0:00:02 > 0:00:03Ten, nine, eight...
0:00:03 > 0:00:09Go for main engine start. six, five, four, three, two, one
0:00:10 > 0:00:15..and zero and lift off of space shuttle Atlantis.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Powering away from Earth at an incredible 10,000 miles per hour,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Shuttle Mission 132 is heading for the International Space Station.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31When the engines light, it's like being kicked in the back. It's an enormous smash,
0:00:31 > 0:00:37then this whole 2,000-plus-tonne ship just lifts off, shaking and into the sky.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Shuttle Atlantis will fly for the very last time this summer.
0:00:43 > 0:00:4850 years after man first experienced being blasted into space.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58The sky goes very quickly. Blue, blue, blue, black! Then you're out in space, out of the atmosphere.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01You suddenly find yourself flying around the world at five miles per second.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05You go from being pressed in your seat at 3G, being mashed into your seat.
0:01:05 > 0:01:11Suddenly there's a big bang, the engine is cut off and everything is floating around the cabin.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15Mission specialist Piers Sellers, there on the left.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23In the five decades that we have been travelling into space,
0:01:23 > 0:01:28the greatest insights we have gained have not been about out there, but about down here.
0:01:28 > 0:01:35About the small, jewelled ball of rock on which all our lives depend.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Planet Earth.
0:01:37 > 0:01:43I think space, the exploration of space is absolutely essential for the future of humanity.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Being able to look down and understand how things are interconnected.
0:01:46 > 0:01:52We're starting to understand how we influence both the natural world and each other.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I think the future of space is incredibly exciting.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56Space inspires.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00It inspired a three-year-old kid to become a space scientist - me.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05If we can make the most out of it and get commercial viability out of it as well,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09it's a no-brainer. We have got to make the most of it.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14It takes the International Space Station just 90 minutes to orbit the Earth.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19The astronauts on board see 16 sunrises and sunsets every day.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22'Beautiful. Look at that.'
0:02:24 > 0:02:27In just one of those orbits, those same astronauts can look down
0:02:27 > 0:02:30on everything that our planet has to offer us.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35From this extraordinary viewpoint, they can also begin to see
0:02:35 > 0:02:39and understand all the ways that we are changing and altering that world.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Over the next hour, we will follow one single 90-minute orbit
0:02:46 > 0:02:50of the International Space Station around our globe,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54taking a fresh look down on the Earth upon which we all depend.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58A world that is changing measurably with every passing minute.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02A world that is normally only seen through astronauts' eyes.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21220 miles above the Earth, the crew of Shuttle Mission 132
0:03:21 > 0:03:25are preparing to dock with the International Space Station.
0:03:25 > 0:03:31It is an extraordinary ballet of almost 2,500 tonnes of space hardware.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Atlantis, go for docking.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Atlantis, copy. Go for docking. Thank you.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44You have got these two vehicles going around the world
0:03:44 > 0:03:47at five miles per second. Pretty fast.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Standing by for contact and capture.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56But they come together at one inch per second and the accuracy has got to be about that much.
0:03:56 > 0:04:02It has got to be within that kind of a box to officially dock.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Houston and stationed. Capture confirmed.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11It is one of the wonders of the universe that we can pull that kind of thing off.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16It is another wonder of the universe that the space station stays in orbit at all.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18It is actually falling.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Falling at over 17,000 mph towards the Earth.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27And constantly missing it by just 220 miles.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35This is Mission Control, Houston. The hatches between the two spacecraft now open.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42With docking complete, the shuttle crew make their way across to the ISS.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46It has been a month since the space station last received visitors from Earth.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53It is our pleasure to welcome them so soon.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55We are really glad...
0:04:58 > 0:05:01The shuttle crew are about to begin an extraordinary journey.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05One that will ultimately take them almost 200 times around our planet.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13But every journey needs a starting point.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16How do astronauts tell where they are above the Earth?
0:05:16 > 0:05:21Well, the zero point of all journeys on Earth and even in orbit around it
0:05:21 > 0:05:24is a line drawn through an eastern suburb of London.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Greenwich. The historic heart of maritime Britain.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44For centuries we set out from here in search of new worlds and discoveries.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50In fact, by the 19th century, Britain had become so synonymous with global travel
0:05:50 > 0:05:55that when it came to deciding where the world's starting line should be, Greenwich won the honour.
0:05:57 > 0:06:03This line, marked in the ground at the Royal Observatory, was declared zero degrees longitude.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08The place from where all the vertical lines of longitude which divide up our world are measured.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19The Royal Observatory had a reputation for cutting-edge technology and the most accurate
0:06:19 > 0:06:23measurements of the stars, planets and the moon that was available.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26That information was vital for navigators.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Greenwich was decided by international agreement in 1884
0:06:32 > 0:06:39as the location of the Prime Meridian because our astronomical measurements were incredibly accurate.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Also because we were a major seafaring power.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Two-thirds of all the shipping in the world, all the traffic,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51based its navigation on data provided by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54So we were, effectively, the GPS service of the day.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59But our sailing forebears could never have imagined the voyages
0:06:59 > 0:07:03that we could now map out in the heavens above our heads.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Hurtling at almost 18,000 mph through the skies,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11the ISS has already left zero degrees far behind.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Swinging out of the Atlantic, the crew of six will be able to
0:07:15 > 0:07:21briefly glimpse one of the most violent and changeable spots on our planet.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25At 21 degrees west lies the island of Iceland.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Iceland has the greatest concentration of volcanoes in the world.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55In the last 1,000 years, a third of the lava to reach the planet's surface has emerged here,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57creating an island that won't stop growing.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02It is only by journeying into space that we have really begun
0:08:02 > 0:08:05to understand the significance of this geological cauldron.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Satellite measurements have revealed that Iceland and the mid-Atlantic ridge
0:08:11 > 0:08:16on which it sits are slowly pushing the entire Atlantic Ocean apart.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23With every orbit of the ISS, the Atlantic grows by 0.003 mm.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27That's about the same rate of growth as your fingernails.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35I think the most amazing thing is the satellites over the last 50 years
0:08:35 > 0:08:39have given us a true insight into how the earth is moving.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43To be able to use that from space and actually monitor our planet,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46to actually take the temperature of the planet almost,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49to understand its health, is absolutely unprecedented.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53The more we can understand these tectonic powers and strength
0:08:53 > 0:09:00and how volcanoes and earthquakes are created, the more we can do to actually save people's lives.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03'We are one happy crew.'
