Savant Short Review: WITHOUT LIMITS: NASA Test Projects Without Limits: Nasa Test Projects Image Entertainment 1998 / Color / 1:33 flat / 143 min. / Test Flights: Beyond the Limits / Street Date June 25, 2002 / $24.99 Cinematography Bill White, Mark Gutterud, Neil Healy, Trace Short, Tim Miller, Les Teal, Lori Losey Graphics Michael Ip Film Editor Yumiko Yamada Original Music Craig Dobbin Written by Lane Wallace Produced by Lise Romanoff, Bill White, Stephen Rocha, Lane Wallace Directed by
	Reviewed by Glenn Erickson NASA trots out its best research projects across the past 40 years, showing us in three docus how a number of experimental flight and space projects grew out of one another, and presenting in detail a number of concepts and theories used in cutting-edge aeronautics. Synopsis: Flights of Discovery: A rocket engine for a proposed replacement for the Space Shuttle called the X-33, is tried out on an SR-71 Blackbird jet plane. The new engine is called a Linear Aerospike, an efficient design that doesn't use gimbals to steer. The X-38 is another 'lifting body' vehicle, a glider to be used as an orbital lifeboat on the space platform. The discussion leads to an extended look at the old X-15 program from the 1960s, and the original lifting body tests. The Need for Speed: The problems of ultra-high speed flight are examined, at research centers that probe the practicality of engineering theories. One X-30 space plane was abandoned in the 1970's, but a space plane called the Hyper-X is at present working on a new kind of airbreathing jet engine that may reach unprecedented speeds. The original 1947 breaking of the sound barrier is examined, and the progress of jet progress charted through the fighter planes to the XR-71. The New Frontier looks at the development of futuristic computer technology that can control and even land aircraft automatically. Manual controls gave way to vulnerable hydraulic systems that require stringent design limits to maintain stable, controllable airframes. With electronic, computer-controlled controls, as developed for the moon rockets, aircraft design has been liberated. Testing with these new systems brought up the issue of pilot control interfering with computer control, creating weird overcontrol patterns called 'pilot induced ocillation'. Now, the most modern fighters use digital-only 'fly by wire' controls. The forward-wingswept X-29 also incorporates exotic composite materials into its airframe, making it even more revolutionary. Finally, the feasibility of using computers to steer, fly and land airplanes that have lost their conventional controls is proven by research to be a practical future backup system. Using interviews with NASA spokesmen, engineers, and test pilots, the genesis and development of a number of little-publicized space-related flight vehicles and technologies is chronicled in these three lengthy documentaries. There's a lot to be learned here, and there's a lot of good footage, all of it free of TV-doc hype. "If that retro rocket fires one second too late, he'll be burned alive!", I remember one ratings-hungry show repeating several times. Here we get good facts about the projects, see real-deal, on-the-spot vintage footage, and are given good arguments in favor of the pure research that made them possible. The actual main title on the shows reads: Test Flights: Beyond the Limits. The people-connection is stressed, and not just in the risks taken by test pilots. They talk more like engineers (which many of them are) and one husband-wife team take turns flying the planes and manning the telemetry on the ground. There's one obvious NASA spokesman who keeps showing up to smooth rough edges and make sure the agency is shown in the best light, but he's one of the directors of the test facility, and seems very sincere. Two of the test pilots briefly interviewed are the real Chuck Yeager and Scott Crossfield, who were immortalized in The Right Stuff. There's a do-it-yourself flavor to some of the proceedings, as when the engineers worked unofficial weekends to put together a prototype lifting body re-entry craft. Made of wood, it proved that the idea of an airplane without wings works, and got the futuristic ships onto the test schedule. Another scientist was obsessed with a harrowing Sioux City airliner crash, where the pilot brilliantly guided a plane with no working control surfaces, solely by manipulating the engines. Modeling with computers, simulators, and finally using real test planes, they developed a prototype on-board computer that may someday be used on airliners, giving pilots a chance to land if they lose normal hydraulic control. There's a nice through-line of research going back to the original X-1 and X-15 tests to show the origins of ideas, and how research used in one program sometimes finds expression in another. A computer system in a test airplane, for instance, was installed directly into the Space Shuttle when it was determined that it fit the bill. The shows are more than a little repetititve at times, and issues aren't always tightly organized. This won't mean a fig to those interested in the topic, who should be very pleased. The production appears to have come at least partially from 'inside' NASA, and the authoritative point of view is a big plus. Image's DVD of Without Limits: Nasa Test Projects is a good to very good disc, technically. The old video and film are nicely transferred. The graphics and effects are unstylish but efficient. The extras (beyond the three very weighty docus) turn out to be seven aerospace short subjects promoting and explaining new programs, like the X-33 engine, and a commercial space plane called Venturestar. A couple of the promos are rather low-res. There's also a still gallery, and a DVD-rom feature with 'a variety of fun and educational resource tools' from NASA - glider kits, biographies, poster art, and aeronautic facts. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Without Limits: Nasa Test Projects rates: Movie: Good Video: Good Sound: Good Supplements: NASA Promo pieces, still gallery, DVD-Rom resource tools Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 27, 2002 [Savant Main Page] [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [Savant 5 Year Report] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Advertise With Us Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Copyright © MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use