Episode list

"Skyrockets and Trailblazers": The Space Shuttle, for the time being, stands at the apex of human endeavor as the most complex machine ever built. Through it we are able to escape the bonds of earth, and discover new worlds beyond our own. The Huddle Telescope allows us to view the universe, witness the birth and death of stars, and may one day help us answer the ultimate question: Are we alone?

'The Germans': Wernher Von Braun is considered to be the pre-eminent rocket engineer of the 20th century. In 1929, he co-founded the German Rocket Society, which strove to bring his ideas and theories about space travel to life. The 1930's saw advances and interest grow, and the technology was becoming within one's grasp. The Germans were making important advances in rocket science that would help propel the world into space by the 1960's.

'The Missile Race': Since August 29, 1949, when the first atomic weapon was detonated by the Soviet Union, the most powerful countries in the world have been engaged in a race to obtain and design impressive nuclear arsenals in order to "level the playing field", or strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. The United States, in particular, have been focused on developing and combining the two emerging technologies -nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles.

'Star Voyagers': By the late 1950's NASA's goal of sending a man into space and returning him safely to Earth was inching ever closer to becoming a reality. Astronauts were being sought to complete the first mission inside the Mercury Shuttle, and to be successful they had to meet three main requirements: they had to fit into the cramped Mercury, and so be no larger than 5ft 11 inches; they had to have an aeronautical engineering degree, and they had to be test pilots.

'Mercury Seven': Charts attempts by the USA to send the Mercury 7 astronauts (most notably John Glen) into space in the Atlas Booster; which, after a potentially disastrous mission whereby Glen's shuttle almost lost its heat shield, were ultimately successful. Glen became the first American to orbit the Earth, and the first to avert potential disaster. This series of missions paved the way for the most famous space adventure of all - the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

'Orbital Mechanics': The first Soviet and American pioneers had led the way in space flight. However both nations realized quickly that they would need more manpower to achieve their goals. NASA selected a second intake of nine astronauts in September 1962. This group included the man who would become a household name for being the first man to walk on the moon - Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldran, the second man to experience the moon's surface, was part of a third group chosen by NASA to continue their space exploration.

Dark side of the Moon': It seemed the United States could do no wrong, trailblazing their way to the moon when Gemini 11 was launched from Cape Kennedy, September 11, 1966. Aboard were Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon. It was the beginning of a series of space walks and trial orbits of the moon, which would eventually lead to the celebrated lunar landing three years later. An important part of the trials included ensuring that the crafts could withstand the process of re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

'One small step': Spider, the crew-named lunar module of Apollo 9, was the first spacecraft ever to be flown that was unable to return to Earth. Circumstances beyond NASA's control (the astronaut who was supposed to pilot the lunar module died on an earlier mission) meant that back up crews had to be rotated, which put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldran in the prime position of being the astronauts who would be the first to traverse the moon's surface, in July of 1969.

'Man in the Moon': The United States had kept their pledge to their dead president and became the first nation to put human beings on the surface of the moon. Their only real competition had been the Soviet Union. While having the political will and the technical capabilities to perform such a feat, it seems that fate rather than skill or money was the contributing factor that saw the US on the moon before the Russians. A series of launch vehicle failures stalled their attempts, rather like America's 11 Apollo missions.

'Houston, we've had a problem' Apollo 13 had lifted off from Cape Kennedy, April 11, 1970. The three astronauts aboard, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell were unaware of a serious problem developing during their launch. The fault, focal oscillation, was fixed, but on April 13 a fire erupted in the oxygen tank and the astronauts were left with very little air or fuel, which forced them into the tiny lunar module attached to their craft for the ride home.

'Lunar Antics': Alan Shepherd, the first American into space and commander of the Apollo 14 mission, was the only one of the original seven astronauts to make it to the moon. January 31st, 1971 was the date their adventure began, as they launched into space from Cape Kennedy less than a year after the near disaster that was Apollo 13. Their mission was to retrieve the spacecraft left behind during the last mission, and bring it home for testing. But of course, in keeping with most of the other Apollo missions, this one was not to be so straightforward.

'Pioneers and Vikings': Although the United States had taken great steps with its space program during the late 1960's, the Soviet Union was not idle during this time, either. Having lost the race to put the first human on the moon, they could now move at their own independent pace with their efforts at space exploration. On September 12th, 1970, the Soviets launched a proton rocket toward the moon with a probe on board, called Lunar 16. Eight days later it landed on the moon and began to take photos, soil and core samples to give the Russians an idea of the moon's surface.

'A Place to call Home': The concepts of space flight in the minds of the early pioneers of aeronautical engineering were twofold. They dreamed not only of a means of getting into space, but also of having somewhere to go, to dock while in space. The idea of a space station, a "place to call home" was born, and the Soviets were the first to put this idea into practice. Their first station was a complete success, that is until the astronauts were killed trying to leave it to return to Earth. Subsequent efforts, including the world famous Mir, have been far more successful, even inspiring design among US docking stations.

'Joint Efforts': July 1975 marked the first joint effort of the two competing Cold War nations to develop a docking station that would enable two ships to connect in the event of a rescue or operational problems. It was first time the US and Soviet Union had combined their brains trust and technology in order to make space a safer place for their pioneering astronauts and cosmonauts. Once the docking "collar" was in place, the two countries launched rockets into orbit and had to wait almost two days to see whether the craft met in the middle and docked to the station as they were supposed to. They were not disappointed, as the mission was successful.

