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The concept of creating the Defying Gravity series came about three years ago (2006) when executive producer Michael Edelstein saw the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ documentary, Voyage To The Planets. On the lookout for a project with an international aspect, Edelstein was also drawn to the idea of a drama set in space.

As Edelstein recalls: "I've been fascinated with space since I was a small kid and my father gave me some early Voyageur photographs that he got from JPL – the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"They were of Jupiter, and I was just stunned by how beautiful they were, and I think ever since then I've always had a thing for space."

Fellow executive producer James Parriott recalls Edelstein approaching him about the project and his instantaneous reaction to the idea.

He says: "Michael was trying to find a show that would work under this independent film type of financial model, the idea of starting a project by selling foreign first and bringing it back to the United States. It was instantly appealing to me, because with an international space mission you have crew members who are from different countries. It's an international effort, so it has an international feel. It's about humankind and it's about man's place in the universe, as opposed to the United States planting a flag on the Moon."

However, as Parriott explains, the epic scope of the project had some daunting elements in terms of production values.

"One of the first things I said when Michael came to me with the project was 'Michael, it's space. Do we really want to do space? Because that's weightlessness, that's big sets, it's expensive, and it's difficult to produce.' I don't think we realised how difficult it was to produce until we really got into it."

Once Edelstein and Parriott agreed to go ahead with developing the series, they both approached the research process with considerable enthusiasm. Because they felt the concept was not really "science fiction" but rather, as Edelstein calls it, "sci-fact," the two did considerable research with NASA.

"We both made trips to the Kennedy Space Center and to the Johnson Space Center, and we started from a basis of fact," Edelstein explains.

"Then we started to do research and talked to a number of very high-ranking scientists in NASA. We asked them, 'If you were to do a manned mission through the solar system, what would you need?' So that was sort of our jumping-off point."

Parriott recalls the experience with enthusiasm, citing NASA's very supportive response.

"They were terrific. Michael and I went down and got to take a tour of Cape Canaveral, and go through the facilities in Kennedy. Both of us went down individually to Houston and went through the whole facility down there, which was incredible."

Meeting the astronauts was another thrilling aspect of the experience, one that led to an unexpected and unique encounter for Parriott.

"I took three astronauts out to dinner. One of them, Mike Fink, asked for my cell number and said, 'I'll call you from space.' A few months later I was back in Los Angeles having lunch with my writers in a noisy restaurant, and I got this call. I answered the phone to hear 'It's Mike from the Space Station.' And I was thinking that we don't have a space station on our set. And then I realised it was Mike Fink, and he was commanding the International Space Station at that time. Of course I ran outside, it was a real thrill, the connection was very good, as if he was just down the block. They were somewhere over South America at the time!"

"But to get to know the astronauts, to get to know them as people, they are truly incredible," Parriott continues.

"I took Eileen Collins out to lunch. She was the female shuttle commander who commanded something like seven missions. A legend in Houston and in the community, she's a real hero in the space business."

Although much of the show is based in actual science, the story developed by Parriott also includes a mysterious element, which takes the characters into the science-fiction realm.

Edelstein comments on this combination of scientific fact and fiction: "Jim created his characters and his story and this over-arching mystery, which took us a little bit more into the world of sci-fi. But we tried to make the spaceship and the space environment seem real, and that was a choice we deliberately wanted to make."

The creative aspect of the show, as a kind of hybrid of scientifically-based science-fiction with character-driven drama, gives Defying Gravity a unique position within the sci-fi genre.

"Any time you have people in a spaceship, that's going to be defined as sci-fi," says Parriott.

"And we certainly have a mystery element as part of the show, this dark secret that unfolds. But I think we stand out as different as what you typically think of as a sci-fi show in that we're doing a character-based drama that also has humour. We're probably a 'girlier' show than most sci-fi shows, but I think that's what makes it interesting and gives it a new spin. I do think that when people watch this, they'll say, 'I haven't seen anything like that before'."

"Defying Gravity is about the first manned mission through the solar system," adds Edelstein.

"It's set in the near future, but that's really simplifying what it is. What Jim has created is a complex soap opera set in space and also on earth during the training process. It's a little bit of Grey's Anatomy. It's got an overarching mystery like Lost, so it's sort of a show that's never really existed before."

The setting for the show also allows room for exploration into many aspects of human development and interaction and highlights the underlying theme that runs throughout.

"I think the central theme of Defying Gravity is about man finding himself and his place in the universe," Parriott explains.

"What's wonderful about doing a big show like this is that we get to deal thematically with race, religion, all the big issues of our time, and deal with them in a unique way. All of those things factor into our characters and who they are and how the mission progresses."