National Geographic - Destination Space / National Geographic - Destination Space: National Geographic - Destination Space

Ten... nine...

#1 · 00:01.101 → 00:02.659

I think it is human destiny
to expand into outer space.

#2 · 00:02.802 → 00:07.364

In the new race to space it's just
a physical urge built, sept...

#3 · 00:07.507 → 00:11.637

Some will go for adventure.

#4 · 00:11.778 → 00:13.473

If you go and you ask people
why do want to go into space,

#5 · 00:13.613 → 00:16.081

the answer is the same.

#6 · 00:16.216 → 00:16.978

I want to experience zero g.

#7 · 00:17.117 → 00:18.880

And then you want to just float around
for several minutes and just enjoy this.

#8 · 00:19.019 → 00:23.615

And I want to see the view.

#9 · 00:23.757 → 00:24.746

...six... five...

#10 · 00:24.891 → 00:25.915

Some will find that every dream
is shadowed by a nightmare.

#11 · 00:26.059 → 00:29.688

Space is a hostile, dangerous place.

#12 · 00:29.829 → 00:32.389

Because I was expecting
a major breach of the station,

#13 · 00:32.532 → 00:36.059

I mean, where the air would
just rush out.

#14 · 00:36.202 → 00:38.466

Others will seek their fortunes.

#15 · 00:39.506 → 00:41.030

What we really need are filling
stations in space.

#16 · 00:41.174 → 00:43.665

...quatre... trois...

#17 · 00:43.810 → 00:45.471

And yet others will search for answers
to where we fit in the universe.

#18 · 00:45.612 → 00:49.548

We get signals all the time here,

#19 · 00:49.682 → 00:50.944

I mean we've got this huge antenna
out the window here,

#20 · 00:51.084 → 00:53.075

we've got this very
sophisticated receiver,

#21 · 00:53.219 → 00:54.846

of course we pick up signals
all the time.

#22 · 00:54.988 → 00:57.582

Every couple of seconds,
another signal.

#23 · 00:57.724 → 00:59.555

...two... one...

#24 · 01:00.693 → 01:02.524

At the dawn of a new century,
the thrill of space is back.

#25 · 01:04.164 → 01:08.396

I think today we are entering
the golden era of space travel.

#26 · 01:09.002 → 01:13.166

I want to see the moon of course...

#27 · 01:13.306 → 01:15.536

Space...

#28 · 01:15.675 → 01:16.801

And I'd like to look down
on the earth...

#29 · 01:17.010 → 01:19.137

What's coming next may be
the greatest journey of all time.

#30 · 01:19.279 → 01:23.511

Destination Space

#31 · 01:25.418 → 01:31.152

In July of 1969,

#32 · 02:13.900 → 02:16.460

half a million people of all races
and ages gather from around the globe.

#33 · 02:16.603 → 02:21.973

Some trek for days and camp out
to witness an event

#34 · 02:22.775 → 02:26.711

that was almost unimaginable
only ten years before.

#35 · 02:26.846 → 02:31.112

It isn't a march to protest
the war in Vietnam...

#36 · 02:31.251 → 02:34.812

or a rock concert in upstate New York.

#37 · 02:35.021 → 02:37.148

It is Apollo 11.

#38 · 02:37.290 → 02:39.815

On a small strip of the Florida Coast...

#39 · 02:40.326 → 02:42.760

three astronauts prepare
to reach for the moon.

#40 · 02:42.896 → 02:46.457

They are only minutes

#41 · 02:53.840 → 02:54.829

from attempting the greatest venture
in human history.

#42 · 02:55.041 → 02:58.568

But as Apollo 11 tears itself from
the launch pad and thunders into space,

#43 · 03:28.408 → 03:34.313

no one is certain if the mission
will end in triumph or tragedy.

#44 · 03:34.447 → 03:39.680

Every step of the voyage
is fraught with danger.

#45 · 03:48.027 → 03:51.485

But most harrowing is the stage

#46 · 03:52.365 → 03:54.333

never before attempted-landing
on the moon.

#47 · 03:54.467 → 03:57.903

So risky is this venture,
President Nixon has a eulogy prepared

#48 · 03:58.037 → 04:02.133

in case the lunar lander
crashes or is stranded.

#49 · 04:02.275 → 04:05.642

Altitude 4,200.

#50 · 04:05.778 → 04:06.710

Go for landing, over.

