Starts tonight. The movie was an all time favorite of mine.
Or saying that it goes up like a cannonball and down... well like a cannonball.Shai-Hulud said:
They better have a scene with the german engineers questioning why they want a window.
Probably the only thing that annoyed me about the original movie was the screeching and complaining wives. I loved all the flying and NASA stuff. The fact that they focused so much more on domestic strife is why I disliked First Man. Does this show have more flying/NASA stuff or more domestic crap?Hey Nav said:
First two episodes were available tonight.
My summary:
Astronaut selection. Very little detail .
Test pilots drink and party.
Only flying stuff was a scene where Gordo is flying with Cal Cunningham in their F-104s. Cal crashes and dies. Being a test pilot is hazardous.
Al Shepard is a ***** dog.
Gordo's home life is not good.
John Glenn is a boy scout - but a political boy scout.
Pretty much all I got out of it.
At least they covered that Gordo's wife, Trudy, was herself a pilot.
I'm not disparaging the wives for feeling that way, and I'd expect some time to be dedicated to it, but that's not as interesting as the space flight part. I think that is why First Man bombed. They took what was among the most exciting human life stories of all time and forced us to watch boring parts of it. It's like making a movie about Audie Murphy and dedicating most of the time to his marriages. Nobody gives a crap about that.TXAG 05 said:
The first part of the book had a big focus on the pilots dying all the time, going to the funerals, etc. and the wives obviously weren't crazy about the good possibility that their husband could die any day.
I have the same thoughts.Quote:
The problem this show is facing with me is the original movie is just so damned awesome.
Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Agreed.chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
PS on Chuck Yeager: Still living!chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
Thank you for reminding me that I need to read the book again. Love Wolfe and this was one of my favorites.chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
I have never read the book, but only saw the movie. It never occurred to me that Gordo was thinking about Chuck Yeager when asked that question. It would surprise me if that was really what he thought.Capitol Ag said:chimpanzee said:Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
Watched the second episode tonight.
For reasons I've already stated and for the complete absence of Chuck Yeagar, this show is suffering. I'll give this incarnation props for delving into aspects of support characters' lives that the original movie did not cover (and I frankly don't recall from my recent reading of the book) such as Trudy Cooper being a pilot herself, but in the end I'm ready to see some rockets blasting off.
Yeager set the tone about who these guys were. The whole part of the book about the accent and speech pattern of every pilot you've ever heard over the PA of an airliner just being an imitation of an unflappable West Virginia pro was gold. Yeager was The Man, and everyone knew it. He started his career in WWII before most of the Mercury/test pilot crew did in Korea
Without the test pilot background, the Mercury program stuff is interesting enough, but it is going to lack context that Wolfe used to make the whole narrative of the program really compelling.
My opinion Is the show is good. Won't take that away from it. But so much of this. The movie and I assume the book, help set up the program in context to Yeager. You HAVE to have Yeager in this. They start in 1961 and only flash back to 1957. I really wanted some 1947 X-1 or even a little WWII in there and a build up of Yeager. When the reporters ask Gordo at the end of the movie who was the best pilot he ever saw, while he finally said himself, the fact he thought of Yeager first was awesome.
Further, by not including the breaking of the sound barrier in this (yet), they are missing on a huge part of what made these guys so damn brave (or crazy or both). That was as big an accomplishment as actually going to space at the time when Yeager did it. Men had died trying and inadvertently died in WWII when their aircraft that could perform at the limits of piston engines would break apart in dives that exceeded well over 500 mph. It helped us understand to dangers because it reminded us that breaking the sound barrier and in essence all endeavors regarding aviation and space travel were very new and as such, very dangerous. One scene with the Star Fighter crashing wasn't enough, for me.
Quote:
About one minute after liftoff all contact with the Atlas was lost. This included telemetry and all beacons and transponders. About one second before telemetry was lost, the pressure difference between the lox and fuel tanks suddenly went to zero. It is not known whether this caused the failure or was an effect of the failure.