History met history earlier this week, when John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth and the third to go into space, attended the launch of a Discovery Channel documentary to premiere June 8, which includes over 100 hours of footage adapted for high-definition television, created with the help of original NASA archives.

The documentary, entitled “When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions,” includes footage from NASA’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space missions, and the DVD set is available for purchase here for $69.95 (or $79.95 for the Blu-ray version).

In addition to the DVD set, NASA will also make the audio and video library available on its website, and the archives will include rare seen footage of early astronaut training, or shots from the first American spacewalk during the 1965 Gemini 4 mission of astronaut Ed White.

In addition to exclusive footage from rocket launches, the documentaries will also include rare videos from the Apollo – Soyuz linkup in 1975.

Robert Hopkins, NASA’s chief of Strategic Communications, Headquarters, Washington, said in a statement last year, upon announcing the collaboration plans with Discovery Channel:

“This partnership with Discovery enables NASA to bring the excitement of 50 years of exploration and discovery to a wider audience,” adding that “this leverages NASA’s compelling content with Discovery’s state-of-the-art production capability and technology to tell the NASA story – past, present and future – through a variety of media and platforms.”

At the same time, Jane Root, president and general manager, Discovery Channel and The Science Channel said: “We honor not only 50 years of wonder, achievement and surprise, but also look forward toward a bright future of new discoveries. Our planned 2008 specials and series documenting NASA’s greatest moments will inspire a new generation to explore and innovate.”