0:00:02 > 0:00:03This is Absolute Genius.
0:00:03 > 0:00:08'So sit down, buckle up and get ready for take-off!
0:00:08 > 0:00:11'Each show, we'll introduce you to a different genius,
0:00:11 > 0:00:16'an amazing person, who had a genius idea which shaped the world.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20'And they will inspire us to come up with our own genius idea
0:00:20 > 0:00:22'at the end of each show.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24- 'But will it be any good? - Will it be any good?
0:00:24 > 0:00:28'It'll be Absolute Genius!
0:00:28 > 0:00:34'And on today's show, a genius who helped send man to the moon!
0:00:34 > 0:00:38'The brains behind the world's most powerful rocket.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40'Standby for blast off!'
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Three, two, one...
0:01:03 > 0:01:04Lift off!
0:01:15 > 0:01:17..two, one, zero...
0:01:17 > 0:01:18All engines running.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19Lift off!
0:01:19 > 0:01:23We have a liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26'More than 40 years ago, the world watched as Neil Armstrong
0:01:26 > 0:01:29'became the first man to walk on the moon.'
0:01:29 > 0:01:33- NEIL ARMSTRONG:- It's one small step for man,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36one giant leap for mankind.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41This is exactly what it would have been like when Neil Armstrong
0:01:41 > 0:01:42walked on the moon!
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Stop it!
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Right, get out!
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Oh!
0:01:56 > 0:01:58HE CHOKES
0:01:59 > 0:02:02And, if it wasn't for this week's genius mind,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06then the NASA moon mission might have fallen flat on its face.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11'He was the mastermind behind the rocket that blasted
0:02:11 > 0:02:13'Apollo 11 to the moon.'
0:02:15 > 0:02:19In the words of NASA, the greatest rocket scientist in history.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22We give you Wernher von Braun!
0:02:22 > 0:02:24Let me out!
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Inspired by his genius idea,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30we're going to be creating our own genius idea later on in the show,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33as we send our very own little man into space.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36But, first, let's find out how von Braun
0:02:36 > 0:02:38rocketed his way into space history.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43'Von Braun was born in Germany, in 1912.'
0:02:43 > 0:02:46With me, it started with the moon, my parents gave me a telescope
0:02:46 > 0:02:51and my interest in astronomy has never faded away.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55'As a child, he was fascinated by the idea of going to space.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58'So were a lot of other people,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01'and they thought rocket power might be the way to get there.'
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Now, pass me the tape.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09'When he was 12, von Braun did something very dangerous,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11'the kind of thing no 12-year-old should ever attempt.'
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Right, so what he was trying to do,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15he attached some rockets to the back of a wagon
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and then he'd light the rockets,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20set them off and see how far the wagon would travel.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21Come on!
0:03:21 > 0:03:25'We've had expert help to make sure we don't blow ourselves up.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28'Do not go lighting any rockets at home!'
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Let's see if we can recreate it.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Here we go.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Three, two, one...
0:03:39 > 0:03:40Both: Wow!
0:03:41 > 0:03:43THEY LAUGH
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Rubbish! Absolutely rubbish!
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It went two metres, what more do you want?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55'Unlike ours, Von Braun's rocket experiment worked.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58'The rockets propelled his wagon all over the place,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00'leaving a trail of fire behind it.'
0:04:00 > 0:04:03His little experiment did get him in big trouble, though.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04He actually got arrested by the police.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Luckily, no-one was hurt.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Naughty von Braun.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10The least said about that, the better.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14'Von Braun studied maths and physics,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18'to understand the science of how rockets work.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21'But it would be years before he built one to go to the moon.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23'Because when he was 20,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27'Von Braun started developing rockets for the German Army.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31'Then, in 1939, the Second World War started.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'Von Braun led the team that developed the V2 missile
0:04:37 > 0:04:40'used by the Nazis during the war.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43'The V2 could hit targets up to 200 miles away,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46'killing thousands of people.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49'As a weapon of war, it was deadly,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52'but as a rocket design, it was ground-breaking.'
