Discovery, Science to pay tribute to Neil Armstrong over weekend

Neil Armstrong died last Saturday at age 82. And now, one week later, Discovery and Science are paying tribute with an extensive look at Armstrong’s life, career and legacy.

The primary focus of the weekend is the Saturday evening premiere of the new special “One Giant Leap: A Neil Armstrong Tribute,” which features footage from Armstrong’s last public appearance as well as interviews with his Apollo 11 crew mates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. The special airs at 8 p.m. on Discovery and at 10 p.m. on Science.

Other specials airing on Saturday include “When We Left Earth,” a documentary about the Apollo 11 crew narrated by Gary Sinise (who played Ken Mattingly in the film “Apollo 13”), and “In the Shadow of the Moon,” which chronicles the Apollo program missions from 1968 to 1972.

On Wednesday, Science will air six episodes of “When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions,” which gives hourlong looks at chapters in NASA’s history, from the Mercury flights up to and including the trips to the International Space Station.

Additionally, on Friday, Science is airing a marathon of eight episodes of “The Planets” series and six episodes of the “Moon Machines” series.

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Join Patrick Kevin Day on Google+ or Twitter. Email: patrick.day@latimes.com

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