h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There's a sudden uptick in activity in my building at work. We're sharing a bit of our space (and our first floor restrooms) with a film crew from National Geographic and Channel 4. They're shooting in the ISS Mission Control for a weeklong special.

http://www.livefromspace.com/

More Information.



1. “LIVE FROM SPACE” on National Geographic Friday
"LIVE FROM SPACE", a live two-hour special program originating from JSC and including appearances by the ISS crew, is scheduled to air worldwide on the National Geographic Channel this Friday, March 14 at 7 p.m. CST. Hosted by former MSNBC and CNN anchor, Soledad O'Brien, this program will be broadcast live from the viewing room overlooking the ISS Flight Control Room in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at JSC. This exciting program will feature stories about the mission and science being conducted aboard the ISS plus include several live interviews with astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata.

In addition, three other programs hosted by English TV presenter Dermot O'Leary are being produced for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. A one-hour show, "ASTRONAUTS: LIVING IN SPACE" will air at 4 p.m. (9 PM in the U.K) on Wednesday, March 12 and another one-hour show, "HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM" will air at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 13. The third program, a two-and-a-half hour show, "LIVE from SPACE: LAP OF THE PLANET" will air live from the MCC at 2:30 p.m. (7:30 PM in the U.K) on Sunday, March 16.

Oh, and as you can determine from the above, it's not a weeklong special. They're just going to be here on-site all week.

You must be quite excited - I watched this last night and would definitely recommend it to anyone (anyone thinking of watching, fear not, Dermot O'Leary isn't in it much.)

I recorded it to show to my 5 year old son, so I'll be watching it again soon.

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Oh, I have no reason to be excited. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a film crew has set up their production office in our building. It does make me nostalgic for my days as a production assistant though. It's really fun working on a film crew, even as the lowest gopher. I never worked on anything as cool as this, just a few commercials (I rarely saw on TV) and a pilot for an early reality TV show that never aired. Seeing their craft service tables, cables running everywhere, the busy hive in the production office, it brings me back.

Of course there's something to be said for having a steady job.

A lot of our students do fun things, normally doing the OB for local news when they are doing charity fundraising, but also do a lot of filming for music festivals like Glastonbury and the Cowes Week sailing, but I don't get involved. Wouldn't mind it if someone asked if I wanted free tickets to Glastonbury, though...

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Is anyone else watching the show? It's on live now for another hour. It's quite good. An interesting, informative look at the lives of astronauts in orbit.

I enjoyed it, as did my wife and son (he'll be six this week) although they didn't show enough of the Isle of Wight from space for me - only the very tip of Cowes for a second (but of course you wouldn't be able to please everyone) . I'm suprised no-one else has commented about it, though.

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The production staff left a mess of our building. I actually found dried mud in our restroom sink. I think someone cleaned their boots in it. I haven't checked for myself but I've heard our conference room is fairly trashed.

I'm glad they're gone.

I'm lowering my previous appraisal from "quite good" to "alright". If you'd like to see some more images of the Earth from Space, check here: http://io.jsc.nasa.gov/app/index.cfm

Sorry to hear that - you'd think that as a basic courtesy and show of respect they'd try and look after the place, even if they are only Channel 4. After all, they're less likely to be allowed back now.

I do know that Galaxy Babe was watching as well.

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I think there are still at least a couple of production assistants left to clean up this morning. There were still some printers and other equipment left in our conference room and one young woman asked me for a broom as I walked down the hall, so I expect it'll be at least tidy shortly. But that still doesn't excuse whoever it was that left mud in the sink.

Well no - it's not respectful and lacks common courtesy. You don't go to someone else's house and make a mess.

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