0:04:58 > 0:05:02'To find out why, we're boldly going where 2.4 million people
0:05:02 > 0:05:03'have gone before...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08'The National Space Centre in Leicester.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12'And we're meeting a man who knows his rockets!'
0:05:15 > 0:05:19'It's Genius helper and space expert, Anu Ojha.'
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Why was the V2 such an important part of rocket history?
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Dick, all the rockets that we've seen since the Second World War,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28the Saturn V moon rockets, the Space Shuttle,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32the rockets used to launch the International Space Station parts,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34none of those would have existed without the V2.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36You can think of it as being the granddaddy
0:05:36 > 0:05:38of all of the rockets that are now in existence.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44'The Nazis had cutting edge technology
0:05:44 > 0:05:47'and rocket scientists like von Braun were the brains behind it.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56'So in 1945, when Germany was defeated and the war ended,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00'America secretly hired von Braun and other Nazi scientists
0:06:00 > 0:06:02'like him to work for the US.'
0:06:05 > 0:06:07It wasn't long after World War Two
0:06:07 > 0:06:10and the public were fascinated with ideas about Mars,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13could there have been life there? Ideas about the other planets
0:06:13 > 0:06:16but, most importantly, how they could try and get across
0:06:16 > 0:06:17that final frontier.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19What was he like and how excited was he?
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Dick, he was an unusual character because he was a brilliant engineer,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25but he was also pretty good with the media
0:06:25 > 0:06:27and he was a very good politician.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31So, he could develop all of the new ideas but, more importantly,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34he knew the right important people to influence
0:06:34 > 0:06:35to try and pay for his project.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'In those days, America was in a race with the Soviet Union
0:06:44 > 0:06:47'to explore space and the biggest prize of all
0:06:47 > 0:06:50'was to be the first to get a man on the moon.'
0:06:50 > 0:06:53And, it was von Braun's genius that helped them do it.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Here's how...
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'Von Braun's genius idea was The Saturn V,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01'the world's most powerful rocket.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03'It stood 111 metres tall
0:07:03 > 0:07:08'and fully fuelled, weighed about the same as 400 elephants.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12'And in 1969, it sent man all the way to the moon
0:07:12 > 0:07:13'in the Apollo 11 space mission.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15'Genius!'
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Inspired by von Braun's space mission,
0:07:17 > 0:07:19we'll be coming up with our own genius idea later.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20But, but, but...
0:07:20 > 0:07:22First, we need a bit of research,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25where can we go where there's lot of rockets?
0:07:25 > 0:07:27NASA... Cape Canaveral, Florida.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Yeah... No, I don't like sunshine. Maybe, Cambridgeshire?
0:07:31 > 0:07:32Oh, OK, then.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35While we're on our way there, you have a look at the top five things
0:07:35 > 0:07:38that have been flung into space.
0:07:38 > 0:07:39'The Genius Top Five!
0:07:39 > 0:07:44'At five, fruit flies were the first living things sent to space.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47'They were blasted up on a rocket in 1947,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51'then parachuted back down again...alive!
0:07:51 > 0:07:55'At four, astronaut Alan Shepard once whacked a golf ball into space
0:07:55 > 0:07:58'from the surface of the moon. It travelled for miles!
0:07:58 > 0:08:01'At three, look out for space junk.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06'There are more than 500,000 bits of rubbish floating in Earth's orbit.
0:08:06 > 0:08:07'Not that kind of rubbish!
0:08:07 > 0:08:10'More bits of old spacecraft and broken satellites.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15'At two, Jedward were flung into space for crimes against music!
0:08:15 > 0:08:17'Relax, you two, we made it up!
