The Planets Episode Guide

Episode Guide

• Atmosphere

  Atmospheric conditions and diverse weather systems throughout the solar system, exploring the clouds of Jupiter, the dust storms of Mars and the acid rain of Venus. The programme also examines the possibility that one of Saturn's many moons may have a climate similar to Earth

  Next on: Tuesday 15th December 6:00pm EST - Science Channel
• Destiny

  The fate of the solar system, how it will evolve over the next billion years, and an exploration of new planetary systems discovered around nearby stars, which may one day offer an alternative to life on Earth

  Next on: Tuesday 15th December 7:00pm EST - Science Channel
• Different Worlds

  A look at the enigmas of the solar system, asking how it was created, why the planets are so different from each other and what lies beyond. The first programme investigates early probes such as Mechta, the first man-made satellite to go into orbit around the sun

• Giants

  The 1977 Voyager II mission to the edge of the solar system, a four billion-mile trek through alien worlds, solving puzzles about the giant planets Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn, which have perplexed astronomers for centuries. The 12-year journey answered questions about the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, as well as discovering terrifying radiation belts, supersonic winds and evidence of catastrophic violence

  Next on: Tuesday 8th December 7:00pm EST - Science Channel
• Life

  The hunt for extraterrestrial life, asking whether organisms may have arrived on Earth inside meteorites, and examining the possibility that Mars may not be a dead planet

• The Moon

  The mysteries of the moon, examining how it became a political issue during the Cold War, escalating the space race as the superpowers fought for technological supremacy. Twenty years of subsequent lunar exploration shed light on the satellite's cratered surface, but it took a young astronomer from Arizona to solve the riddle of its formation

• Saturn

  Insight into the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft's mission to Saturn, which will culminate in a landing on the planet's largest moon Titan, the body in the solar system that bears the greatest resemblance to Earth

• Star

  Profile of the body at the centre of the solar system, the sun, a gigantic nuclear engine which makes life on Earth possible. Scientific revelations from Galileo's simple observations to images created by the latest probes serve to further man's understanding of the incandescent orb

• Sun

  Predicting the sun's behavior may be a matter of survival.

• Terra Firma

  How the discovery of active volcanos oozing boiling sulphur or frozen nitrogen on the moons of Jupiter and Neptune led to a change in man's understanding of these distant worlds

  Next on: Tuesday 8th December 6:00pm EST - Science Channel