To send space probes to the four giant planets in the outer solar system seemed in the mid-60's impossible. Rocket power could carry a spacecraft no further than Jupiter. But the young student Gary Flandro found out that in 1975-76 all four giants should be on the same line, which happens only every 175th year. This would make it possible to reach all four planets with one flight, using the gravity of each planet to catch the space probe and pitch it off in a new direction at a greater speed. After 10 years of preparation the two spacecrafts Voyager 1 and 2 began in 1977 an incredible journey. To reach Neptun, the 4th of the giants, would take 12 years. The space probes transmitted photos not only from the four planets, but also from their moons. What the astronomers and geologists saw was something they never could have imagined. Not only the four planets, but also all their moons, are worlds that are very different from each other. Many of them are also geological alive, some even ... Written by Maths Jesperson {maths.jesperson1@comhem.se}
All Episodes - S02
EPS01
The planets are nine worlds that seem to have little in common, except that they circle around a single sun and are bound together by its gravity. Shortly after World War ...
EPS02
Earth is a living planet. Volcanic eruptions mean that it is geological alive. Astronomers and geologists wondered for a long time if other planets also are alive. When a ...
EPS03
To send space probes to the four giant planets in the outer solar system seemed in the mid-60's impossible. Rocket power could carry a spacecraft no further than Jupiter. ...
EPS04
In 1959 the Soviet probe Lunik 2 becomes the first spacecraft ever to hit the Moon. Within a month it is followed by Lunik 3, which takes the first pictures of the dark s ...
EPS05
A spectroscope splits the sun light into different colors, thereby making it possible to analyze which elements the Sun is made of. When the spectroscope is turned to dif ...
EPS06
The Planets looks at planetary atmospheres. It looks at the life giving atmosphere of Earth, the crushing greenhouse of Venus, the thin gaseous layer of Mars, and the mae ...
EPS07
The Planets examines the prospects of life on other worlds in our solar system. It looks at Venus, Mars, and the water bearing moons of the outer planets. ...
EPS08
The Planets looks at the ultimate fate of our solar system and examines the possibility of extrasolar planets. ...
EPS09
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...
EPS10
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...
EPS11
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...
EPS12
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...
EPS13
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...
EPS14
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...
EPS15
The Planets is a made for television documentary series that explores in depth the planets that make up our solar system. ...