#51 · 04:06.846 → 04:08.677

As Armstrong and Aldrin
approach the moon's surface,

#52 · 04:09.382 → 04:12.010

they realize the flight computer is
steering them toward a boulder field.

#53 · 04:12.151 → 04:15.951

Armstrong seizes control,
guiding the lander to a new spot,

#54 · 04:16.089 → 04:19.525

more than 1,000 feet away.

#55 · 04:19.659 → 04:21.684

Picking up some dust...
two-and-a-half down

#56 · 04:21.828 → 04:26.128

turn to the right a little
another half

#57 · 04:26.266 → 04:31.670

...30 seconds...

#58 · 04:31.804 → 04:33.465

contact light
okay, engine stopped.

#59 · 04:35.475 → 04:38.239

We copy you down, Eagle.

#60 · 04:38.378 → 04:40.403

Only seconds of fuel remain
in the lander's tank.

#61 · 04:41.347 → 04:44.839

Tranquility Base here.

#62 · 04:45.018 → 04:46.645

The Eagle has landed.

#63 · 04:47.320 → 04:48.685

In the history of humanity, a few,

#64 · 04:48.821 → 04:50.982

rare moments are so transcendent
as to unite us all.

#65 · 04:51.124 → 04:55.026

Okay Neil, we can see you coming down
the ladder now.

#66 · 04:57.797 → 05:00.391

On July 20, 1969,

#67 · 05:00.533 → 05:02.797

600 million people-a sixth of
the planet's population-

#68 · 05:02.969 → 05:06.427

watch transfixed as the first human
being steps onto an alien world.

#69 · 05:06.572 → 05:11.839

That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.

#70 · 05:11.978 → 05:20.613

These were the glory days
of space exploration.

#71 · 05:32.665 → 05:36.431

Nothing was easier to imagine than
a succession of further triumphs.

#72 · 05:37.904 → 05:42.307

But then something changed.

#73 · 05:46.346 → 05:48.712

We lost interest.

#74 · 05:48.848 → 05:50.577

Just nine months after
the first lunar landing,

#75 · 05:50.717 → 05:53.845

television networks broadcast
soap operas instead of Apollo 13.

#76 · 05:54.020 → 05:59.048

It took an explosion onboard
and a life-and-death drama

#77 · 05:59.192 → 06:02.389

to grab our attention.

#78 · 06:02.528 → 06:04.621

Houston, we have a problem.

#79 · 06:05.298 → 06:06.458

Standby 13, we're looking at it.

#80 · 06:06.599 → 06:09.227

The space program again
seemed to fade from public view

#81 · 06:11.404 → 06:14.669

after Apollo 13 returned safely.

#82 · 06:14.807 → 06:17.935

In 1986, NASA tried to rekindle
America's passion for space

#83 · 06:23.082 → 06:27.576

by demonstrating that it was
open to anyone.

#84 · 06:27.720 → 06:30.416

They flew Christa McAuliffe,
high school teacher and mother of two,

#85 · 06:30.556 → 06:34.185

aboard the shuttle Challenger.

#86 · 06:34.327 → 06:35.191

And lift-off of the
25th space shuttle mission

#87 · 06:35.328 → 06:36.386

and it has cleared the tower.

#88 · 06:36.529 → 06:38.963

Much of the nation, including
McAuliffe's family and students,

#89 · 06:43.002 → 06:45.835

watched in horror as the disaster
played out on television.

#90 · 06:46.005 → 06:50.999

Go ahead.

#91 · 06:54.046 → 06:54.341

RSO reports vehicle exploded

#92 · 06:54.480 → 06:56.505

Okay, are there any forces
headed out that way?

#93 · 07:00.486 → 07:03.080

Yes, sir, DOD also reports that
all forces have been scrambled

#94 · 07:03.222 → 07:06.623

and they are on their way.

#95 · 07:06.759 → 07:08.784

The world began to wonder if space
was worth the risk of human life.

#96 · 07:10.229 → 07:14.996

Now, at the turn of the 21st century,

#97 · 07:18.704 → 07:21.298

we find ourselves clinging to a small
outpost on the fringe of space.

#98 · 07:21.441 → 07:26.242

And it's a tired, tattered one.

#99 · 07:26.379 → 07:28.939

The Russian space station Mir
was built to last five years,

#100 · 07:30.750 → 07:34.709

but has been made to serve
more than twice as long.

#101 · 07:34.854 → 07:38.346

Mir has aged into a balky old vehicle.

#102 · 07:38.991 → 07:41.721

Systems switch on and off
without warning.

