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From: karn@petrus.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.tv,net.aviation
Subject: Re: Space (the mini-series)
Message-ID: <332@petrus.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Apr-85 18:49:35 EST
Article-I.D.: petrus.332
Posted: Tue Apr 23 18:49:35 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Apr-85 04:36:49 EST
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Xref: watmath net.tv:2821 net.aviation:1548

Glad to see my opinions of "Space" were not unique.  I wrote them before
the 5th episode, which was in many ways the most disappointing. I was appalled
to find out how much this turkey cost; for $25M they should
have been able to hire people who knew the difference between the ascent
and descent stages of a lunar module. During the descent to the moon, the
LM alternately shed and regained its descent stage. I'm surprised that they
didn't portray the actual lunar landing by showing the liftoff in reverse.
Earlier, in the Saturn V launch, they have the launcher moving before the
engines even ignite. In the "astronaut over a cliff" scene (which was all
too predictable) nobody seemed to care that even an astronaut in full
gear could be easily lifted by another in 1/6 G.  Gag.

I have always felt that "truth is stranger than fiction" when it comes
to space stories. A very few writers, such as Arthur C. Clarke, have
the imagination (and technical understanding) to create believable fiction
that is even half as riveting as the real thing. The rest should stay with
documentaries. Apollo 13 was one of the best cliffhangers of all time, and
it was for real.

Phil