Liftoff! Success and Failure on the Launch Pad - Space Exploration Documentary DVD - Perfect for Astronomy Enthusiasts & STEM Education

Liftoff! Success and Failure on the Launch Pad (2005) by Spacecraft Films-I am a one of the hard core people who make up NASA's aerospace fans and rocket enthustiasts and this film scored a five full stars stars with me.This DVD starts from when reliable liquid fuel rockets were just an elusive dream of Dr. Robert Goddard taking the viewer step by step through all the major (American and German) developments to the first flights of the American Space Shuttle Columbia.It includes detailed footage of Robert Goddard's rocket experiments (which I never knew existed), through the V-1 and V-2 Rocket experiments in Germany, continuing US Army work on the V-2 at White Sands New Mexico, going through the details of each significant milestone along the way including: sounding rockets, IRBM's, ICBM's, major upper stage developments, the first orbiting satellites, Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's), Saturn 1, 1B and V, and the Shuttle, plus much, much more (see summary at bottom).Without a doubt Spacecraft Films makes some of the best DVD products ever created dedicated to preserving the finest moments of the American space program. They provide rare restored footage recovered from the arcihives of NASA, the US Air Force and US Army and return these enhanced materials to the original source as a patriotic public service. It is for this reason these materials are a bit pricier, but the results are usually worth the investment to a space enthustiast. Approximately six hours of absolutely amazing materials are contained in LIFTOFF!Please be aware that Spacecraft Film productions usually are not highly staged affairs in the sense of an IMAX or Discovery Channel production. Although they do incorporate significant editing and some occasionally inspiring music, they are intended to provide visual information and often include very informed narration by David Mohr, propulsion engineer for the STS.