#103 · 07:41.861 → 07:44.762

As American astronauts would discover,
Mir was not only quirky,

#104 · 07:50.403 → 07:54.965

it had become downright dangerous.

#105 · 07:55.074 → 07:57.872

Some are drawn to space because
they want to learn what lies beyond-

#106 · 08:01.547 → 08:05.950

others crave the raw experience.

#107 · 08:06.085 → 08:08.952

Children from all walks
share this dream of reaching space,

#108 · 08:11.257 → 08:15.591

but few have the persistence
and talent to make it a reality.

#109 · 08:16.996 → 08:20.762

This is a moment that takes me back
to when I was about six years old

#110 · 08:23.402 → 08:25.768

and I first decided that
I wanted to be an astronaut.

#111 · 08:25.972 → 08:28.338

This is looking up at your rocket.

#112 · 08:28.474 → 08:29.941

This sends shivers down my spine
every time I think about it.

#113 · 08:30.042 → 08:33.978

NASA astronaut Michael Foale
grew up in England,

#114 · 08:35.147 → 08:37.945

the son of a royal air force pilot
and an American mother.

#115 · 08:38.017 → 08:41.384

While on a childhood
visit to the states,

#116 · 08:41.521 → 08:43.580

Foale saw John Glenn's capsule
on a national tour.

#117 · 08:43.723 → 08:46.988

From that moment,
he wanted to soar into the sky.

#118 · 08:47.126 → 08:50.562

Foale was accepted into
the astronaut class of 1987.

#119 · 08:55.668 → 08:59.195

He stood out even among
this elite corps.

#120 · 08:59.338 → 09:02.034

On his third shuttle mission,

#121 · 09:08.848 → 09:10.406

Foale and his crewmates circled
the Russian space station Mir.

#122 · 09:10.550 → 09:14.987

Foale instantly felt its allure.

#123 · 09:15.588 → 09:18.148

At that time I can remember seeing
Yelena Kondakova in the window there,

#124 · 09:19.458 → 09:22.450

and she would wave and say, "Hey,
we want you to come and have tea."

#125 · 09:22.595 → 09:25.792

And, I said, "With pleasure,"

#126 · 09:26.365 → 09:27.593

and that was about the limit of
my Russian and, uh,

#127 · 09:27.733 → 09:31.032

unfortunately we couldn't stop
and have tea.

#128 · 09:31.170 → 09:33.070

We had to back away.

#129 · 09:33.205 → 09:33.432

And I said, "Some other time."

#130 · 09:33.573 → 09:35.097

Mir has its grip on Foale.

#131 · 09:37.243 → 09:39.108

In two years he will return, the fifth
American to live aboard the station.

#132 · 09:39.245 → 09:44.012

In his more than four months onboard,

#133 · 09:52.425 → 09:54.655

Michael Foale will learn that Mir is a
place where dreams collide with reality.

#134 · 09:54.794 → 09:59.822

He will experience the terror of space
as well as the wonder.

#135 · 10:00.333 → 10:04.997

The great attraction of space
is that

#136 · 10:07.607 → 10:09.438

that is sort of the incubator
of everything.

#137 · 10:09.575 → 10:13.944

And the mysteries of existence,
the origins of the universe,

#138 · 10:14.347 → 10:19.250

the presence of, call it a god,
resides out there.

#139 · 10:19.385 → 10:23.583

And I think one of the motives
for going into space

#140 · 10:23.723 → 10:26.556

or studying space is trying to
understand our place in the cosmos.

#141 · 10:26.692 → 10:31.322

One astronomer's obsession
with our place in the heavens

#142 · 10:32.198 → 10:35.395

drives him to the remote hills
of Puerto Rico.

#143 · 10:35.534 → 10:38.469

Twice a year, Seth Shostak travels
to an enormous radio telescope

#144 · 10:42.908 → 10:47.368

to listen for signs of
extraterrestrial life.

#145 · 10:47.513 → 10:50.744

Sharp cuts in funding and years
of hearing only false alarms

#146 · 10:51.283 → 10:55.014

have done nothing to deter Shostak.

#147 · 10:55.154 → 10:57.349

For him, the search itself
is irresistible.

#148 · 10:57.490 → 11:00.391

You know, it's like that carrot
in front of you,

#149 · 11:00.526 → 11:02.960

because that carrot seems to be
getting bigger.

