0:00:26 > 0:00:30Two, one, zero and lift off.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34The final lift off of Atlantis on the shoulders of the Space Shuttle,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36America will continue the dream.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Good evening.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44This programme, we're going to concentrate on the Space Shuttle.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46That programme's come to an end.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49It was a success. Not an unqualified success.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53There were one or two hiccups but nevertheless, it's achieved great things
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and shown the way for what can follow.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I'm delighted to be joined by Piers Sellers,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01who's been in the shuttle three times
0:01:01 > 0:01:04and Anu Ojha of the National Space Centre.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06And of course, Chris Lintott.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Piers, may I come to you first?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10You've been to the shuttle three times,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12what are your main memories of it?
0:01:12 > 0:01:15What are your main memories?
0:01:15 > 0:01:17There's a lot to remember, Patrick.
0:01:17 > 0:01:18You think about it,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20this programme went on for 30 years, 135 missions.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24An awful lot got done.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27I was there for the last half or third of it,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30which was the construction of space station.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33A lot of work was involved with space science
0:01:33 > 0:01:38with shuttle before space station and of course the Hubble mission
0:01:38 > 0:01:40and the Chandra launch and other things.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Are you sorry it's come to an end?
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I'm very glad actually that it's come to an end safely
0:01:45 > 0:01:48because after the Columbia accident in 2003,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50there was a lot of discussion
0:01:50 > 0:01:54about whether we should fly the shuttle at all after that.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57The decision I think came down correctly,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59which was to fly out all missions necessary
0:01:59 > 0:02:02to finish of the space station.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And we got another Hubble repair mission out of it too.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08All that was accomplished safely
0:02:08 > 0:02:12and all three surviving shuttles are back on the ground and everyone's home safe.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15- The idea goes back a long way. - Absolutely, Patrick.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19If we think back to the golden days of Project Apollo.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23The problem that we tend to overlook is if you want to get a space capsule,
0:02:23 > 0:02:24not much bigger than your study,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26back to the Earth with three human beings,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30you needed a rocket that was the height of the 36-floor building.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33And all of those stages fell into the sea, you couldn't reuse them.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37If you could develop a spacecraft that could get you orbiting the Earth
0:02:37 > 0:02:39but you could reuse as much of it as possible,
0:02:39 > 0:02:44not only could you reduce the costs, but you could have that spacecraft flying again and again.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49The original plans for the Space Shuttle programme were to try and have 50 missions a year.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52- That just didn't happen. - It didn't, Patrick.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Widely optimistic and some of that was down to politics,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58some of that was down to the final design they had.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Exactly.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03So many designs, US Air Force came on board with their requirements
0:03:03 > 0:03:06and what you finally had, was an engineering challenge
0:03:06 > 0:03:11that really pushed the science capabilities and the engineering to its very limits
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and in some ways, limited the programme.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17It was hard to meet everybody's expectations.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20The Department of Defence wanted a big shuttle, a huge payload bay
0:03:20 > 0:03:25to carry large reconnaissance satellites among other things.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30NASA wanted something that would be able to lug equipment up into orbit and so forth.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35The resulting design was rather fragile in engineering terms.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38It had some weak spots as we found out with two accidents.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43Not only that, it was operationally fussy to work.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47It took a lot of care and feeding to get one of these things out of the pad,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50all three million parts working at once and launched safely.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51Yes, exactly.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54I go back to the days of the Von Braun space wheel
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and the founding of the British Interplanetary Society,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00he was a founder member, it was a long time ago now.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02That was the era of blue-sky thinking,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06of anything we could think of to do the difficult bit of space
0:04:06 > 0:04:10which is actually the first few seconds of a launch,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13that's where you put most of the energy in, that initial acceleration.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18One thing people forget about shuttle and Piers, you can talk more about this,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20is how complicated a machine it was.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Apollo was a great success but it was relatively simple,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26simple enough that the astronauts could do their calculations
0:04:26 > 0:04:30and literally decide that that flap needs to move or that engine.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33That's not what flying on shuttle was like.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35This machine could fly itself.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39It didn't need as large a ground team to do all the work, if you like,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43then fax up the calculations and then Apollo would go and do what it was told.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45That was the way that worked.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Shuttle carried all its computers and it took itself off,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50did its mission and brought itself back.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52What does the shuttle mission feel like?
