I've never had much interest in anything from National Geographic: I always found the contents of their magazine to be either boring, condescending, prurient, or more than one of the above (Smithsonian, on the other hand, is usually none of the above). Their TV specials always struck me as something one could use to dry out martinis. And anything they did with Cousteau paled in comparison with what David Wolper did with Cousteau. But back to the question, why do a miniseries of The Right Stuff? The only thing wrong with Kaufman's 1983 theatrical film was that it needed an intermission (which it usually got on HBO and Showtime, and which it also gets if you watch it on the original-issue double-sided DVD). If you want more, read the book (my copy, though a trade paperback, was printed and bound before the movie-tie-in cover).