0:09:03 > 0:09:06The human desire to discover and understand our universe
0:09:06 > 0:09:11and our world is the most basic purpose of the International Space Station.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14It is a venture unique in human history.
0:09:14 > 0:09:1716 countries worked together to create it.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22More than a dozen modules devoted to different areas of scientific study.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30It was thought that if you actually built a space station
0:09:30 > 0:09:37where you could do long-term and short-term experiments, this would be of great benefit to mankind.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40The problem with space is it is incredibly expensive.
0:09:40 > 0:09:46To get 1kg of stuff into low Earth orbit costs about £20,000.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49The idea was to get many nations to collaborate together
0:09:49 > 0:09:53to have a joint facility used by many, many different people.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57That was the concept behind the International Space Station.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Over the last ten years, the ISS has grown ever larger.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Now, it's the size of a football field.
0:10:07 > 0:10:13Life in the ISS now is borderline luxurious.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15We have six people living on board and a lot of space.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20It's the equivalent of about two jumbo jets with all the seats stripped out.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24So there's plenty of room, you can get away from people if you want to.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26But however luxurious the accommodation,
0:10:26 > 0:10:33the greatest privilege the astronauts have is to be able to gaze down on the amazing view below.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40The first rays of sunshine, there, hitting the upper atmosphere of the Earth
0:10:40 > 0:10:45as the station and the shuttle are out over the ocean.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50There is a belly turret underneath the space station called a cupola,
0:10:50 > 0:10:56which is a whole windowed little bubble underneath the space station.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00So you can sit in there, stick your head in and watch the world go by all around you.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04It's like actually floating outside in space, it's just beautiful.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Even from 220 miles up, the crew of ISS astronauts
0:11:08 > 0:11:15can glimpse not just our planet's great natural evolutions, but also how we, too, are changing our world.
0:11:15 > 0:11:21In just 15 minutes more, they have crossed the Atlantic, reaching the coastline of South America.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37The Amazon rainforest covers around 1.5 billion acres of land.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42Not only is it the home to thousands of species of plants and animals,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46but as we now know, this forest is one of the lungs of the planet -
0:11:46 > 0:11:51absorbing carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and replacing it with oxygen.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55It keeps the planet's climate and atmosphere in balance.
0:11:56 > 0:12:04But again, it's only from space that we can get a sense of just how delicate that balance really is.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06I spent my whole life studying the climate system
0:12:06 > 0:12:11and working on trying to simulate it better and observe it better, and experiments to understand it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:17I really thought I had a pretty good grip on it before I went into space.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19But when I got up there,
0:12:19 > 0:12:24the thing that really surprised me was how thin the atmosphere is, compared to the size of the world.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28The world is this enormous ball of rock,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31then there's this thin little onion skin of atmosphere around it,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35and that's the climate that we experience when you walk out the door.
0:12:35 > 0:12:41So it's a very thin, little volume which is obviously easy to affect because it's so small.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43That really made an impression on me.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58A man-made scar on our world visible from orbit.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04But our ability to look down from hundreds of miles above has also
0:13:04 > 0:13:08began to allow us to slow that destruction.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13There are satellites now monitoring every corner of the Amazon Basin.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Satellite data has completely changed the way we look
0:13:16 > 0:13:20at deforestation because it allows us to
0:13:20 > 0:13:25actually see where it's happening, the extent that it's happening and how much damage it's doing.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31The fantastic thing is, in Brazil, since 1965, they've had a law
0:13:31 > 0:13:37that says you cannot deforest 80% of your land in Amazonia.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41However, they've never had the tools until very recently to enforce it.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Now they have two satellites called Amazonas 1 and 2,
0:13:45 > 0:13:52which basically fly over and take photographs of the Amazon, and they can see landowners and actually show
0:13:52 > 0:13:57when they've actually deforested more than that, and find them.
0:13:57 > 0:14:03The rate of deforestation in the Amazon has slowed significantly in the last few years.
0:14:03 > 0:14:11However, every 90 minutes, it's estimated that 447 acres of the Amazon rainforest will be lost.
0:14:17 > 0:14:24But even as our orbiting astronauts begin to grasp our ability to transform and change our planet,
0:14:24 > 0:14:30they are constantly reminded of the sheer power of the forces it can unleash upon us.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37On the dark side of the Earth, the surface constantly flickers with the light of electrical storms.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46You can see huge lightning flashes going on below your boots,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and some of these set each other off.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52So you'll see a lightning flash and it goes "pow", and then "pow, pow, pow, pow, pow".