0:04:52 > 0:04:55What does it look like and where were the scary bits?
0:04:55 > 0:04:57You're not a shuttle astronaut anymore,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01- tell us the real story.- And I was never scared.- Of course not.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05- No fear, not even a little bit.- OK.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10You experience all your fear - and you do experience fear - in simulation.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13The training is really good.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17The first few emergency events in the simulator, your mind is completely...
0:05:17 > 0:05:20they call it a helmet fire, your mind goes completely blank.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23I had no idea what to do, "How to I get out of this?"
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Everyone experiences that in the simulator.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29By the time you've moshed through that, 30, 50 times,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33and you're ready to get into this, it's a familiar environment.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36When things do go wrong, you don't feel frightened.
0:05:36 > 0:05:42On the day, there's this big gantry here and with your six best friends,
0:05:42 > 0:05:43you take the elevator up,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46you use the last bathroom on Earth which is about here.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50- A toilet over here.- I'm sorry we don't have a model of that! - It's right there.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Then, come across the gangplank, get in, you all strap in.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57There's four guys upstairs looking out these windows,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59two looking out these windows
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and two can crane your necks and look out these top windows.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Everyone else downstairs with no windows.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09- It's a strange place to be. - You took this wonderful ride without a view?
0:06:09 > 0:06:15- Were you downstairs? - I've taken the ride up twice without a window seat.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18It's a very strange experience.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24- You just had a wall of lockers? - Yes, in front of your nose and your friend next to you.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27When the appointed time comes, everything starts shaking
0:06:27 > 0:06:31and bouncing off the lockers and you're just being thrown around.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33In a very mild way, I know what you mean.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37My first couple of trips in a bomber aircraft, I hadn't got a window.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42There you go, you're a navigator in the bowels of some Wellington or something.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46You've just got be brave, sit there and be brave, right?
0:06:46 > 0:06:47My first flight up there,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50I was sitting under this window and I had a mirror
0:06:50 > 0:06:53so I could point it up like that and watch in my rear-view mirror.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57I watched Florida getting smaller and smaller behind me
0:06:57 > 0:06:59and tip over the horizon.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02I could see the plume going all the way back down to Florida
0:07:02 > 0:07:04and a shadow across the ocean of the plume.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Then just hammering up into orbit.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10It is exciting, particularly launches are very exciting.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12They're not like anything else you experience.
0:07:12 > 0:07:19- Then you're in space.- Then after eight-and-a-half minutes and 10 years of training, you're finally in space.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21There's this big blue planet, this black sky
0:07:21 > 0:07:26and you're sailing along faster than you can imagine.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29So what are the biggest achievements for the shuttle?
0:07:29 > 0:07:33We made access to space semi-routine with very large payloads.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35It gave us a space station.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39We assembled a large structure in orbit, something we're going to have to do
0:07:39 > 0:07:41if we're going to go into deep space.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45- Fixed some space telescopes. - Thank you.- That's all right!
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Launched others and several planetary probes as well.
0:07:48 > 0:07:54That's right, did a lot of science and taught us a lot about how to operate, just operate in orbit,
0:07:54 > 0:07:59how to plan something and do the engineering in space.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03There was a lot of science done and a lot that science is overlooked
0:08:03 > 0:08:08when we think, "Oh, it was just there for space station, the European space lab missions."
0:08:08 > 0:08:15In fact Europe's Astronaut Corps got its experience because of Space Shuttle.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20The way history works out and can conspire against you is that,
0:08:20 > 0:08:26in a huge effort to make space station, science and shuttle definitely took third place
0:08:26 > 0:08:29after everything else that needed to be done.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Now I'm hoping we redress the balance in the out years of space station -
0:08:33 > 0:08:36we built it, it works, now it's time to get back to science.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Do you think it's been worthwhile?
