‘It’s a two-billion dollar science experiment to determine the origins of the universe.” That’s how Nasa Astronaut Captain Chris Cassidy describes Nasa’s Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer project… A project in jeopardy. Among the Stars, the latest docu-series from Disney+, chronicles Cassidy’s harrowing mission of one last space walk to repair the AMS and hopefully allow us to gain some answers to questions mankind has been asking for all of its existence. Cassidy himself, together with his NASA crew, discussed and described the mission this morning at NYCC 2021 (New York Comic-Con).

The “Crib Sheet” for the mission, i.e. the notes of what to do if something goes wrong, was forty-two pages long, says Brian Mader, Extra Vehicular Operations Spacewalks Task Lead for NASA. We’re all familiar with how science fiction such as Star Wars of Star Trek portrays space travel. What they fail to show, however, is just how complicated, dangerous, and often times terrifying it truly can be. Among the Stars gives us a first-hand glimpse into the realm of real-world space travel.

Among The Stars – A NYCC 2021 look into the universe

AMong the Stars; NYCC 2021
Image: Disney+

As exhilarating as the mission itself could be, equally exciting was finding new ways to showcase that mission for those of us on the ground. Among the Stars Director and Producer Ben Turner spoke at NYCC 2021 about the challenges in doing just that. “To make the documentary we wanted to make, I quite liked some of the messiness of it…. so you somehow could feel like you were sharing that experience and were with them,” said Turner. He continued:

Among the Stars; NYCC 2021
Image: Disney+

“We wanted to tell this in a character-based way, rather than too academic a way, so that you were with this group of people as they overcame the difficulties in their way to achieve something really special.”

Among the Stars is available now on Disney+. Stay tuned here to That Hashtag Show for more on this and all the news coming out of NYCC 2021.