The grim future of the sun, and what may happen to it five billion years from now, when is hydrogen fuel is exhausted, and it swells into a massive red giant, consuming our planet and killing all life on earth, if any still exists.
The forces of gravity and the role they play in the formation of the universe, as well as the objects within it, how weightlessness affects astronauts in space, and how pilots experience the effects of gravity in their training on the “vomit comet”.
It’s a voyage of exploration like no other – to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon and thought to resemble our own early Earth. For a small team of British scientists this would be the culmination of a lifetime’s endeavour – the flight alone, some 2 billion miles, would take a full seven years. This is the story of the space probe they built, the sacrifices they made and their hopes for the landing. Would their ambitions survive the descent into the unknown on Titan’s surface?
Five astronauts pilot the nuclear thermal rocket powered Pegasus spacecraft on a tour of the solar system. Their mission is a collaboration of the NASA, CSA, ESA and РКА space agencies and takes the crew to Venus, Mars, a close flyby of the Sun, Jupiter’s moons of Io and Europa, Saturn’s moon of Titan, Pluto, and the fictional Comet Yano-Moore.
Most of the planetary destinations the crew reaches are followed by a manned landing there. Prior to the mission large tanks of Hydrogen were deposited in stable orbits around the planets to allow the crew to refuel to have sufficient delta-v for the multi-year mission.
The crew encounter many hardships and disappointments along the way. A Venus EVA that almost ends in disaster when the lander Orpheus encounters launch delays, a Titan probe that fails after deployment and the loss of samples from Jupiter’s moon Io all test the crew’s resolve.
The most devastating blow comes when the ship’s medical officer dies of solar radiation-induced cancer in Saturn orbit, forcing the crew to decide whether to continue the mission to Pluto, or abort and return to Earth.
Space probes, what they have done and found for us in space, and what they might do in the future, such as searching for Earth-like planets and for extraterrestrial life.
Journey away from the sun, past Earth and the inner planets, millions upon millions of miles. It’s here that giants lurk: Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, spheres so cold and distant that the sun is no more than a tiny beacon in a vast twilight. These are the frigid outer reaches of the Solar system … the edge of darkness.
Space holds as many questions as it does stars, and we will continue to send out explorers, our nature to inquire how the universe came to be. With each outward step, we come a little closer to comprehension, laying the foundations of understanding for generations to come.
What happens when we find life outside our own planet? Discovery Channel brings viewers on a virtual mission of the future. Right now, the search for planets with “life signatures” goes on. These efforts are global, and experts tell us on camera how this search for life is progressing around the world. No longer just the domain of science fiction, what could alien life really look like?
A closer look at all the various type of liquids which exist in throughout the universe, albeit in relatively small quantities compared to gases or solids.
These include places such as alien planets where molten iron rains from the sky, distant moons hundreds of degrees below zero where lakes of methane cover the surface, and at the center of gas giants, where pressures are great enough to give rise to electrified hydrogen metal.
The Moon is such a familiar presence in the sky that most of us take it for granted. But what if it wasn’t where it is now? How would that affect life on Earth?
Famed for their ability to inflict Armageddon from outer space, asteroids are now revealing the secrets of how they are responsible for both life and death on our planet. Armed with an array of powerful telescopes, scientists are finding up to 3000 new asteroids every night … and some are heading our way.
