Space Shuttle Launch: Science Channel Captures the Event With New Special (Video)

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If you’re afraid you’re going to miss NASA’s final space shuttle launch on Friday, Discovery’s Science Channel has you covered. The cable network is cutting together Last Shuttle: Our Journey, which will air that evening at 10 p.m. and include footage from that day’s launch and interviews with the crew.

"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," Science Channel’s GM Debbie Myers tells TV Guide. "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."

The network’s cameras will be locked on to the space shuttle Atlantis, NASA’s last planned space shuttle to be launched, when it takes off and then editors will be on hand to quickly cut the footage into the special before it airs that evening.

If NASA cancels the launch for weather conditions or operational reasons, the Science Channel is prepared to postpone the special for when it actually launches.

Watch a preview of the special below.