0:14:52 > 0:14:56It kind of walks along for hundreds of miles, setting off other flashes.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59So it's really spectacular.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02And just a few degrees west of the Amazon lies one of the most
0:15:02 > 0:15:07spectacular storm spots on the planet, Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21Around 160 nights a year, three-mile-high clouds form
0:15:21 > 0:15:26over the lake and lightning arcs back and forth for ten hours at a time.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31Here you can see the longest single display of continuous lightning in the world.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42It's thought the mix of weather fronts from the Andes,
0:15:42 > 0:15:47and methane gas rising off the marshy lake, create the perfect conditions for this lightning.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01The bolts strike up to 40 times a minute and can be seen from over 250 miles away.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05And even from orbit.
0:16:17 > 0:16:24The monitoring of our planet's weather has been completely revolutionised by space technology.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28Satellites now continuously keep an eye on weather systems across the planet,
0:16:28 > 0:16:33right down to the scale and intensity of a single storm.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Oh, my God! Did you see that?
0:16:42 > 0:16:46It's this technology that has saved countless lives.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53If we look back at the past before satellites were in the sky and able
0:16:53 > 0:16:57to look at storms, Galveston in the USA in 1900 was hit by a hurricane,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02no warning, 8,000 people died.
0:17:02 > 0:17:09In the 1970s, Bangladesh was hit by a number of cyclones and over 300,000 people died in those storms.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Now, with satellite, we can actually track
0:17:13 > 0:17:19the actual inception, the birth of these storms and how they then move across the land in real time.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24We can actually give real-time warnings to people on the ground.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27These satellites have their work cut out.
0:17:27 > 0:17:331,800 storms take place back on our fragile planet every 90-minute orbit of the space station.
0:17:40 > 0:17:46Back on board the ISS, the astronauts are learning to live and work in microgravity.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51Setting their clocks to Greenwich Mean Time, they work a regular nine-to-five day.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56Routine tasks, though, do come with their own space problems.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Everybody who goes to space first time has the first two or three days losing stuff.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04It's hard to keep your stuff under control, it just wants to get away from you.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07You turn your back for a second, you think it's sitting there
0:18:07 > 0:18:09quite comfortably and it gets away from you.
0:18:09 > 0:18:16Luckily, the air flow in the station with the fans suck everything towards the filters so if you lose something,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19after a day or so it'll end up there.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Mike, just a heads-up that the pump module's right behind your feet.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Getting used to living in microgravity can be difficult for astronauts at first,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30especially as it has a drastic effect on the body.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34When astronauts are in space initially,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39they often feel quite sick because all their internal organs start moving.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44At the moment, I'm sitting here, my internal organs are being pulled down by the force of gravity.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47In a microgravity environment, everything lifts up a bit,
0:18:47 > 0:18:51your stomach might get compressed a bit so, often, astronauts feel sick.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54This dies down after a few days but initially that happens.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58But it's not all losing things and indigestion.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Weightlessness has its benefits too.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Don't try this at home!
0:19:09 > 0:19:14Astronauts playing games in space gets lots of circulation - it is fun,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18floating around doing a few tricks, making bubbles out of water, things like that.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24That is fun and it brings across to people what a strange and wonderful environment space is.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26HE GROWLS
0:19:26 > 0:19:28But most of the time you're up there,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32every minute is precious, someone's paying a lot of money for it and you're working hard.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Space travel is almost impossibly expensive.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Just one shuttle mission costs at least half a billion dollars.
0:19:39 > 0:19:46Every drop of water, every bit of food has to be sent up from Earth using state-of-the-art technology.
0:19:46 > 0:19:53But that's nothing compared to the efforts we're using back on Earth to create that food in the first place,
0:19:53 > 0:19:58as we can see a few minutes on at our next stop.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Texas.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09More land is farmed in Texas than in any other state in America.
0:20:09 > 0:20:16There's around 16 million cattle charging around this great expanse of land.
0:20:16 > 0:20:22The ranches are so huge, the only way to manage this livestock is by a helicopter.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32It's testament to the fact that we've been rearing cattle like these
0:20:32 > 0:20:35for thousands of years that they'll stand for this.
0:20:35 > 0:20:41Most animals would go berserk or drop down dead with fright if you chase them around in a helicopter!
0:20:47 > 0:20:53The price they pay for this compliance is that in the 90 minutes it takes to complete
0:20:53 > 0:20:59one orbit of the planet, 49,657 of them will be slaughtered for food.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09But if you think the scale in which we grow our food is absurd,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12just 16 degrees westward takes us on to whole new level.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14The city of Las Vegas.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28Las Vegas breaks all the rules on where to build a city.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30A temple to gambling and entertainment,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35it sits slap-bang in the middle of a desert on the road to nowhere.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43And just like on board the space station, everything has to be shipped in.
0:21:46 > 0:21:53Every ounce of flour, every chocolate biscuit and every slice of bacon has to be brought in.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Meanwhile, every 90 minutes
0:21:57 > 0:22:04Las Vegas uses 69,437,500 litres of water.
