Pluto • 2020 • episode "S1E8" • Secrets of the Solar System

42:01

Landing humans on Mars will be hard, but keeping them alive will be even harder. NASA scientists are on the verge of designing some of the most innovative rockets and training the astronauts who will pilot them.

S1E5 • Mars: The Secret Science Series 1 • 2014 • Astronomy

60:03

Sagan discusses the story of the Heike crab and artificial selection of crabs resembling samurai warriors, as an opening into a larger discussion of evolution through natural selection (and the pitfalls of intelligent design). Among the topics are the development of life on the Cosmic Calendar and the Cambrian explosion; the function of DNA in growth; genetic replication, repairs, and mutation; the common biochemistry of terrestrial organisms; the creation of the molecules of life in the Miller-Urey experiment; and speculation on alien life (such as life in Jupiter's clouds). In the Cosmos Update ten years later, Sagan remarks on RNA also controlling chemical reactions and reproducing itself and the different roles of comets (potentially carrying organic molecules or causing the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event).

2/13 • Cosmos: A Personal Voyage • 1980 • Astronomy

59:10

Since the first star lit up the universe, they have been engines of creation. Professor Brian Cox reveals how, ultimately, stars brought life and meaning to the universe.

S1E1 • Universe BBC • 2021 • Astronomy

50:34

The Apollo equipment has sat abandoned on the lunar surface for over 40 years. Now there is a renewed excitement and drive to return to the moon. This time, not to just plant a flag, but to colonize. How would we accomplish this? And why would we do it?

2019 • Astronomy

10:17

For all of human history, the Sun, our home star, has measured our days and our seasons while fueling all life on Earth. Yet it remains an enigma. NASA's Parker Probe Plus is on a mission to change that -- flying through dangerous radiation to become the closest spaceship to orbit our Sun.

Breakthrough • 2019 • Astronomy

83:44

Nasa intends to send astronauts to Mars. To succeed, crew members will have to overcome unprecedented, life-threatening challenges, and while many of these hazards are physical, the most elusive are psychological. Throughout the expected three-year absence, crew members won't be able to communicate with Earth in real time due to the immense distance. The psychological impact of this level of disconnectedness and isolation - both from mission control and loved ones - is impossible to predict and endangers the mission itself. Directed to mitigate this threat is Dr Al Holland, a Nasa psychologist whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in space. The Longest Goodbye follows Holland, rookie astronauts Kayla Barron and Matthias Maurer and former astronaut Cady Coleman, among others, as they grapple with the tension between their dream of reaching new frontiers and the basic human need to stay connected to home.

2023 • Astronomy