#150 · 11:03.062 → 11:05.053

Every year we do this,
the equipment is a little better,

#151 · 11:05.197 → 11:07.631

we can check out a few more
star systems, and, you know,

#152 · 11:07.767 → 11:11.032

I wouldn't do it if I didn't think
there was some reasonable hope

#153 · 11:11.170 → 11:14.105

that within my lifetime
we're gonna pick up that signal

#154 · 11:14.240 → 11:16.970

that tells us what we want to know.

#155 · 11:17.043 → 11:19.136

Are we alone?
Who, or what, is out there?

#156 · 11:19.679 → 11:24.776

Are they like us?

#157 · 11:26.652 → 11:28.586

Every previous generation
wondered about this.

#158 · 11:40.666 → 11:42.896

They looked up and they wondered
if there was anybody looking down.

#159 · 11:43.035 → 11:46.027

I can be a member of
that first generation

#160 · 11:48.340 → 11:50.171

that can actually look back up

#161 · 11:50.309 → 11:51.708

and maybe find out if
there's something up there.

#162 · 11:51.844 → 11:54.438

Built by Cornell University and the
United States Air Force in the 1960s,

#163 · 11:54.580 → 11:59.017

the 1,000-foot diameter
Arecibo radio telescope

#164 · 11:59.118 → 12:02.554

is one of the most sensitive on earth.

#165 · 12:02.688 → 12:04.747

For Shostak,
it's like a huge hearing aid

#166 · 12:04.890 → 12:07.518

tuned to the murmurings of the cosmos.

#167 · 12:07.660 → 12:09.958

This little speck of metal
is picking up signals

#168 · 12:10.062 → 12:13.429

that might be coming from
hundreds of trillions of miles.

#169 · 12:13.566 → 12:15.261

It's like a tin can with a string
that runs up a hundred trillion miles.

#170 · 12:15.401 → 12:19.394

We could hear a cellphone on Jupiter,
if there were any.

#171 · 12:21.140 → 12:23.836

That's how sensitive this system is.

#172 · 12:24.009 → 12:26.170

What we're listening for is not
so much the aliens per se,

#173 · 12:26.312 → 12:28.746

but their equipment, if you will.

#174 · 12:28.881 → 12:29.973

We're listening for a transmitter.

#175 · 12:30.116 → 12:31.879

We're not asking of the aliens that
they build huge interstellar transports

#176 · 12:32.084 → 12:35.576

ala the star ship Enterprise
and go from world to world.

#177 · 12:35.721 → 12:39.452

We're only asking that
they build a simple transmitter

#178 · 12:39.592 → 12:42.026

that any teenager could put together
on a table top

#179 · 12:42.161 → 12:45.153

and use a decent size antenna.

#180 · 12:45.297 → 12:47.288

Two years after seeing Mir
for the first time,

#181 · 12:53.706 → 12:56.266

Foale joins its Russian crew for
a four-and-a-half month mission.

#182 · 12:56.408 → 13:00.435

He is replacing
American Jerry Linenger,

#183 · 13:01.313 → 13:04.111

who appears eager to leave.

#184 · 13:04.250 → 13:06.684

Hi, Mike, welcome to your new home.

#185 · 13:06.819 → 13:08.480

Foale knows that a fire broke out
during Linenger's stay,

#186 · 13:16.996 → 13:20.432

and that the ship's cooling system
leaks toxic anti-freeze.

#187 · 13:20.566 → 13:24.366

The hatch closed, and I thought,
"Well, here I am on Mir."

#188 · 13:24.904 → 13:28.965

And at that very moment,
Vasily turned towards me and said,

#189 · 13:30.442 → 13:34.640

in Russian, because they didn't
speak English at all,

#190 · 13:34.780 → 13:38.147

"Well, Mike,
now we are going to beat you."

#191 · 13:38.284 → 13:42.220

And so began my time on Mir.

#192 · 13:43.522 → 13:47.014

A joke by commander Vasily Tsibliyev,

#193 · 13:47.159 → 13:49.684

meant to both welcome
and caution Foale.

#194 · 13:49.829 → 13:52.593

The Russians understand
Mir's problems,

#195 · 13:52.731 → 13:55.256

and they want to know if this rookie
can handle the challenge.

#196 · 13:55.401 → 13:58.996

It proves a fair warning.

#197 · 14:04.743 → 14:06.176

Foale has embarked on one of
the most harrowing missions

#198 · 14:06.312 → 14:09.110

in the history of exploration.

#199 · 14:09.248 → 14:11.375

In space, it is a narrow margin
that separates life from death.

#200 · 14:12.785 → 14:17.950