0:22:04 > 0:22:10That is the equivalent of 2,778 articulated tankers.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14With all the vast expense and effort to keep the city fed,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Las Vegas also manages to be one of the fattest places in America.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Almost two-thirds of the Las Vegas population are overweight.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31And it's not just the city's waistline that's expanding.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Its population has almost doubled since 1990,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40and it's a trend we're seeing across the world.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46It's estimated that by 2050, there will be nine billion people on the planet
0:22:46 > 0:22:52and that is going to stretch the resources we have to produce food,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56to distribute food, and to ensure everybody has enough.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00I think if we are to address that challenge,
0:23:00 > 0:23:07we really have to look at how we balance the personal freedoms and choice we value so much around food
0:23:07 > 0:23:12with our responsibilities to live within our environmental limits.
0:23:12 > 0:23:18What's absolutely clear is that if we are to feed nine billion people by 2050,
0:23:18 > 0:23:25we cannot continue eating the way we eat in Britain or indeed the United States today.
0:23:27 > 0:23:34Unhappily, there's no sign of us giving up on our appetite for ever more and ever faster food.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Every 90 minutes, two million hamburgers are eaten across the world.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Back up on the space station, the cuisine is surprisingly cosmopolitan.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53I think it's the same thing.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56- No hamburgers here. - Genuine Russian food.
0:23:56 > 0:23:57Nice, ketchup.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01International food here on the International Space Station! We got yakitori,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04we got Russian chicken with rice there.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- I have a pork chop.- Pork chop!
0:24:07 > 0:24:11- Oh, that's good, that's good. - That's good.- Yeah.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14This is the way to eat - on top of the world!
0:24:14 > 0:24:20It is essential astronauts keep fit and healthy to combat the effects of microgravity.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27When you put someone in space, space is a fairly hostile environment
0:24:27 > 0:24:31because of the microgravity - that has various effects on one's body.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34The calcium in our bones starts to leach out
0:24:34 > 0:24:40because our bones aren't loaded any more and the calcium starts to leach out - it's effectively osteoporosis.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42But it happens much quicker in space.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44So trying to find ways to stop that from happening,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48the astronauts must do additional exercise - resistance exercises.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53We can learn from their experience and then transfer that back here to Earth.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Astronauts have to spend two hours every day exercising to keep in shape.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01In space, we appreciate just how precious our bodies are.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03It gives us a global perspective on our health.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13It's not just about how much we consume, it's also what we're throwing away.
0:25:15 > 0:25:22Eight minutes on, and we're swinging out beyond the United States, towards the islands of Hawaii.
0:25:26 > 0:25:342,500 miles off the coast of California lies Hawaii, the most isolated population on Earth.
0:25:34 > 0:25:41Here there are sun-kissed beaches, wonderful surf, exotic wildlife and dramatic, volcanic landscapes.
0:25:43 > 0:25:49Thousands of stressed-out holidaymakers arrive on these shores every year.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51But they are not alone.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59It turns out when we throw something away, there is a good chance this could be where it turns up.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Vast swirling currents gather up all the tonnes of waste
0:26:04 > 0:26:09we throw into the sea, creating enormous floating rubbish dumps.
0:26:11 > 0:26:18The beautiful Hawaiian beaches are right in the path of one of these vast oceans of waste.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22The most lethal is the plastic.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Plastic never breaks down so every yoghurt pot, Frisbee and washing-up bowl
0:26:27 > 0:26:35in creation is still out there somewhere being broken down into smaller and smaller pieces.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40Once these pieces get small enough,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43they have another devastating effect.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49One of the problems is that as these microscopic plastic particles
0:26:49 > 0:26:52get into the food chain, they mimic hormones
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and these hormones can affect the life cycles.
0:26:55 > 0:27:03They can turn some of the marine shellfish into hermaphrodites.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06That basically means they can't reproduce and that means
0:27:06 > 0:27:11the whole life cycle of certain species could be disrupted forever.
0:27:11 > 0:27:19In the long term, this could mean we see mass extinction of certain types of marine animal and plant.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29Every 90 minutes, we produce 40,000 tonnes of plastic worldwide,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32the majority of which will end up being thrown away.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44The greatest irony is that nature could be just as capable of dealing with our waste problems.
0:27:46 > 0:27:54Off the coast of Hawaii, the oceans teem with trillions of these strange creatures - salps.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Bizarre, gelatinous, jellyfish-like creatures.
0:27:59 > 0:28:06And these salps' favourite food is phytoplankton who, in turn, like to eat CO2 in our atmosphere.
0:28:08 > 0:28:15Great shoals of these salps could ultimately be our most effective protection against global warming.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19A protection that nature itself has created.
0:28:19 > 0:28:26The salp will take a phytoplankton, convert it into detrital matter and excrete it.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28That matter will sink to the sea bed.
0:28:28 > 0:28:35It locks the carbon from the phytoplankton in the seabed for millions of years.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39If we look at the rainforest as a comparison,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43a tree has a lifespan of maybe 100 - 200 years.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46So the tree is locking up carbon for a much shorter period.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50We're talking tens to hundreds of years rather than millions of years.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Back up in orbit, our whirling astronauts are continually reminded
0:28:59 > 0:29:03how much our planet does to protect and sustain its cornucopia of life.
0:29:06 > 0:29:12In the darkness of night, they will witness one amazing example of this in action.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18The northern and southern lights flickering around the poles.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24Our planet is under constant bombardment from highly charged plasma
0:29:24 > 0:29:28escaping from the surface of the sun.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31But we are protected from this solar wind
0:29:31 > 0:29:37by a magnetic field that extends out from the poles, enveloping the planet in a protective bubble.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Without this, the Earth would be hell, blasted by radiation.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45The flickering illumination of the northern and southern lights
0:29:45 > 0:29:49are the edges of this protective magnetic field in action.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58Good morning, Atlanta. A special good morning to you today, Piers.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01'And good morning to everyone down there on the home planet.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05'We are awake and ready for another day.'