0:08:17 > 0:08:20'And at one, it's a message to aliens.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23'NASA once sent up a recording of sounds from our planet
0:08:23 > 0:08:27'including barking dogs, frogs and human laughter.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31'All right, stop it, everybody. It's not funny!'
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Now this might look like your average farmer's field...
0:08:38 > 0:08:41but it's not because something extraordinary happens here.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43On the first Sunday of every month, a bunch of amateur rocketeers
0:08:43 > 0:08:46get together to build and launch rockets.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54'That's right. We're at the home of the East Anglian Rocketry Society,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57'EARS for short. We've asked one of their finest rocketeers to help us
0:08:57 > 0:09:00'build and launch a rocket of our own.'
0:09:03 > 0:09:06'It's Genius helper, Ben Jarvis.'
0:09:06 > 0:09:09- Hi, Ben.- Hi, Ben.- Hi, there.- How are you doing?- All right, I'm good.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10I see you're hard at work, already?
0:09:10 > 0:09:14- Yes.- Is this the rocket for us? - This is your rocket.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16I mean, it just looks like a big drainpipe. What is it?
0:09:16 > 0:09:17BEN LAUGHS
0:09:17 > 0:09:19This is what we call the air frame tube.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22All rockets normally have a tube that forms
0:09:22 > 0:09:23the main part of the body.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The fuel goes in the back, the pointy bit goes on the front.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29We have a parachute attached to that piece of line
0:09:29 > 0:09:31to bring it back safely. That's, kind of, it.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Can we crack on and do something now?
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Absolutely, first thing to do is stick the fins onto it.
0:09:37 > 0:09:38Don't muck around with glue at home,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41we're professionals and we know exactly what we're doing.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44- What are we doing? How much of it? - That's about right.- That's it.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48If you spread a bit of glue on each of the flat edges,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50- just along the bottom edge.- Steady.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Slot it straight down into the tube, so it's all the way down.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Ah, nice.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Have a look along it and check that it's vertical.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Why is it so important that they're vertical?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03The fins act to stabilise the rocket.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06They act like the feathers on the back of an arrow,
0:10:06 > 0:10:07to keep it pointing nose forwards.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09We're going to paint our rocket!
0:10:13 > 0:10:16'Our rocket is almost ready to fly.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19'It just needs some rocket fuel, and a name.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22'Mmm, something memorable like Von Braun's genius, Saturn V?'
0:10:22 > 0:10:25We're going to name this rocket, Pat.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Oh, for goodness' sake!
0:10:31 > 0:10:35'We're leaving Ben to add the rocket fuel and get Pat ready to fly.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39'But what we still need to find out is exactly how rockets work.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42'If only there was a friendly scientist around to explain.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46'Luckily there is!
0:10:46 > 0:10:49'Our Genius scientist, Fran, explains things in ways
0:10:49 > 0:10:50'even WE can understand.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'Best of all, she loves a good experiment
0:10:53 > 0:10:56'and she's guaranteed to pop up round the corner
0:10:56 > 0:10:58'just when you need her most.'
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Ah, Fran. We'd like to know how rockets go up?
0:11:01 > 0:11:03To make something go up, all you've got to do,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05is push something else down.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06Oh!
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Not like that, we're going to do it with this pop bottle here.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12It's got some water in and we're going to push that water down
0:11:12 > 0:11:14and then that'll push the pop bottle up!
0:11:14 > 0:11:17- I've seen these in toy shops.- Yeah.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19And, to make the water go down,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- all you've got to do is pump some air in.- Pump it.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- Pumping...- You've got to put your foot on there, as well.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27This'll burn off the pork pie I had for breakfast.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29- Keep going.- Go on!- Keep going!
0:11:31 > 0:11:32Argh!
0:11:32 > 0:11:34THEY LAUGH
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Brilliant, but rockets don't have liquid in there,
0:11:36 > 0:11:37they have fire, right?
