This first look at Disney Plus’ Among The Stars marks an astronaut’s final mission

NASA astronaut Captain Chris Cassidy prepares for his final mission to space in docuseries premiering October 6

By Danette Chavez | September 14, 2021 | 7:00pm

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This first look at Disney Plus’ Among The Stars marks an astronaut’s final mission

NASA Captain Chris Cassidy Screenshot: Among The Stars

We’ll admit it, we’re suckers for space shows and movies—First Man, Ad Astra, and For All Mankind premiering within the same 14-month stretch was like three holidays rolled into one. So we’re primed for the debut of a new NASA-centered series from Disney Plus, even if we weren’t mightily impressed by The Right Stuff. But this latest offering, a six-part docuseries titled Among The Stars which premieres October 6, already seems more thrilling than a lot of scripted space-set series: pulse-pounding preparation for a space flight that’s part repair mission, part final endeavor. In this first look at the series, you’ll meet the team of astronauts, engineers, and NASA flight controllers and specialists tasked with repairing a $2 billion piece of equipment.

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Is the swelling score doing a fair amount of the lifting in that trailer? Sure, but that’s what swelling scores and well-cut trailers are supposed to do. This docuseries is a joint effort in many ways; it was filmed with space agencies around the world, including the Johnson Space Center in Houston, European Space Agency in Cologne, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency outside of Tokyo, and the Russian Space Agency in Star City (no, not that one). Among The Stars follows NASA Captain Chris Cassidy on what looks to be his final mission, as he heads to the International Space Station to work with other astronauts and specialists to fix the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS).

Along with Cassidy, the series uses intimate footage, video diaries, and livestream footage to introduce us to Luca Parmitano from the European Space Agency; rookie NASA astronaut Drew Morgan,; Emily Nelson, AMS flight director, the 10th female flight director at NASA; Heather Bergman, AMS spacewalk tools manager at NASA; professor Samuel Ting, Nobel Prize winner for discovering the subatomic particle and AMS Inventor; and Ken Bollweg, AMS project manager who’s collaborated Professor Ting on the AMS experiment from its inception 25 years ago.

Among The Stars is produced by Fulwell 73 Productions (which you might recognize for its James Corden-ness) for Disney+. Sunderland ’Til I Die and I Am Bolt producer Ben Turner directs and executive produces for Fulwell 73.

The complete six-part docuseries will be available October 6 on Disney Plus.