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Along with a new crew, the shuttle mission 132
0:30:08 > 0:30:13has delivered dozens of new experiments to the International Space Station.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Fortunately I have no idea what's in these tubes.
0:30:16 > 0:30:17Piers knows, right, Piers?
0:30:17 > 0:30:23Piers, can you explain what's really going on, as opposed to Gareth's lack of description?
0:30:25 > 0:30:27It's a vaccine? I think it's one,
0:30:27 > 0:30:35we've got various strains of bug in here, like MRSA, stuff like that, and we grow them in a host worm,
0:30:35 > 0:30:41in a worm, I think this is the one, and we expose them to a space environment and,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45generally speaking, those bugs get more virulent, the longer they are in a space environment,
0:30:45 > 0:30:49so we take them back and use them to develop better vaccines on Earth.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53So there you go. Don't lick any stuff that spills out of it.
0:30:53 > 0:31:00- OK.- And this is why Piers is our science officer and Big G is not.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02My job is to turn the crank.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04He's a crank turner!
0:31:04 > 0:31:10The kit might look simple, but the results from these orbital studies could be momentous.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14One of the biggest advantages of working on the International Space Station
0:31:14 > 0:31:16is the microgravity environment.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21Through this people have been making fairly complex 3D protein structures.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25These structures can help with the testing of drugs in the future
0:31:25 > 0:31:30so, potentially, the cure for Aids or cancer may reach the streets a lot quicker
0:31:30 > 0:31:34because of proteins made on the International Space Station.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37The space station itself is a testament
0:31:37 > 0:31:41of centuries of breakthroughs in science and technology.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Back on Earth, technology is also changing the very way we live.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48We're over halfway round the world.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50Next stop, South Korea.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56South Korea is one of the technology capitals of the world.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00In the 1960s, this country had a level of national wealth on a par with Afghanistan.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05Now it is the 13th richest country in the world.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11The key to this is the silicon chip.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16The Koreans now lead the way in the design and manufacture of every form of consumer electronics.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22This obsession with technology is altering the way South Koreans live.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28The streets of Seoul are lined with PC bangs,
0:32:28 > 0:32:33gaming cafes where the young gather to wage endless war across a virtual battlefield.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43Whilst in most countries stadiums are full of people watching football or tennis,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47in South Korea, computer games are a major spectator sport.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57But the Koreans are just in the vanguard.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00In the time it takes the space station to complete one orbit,
0:33:00 > 0:33:04we'll have spent over 12 million on computer games.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14South Korea's transformation may be breathtaking,
0:33:14 > 0:33:19but it is a mere minnow in the world compared to its vast neighbour, China.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Just 50 years ago, this nation was a rural economy based on farming.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33Life expectancy was little more than 40 years.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35The average wage just over 20.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40Today, China is the world's leading manufacturing nation.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45More than a quarter of everything made on Earth is now produced in China.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53The wealth of that nation has increased almost a hundredfold.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56All that we know about how to harness the world's resources
0:33:56 > 0:34:02and turn them into wealth is being applied here on an epic scale and at breakneck speed.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05However, China's economic transformation has come at a price.
0:34:08 > 0:34:13This country needs almost limitless energy to satisfy the world's demands for its goods and services.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21As they build more and more factories and power stations to feed them,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24so they have also become the world's largest polluter.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29Large zones of the country are continually covered
0:34:29 > 0:34:34in a haze of air pollution that's visible even from space.
0:34:38 > 0:34:44Over China you can see big palls of brown-orange haze,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46pollution over the bigger cities.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49So thick sometimes you can't see the city underneath it.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52The American and European cities, you don't see that.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56So, 40 years of clean air have really worked.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59We have nice clean air in our cities.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03If there's one country on air that understands the dilemmas facing us
0:35:03 > 0:35:06in our stewardship of the planet, it is China.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08China is in that major dilemma.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11They completely understand climate change.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16They have their own satellites to understand how it's affecting their country,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19but they have that demand for energy and what they're trying to do
0:35:19 > 0:35:26is build a portfolio, to actually throw anything at the energy demand that they can so, ideally,
0:35:26 > 0:35:32they would love to generate all their energy from clean sources such as wind, solar,
0:35:32 > 0:35:34but that just isn't enough.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41So China's great coal-fired energy plants are unlikely to stop turning any time soon.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44They will burn just over 600,000 tonnes of coal
0:35:44 > 0:35:47in the 90 minutes it will take the ISS to orbit the Earth.
0:35:58 > 0:36:04In orbit, our astronauts breathe the cleanest if strangest atmosphere anywhere on earth.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05Or beyond.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12Spacewalks have been essential to complete the ISS.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16And the 30 million suits the astronauts wear
0:36:16 > 0:36:19have to supply everything our planet gives us down below.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29But up here, their environment has been tweaked in some very strange ways.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32Good. A bit more.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Forward a bit more, up.
0:36:35 > 0:36:41'To make it easier to work, we reduce the pressure inside the suit to one-third of sea level.'
