Earth is buzzing right now. Artemis 2 just proved we can still go back. It feels good. Like maybe the hard part is over. It isn’t.
A new PBS documentary cuts through the noise. Once Upon a Time in Space. Four parts. Four Tuesdays in summer. It doesn’t care about rocket specs. It cares about people. Specifically, the ones who stay behind.
James Bluemel directs it. He made the Northern Ireland and Iraq serieses before. He knows how to look at conflict. Space is conflict. Just quiet. Vacuum noise.
“It lays bare both our fragility and our curiosity.”
The synopsis is polite. It talks about bravery and tragedy. Reality is sharper. It shows the shuttle birth. Mir. Commercial flights taking over. It’s not a tech review. It’s a character study.
Here’s the schedule.
- Episode 1: “America First” (July 14)
- Episode 2: “The Russian Thing” (July 21)
- Episode 3: “Politics Always Wins” (July 28)
- Episode 4: “Friends Forever” (Aug 4)
All air at 9pm ET.
Who is talking? A lot of big names. NASA folks like Charlie Bolden and Anna Lee Fisher. Bill Fisher. Jerry Linenger. Terry Virts. Plus cosmonauts Sasha Lazutkin and Sergei Zalyotin. And family. Always family. They’re the anchor. Without them the astronaut just floats away.
This premiered in the UK last fall. BBC collaborated. Now it lands in the US. PBS app carries it too.
Why watch it now?
Maybe to see if the hero myth survives scrutiny.
Or just because we are all staring up at the same black sky waiting for the next launch.
The shuttle is gone. Mir is gone. Only the questions remain.