'Spaceship called Enterprise': The first space shuttle to fly was dubbed Enterprise, this was only after the American public, and in particular science fiction fans, pressured NASA to name it after a popular TV show's spacecraft. Unfortunately for "Trekkies" everywhere, the Enterprise was merely an atmospheric testing device, never actually destined for orbit. However the Space Transport System, STS for short, or more commonly known as a space shuttle, was to be a great leap forward in space transportation.

'Catastrophic Failure': January 28th, 1986 was a red-letter day in the history of the American space program. It was a day that was to devastate both NASA and the families of the crew on board, as Challenger - the 25th shuttle to be launched - exploded 73 seconds after take-off, killing all on board. It was the worst US single space craft accident; and the most lethal since the Apollo 1 fire. Broadcast live around the world, the cameras caught the expressions of the crew's family as they turned from fear and exhilaration to confusion, and finally, horror as the reality of what had happened dawned on them.

'Station Keeping': The Mir space station has been a docking port for many of the world powers' journeys into space, giving countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and France the capability to train their cosmonauts for long stays in orbit. Meanwhile NASA launched Discovery in September 1988, returning the US to space for the first time since the tragedy of the Challenger voyage in 1986. One of the most exciting missions was the delivery of the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit in April of 1990, until a fault in one of the mirrors was discovered, rendering the telescope virtually useless.

Eye in the Sky': Edwin Hubble changed popular astronomy forever. His creation of the Hubble Telescope enabled NASA to place a great observatory in space. The Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced by Astronauts in space. The Space Shuttle Endeavour was deployed in 2009 to repair some instruments that have broken, and to update equipment and attach new camera technology. Scientists were amazed when the Hubble Space Telescope picked up thousands of previously undiscovered galaxies.

'Comets and Asteroids': For millennia, comets have been interpreted by humankind as an omen or sign of events to come. Ancient texts and illustrations mark the passing of these lights with tales of lights streaking across the night sky. In more enlightened times, scientific explanations were given to these 'rocks in space'. Sophisticated probes have been sent to space to return a sample of Asteroid materials to Earth for analysis.

'Constructing Relationships': NASA and the Russian Space Agency forged a relationship to develop the International Space Station. Rapidly other Nations came involved, with many more (including China) expressing interest in involvement. In-orbit construction began in 1998 and is the largest project undertaken of this scale and is scheduled to be completed in 2011. It has a planned lifespan of 17 years and is constantly manned. The ISS is a sign of man's constant presence in space and is one of our greatest achievements to date.

'Deep Space': Space is full of... space. Scientists have always been fascinated by what space is (or is not) and by what passes through. Many probes with scientific instruments aboard have been sent out to discover what is in 'deep space', and to monitor the effects of the sun on the solar system and solar storms, and how they affect communications on earth. In the early 1970's Helios 1 and Helios 2 were launched to monitor solar activity. No object had orbited closer to the sun than the Helios'. Fascinating insights into the sun's magnetic field (which flips every 11 years) have been discovered as a result of Scientific efforts to date.

Episode 22: 'Mars' There is no such thing as a 'Martian Curse', yet how come nearly 50 per cent of Martian expeditions fail while the success rate for other space exploration missions is much higher? Mars has been a source of fascination for a long time, however interest waned slightly in the 70s when there appeared to be no signs of life on the Planet. Since then, NASA have sent a range of probes to MARS with Scientists discovering that Mars was once warm and wet with running water and a thicker atmosphere. There is still much to learn about one of Earth's neighbors, and many mysteries yet to uncover.

'The Space Age': The Space Age began April 12, 1961, when Soviet Major Yuri Gagarin successfully orbited the Earth in his Vostok 1. The Soviet Union had long been in competition with the United States over military and technological dominance of the world, and Gagarin's first orbit was both a huge win for the Soviet Union and a major blow to the United States. Since 1962, many humans have been launched into space, yet they have all been launched from Soviet Union or United States soil. Other Nations have launches satellites and probes, but not humans as the costs involved are phenomenal.

'Galactic Enterprise': The United States has NASA and a very effective fleet of shuttles to launch their astronauts into space. They even have the Delta class vehicles to transport smaller cargo into space. The Russians rely upon their Scion rockets to launch their cosmonauts into orbit; and their Proton vehicles for the lesser cargo. The Europeans, not well-known for their forays into space, still have their family of Arian shuttles to take cargo to the Space Station, and are planning manned missions as well. Even countries such as China, Japan and India are getting in on the Space Race, with their own shuttles and launch capabilities. It seems that the two world powers are no longer the only nations with viable space programs. The rest of the world is starting to catch up.

'atch this Space' The American Space shuttle is the most advanced and complex machine ever flown. The remaining shuttles have served out their life and are due for retirement after thirty years. What will replace them? What next, to ferry payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station? NASA has contracts pending with other companies, including Spacex, to provide the necessary hardware to supply and maintain the Space Station. Their capsule, The Dragon, now under development, is slated for missions in the near future. A conventional blunt-nosed, cone-shaped design, it will be launched atop their Falcon 9 launch vehicles.

"Final Frontier": The journey into space, beyond the Earth and out of the solar system is only worth it if you can find somewhere to go. The search for other planets outside our solar system has been a very difficult undertaking. Astronomers have long since theorized the existence of other planets, but it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that they were in a position to conduct further scientific study. Micro-lensing is an effective technique used to detect and identify larger objects passing in front of stars. To date, 347 planets have been discovered, twenty with multi planetary systems. Another method of finding these planets has been through the use of the Hubble Telescope.