Television Reviews : ‘Life Beyond Earth’ Boosts Exploration of Space

Let’s face it, Earthlings, despite the short-term stall in the U.S. space program, pretty soon some of us are going to be taking up long-term residency in outer space.

How government space scientists are preparing to meet the challenges of this inevitability is the subject of “Life Beyond Earth,” an extra-interesting issue of KCET Channel 28’s almost always interesting “California Stories” series (tonight at 7:30).

“Life Beyond Earth’s” co-writers and co-producers Debbie Glovin and Richard J. Wells efficiently pack a shuttle-full of information into a lively, space-exploration-boosting 30 minutes.

In addition to scenes of astronauts learning to build space stations in swimming pools and lots of nifty computer graphics, NASA scientists explain the physical effects of long-term weightlessness and the psychological difficulties of living in a cramped, 360-degree world with no “down orientation.”

Scientists also show off specially designed space-station furniture, demonstrate some handy new robots and explain the important psychological benefits to space dwellers of growing plants in space.

Though the reverence shown to all-things-NASA might cause discomfort to some, the program isn’t a tough investigatory piece or critique of U.S. space policy and never pretends to be.

It entertains and informs while delivering an innocent, upbeat, let’s-all-meet-the-space-challenge message that stresses the human need to explore and build as well as the importance of marrying technology and compassion. The occasional meteors of spacey jargon--”zero-G posture,” “human reach envelope” and “virtual environment technology”--don’t hurt when they hit, and are actually kind of fun.

The show’s A-OK--especially for older children who someday may be able to benefit from NASA’s work.