps

May 2003 •English

One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps is the dramatic and moving real-life tale of the United States Air Force chimponauts and their NASA compatriots.

Apollo 17: The Untold Story of the Last Men on the Moon

May 2011 •English

The remarkable story of the determination and courage of a generation. A tribute to three brave astronauts and the thousands of men and women behind them during the final days of NASA's Apollo program.

New Horizons

June 2015 •English

A brief visualisation of NASA’s historic spacecrafts Mariner, Pioneer, Voyager, and Dawn, exploring the solar system, culminating in the New Horizons mission.

Cosmic Voyage

August 1996 •English

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.

Edge of Darkness

November 2015 •English

The film features amazing scenes of places never before seen gathered by key space missions that culminated with groundbreaking discoveries in 2015. It features a spectacular flight though the great cliffs on comet 67P, a close look at the fascinating bright "lights" on Ceres, and the first ever close ups of dwarf binary planet Pluto/Charon and its moons.

Touching the Asteroid

October 2020 •English

Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx attempts to grab a piece of an asteroid to bring back to Earth so scientists can study it to learn about the planet's origins.

Saving Skylab: America's First Space Station

April 2020 •English

How an electric lineman's tool manufacturer in Centralia, Missouri, helped save the first American space station from catastrophe.

Apollo 13: Survival

March 2024 •English

Using original footage and interviews, this documentary tells the nail-biting story of Apollo 13 and the struggle to bring its astronauts safely home.

A History of Project Mercury: Preparing for Man in Space

Invalid date •English

A respectful overview of Dr. Marvin E. Grunzke’s career that included training Ham, the first chimpanzee launched into orbit by NASA.

Moon Landing Live

July 2019 •English

July 1969. America made history and sent the first humans to the moon. High-quality NASA footage and extensive news broadcasts bring this sensational moment in history bursting back into life. Live news footage from every corner of the globe recreates the excitement and elation that surrounded the event, as 600 million people tuned in to watch Neil Armstrong's remarkable first steps.

When We Left Earth

June 2008 •English

Commemorating the space agency's 50th anniversary, follow John Glenn's Mercury mission to orbit the earth, Neil Armstrong's first historic steps on the moon, unprecedented spacewalks to repair the Hubble stories, and more!

Beyond A Year in Space

November 2017 •English

Twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly were separated for almost a year, undergoing intensive measurements when one was in space and one was on Earth. But that was only the beginning of their scientific odyssey. "Beyond A Year in Space," PBS and Time's follow-up documentary to last year's — which followed Scott Kelly from launch to landing — chronicles Kelly's return to life on Earth and the extensive medical testing the duo undergo to determine exactly what changes have occurred as a result of his record-breaking stay on the International Space Station. The documentary also follows two new astronauts, Jessica Meir and Victor Glover, training to go even further.

Gravitation - Urkraft des Universums

August 2003 •German

In the Shadow of the Moon

January 2007 •English

Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.