0:08:38 > 0:08:43I can remember 11, 12 years ago, speaking to my students
0:08:43 > 0:08:47and I used to say, "The ISS, it's just been politically driven."
0:08:47 > 0:08:49I was a big cynic of space station
0:08:49 > 0:08:54and my view now is, we have this world-class science facility.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55We spent, some say, 100 billion.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00That money's been spent, we've now got these facilities on orbit, world-class facilities.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06The challenge is to make sure they are used to produce world-class science.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08That's where we are.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13The groundwork's there and it's a question of what science we can get to come out of there.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18For me, the jury's out on the ISS as a laboratory.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22I think two years, the length of a research grant with three docks
0:09:22 > 0:09:24for running experiments, looking at results,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27let's see what science comes out of it.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30How much did you think about the science when you were building it?
0:09:30 > 0:09:34You were distracted by the engineering, I guess.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37How much were you motivated by where we are now?
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I went into the business as a scientist
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and I thought that I'd be doing science.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I guess they changed their minds about me
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and found me more useful in the assembly areas.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50- OVER COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM: - 'Hey, Piers?- Yeah.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54'Take a second and look at the Earth to your left.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57'I think you got Ireland and England coming up there.
0:09:57 > 0:09:58'Oh, good heavens.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- 'Wow!- Oh my goodness.'
0:10:01 > 0:10:06I literally spent ten years thinking about nothing except how for how to assemble this thing in orbit and all
0:10:06 > 0:10:09the engineering challenges that needed to be overcome to do that.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12They say that if you want a bad engineer, start out with an average scientist.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17- THEY LAUGH - I'm sure that's not true! - That was my contribution.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20But now, you know, I'm trying to take the long view.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23The build is complete, so now we have this facility, you know.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Let's see what happens next.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29So let's look forward -
0:10:29 > 0:10:31the present shuttle programme has come to an end.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36So, um, what next? Can I come first to you, Anu?
0:10:36 > 0:10:38It's a very good question, Patrick.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44President Obama has made very clear that NASA itself should concentrate
0:10:44 > 0:10:49in terms of human exploration, of really going beyond Earth orbit.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53It's high time. Since 1972 we haven't gone anywhere further than a few hundred miles.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57President Obama has said that that should be NASA's focus,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01developing human deep-space exploration capability, and that is so exciting.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04I feel the hairs on my arm rising when I think about it.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09But in the meantime, there has to be a capability to keep crews going to and from
0:11:09 > 0:11:14this world-class facility we finally have orbiting the planet - the International Space Station.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18And that's now going to be down to private industry.
0:11:18 > 0:11:25NASA will contract effectively space taxi services to get its crews to and from the Space Station.
0:11:25 > 0:11:33When I was a boy the whole idea of space travel was pure science fiction. "It'll never happen."
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Then we come to the Apollo, which did happen, and then we have over-optimism.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39We're going to get to Mars in 30 years.
0:11:39 > 0:11:45Well, we know a bit more now and what's your forecast for the next 30 years?
0:11:45 > 0:11:49I worry that I will not see humans on Mars in my lifetime,
0:11:49 > 0:11:55but I'm still optimistic and I may see human beings visiting an asteroid,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and I think that is the real excitement and challenge for me,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02that we are going to see a return to human exploration of deep space.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06- What about you?- Oh, I think we're going to go to Mars.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Anu just has to concentrate on clean living, so he lives long enough to see it.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15- But in the last few years, we're finding out more and more about Mars. - We are near, I realise that.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Now we have these streams of brine water...
0:12:17 > 0:12:21- It's getting there.- ..flowing. So there's plenty out there. - If we get to Mars, it's all right.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25- Yes, we have to get there, but now I think there's more and more reason to go.- I agree.
0:12:25 > 0:12:31Mars, two billion years ago, it was wet, it was warm, had an ocean.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33So who knows what might've evolved back then?
0:12:33 > 0:12:39I think the only way we're going to find out is send one of our kids, at this rate, to go and dig it up.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Well, you'll find out more than I will because after all, I am 88, so I haven't got much time left...