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Yeah, rockets don't use water to power them,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44- they use rocket fuel.- OK. - So let's have a look at that.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Over here, I've got another bottle and it looks like it's empty
0:11:47 > 0:11:51but it's actually full of highly-flammable rocket fuel.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53- There's not rocket fuel in there. - I'll show you.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56- What we're going to do, I'm going to set it on fire.- Right.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57That's going to make lots of hot gas
0:11:57 > 0:12:00and that hot gas is going to be pushed out, backwards
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- and that's going to send the bottle, forwards.- Right.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Right, it's pretty dangerous so I want you guys to step back a bit.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- We'll be like real men, we'll stand behind you.- Exactly.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12I'm just going to take this lid off.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- Go on, Fran.- Do you definitely know what you're doing?
0:12:14 > 0:12:16- I know exactly what I'm doing. - Right, OK.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Oh, look at that! Straight out, brilliant, that's amazing!
0:12:21 > 0:12:25That's good, but rockets don't go sideways,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- they go up, don't they? - They don't usually go sideways, no.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30The thing is, to make them go up,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33all you've got to do is make the flame go down.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34- Ah.- OK.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Just pop this in.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Get my lighter.
0:12:43 > 0:12:44Ay-ee!
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- Hello, sailor!- Nice.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Fire, rocket fuel, it went up
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and we're going to transfer that knowledge of physics
0:12:51 > 0:12:55- to a big, fat rocket. - Let's go and launch...Pat.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57DRUM ROLL
0:12:57 > 0:13:00SPACE MUSIC
0:13:06 > 0:13:10Right, hopefully we're going to launch it 1,500 feet into the air,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12which is about 400, 500 metres.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14That's a long way.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Then the top will dislodge when it's up there,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18releasing a parachute, which will fall, somewhere
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and we're going to try and track it down and find it.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22- What are you doing?- Good luck, Pat.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- What are you doing?- Saying, "Good luck" to Pat.- Give Pat a kiss.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Mwah!
0:13:27 > 0:13:31'He's not as big as von Braun's Saturn V, or as powerful,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33'but Pat certainly looks the part.'
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Five seconds...
0:13:36 > 0:13:37DRUM ROLL
0:13:37 > 0:13:39..four...
0:13:39 > 0:13:41three...
0:13:41 > 0:13:42two...
0:13:42 > 0:13:44one!
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Blast off!
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Go!
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Oh!
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Brilliant!
0:13:55 > 0:13:57That's it, it's gone. Where is it?
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'To reach the moon, Pat would have to travel half a million times
0:14:00 > 0:14:02'further than this.
0:14:02 > 0:14:08He hasn't got the fuel for that, but he's trying. Just look at that view!
0:14:10 > 0:14:17- It's coming back!- It's coming.- Move out of the way!- Catch it.- Catch it?
0:14:17 > 0:14:18Here it comes.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22- Come on, Pat!- Come on, Pat! Come back to Daddy.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31I've found Pat!
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- Pat's in one piece! - I'm not.- Look!
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- Oh, Pat, I love you. - Pat's been right up there.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46That was genius, but we don't want to stop there.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Inspired by Von Braun, we want to send a man all the way to space.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56But Pat's used his rocket fuel, so we need another way to get there.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03- Ben, we did it.- Well, WE didn't, THEY did.- Thank you, Ben.
0:15:03 > 0:15:04How high d'you think it went?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Erm, looked about 1,200, 1,300 feet, something like that,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10so it's about 400 metres something like that.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11That's pretty impressive.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14It was only very small in the sky, you could hardly see it.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15Yeah, it was quite a good launch.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18The problem is, we don't have enough money to build a bigger rocket
0:15:18 > 0:15:21to go higher, so we're going to have to think of some more ideas.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Tell you what, we need to go to, instead of a field,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26even though this was great, a proper launch site.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Where do you reckon we could go?
