Discovery & Science Channels to Celebrate Neil Armstrong With All-New Special

This week, the sun set on one of mankind's greatest pioneers with the passing of Neil Armstrong. The Armstrong story provides a snapshot of a profoundly historic moment for the United States, when groundbreaking science and technology combined with an unmatched passion for satisfying curiosity. In celebration of Armstrong's life and innumerable contributions to space exploration, Discovery Channel and SCIENCE will air special premiere presentations of ONE GIANT LEAP: A NEIL ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE, featuring footage from Neil Armstrong's last public appearance. The feature also offers interviews with crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and leverages special access to the Apollo 11 archives to take viewers through the complete journey - from initial training, to moon walk, to splashdown on Earth.

Discovery Channel will debut the U.S. premiere on Saturday, September 1 at 8PM ET/PT, followed by a special encore presentation on SCIENCE later that night at 10PM ET/PT. The special also will air across Discovery's international network portfolio in more than 200 countries around the world. ONE GIANT LEAP: A NEIL ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE is a co-production between Discovery Canada, Discovery Channel and SCIENCE.

Throughout the week, Discovery Channel and SCIENCE also will present special programming blocks to commemorate Armstrong and the history of space exploration with the following presentations, produced in partnership with NASA featuring exclusive interviews with key astronauts and engineers.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31

THE PLANETS (8X60 Series) on SCIENCE
Encore Presentation: 9AM - 5PM ET/PT
Where did the planets come from and how were they formed? Clues to the birth and evolution of the planets lie scattered throughout the solar system. Distance, time, and technology handicap the search for answers, but scientists are making progress.

MOON MACHINES (6x60 Series) on SCIENCE
Encore Presentation: 5PM - 11PM ET/PT
Forty years on from mankind's first steps on the lunar surface, reaching the Moon is still a metaphor for an impossible journey. In just eight years 400,000 people across America came together to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. But whilst the astronauts who walked on the Moon became household names, the men and women who created the machines that made their journeys possible have been largely forgotten. Yet, from the impossibly gigantic Saturn V rocket to the fragile tissue paper lunar lander, the stories of these miracles of engineering are every bit as extraordinary as those of the men who flew them.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

WHEN WE LEFT EARTH
Special One-Hour Presentation: 7PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel
Narrated by award-winning Gary Sinise, Discovery will provide a special presentation of the NASA mission that changed human history forever. Supporting the Apollo 8 astronauts are the three men who have been selected to attempt the first moon landing - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Two missions later, NASA is ready to go for the moon. But no one knows what will happen to them when they get there. Will the lunar module sink into the dust, will the crew be attacked by "lunar germs," will they be able to blast away from the lunar surface once the mission is complete?

ONE GIANT LEAP: A NEIL ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE
U.S. Premiere: 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel
Network Premiere: 10PM ET/PT on SCIENCE
ONE GIANT LEAP: A NEIL ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE, featuring footage from Neil Armstrong's last public appearance. The feature also offers interviews with crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and leverages special access to the Apollo 11 archives to take viewers through the complete journey - from initial training, to moon walk, to splashdown on Earth. The special serves as a definitive exploration of the legacy of Apollo 11 and the man who was first to step foot on the moon.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (Documentary) on SCIENCE
Encore Presentation: 8PM ET/PT
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON vividly depicts the daring and the danger, the pride and the passion of an extraordinary era in American history. Between 1968 and 1972, the world watched in awe as American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon. Only 12 American men walked upon its surface and they remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. In The Shadow of the Moon combines archival material from the original NASA film footage and interviews with the surviving astronauts to tell the story of one of mankind's greatest achievements.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

WHEN WE LEFT EARTH: THE NASA MISSIONS (6X60 Series) on SCIENCE
Encore Presentation: 5PM - 11PM ET/PT
Each episode will focus around a single mission, and in the telling of that core story. We bring all the other related areas to embellish and enrich the narrative and also to place it in the bigger context of the history of NASA itself.

ONE GIANT LEAP: A NEIL ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE is produced for Discovery Communications by Discovery Canada, Discovery Channel and SCIENCE. For Discovery Canada, Kelly McKeown is executive producer. For SCIENCE, Kaitlin McIntyre is producer, Bernadette McDaid is Vice President of Production, and Debbie Adler Myers General Manager and Executive Vice President.

About Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.1 million U.S. homes, can be seen in over 180 countries, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.

About SCIENCE:

SCIENCE, a division of Discovery Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), is home for the thought provocateur, the individual who is unafraid to ask the killer questions of "how" and "why not." The network is a playground for those with audacious intellects and features programming willing to go beyond imagination to explore the unknown. Guided by curiosity, SCIENCE looks for innovation in mysterious new worlds as well as in its own backyard. SCIENCE and the SCIENCE HD simulcast reach more than 68 million U.S. households. The network also features high-traffic online and social media destinations, including ScienceChannel.com, facebook.com/Science Channel and twitter.com/Science Channel.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 200 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through more than 140 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as US joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

 

 

 

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