0:36:41 > 0:36:46You couldn't breathe air at one third sea level - you would pass out. So it's pure oxygen in the suit,
0:36:46 > 0:36:48but very thin, one-third sea-level pressure.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51So when you're breathing, you can hardly feel
0:36:51 > 0:36:56the gas going in and out of your body, but you are alive, which is miraculous. It works perfectly.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59In fact you feel good because you're on pure oxygen.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02But that one-third sea-level pressure allows you to bend the arms,
0:37:02 > 0:37:08bend the fingers, bend your arms and legs much more easily than if it was blown up very tight like a balloon.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13It takes almost half a day just to get the suit on and ready.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19And actually getting out of the ISS is a pretty undignified process.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26After a while, they stuff you into the airlock and,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30the way it works is, you put one guy in head first with his nose against the hatch,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34then the other guy comes in feet-first above you,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37and then put all the bags of tools and stuff that you will need
0:37:37 > 0:37:39on the space walk, cram them in around you,
0:37:39 > 0:37:44close the hatch, and you almost can't move in there, you're stuffed inside a phone box.
0:37:45 > 0:37:52Finally, after several hours of decompression, the astronauts make it outside into space.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Alongside the air supply, the astronauts' space suits
0:37:56 > 0:38:00carry one other essential for human life - water.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06In orbit, this precious resource is carefully collected.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10Fresh water is recycled from the astronauts' own urine.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15A stark contrast from the scene 220 miles below at our next stop.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20Cherrapunji in northern India.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30Cherrapunji is the wettest place on the planet.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33It sits on the hills above the plains of Bangladesh.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37This high ground is the first obstacle in the path of the monsoon storms
0:38:37 > 0:38:40that sweep in from the Bay of Bengal.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45Rain clouds that have gathered over thousands of miles
0:38:45 > 0:38:48suddenly release their vast load over this tiny village.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Rainfall here can measure over 12 metres a year.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56It can rain all year round.
0:38:56 > 0:39:02Some locals claim it once poured down for two years without a break.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17Whether it's raining or not in Cherrapunji,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21it will certainly be pouring down somewhere in the world, right now.
0:39:23 > 0:39:30Every 90 minutes, 89.1 trillion litres of fresh water will fall as rain on the planet.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43As the ISS circles on, the astronauts will pass over a very different scene -
0:39:43 > 0:39:48a scar on our planet's landscape as large as the one we have left in the Amazon.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56The Aral Sea in Kazakhstan.
0:39:59 > 0:40:0650 years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, launching from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10Back then, Kazakhstan was the home to a wonder of the world,
0:40:10 > 0:40:15the Aral Sea, one of the largest freshwater lakes on the planet.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20But in just five decades, we have drained it dry.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25A transformation captured by the unblinking gaze of satellites
0:40:25 > 0:40:27circling high above.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30The satellite images produced from the space station
0:40:30 > 0:40:33have been absolutely iconic because they really show
0:40:33 > 0:40:37the extent of the devastation and, if you look at the Aral Sea,
0:40:37 > 0:40:42the most recent images, and you look at them from the 1970s,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45you see a large lake, and you look at them now,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48and you can barely detect there's a lake there at all.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Those kind of images really show the extent
0:40:50 > 0:40:53of the human impact on the environment, at such a vast scale.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01The Aral Sea has shrunk by nearly 90% since the 1960s.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04The water was diverted away from the two main rivers that flowed
0:41:04 > 0:41:08into the sea to feed enormous cotton and rice plantations.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17As the sea-level drastically declined,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21great ships were left high and dry on the sand dunes.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24I've seen the Aral Sea every time I've flown.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29It looks like a pretty shrunken relic of what it used to be.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33There was a big project that diverted all the water away
0:41:33 > 0:41:37and I think there's a move now to try and turn some of it back.
0:41:37 > 0:41:38But it looks pretty ugly.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49The Aral Sea is now an environmental disaster zone.
0:41:50 > 0:41:56A swirling cloud of dust and salt, heavily contaminated with toxic agricultural chemicals.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06Across the planet, we are radically changing landscapes in our quest for greater supplies of fresh water.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13Every time the ISS circles our planet,
0:42:13 > 0:42:1634 square kilometres of land will become desert,
0:42:16 > 0:42:17somewhere on the planet.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Back in space, the astronauts are beginning their work outside the ISS.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Their spacewalk will involve making repairs and installing new equipment.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41Piers Sellers has clocked up six spacewalks in total.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46I can remember almost every minute of each of those.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48It's burned on my memory.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52The very first time I went on a spacewalk,
0:42:52 > 0:42:55I was the first guy out the hatch, so I opened the hatch,
0:42:55 > 0:42:57I backed out, and I found myself
0:42:57 > 0:43:00above this huge shining Earth that was spinning by me
0:43:00 > 0:43:04and the big silver spaceship above me and I was hanging on by a hand rail
0:43:04 > 0:43:09and for a horrible second I felt that everything was upside down and the wrong way round.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12I got complete vertigo for about 30 seconds.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Couldn't figure out where I was or how anything was oriented.
0:43:15 > 0:43:21And I think it was just the overload of seeing all this bright material,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23the Earth, the bright, white sun in a black sky,
0:43:23 > 0:43:28huge spacecraft above me, completely disoriented me.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31After about 30 seconds, everything went whoosh!
0:43:31 > 0:43:33And lined up and I never got it back.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39The astronauts will work for up to eight hours at a time outside.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42It's a strange and eerie world out there.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46The sounds in space,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50it's odd to have a hammer or a metal tool,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53and bang it against something and hear absolutely nothing.
