We are living through a golden age of exploration. As we speak, there are spacecraft in orbit around or on the surface of five of the eight planets in our solar system, and there are a host of new missions close to launch or en-route to their targets.
After The Planets and Universe, Professor Brian Cox explores the amazing events unfolding in the planets and moons of the Solar System around us every day.
Today, scientists have more interstellar craft exploring our galactic neighbourhood than ever before 鈥� over 30 space probes and 29 state of the art space telescopes uncovering the secrets of our solar system in breath-taking new detail. We鈥檙e learning that every single day there are countless truly extraordinary events in the skies above us: volcanoes bigger than Earth鈥檚 biggest super volcanoes erupting; diamonds raining down through 1000kmph winds; oceans of water exploding into space. And now we have the technology to watch it happen.
In this 5 x 60 series for 大象传媒 Two and iPlayer, Professor Cox will take viewers on five epic journeys through our solar system to reveal the incredible events that are happening out there, right now, as revealed by our very latest space missions. We鈥檒l explore the volcano covered surface of Venus 鈥� whether any of its one million volcanoes are active has been an enduring mystery, but where we鈥檝e recently seen at least one volcano the size of Mount Everest erupting. We鈥檒l fly with NASA鈥檚 Juno probe past eruptions bursting hundreds of kilometres into space from Jupiter鈥檚 tiny moon Io. We鈥檒l see ice crystals falling on Mars and red frost on the mountain tops of Pluto.
Professor Cox will help us understand these bizarre natural spectacles by visiting the places on Earth that shed light on the underlying physics and planetary geology. For example, in Alaska he travels to the frozen Denali mountains to understand via 鈥榗omparative planetology鈥� how a similar vista of peaks, valleys and glaciers is able to exist right at the remote frozen edge of the solar system on Pluto. At temperatures of -240 degrees Celsius 鈥� this discovery from the New Horizons spacecraft is defying everything we once thought was possible. He will also join active missions that include NASA鈥檚 first ever attempt to bring back a pristine sample from an ancient asteroid, which could tell us much about the solar system鈥檚 origin.
Professor Brian Cox says: 鈥淲e are living through a golden age of exploration. As we speak, there are spacecraft in orbit around or on the surface of five of the eight planets in our solar system, and there are a host of new missions close to launch or en-route to their targets. The latest, the European Space Agency鈥檚 鈥淛uice鈥� spacecraft, was launched towards Jupiter last week. As new data cascades in, we are building an ever more accurate picture of our solar system. Rovers on Mars are exploring ancient lake beds, two new missions to Jupiter鈥檚 ice moons aim to probe their oceans for life, and the New Horizons spacecraft has forced us to contemplate biology beneath the frigid nitrogen glaciers of Pluto.
鈥淎re we alone in the Universe? Maybe the answer will be found in our cosmic backyard. The exploration of the solar system is therefore about much more than the exploration of space - out there - beyond Earth. It is allowing us to paint a picture of our place in the Universe, and that picture is getting more detailed and more accurate with every bit of data returned in real time from our fleet of explorers scattered from the Sun to the edge of interstellar space.鈥�
Solar System, a 5x60鈥� series for 大象传媒 Two and iPlayer is a 大象传媒 Studios Science Unit Production with NOVA and GBH for 大象传媒 and PBS. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual and the Commissioning Editor is Tom Coveney, Head of Commissioning, Science. The Executive Producers are Gideon Bradshaw and Andrew Cohen and the Executive in Charge for PBS is Diana El-Osta. Senior Producer for NOVA is Caitlin Saks. Executive Producers for NOVA are Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt. NOVA is a production of GBH.
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