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Erm, somewhere with a lot more space, somewhere...hmm,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35- somewhere like Worcestershire, somewhere like that?- Worcestershire?
0:15:36 > 0:15:38I love Worcestershire!
0:15:42 > 0:15:44We've built our own rocket,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49given him a name and launched him on a journey of a lifetime.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55He soared as high as a cloud over a field in Cambridgeshire...
0:15:55 > 0:15:59and came back again. Von Braun would have been proud.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Oh, yes! So proud!
0:16:02 > 0:16:04- Come on, Pat!- Come on, Pat!
0:16:04 > 0:16:06Now we're ready to reveal our Genius Idea!
0:16:11 > 0:16:14We've come to Worcestershire, home of the city of Worcester
0:16:14 > 0:16:17and the world-famous Worcestershire sauce, and...
0:16:17 > 0:16:20this airfield we've borrowed,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23launch site for our space mission, a mission I think we can afford.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29So we had a little powwow in the motel last night and we thought,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32"How can we further on from the rocket experiment
0:16:32 > 0:16:33"in the middle of the field?"
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Let's have a bit of number crunching.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39We can't afford a bigger rocket to send into space
0:16:39 > 0:16:42so instead we're going to be using a balloon!
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And here's the man we're going to be sending up, it's Diddy Dom,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48complete with tinfoil space suit, cos we couldn't afford a real one.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50- And a massive slaphead. - This is our genius idea!
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Our Genius Idea, to send our own Diddy Dom to space,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00using the next best thing to a rocket, a helium balloon.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Our challenge, to get him back in one piece.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Our problem, we don't know where he's going to land!
0:17:08 > 0:17:09To help get our idea off the ground,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13it's genius helper Steve Randall, an expert in high altitude ballooning.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19- All right, Steve?- All right, Steve? - Hiya!- Y'all right?- I'm doing fine.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Can't wait for this. We want to send Diddy Dom here
0:17:21 > 0:17:23- up to the outer rim of space.- No trouble.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- Is it possible? - Yeah, absolutely.- Great! How?
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Well, we'll stick him into this rig and take some photos on the way up.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33There you are, Little Dom, you excited? 'Yes.'
0:17:33 > 0:17:36You've always wanted to go into space, haven't you? 'Yes.'
0:17:36 > 0:17:39And you're all dressed up for it, aren't you? 'Yes. I love space.'
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Yeah, I do too, Little Dom.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Now, how long's it going to take him to get up into space?
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- About two hours.- Two hours?- Two hours, yeah, his balloon will pop
0:17:46 > 0:17:48and a little parachute down to the ground.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- Can we get building? - Yeah, absolutely.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- How many times have you done this? - This is my 38th flight.- Wow.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00- What's the excitement behind it? - The chase.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04The excitement is the finding it, it's not so much the launching,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07it's the going, getting it back and looking at all the pictures.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Diddy Dom will sit in his own polystyrene space pod.
0:18:10 > 0:18:11Doesn't look very happy.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15- Just looks like you on an average day, really.- Yeah. Not very happy.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17We're using mini-cameras to film him.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23- We'll also put a little bottle of water here.- What's that for?
0:18:23 > 0:18:25- It's cold up there, it should freeze.- How cold does it get?
0:18:25 > 0:18:27It gets to minus 55.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30- A radio tracking system... - It goes in here.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33..will transmit Diddy Dom's location to the car.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Mission Control.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38And finally, there we have it. Our space pod.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Von Braun would be proud of that.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45- All we need now is a balloon to lift it up.- OK.
0:18:45 > 0:18:46I think it's a bit small.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48- Show us your balloon, Steve.- OK.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Bet it's bigger than that.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56The balloon is now finally being filled with helium.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58It's going to be massive!
0:18:58 > 0:19:00The helium balloon should lift Diddy Dom
0:19:00 > 0:19:03thousands of metres to the edge of space.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05It's still growing!
