Next week Disney+ will premiere National Geographic’s The Real Right Stuff, a tie-in documentary to its space exploration drama series, The Right Stuff.
Arriving on Friday 20th November, the documentary uses archival film and radio broadcasts, interviews, home movies and other rare and never-before-seen material to tell the true story of NASA’s first astronauts.
Directed and produced by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Tom Jennings, the special is free of modern-day narration and interviews, and uses Jennings’ signature style to give viewers unparalleled access to the early days of the space race.
Highlights include:
Never-before-seen footage and newly synced audio – Shown for the first time are the tense moments that immediately followed the Mercury-Redstone 4 flight piloted by Virgil “Gus” Grissom.
Rare early radio and video recordings – Viewers experience the historic announcement of the Mercury 7 astronauts from a wide array of news outlets, all jockeying to cover America’s first space team and witness an internal government recording that outlines the formation of NASA from its predecessor, The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
Never-before-seen research materials from Tom Wolfe – Hear Wolfe speak with Rene Carpenter, wife of Mercury 7 astronaut Scott Carpenter, and see intimate handwritten notes compiled for Wolfe’s seminal book, “The Right Stuff.”
Newly digitised John Glenn home movies – From the archives of The Ohio State University, John Glenn’s rare personal family moments are captured on 8 mm and 16 mm film.
Exclusive unseen and rare photographs – For the first time, behind-the-scenes photographs from the infamous LIFE Magazine issue are shared, providing a glimpse into the home lives of the Mercury 7 astronauts.
Rare photos from National Geographic’s top photographers who covered the Mercury space program are also revealed.
Composed by James Everingham for Bleeding Fingers Music and produced by Hans Zimmer and Emmy-nominated Russell Emanuel, the film’s orchestral score was recorded remotely by a socially distant 44-piece orchestra in May.