0:12:44 > 0:12:48- You're in your prime, man!- ..but you have. What's your forecast?
0:12:48 > 0:12:5130 years - American space flight or human spaceflight?
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Cos I think there's a difference. Which do you want to know about?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58- You mean you don't regard the Americans as human?- Well, I'd...
0:12:58 > 0:13:00I'm not sure why.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05You're pretending to be British, Piers. We know that.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09No, but, I mean, if you look at the American space programme,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I'm afraid unfairly pessimistic about the next 30 years.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14- You know, I do believe... - I hope you're wrong.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16I hope I'm wrong, too.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19I think private space flight will take care of the station,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23but I just don't see any political will in the States to spend money on this.
0:13:23 > 0:13:29Elsewhere though, you've got the Chinese, who are in some ways back in the old space race.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33- And the Indians.- That's true, and both of those countries are in the space race mentality.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38- It's about national prestige. - Yep.- And we know, cos we've seen it happen in the '60s, that that can
0:13:38 > 0:13:41drive at least a programme to touch the lunar surface.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46So I think within your 30 years, we'll have had a Chinese equivalent of the Apollo Programme.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Whether they do more with it afterwards than the Americans did,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52or whether they go a different route, it's not clear.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55We've got to wait and see. Well, Piers, Anu, thank you very much.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58It's been a great programme. One that's never going to be forgotten.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- Certainly not by you since you've been there.- Thank you.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05- COMMENTATOR:- 'Having fired the imagination of a generation,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'a ship like no other, its place in history secured,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12'the Space Shuttle pulls into port for the last time,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15'its voyage at an end.'
0:14:15 > 0:14:20So now, where next? I'm going to ask Chris Lintott to take up the story.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27Mars, the next frontier for man, seems such an obvious step in space exploration.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30So why aren't we on our way?
0:14:30 > 0:14:34After all, we're always talking about it as if it's only around the corner.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39In the early half of the last century, we had such bold ideas about space flight.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43These drawings by RA Smith assumed that we'd be on Mars
0:14:43 > 0:14:47by the end of the 20th century at the absolute latest.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52These wonderful old science fiction books of Patrick's,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55mostly written in the 1950s, are a reminder that space travel
0:14:55 > 0:15:01hasn't always been about arguing about money and politics, but that it used to be a place
0:15:01 > 0:15:06for visionaries who could think up space craft, the likes of which we can only dream of today.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Those dreams soon started to become a reality.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17This programme from 1957 is about space flight,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20featuring a prototype RAF spacesuit.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Here is a very familiar young man
0:15:22 > 0:15:26talking about his dreams of interplanetary travel.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30Well, nobody in the British Interplanetary Society underestimates the difficulties,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34but they have made very considerable contributions to what has been going on,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36and in particular, a good deal of the early theoretical work
0:15:36 > 0:15:39on Earth's satellite was carried out by its members.
0:15:39 > 0:15:45The space race accelerated our ambitions for space travel and the success of Apollo
0:15:45 > 0:15:49fuelled expectations that Mars must be the next stop.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52But it was not to be. The commitment to the Space Shuttle
0:15:52 > 0:15:58and then to the Space Station proved to be nothing more than a space cul-de-sac.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04The last manned mission to the moon was Apollo 17 in 1972.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09Its commander Captain Eugene Cernan has a very personal stake in America's space programme.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11It's been, er...
