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“Blue Sky Metropolis” is the story of how aerospace was central to California’s growth.
"Blue Sky Metropolis" is the untold story of how aerospace was central to the growth of California and its emergence as an economic power. The documentary miniseries focuses on the people behind the aerospace movement and will feature many of the current major players in the aerospace industry in California, which is the hub of modern day aerospace engineering.
"Blue Sky Metropolis" is the untold story of how aerospace was central to the growth of California and its emergence as an economic power. The documentary miniseries focuses on the people behind the aerospace movement and will feature many of the current major players in the aerospace industry in California, which is the hub of modern day aerospace engineering.
![Wings]()
L.A. aircraft companies become America’s “arsenal of democracy” during World War II.
Wings
![The Big Chill]()
The Cold War funds the growth of L.A. while instilling fear of nuclear annihilation.
The Big Chill
![A Space Odyssey]()
The race to the moon is matched in dollars by a secret military program to dominate space.
A Space Odyssey
Providing Support for PBS.org
Providing Support for PBS.org
Photos from Blue Sky Metropolis
1/14
Launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, c. 2018
Courtesy SpaceX
2/14
Movie cameras at March Field in Riverside, CA, c. 1937
Courtesy Dick Whittington
3/14
Dr. Wernher Von Braun and President Kennedy inspect Saturn IV rocket, c. 1962.
Courtesy NASA
4/14
North American Aviation worker assembles B-25, c. 194.
Courtesy Library of Congress
5/14
Mars Rover driver Vandi Verma demonstrates the project’s latest technology at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Yard in Pasadena, Calif.
Credit: Peter Jones Productions
6/14
XPRIZE CEO Anousheh Ansari prepares for her spaceflight, c. 2006.
Courtesy NASA
7/14
North American Aviation engineer, c. 1941
Courtesy Library of Congress
8/14
Space Shuttle Endeavour arrives to its final home in Los Angeles, c. 2012.
Courtesy NASA
9/14
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin plants the flag with planet Earth above, c. 1969.
Courtesy NASA
10/14
Lockheed Aircraft workers, c. 1942
Courtesy Lockheed-Martin
11/14
Astronaut Ed White, the first American to walk in space, c. 1965.
Courtesy NASA
12/14
Mars Rover Curiosity takes a selfie on the Red Planet, c. 2015.
Courtesy NASA
13/14
Air Force General Bernard Schriever, c. 1958
Courtesy Getty Images
14/14
Onlookers at 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet.
Courtesy Huntington Library
About the Show
How did Southern California become the aerospace capital of the world? What were the consequences of this development for the region, for the nation and for aerospace itself?
Narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Tony Goldwyn and written and directed by two-time Primetime- and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jones, “Blue Sky Metropolis" examines the largest Southern California-grown industry that, nevertheless, has received only a fraction of the attention heaped upon the Hollywood entertainment business. Like its counterpart, aerospace was an industry created by dreamers drawn to a region that was invented by dreamers — civic boosters comprised of newspaper publishers, real estate developers and Hollywood moguls. Their entrepreneurial spirit surely resonated with those imaginations attuned to the possibilities of flight. “Blue Sky Metropolis” explores the intersection of aerospace and Southern California from multiple perspectives: technology, popular culture, politics, race, business, labor, environment and gender.
Throughout the 20 century, millions flocked to Southern California to claim aviation/aerospace jobs, forever changing the social and physical landscape. Did the “blue sky” environment nurture that combination of vision and technical know-how as it did for Walt Disney and his Imagineers?
Explore the Aerospace Century as it unfolds through the lives, often in the words, of the men and women who created it: John Northrop, Glenn Martin, Donald Douglas, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Walt Disney and Wernher Von Braun. From the pivotal 1910 Los Angeles Air Meet, the second public showcase of powered flight in the world, through World War II; the Cold War and onward to the rebirth of the industry thanks to New Space companies such as Virgin Orbit, SpaceX and Relativity, “Blue Sky Metropolis” is a sweeping look at the century in Southern California that brought humankind to the skies and beyond.
Producers
- Peter Jones Productions
- KCET
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