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- It's massive, Steve.- It is, but it gets a lot bigger.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11It gets to about the size of a house.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13A balloon the size of a house!
0:19:14 > 0:19:17It becomes so thin you can see through it like a sheet of plastic.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22OK, and eventually it gets so thin and that's why it bursts.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24We're almost ready to launch Diddy Dom,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and hopefully get him back again.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29This is it! It's our Genius Idea.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32But it's easy to lose things in space.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Yes, it's the Not-So-Genius Idea!
0:19:37 > 0:19:42An astronaut was left red-faced after losing her tools in space.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46She was working on the international space station in 2008
0:19:46 > 0:19:50when she dropped the bag, thought to be worth £70,000.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52It was the size of a briefcase,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56and one of the largest items ever lost on a space walk.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58A not-so-genius day at work.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03We've been on a genius journey,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06inspired by the world's greatest rocket scientist.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11We've discovered how he got humans to the moon using rocket power.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15And we've come up with our own genius mission
0:20:15 > 0:20:19to send a man to space for a fraction of NASA's enormous budget.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Stand by for liftoff.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28And Little Dom is going into space.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Just going to check the cameras.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32You working? You working?
0:20:32 > 0:20:35BOTH: Three, two, one...
0:20:35 > 0:20:36Blast off!
0:20:43 > 0:20:46It's incredible to think that's now on a one-way trip to near space.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49It's going to look amazing. This is genius!
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Come on, to the car! Go!
0:20:53 > 0:20:58Just seconds after launch, he's already 275m high.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Ah, you! Come on, you come with us.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03In there.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Going to enjoy this, von Braun, I'm telling thee.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Diddy Dom's leaving the clouds behind him,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17as he heads to the next layer of Earth's atmosphere,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19the stratosphere.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24Right, Diddy Dom, come in, come in, Diddy Dom, we are coming after you.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26We're tracking Diddy Dom's flight
0:21:26 > 0:21:28using Steve's GPS system and sat nav.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31I've got the computer on my lap and it's giving us
0:21:31 > 0:21:33all the data of where Diddy Dom is now.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45Diddy Dom is now at 10,000m. He's flying up!
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Mission Control is not far behind,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50currently hurtling along at 40 miles an hour.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Diddy Dom is now flying higher than most passenger planes.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57He's more than seven miles off the ground.
0:21:57 > 0:22:04So we've been driving for about an hour. Diddy Dom is now at 23,834m.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- Just imagine that for a second. - Let's try and get in touch with Diddy Dom.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Diddy Dom, are you OK up there?
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Can you see space?
0:22:12 > 0:22:14It's beautiful up there.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Yes, it is beautiful.
0:22:25 > 0:22:32Diddy Dom is floating almost 30,000m above Earth, and still rising.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37So high, the blue's disappeared from the sky
0:22:37 > 0:22:41and he can see the curvature of the Earth.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44It's genius!
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Diddy Dom loves space!
0:22:49 > 0:22:50As the air pressure decreases,
0:22:50 > 0:22:55Diddy Dom's helium balloon is stretching bigger and bigger.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Any minute now, it's going to burst!
0:22:58 > 0:23:02But Houston, we have a problem.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04We've lost contact with our man in space,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07and you know whose fault it is?
0:23:07 > 0:23:09See Steve's face?
0:23:10 > 0:23:12It's not the face of a happy man.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Well, he was at 29-and-a-half thousand metres,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and I turned the volume up and the whole radio system went down,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21and now we don't know where he is.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27A whole programme about Von Braun, right, leading up to this moment...
0:23:27 > 0:23:28I only turned the volume control up!
0:23:28 > 0:23:32This moment, and you've just gone and mucked the whole thing up!
0:23:32 > 0:23:33It's coming down.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39From take-off, the balloon has grown to the size of a house.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43And that's when it bursts.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Diddy Dom is hurtling back down to Earth.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49The balloon has burst
0:23:49 > 0:23:52- and it's coming down on the parachute right now.- Coming down?