0:16:11 > 0:16:15it's got to be one of the most proud moments of my life, I guarantee you.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Roger 17, and we, er, thank you very much.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23His final boot prints on the lunar surface, now nearly 40-years-old,
0:16:23 > 0:16:28remain the high watermark for human exploration of the solar system.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31This is how he felt about it back in 2008.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I'm a little disappointed with what's gone on
0:16:34 > 0:16:37for the last 30 years. You know,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40we don't have the capability to go back to the moon today.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42We're trying to redevelop it all over again.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47We're living relatively in the comfort and confines of our own home planet
0:16:47 > 0:16:49239,000 miles away.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53We've been spending time trying to exploit space.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55From my point of view, it didn't go anywhere.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59You know, when you've been to the moon...not once, but twice,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02staying home, you know, this sounds a little arrogant,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05staying home is no longer good enough.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07We've been there, done that. Let's get on with it.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Three, two, one, ignition.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13We're on our way, Houston.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14Decks are good.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20Astronomer Stuart Clark has been following the space programme closely.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25I chatted to him about why we've become so disappointingly tied to Earth.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30In a sense, its lack of money and it's also a product of the time
0:17:30 > 0:17:33at which those early dreams were born.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37So we were coming out of the Second World War, there was a feeling
0:17:37 > 0:17:42of optimism and that now was a new start
0:17:42 > 0:17:47and that new start dovetailed with the beginning of the Space Age
0:17:47 > 0:17:49and so those kind of utopian visions...
0:17:49 > 0:17:52- Anything can happen. - Anything can happen.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57What in fact happened was a collapse of that optimism
0:17:57 > 0:18:04in to really a kind of market-driven force and what can space do for us?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08It's not just the lack of money that's stopped us surfing the solar system,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13there are considerable obstacles to overcome if we're ever to go to Mars.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Mars is one of the trickiest places to land in the solar system
0:18:17 > 0:18:20because the planet is large enough to have quite a strong
0:18:20 > 0:18:27gravitational field, so you have to have extremely powerful retro rockets to bring you down safely.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33And the other thing about it is it's a far away and that means you spend a lot of time getting there,
0:18:33 > 0:18:38which apart from the boredom factor and taking enough food
0:18:38 > 0:18:43and all the rest of it, it increases the risk of radiation from the sun.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Cos in nipping to the moon be upon her astronaut just gambled that they'd be lucky?
0:18:47 > 0:18:50There would've been an Apollo mission on the moon
0:18:50 > 0:18:55at the point of an extremely large flare in 1972
0:18:55 > 0:18:59and that flare would have killed the astronauts.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02We've only talked about getting there. Getting back is a problem as well, of course.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05What would you do? Build your own fuel on the surface?
0:19:05 > 0:19:12That's pretty much the way people think now, is that you have to try and manufacture the fuel actually
0:19:12 > 0:19:19on the surface of Mars itself because it would just be too big and too heavy to take with you.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23We do still have dreamers.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Meet Icarus, a visionary design for a robotic mission to the stars,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30developed by the British Interplanetary Society
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and their colleagues.
0:19:32 > 0:19:39It may look like science fiction today, but who knows? In 200 years this may be science fact.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42With the end of the Shuttle, NASA's relying on hitching a ride
0:19:42 > 0:19:48on Russian rockets to provide the Space Station with its supplies and with fresh crew.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52This month's disaster, when an unmanned Russian rocket exploded,
0:19:52 > 0:19:57losing its cargo, suggests that problems might lie ahead.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01But let's take a moment to appreciate what's been achieved,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05both with the Space Shuttle programme and the International Space Station,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08the results of literally millions of hours of hard work.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14Overhead, the Space Station passes at around 28,000 kilometres per hour
0:20:14 > 0:20:18and completes 16 orbits of the Earth every single day.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22It's something we can all sit back and marvel at.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28These images of the station come from our Sky At Night Flickr site,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32which can be found at bbc.co.uk/skyatnight.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I can get it in my binoculars!
0:20:35 > 0:20:39These images of the station, taken by Tom Haridean in Australia,
0:20:39 > 0:20:44show the last Shuttle mission Atlantis in July
0:20:44 > 0:20:47on its final fly around of the International Space Station.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51You could almost imagine them waving goodbye to each other.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58We're lucky enough to have a pass of the ISS, which should be dazzlingly bright.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02In Patrick's garden, Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel are waiting for it to rise above the horizon.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Well, here we are, Pete, in Patrick's garden.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Lovely clear night and our cameraman here, Andy...
0:21:10 > 0:21:11I hope you've got it in sight.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14You're going to try and film it, aren't you, as it goes past over the house.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Why don't you tell us, Pete, where exactly, what path's it going to follow as it goes over?