0:43:55 > 0:44:01Sound won't travel in a vacuum, so there you are outside, and you can be hitting something, no sound at all.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05On the other hand, if somebody comes up and starts hitting your spacesuit
0:44:05 > 0:44:08or bumps your helmet, you can hear it because it conducts through.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13And you can actually talk to each other, if your radios have failed, by putting your helmets together
0:44:13 > 0:44:16and you can talk person to person through your helmets.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Have a secret conversation.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24By the time the astronauts make it back through the airlock, they're exhausted.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28But still, the average astronaut makes it outside rather more often
0:44:28 > 0:44:32than many of the crew of another far more lethal tin can,
0:44:32 > 0:44:37floating in the Arabian Gulf 200 miles below.
0:44:45 > 0:44:51This is the USS Nimitz, one of the largest warships in the world.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01It's like a floating Las Vegas, but dedicated to destruction.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10She stands over 23 storeys tall, with a complement of 90 jets and helicopters.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13MUSIC: "Shoot Speed/Kill Light" by Primal Scream
0:45:20 > 0:45:26For these aircraft to drop a set of bombs, a vast machine kicks into action.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35The ship itself is a floating city of over 5,000 men and women.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45But as they sail through the balmy waters of the Arabian Gulf,
0:45:45 > 0:45:50the vast majority of the crew hardly ever see daylight.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53The flight deck is far too dangerous to have people wandering around,
0:45:53 > 0:45:57so those not directly involved in the flying spend months on end
0:45:57 > 0:46:01living deep within the bowels of this gigantic steel tank
0:46:01 > 0:46:04with only a rare glimpse of the sun.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21This extraordinary vessel sits at the apex of military power,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25but being the toughest kid on the block doesn't come cheap.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31During the brief time it will take the ISS to complete an orbit of the globe,
0:46:31 > 0:46:36governments around the world will spend 257 million
0:46:36 > 0:46:38on weapons and war.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46We are now two-thirds round the world,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and from a tale of destruction to one of creation.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Our next stop is Ethiopia.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04This is part of the Rift Valley in Ethiopia.
0:47:05 > 0:47:12It's believed modern man originated from around here 160,000 years ago.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16The earliest recorded human fossils have been found in this region,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19and genetic evidence from modern populations around the world
0:47:19 > 0:47:22also point to an African origin for modern man.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30The key to why mankind first emerged from here is because,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34like our first stop, Iceland, it is a place of great change.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39The reason why the African Rift
0:47:39 > 0:47:45appears to have been so attractive to early human evolution
0:47:45 > 0:47:50has to do with the geological instability of the rift
0:47:50 > 0:47:52as a geological structure.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56It's a very dynamic landscape, it's a very changeable landscape,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00with earthquakes, faulting, volcanic activity.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02It sounds like a dangerous place.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05In fact, those geological processes
0:48:05 > 0:48:09appear to create very attractive landscapes for human evolution
0:48:09 > 0:48:12and for human settlement.
0:48:12 > 0:48:18We are truly a creation of the unstable,
0:48:18 > 0:48:22geologically unstable planet on which we live.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28And if we're going to survive on our small ball of rock,
0:48:28 > 0:48:33it looks like we're going to have to be prepared for even greater change and instability.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37We're nomads, really, at root.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41And most of our problems come, and have come,
0:48:41 > 0:48:44from settling down and trying to live in one place,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48permanently, in large population numbers.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53Very definitely, in terms of the population centres where we live,
0:48:53 > 0:48:57many population centres that are currently important
0:48:57 > 0:49:00are going to be flooded by sea level rise.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02Some are going to be affected by climate change.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05They're going to become less attractive.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10And I think one lesson that we have to learn from the past
0:49:10 > 0:49:14and that we're certainly going to have to build into our response
0:49:14 > 0:49:19to future challenges is that we have to be prepared to move.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22MUSIC: "Sabali" by Amadou and Mariam.
0:49:23 > 0:49:29For human life to continue to prosper, it seems we're going to have to relearn to be adaptable.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33How we eat, drink, work and where we live will need to change in the long term
0:49:33 > 0:49:36if we want to sustain an ever-growing human population.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43After all, with every orbit of the International Space Station,
0:49:43 > 0:49:4923,019 children are born on our planet.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02We have almost completed our orbit around the world.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06From our vantage point high above,
0:50:06 > 0:50:10we've seen how nature is constantly reshaping our home.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Every 90 minutes, the Atlantic gets a little bigger.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24Fierce storms and rain clouds rip cross continents.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30And our oceans teem with exotic and wonderful life.
0:50:33 > 0:50:38We can see how humankind has also changed this landscape.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44And usually not for the better.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Our precious rainforests get smaller.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Pollution covers our cities.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Waste clogs up our oceans and beaches.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02And we seem determined to simply consume ever more.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Maybe we can learn a lesson from the last stop on our journey.
0:51:17 > 0:51:18Sweden.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union,
0:51:29 > 0:51:32but its population is just over nine million.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Only two million more than London.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41It's one of the most stable, prosperous and healthy nations in the world
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and uniquely, also the most charitable.
0:51:47 > 0:51:52I think Sweden is an incredibly important example, the reason being
0:51:52 > 0:51:55is the UN have suggested the rich countries of the world should aim to
0:51:55 > 0:52:01give three-quarters of a percent of what they earn every year, to try and help the rest of the world develop.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05It's important because Sweden have seen this and said, "We can go way beyond that.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10"We're incredibly rich, incredibly fortunate. We can do better."
