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5 Episodes 1997 - 1997
Episode 1
Sun, Jan 26, 1997
A new breed of adventurer is found in Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. This epic adventure was telecast live to the largest audience in the history of exploration. High-tech mathematical and scientific problem solving unlocked the door into Space. NASA archives, personalized flashbacks and the contributions of family and colleagues provide a portrait of this intensely private astronaut.
Episode 2
Sun, Jan 26, 1997
This unknown Norwegian academic captured the world's attention when his 1947 voyage on the balsa raft Kon-Tiki proved that the Polynesian Islands were colonized by a pre-Inca race. Original expedition footage, interviews with Heyerdahl and two (of six) expedition members relive the thrill of the four-thousand-mile journey from Peru to French Polynesia. Heyerdahl's continued dedicated quest to solve the mysteries of the Pacific, including Easter Island's giant statues, is revealed.
Episode 3
Sun, Jan 26, 1997
When Swiss physicist August Piccard designed a balloon and ascended into the stratosphere, he set a new world's altitude mark. The sixteen-hour excursion from Germany to Austria in 1931 was the first use of a pressurized cabin for a manned flight. Thirty years later, he and his son Jacques designed a submersible balloon, or bathyscaphe. When Jacques plunged into the ocean depths in the Trieste, it was man 's first successful dive into the abyss. Rare film of the balloon ascent and the spine-chilling recollections of Jacques offer a sensational look at these fearless explorers.
Episode 4
Sun, Jan 26, 1997
Hillary is an exuberant New Zealander and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa was claimed by both India and Nepal. He was born in the shadow of Mt. Everest, on 29 May 1953, they stepped onto the peak of Everest and forever secured a place in history. Footage of the climb, with audio, letters and diaries incorporated into specially shot sequences recreate their remarkable feat. The poignant tales of two men whose lives were altered upon their ascent to the highest point on Earth is also exposed.
Episode 5
Sun, Jan 26, 1997
An American rejected from the military and immersed in high society, Byrd became the first person to fly over the South Pole. In an amazing test of endurance, Byrd deliberately remained alone in the Antarctic winter for five months in 1934. When he was rescued, he was a changed man. Dramatic reconstruction portrays the plight of Byrd, while his daughter and expedition members recall this complex adventurer.