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Oh, we've missed the blooming point!
0:23:55 > 0:23:59We've missed the whole flipping thing! The whole thing!
0:23:59 > 0:24:01DICK LAUGHS
0:24:04 > 0:24:07We may have missed the big bang, but we can watch it back later.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Well, that's if we manage to find Diddy Dom and our cameras.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Hold on, Diddy Man, we're coming for you!
0:24:14 > 0:24:15We've just pulled over.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Steve's got out a sort of massive antennae and stuck it on top, look!
0:24:22 > 0:24:26He's going to find Diddy Dom using the power of a television aerial.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Can you explain what's going on here?
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Payload is in the last phase of landing and just,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37what I'm trying to do now is get a last few signals from it
0:24:37 > 0:24:41before it lands on the ground, just so that we know where to go to next.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- Diddy Dom has landed! - We've got the exact location.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54The last reading we got was at 194m, so not far up,
0:24:54 > 0:24:56and we've got the latitude and the longitude,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58so we're going to put them into this sat nav
0:24:58 > 0:25:00and hopefully get there within the next ten minutes.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04We've been on the road for almost three hours.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09Final destination, the village of Gaydon in Warwickshire.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Our spaceman is cold, lost and exhausted.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16- VON BRAUN:- Hang in there, Diddy Dom, we're on our way!
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Here we are, now, we think it's around here.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22I'm pretty sure I saw a flash of blue just over that corner.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26- These are the right coordinates, aren't they, Steve?- Yeah.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29So let's go and see if Dom's right and it's just over that fence.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30Could be wrong.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40Dom! I've just found what it was that you were looking at!
0:25:40 > 0:25:41What was it?
0:25:41 > 0:25:43A bin!
0:25:43 > 0:25:45DICK SIGHS
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Time is running out. If we don't find him soon, it'll be dark.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51What can you see, Steve?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Diddy Dom's been waiting for almost two hours.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Understandably, he looks a little bit annoyed.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06Mr Horse, did you see Diddy Dom fly down from space into your field?
0:26:06 > 0:26:08HORSE WHINNIES
0:26:08 > 0:26:11While we've been chatting to a horse,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Diddy Dom's finally been spotted!
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Look carefully, see if you can spot him.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21DICK GASPS Diddy Dom!
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- Have you got him? - Yeah, he's there. Here he is.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Is that still frozen? Yeah, still some ice in it, look.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32It's still frozen!
0:26:32 > 0:26:35The question is, Diddy Dom, how far did you actually go up,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37cos I messed with the buttons and...
0:26:37 > 0:26:40You're talking to a plastic toy. Why don't we just check the computer?
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Can we check that? Will the stats be there?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Brilliant, I bet the camera footage is amazing as well!
0:26:48 > 0:26:50We've been on an out-of-this-world adventure,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55discovering how our genius, von Braun, blasted man to the moon.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58We've launched our own rocket high over Cambridgeshire.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- We did it, von Braun.- OK, right, you've got the footage for us?
0:27:01 > 0:27:05And, like von Braun, we've sent a man to space. A diddy man.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07No way!
0:27:07 > 0:27:09- That is awesome! - It almost seems unreal.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15- This is really outer space! - Von Braun, look!
0:27:15 > 0:27:16You've inspired us to do this!
0:27:18 > 0:27:19Thank you very much, Steve.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21It's been an amazing experience, to be honest.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Constructing it all, sending it to space, tracking it all
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and then eventually finding Little Dom in a graveyard,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29then watching this, it's been mind-blowing.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30It's still almost unreal.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33And von Braun, it was you that inspired us to do this.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36We salute him, because he is an Absolute Genius.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38I am, thank you.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:27:56 > 0:27:59It went right through me!
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- Don't wobble it.- I'm not doing anything!- Just stand still, then!