0:52:10 > 0:52:14Just imagine if every other country in the world decided
0:52:14 > 0:52:19that they could also afford over 1% of what they earn.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25Imagine the trillions of dollars that would be generated to lift billions of people in the world
0:52:25 > 0:52:28out of poverty and give them the same rights
0:52:28 > 0:52:32to food, clean water, education that we have now.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36Every 90 minutes,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39people in Sweden give half a million pounds to charity.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52I'm pretty confident that humans will eventually figure out how to look after our planet better.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55I think if you talk to individuals,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58they're concerned about the environment,
0:52:58 > 0:52:59they just want to know what to do.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02So do companies, I think, too.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05They want to set a fair rule that everyone has to keep to.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09I'm optimistic that ultimately, we'll get to grips with it
0:53:09 > 0:53:13and everyone will get on board with the programme.
0:53:13 > 0:53:14Clean up the world.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23We've completed our imaginary orbit of the Earth,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27swinging back over Greenwich and the Prime Meridian.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32220 miles above the planet, the crew from the shuttle Atlantis
0:53:32 > 0:53:36prepare for their journey home to Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44We now have set the stage for the undocking of Atlantis from the International Space Station.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46We'll close the hatch shortly.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50We're going to depart and as always, it'll be a little bit sad,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53but we'll see you on the surface of planet Earth again soon.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Space shuttle Atlantis departing.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59The shuttle is now 506 feet away
0:53:59 > 0:54:01from the International Space Station.
0:54:01 > 0:54:07Most times on a shuttle mission, you're ready to come home, you're pretty tired.
0:54:07 > 0:54:13We get about a day to hang out in orbit while they get everything ready for landing.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15It's a nice time to relax,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17have a bite and look out of the window
0:54:17 > 0:54:20and enjoy the space experience for the last time.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24The shuttle Atlantis will have travelled 4.8 million miles
0:54:24 > 0:54:29in its 12-day round trip to the International Space Station.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32It now begins its descent back to Earth.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42Space shuttle Atlantis now in its final moments of flight.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Copy. It's a beautiful day.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51Atlantis, you're approaching, no changes to winds or weather.
0:54:52 > 0:54:58Sitting upstairs on the flight deck of a shuttle during re-entry and landing is spectacular.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00Highly recommended.
0:55:00 > 0:55:06First of all, you come into the atmosphere and the outside of the spacecraft starts to get
0:55:06 > 0:55:11really hot and you have red plasma flowing by the windows.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13It's really incredible.
0:55:13 > 0:55:20We came up over the Pacific, we saw the sun rise over the world
0:55:20 > 0:55:22through the red plasma, which was spectacular.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25It was like several beautiful things happening at once.
0:55:25 > 0:55:31You come down very fast and you end up at a relatively low altitude,
0:55:31 > 0:55:33about 200,000 ft above the world,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37which is five or six times higher than an airliner,
0:55:37 > 0:55:42but you're doing around Mach 20, 20 times the speed of sound. Stuff is streaking by.
0:55:44 > 0:55:49All the clouds whizzing down below you. You're going incredibly fast.
0:55:51 > 0:55:57Space shuttle Atlantis now travelling 389 mph on final approach to Kennedy Space Center.
0:55:59 > 0:56:07You use the atmosphere as a brake and eventually pop out, subsonic, overhead Kennedy Space Center.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09Come down through this screaming, diving approach,
0:56:09 > 0:56:1230 degree dive, 300 knots.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Pull out at the last moment, plop it onto the runway.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19Touchdown.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22You land about three miles from where you took off.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25It's really good planning.
0:56:25 > 0:56:26You left all your stuff there!
0:56:29 > 0:56:35Space shuttle Atlantis comes home to Kennedy Space Center for the final time.
0:56:35 > 0:56:3825 years, 32 flights.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40More than 120 million miles travelled.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44The legacy of Atlantis now in the history books.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49We're happy to be home and enjoy some time with our families. Thanks.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Space exploration is important.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59It's important at all sorts of levels.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02More important, space travel is about the future.
0:57:02 > 0:57:08All of us in some way are excited about the future and what we'll learn and see and where we'll go.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10When people first went into space, one of the most
0:57:10 > 0:57:14iconic pictures that was taken was of the whole planet Earth.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21Seeing our planet isolated like that in space puts things into perspective.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24We know our planet isn't everlasting.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28It's there and it's vulnerable and we need to take care of it.
0:57:28 > 0:57:36It's only been in the last 50 years that we can look at our planet as a whole planet
0:57:36 > 0:57:40and all the interconnectedness, including ourselves and nature.
0:57:40 > 0:57:45Space is essential for the soul of humanity,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48but also our economic drives into the future.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54It's just one little planet with seven billion of us rattling around on it
0:57:54 > 0:57:59with all our problems and disputes, but it's only one place.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03It encourages one to think about solutions to problems between people
0:58:03 > 0:58:05and how they can be solved. It really does.
0:58:07 > 0:58:13Space science allows us to monitor and comprehend the effect we have on our world.
0:58:13 > 0:58:19Simply travelling into orbit gives us an extraordinary new perspective on the Earth below.
0:58:23 > 0:58:27Our single orbit has given us a brief glimpse of the story of our planet today.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32The future health of ourselves and the Earth
0:58:32 > 0:58:36will perhaps rest on our ability to see our home as we do from space.
0:58:36 > 0:58:41Just as one fragile, bright blue planet.
0:58:51 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:54 > 0:58:57E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk