Sounds great. But when does this series hits the american Discovery Channel?
-GTW In a message dated 9/22/07 12:23:12 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > great, now I have to juggle this with Ken Burns' "The War", and I already > have three VCR tapes filled with stuff i need to watch! > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: "Brent Wodehouse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/TV_Shows/R/Race_To_Mars/2007/09/21/4514241-sun > .html > > 'Race To Mars' series realistic > > By BILL HARRIS - Sun Media > > Michael Riley is relieved there are no Martians in Race to Mars. > > "There are no drooling aliens to be thwarted running around the ship," > said Riley, the veteran Canadian actor who stars in Race to Mars, a new > and expensive dramatic mini-series that debuts Sunday on Discovery. > > "There is no Monolith on the surface when we land. There are no apes, no > Statue of Liberty. And I like that. It's a straight-ahead account of man > meets technology." > > Indeed, Race to Mars arguably is the biggest endeavour in the history of > Discovery. > > A product of Montreal-based Galafilm Inc., Race to Mars will air in a pair > of two-hour segments, this coming Sunday and the following Sunday. > > Race to Mars is set in the year 2030, when an American-led expedition to > Mars by six international astronauts finds itself in a race to the red > planet with the Chinese. It doesn't seem so long ago that space > exploration was all about the U.S. versus the Soviet Union, but hey, times > change. > > "I vividly remember being glued to my grandmother's television set > watching Neil Armstrong take those momentous first steps on the moon," > said Riley, 45. "I think that probably kindled a lot of young > imaginations. It definitely did mine. I always was into astronomy and > physics. I was into the Cosmos stuff and was a fan of Carl Sagan. So that > definitely has been a part of my life, for sure. > > "The whole idea about this manned Mars mission is very planned and has all > these incremental steps. It seems that if the political will is there, > we're going to be watching this thing for real on our plasma TVs a few > years down the line." > > Speak of the devil, a six-hour companion documentary series, Mars Rising, > will premiere on Discovery on Oct. 7, a week after Race to Mars concludes. > Narrated by William Shatner, Mars Rising will explain the science behind > such a complex and perilous undertaking as a manned mission to Mars. > > Combined, Race to Mars and Mars Rising had a budget of more than $20 > million. > > "We had umpteen advisers around for the research period - I'm kind of a > fanatic for that anyway and these guys topped me," said Riley, who plays > Commander Rick Erwin. "They were very adamant about making this as > authentic as possible. > > "We got to meet Marc Garneau (Canada's first man in space) and I got to > meet Jerry Linenger (retired NASA astronaut), so it was a nice opportunity > for us to steep ourselves in that world." > > Riley ultimately sees Race to Mars as something of an ironic title. > > "The great irony is, it can't be a race," Riley said. "It can't be like > the Apollo program. > > "Although countries like China and Russia are doing their own thing and > coming up with their own designs, in the end, come 2030, it's such a huge > undertaking both financially and technologically, there's no way one > country can soldier it. There's something kind of fitting and poetic about > that. It does have to be a global effort. > > "It's mankind making this great leap. It's not, 'Can Russia get there > before America?' Especially in talking to a lot of the astronauts I got to > meet, that very much is where their heart is." > > Besides Riley, Race to Mars also stars Pascale Bussieres, Frank Schorpion, > Lothaire Bluteau, Claudia Ferri and Kevan Ohtsji. > > And starring as the corny, goofy Martians ... nobody. > > > > ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
