Narrated by Tom Brokaw, this documentary chronicles the life of a great American, Dr. James Van Allen, Professor-Emeritus of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Iowa. Dr. Van Allen was the first U.S. scientist in space and discovered the radiation belts surrounding the earth that bear his name. Through his enormous contributions and history‑making experiences, the documentary explores an era of U.S. history heretofore seldom and incompletely seen, explained, or exposed. For the first time, interviews with Van Allen and his associates, those who lived the events, provide a rare behind‑the‑scenes look at the development of the U.S. space program and, quite surprisingly, a first‑heard account of what were some of the most top‑secret government activities and events during the early days of the Cold War and the "race for space."
The documentary reveals that the U.S. could have been first in space, why we were not, and how fortuitous decisions by Dr. Van Allen, coupled with inter‑agency intrigue within the U.S. rocket development program, resulted in the U.S. successfully entering the space age with the launch of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, with James Van Allen's scientific instrument on board.
Additionally, the documentary utilizes early post World War II historical footage of U.S. rocket development and rare footage of 1950's/60's era rocket development and space program activities, including recently declassified and never‑before‑publicly seen government film footage, to assist in telling the James A. Van Allen story.
Finally, the documentary relates the history of Van Allen's flights to the outer planets as well as his space odyssey via Pioneer 10. Launched in 1972 to explore Jupiter, the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, is now billions of miles from earth.
Click HERE to watch a preview. 
Monday, April 5, 2010 
