| When: | Live coverage begins at 7:00am EDT on September 8th and continues through the 11:41am EDT liftoff. An abbreviated version of the lift-off coverage will re-air on September 8th from 7:00 – 8:00pm EDT.
In addition to the live coverage, HDNet’s footage will also provide NASA engineers with some extra help in analyzing Friday’s launch. By utilizing the special, high-definition imagery provided exclusively by HDNet, engineers will especially be looking for any release of the protective foam from the outer surface of the shuttle’s external tank that may occur during the launch.
The NASA Debris Team "quick-look" analysis begins immediately following the launch and will include the HDNet cameras that will record the lift-off, the roll and the solid rocket booster separation of the shuttle.
The analysis activity will go on for days, which means that the HDNet imagery will be scrutinized many times over by the NASA Debris Team.
“We’re very honored to provide a high-definition resource for NASA,” said Mark Cuban of HDNet. “To be able to aid in the analysis of the launch process makes this partnership with NASA about a lot more than just great television, it means we’re helping to make space travel safer for future generations.”
The network’s coverage will be hosted by Greg Dobbs, in addition to a new member of the HDNet broadcast team, former NASA Astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel Charles D. “Sam” Gemar.
Gemar is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and veteran of three Shuttle missions, including one aboard Atlantis.
About HDNet
HDNet (www.hd.net) provides viewers with the best in original comedy, drama, news, sports and music programming.
HDNet is your exclusive, high-definition home for popular, critically acclaimed original programming including television’s only HD news feature programs "HDNet World Report," "NASA on HDNet” (presenting live shuttle launches through 2010), and, beginning in October, "Dan Rather Reports." HDNet presents championship sports coverage featuring the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, NASCARGrand National Division and Mixed Martial Arts including World Extreme Cagefighting and the Diesel Fighting Championships; groundbreaking music programming with the HDNet Concert Series featuring leading artists and bands including U2, Eminem, Gorillaz and more, plus original music programs "Sound Off with Matt Pinfield,” "True Music w/Katie Daryl" and "On Stage at World Cafe Live"; groundbreaking interview shows including "Face 2 Face with Roy Firestone” and “Higher Definition,” in addition to fun and irreverent lifestyle programming including “Deadline!," "Art Mann Presents," and "Get Out!” HDNet is also the exclusive high-definition home to the critically acclaimed and award winning programs such as "Dead Like Me," "Smallville," “Joan of Arcadia,” "Boomtown” and "Andy Richter Controls the Universe.”
HDNet Movies produces and broadcasts more original movies than any other network and is the exclusive home of day and date movie releases from HDNet Films including the Academy Award nominated "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," Toronto Film Festival nominee "The War Within," and “Bubble,” the first of six movies by acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh and produced exclusively for HDNet Films. Other HDNet Films releases include "One Last Thing" starring Cynthia Nixon, "Herbie Hancock: Possibilities," and coming soon, Matt Taubers' Tribeca Film Festival nominee "The Architect," starring Anthony LaPaglia and Isabella Rossellini, "Diggers," starring Paul Rudd, Ron Eldard, Maura Tierney and Lauren Ambrose, "Quid Pro Quo,” starring Nick Stahl and Vera Farmiga, "Hunter," the story of the life and death of infamous gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson from director Alex Gibney, and producer Graydon Carter. Also coming soon are "Fay Grim," from maverick writer-director Hal Hartley, starring Superman's Parker Posey and Jeff Goldblum, and "Broken English," from Zoe Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowlands, Parker Posey, Drea de Matteo and Griffin Dunne. Many more are to come.
HDNet Movies also features a wide selection of major studio theatrical releases - all uncut, unedited, and appearing in their original aspect ratio so that HDNet viewers get the best possible home theater experience.
The HDNet networks are available on Bright House Networks, Charter, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Time Warner Cable and more than 40 NCTC cable affiliate companies. For more information visit www.hd.net.
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Contact:
Colette Carey, HDNet, (303) 388-8500, ccarey@hd.net
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