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Well, this one's coming up from the west-south-west,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23- and it's going to head up over Patrick's roof...- OK.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26..and then go very close to that really bright star up there,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28- which is Arcturus...- Right. I know what it is!
0:21:28 > 0:21:32..and then it's going to head more or less overhead.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34- It's about 87 degrees off... - Oh, this is a good one then.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37So 90 degrees is overhead, so that's virtually overhead,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41and then it'll head all the way down there into the north-west.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43- And there it is over there. - There it is, we've got it.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48- It's already quite bright, isn't it? - That's about the same brightness, slightly dimmer than Arcturus
0:21:48 > 0:21:51at the moment, but it will get much, much brighter as it goes overhead.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55It's hard to believe, isn't it, there are human beings on board.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58You know, that's really quite impressive.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02- I'm going to have a look at it through the binoculars.- Can you actually see any detail?- Well...
0:22:02 > 0:22:04you can tell it's irregular in shape.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09- Um...I can't really tell much more than that.- Isn't that amazing?
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Just think of the view they would be having now.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13You've got the Earth coming into darkness
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and the lights of the big cities would be sadly spilling out.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21- It'd be quite an impressive sight from space, wouldn't it? - That is really impressive.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24How would you recommend that people look them up and find out when they're going to happen?
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Well, the easiest way to do it is to go on to a website.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33- It's called www.heavens-above.com. - Yeah, I use that one.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37And if you go on there and then you can enter your location details
0:22:37 > 0:22:41and once you've done that it will give you a customised table
0:22:41 > 0:22:44for every ISS pass that you can see.
0:22:44 > 0:22:45Now throughout September,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49unfortunately they're actually going to stop in the first part
0:22:49 > 0:22:53of the month and they pick up again right at the very end of September.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57So if you want to see the ISS, if you go out, say...
0:22:57 > 0:23:03or check, from about 25th September onwards, that's when you'll start to see them again.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07It's starting to fade now. You can see that noticeably. There it goes. It's almost gone. And it's gone.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09No, I can still see it!
0:23:09 > 0:23:12- Can you still see it? - No, you're right. It has gone. It's definitely gone now.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It's gone into the Earth's shadow. So that's the ISS.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Now, the ISS is something that you can go out and you can see,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19so long as it up there, with your naked eye.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Brilliant! Well, that was a lovely ISS pass, Pete, wasn't it?
0:23:23 > 0:23:25It was really fantastic.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28And, of course, September now. The hours of darkness have increased.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Yay! More night, more night!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34So we've picked up a few nice things to look at in September, haven't we?
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Shall we start off with the harvest moon?
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Yeah. We've got the autumnal equinox in September.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46So that's the time when the hours of daylight and the hours of night are equal
0:23:46 > 0:23:50and the full moon, which falls closest to the equinox,
0:23:50 > 0:23:51is given the name of the harvest moon.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55That gives you a sort of static, natural light that comes up
0:23:55 > 0:23:57at more or less the same time.
0:23:57 > 0:23:58Are you going to use your photographic skills on that
0:23:58 > 0:24:01- to create some sort of nice image, do you think?- No.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02I might go and get the harvest in.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06It actually casts a light on the fields and, of course, that helps the farmers get their harvest in.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09It's a lovely colour as well cos it's quite low down.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Sticking with bright objects, we have the planet Jupiter. Have you been following it?
0:24:12 > 0:24:16I have. Jupiter's been getting higher and higher in the sky
0:24:16 > 0:24:18earlier in the evening and it's so intensely bright.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22It's great to have it back, and we have a nice little event.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25If you go out on 28th September,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28you'll see the satellite Io quite close to Jupiter
0:24:28 > 0:24:32and if you watch over the course of the next few hours what you will see
0:24:32 > 0:24:36is Io passing over Jupiter's disc, what we call a transit,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39and Io, its shadow and the great red spot are all together.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41- That'll be fantastic. - It'll be a lovely view.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43So will Io actually appear over the great red spot?
