Exclusive: Science Channel Pays Tribute to Final Space Shuttle Launch

Discovery's Science channel will mark the final Space Shuttle launch this Friday with a brand-new TV special. Last Shuttle: Our Journey will air Friday, July 8 at 10 p.m. ET — just hours after the shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center.

The special will include footage from that day's Atlantis launch, as well as interviews with the last Atlantis flight's crew — Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.

"When we knew the Shuttle program was coming to an end, it was important to us to figure out what was the best way to tell this story and honor the men and women behind this program," says Science general manager Debbie Myers, who also serves on a NASA media advisory board. "So we decided to make it personal, and tell the compelling stories of the people who touched the program and worked on the final launch."

Cameras will be trained on the NASA employees and others featured in the special, as they watch the final Shuttle launch on Friday. A production team will be on hand at the Kennedy Space Center to then quickly edit the footage and incorporate it into that night's documentary. "We have roughly two hours to cut the piece together," says Bernadette McDaid, Science's vice president of production.

Should the launch be delayed on Friday, Science will postpone the special until Atlantis lifts off. Windfall Films is the producer on Last Shuttle: Our Journey.

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!