PREMIERE

THE SPACE PROGRAM SETS ITS SIGHTS ON A NEW FRONTIER WHEN EIGHT ASTRONAUTS SET THEIR COURSE FOR A SIX-YEAR DISCOVERY MISSION INTO SPACE, ON ABC'S "DEFYING GRAVITY"

The Antares crew launches into space, on "Defying Gravity," SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. In the first hour, "Pilot" (9:00-10:00 p.m.), a team of eight astronauts, embarking on a six-year journey to explore Venus and other planets in the solar system, find their lives and destinies intertwined and carefully directed, not only by Mission Control officials on Earth, but also by an unseen force which is much closer and far more powerful.

"Pilot" was directed by David Straiton and written by James Parriott.

In the second hour, "Natural Selection" (10:00-11:00 p.m.), some rocky and intriguing developments confront the crew as they learn to adjust to life on board the Antares, as they find that some past choices, combined with an unknown element in the ship's mysterious Storage Pod 4, lead to a complex web of dreams, desires and illusions that result in a life-threatening crisis.

"Natural Selection" was directed by Peter Howitt and written by James Parriott.

"Defying Gravity" stars Ron Livingston as Maddux Donner, Laura Harris as Zoe Barnes, Malik Yoba as Ted Shaw, Christina Cox as Jen Crane, Florentine Lahme as Nadia Schilling, Paula Garces as Paula Morales, Eyal Podell as Evram Mintz, Dylan Taylor as Steve Wassenfelder, Andrew Airlie as Mike Goss, Karen LeBlanc as Eve Shaw, Zahf Paroo as Ajay Sharma and Maxim Roy as Claire Dereux.

"Defying Gravity" is with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.