0:24:43 > 0:24:45It will, and will move to the side of it.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47They'll all move off together,
0:24:47 > 0:24:48so that'll be a lovely event.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51- So that's the 28th? - That's 28th September, yes.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53- And we have Mars.- Oh, yes.- By the time this programme comes out,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57I will have started on Mars already because it's getting bigger,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00it's coming closer and it's getting brighter.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03- Telescopically, it is still quite small, isn't it?- It is, yeah.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06But it is doing something interesting at the end of the month because it's starting to move closer to
0:25:06 > 0:25:11that wonderful naked-eye open cluster, the Beehive Cluster.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14It'll be quite nice. It's going to pass quite close to it, isn't it?
0:25:14 > 0:25:15It'll pass in front of it, actually.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17The first two days of October,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20with the naked eye, you should be able to see Mars
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and if you look very carefully towards the end of the month,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25you'll see the cluster stars around it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27But if you have a pair of binoculars and you look at it,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29then that'll be a fantastic view.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31There are still things like open clusters that binoculars, really,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34that's the only thing that does them justice.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38- Well, plenty to see, Pete, so let's hope that we get lots of clear skies.- Absolutely.
0:25:38 > 0:25:45And we have one other passing object for you to look at this month - a supernova in the Pinwheel galaxy
0:25:45 > 0:25:49M101, which you can find just above the handle of the Plough.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52It should be at its best in the first few weeks of September,
0:25:52 > 0:25:57and in fact, it's the brightest and the closest supernova of its type
0:25:57 > 0:26:01for the past 30 years, so it's really something special.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06The ghostly remains of a star that exploded some 22 million years ago.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Let's hope for some clear skies in September.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14And now for our news notices, Chris. Begin, I think, with Mars, don't you?
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Absolutely. So, remarkable discovery on Mars in images
0:26:18 > 0:26:22taken by the high-rise camera on Mars' reconnaissance orbiter.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26What you're seeing here are channels on the Martian surface that change throughout the year,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30that have these deposits laid down over the course of the year
0:26:30 > 0:26:36and we think this is evidence that liquid is actually flowing today on the surface of Mars.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40- The last thing we expected. - One slight tweak though
0:26:40 > 0:26:44is that the temperature here is actually lower than we'd expect
0:26:44 > 0:26:46for pure water to be able to be on the surface.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48- Must be salty water then.- Exactly.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Think of it as quite a briny liquid.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56This seems to be seasonal, so this might be being released by volcanic activity,
0:26:56 > 0:27:01or just the action of the seasons causes these seasonal floods.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04So these are immediately the most fascinating places on Mars.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Yes, well, there's certainly a lot to learn.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11Meanwhile, Opportunity is still carrying on towards the crater Endeavour.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17Well, it's actually arrived. It feels like every month for more than three years we've sat here
0:27:17 > 0:27:23and reported that Opportunity, the plucky rover, is heading across the dunes towards Endeavour.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28It's at a place called Cape York and you can see immediately that we're somewhere different.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33The train has changed. There are all sorts of interesting, unusual spiky rocks
0:27:33 > 0:27:37and what that means is we're probably looking at a different epoch of Martian history.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42We will eventually go up to the crater rim and peer down inside it,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45but we're beginning the exploration of Endeavour crater.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49It's a remarkable achievement for a rover that landed seven years ago
0:27:49 > 0:27:53- and was only supposed to exist for 90 days.- Further out, Jupiter.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55The Juno probe on it's way there.
0:27:55 > 0:28:02That's right. Launched last month and safely on its way to Jupiter, where it's due to arrive in 2016.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06And Juno will be the first mission to visit Jupiter since Galileo,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11so we're really looking forward to getting a proper study of Jupiter's cloud tops.
0:28:11 > 0:28:17- And there's a lot to learn there. - There are.- I wonder. Well, we'll talk about it when it arrives.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20- Chris, Thank you very much. - My pleasure.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Well, next month when I come back,
0:28:22 > 0:28:28we get to talk about two interesting constellations - Pegasus and Andromeda.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30So until then, goodnight.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk