Cosmos : 05 - Blues For the Red Planet -3/6

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage was produced in 1978-79, written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyen and Steve Soter; along with Life on Earth and The World at War, it remains one of the landmark documentary series of its time, and had a lasting legacy in the popularisation of modern science.

Filmed around the world presenter and astronomer, Carl Sagan, takes the viewer from the hearts of distant Galaxies, through Black Holes and other dimensions, past Stellar Nurseries and ancient Stars to the Pale Blue Dot of planet Earth.

But in spite of this insignificance the series also celebrates the heritage of knowledge and civilisations, scientists and explorers whose shoulders we stand on.

And it delves into the stuff of life, the evolution and diversity of species that cover our world, and to the very atoms of existence itself; ultimately learning that all matter is intrinsically linked to the Cosmos and the Stars.

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Part 5: Blues For the Red Planet

Canals, Sphinxes, Pyramids, John Carter Warlord of Barsoom and Little Green Men; for over 100 years the planet Mars was populated by Human imagination. But when the Mariner and Viking probes showed an apparently desolate frozen desert world, the love affair died and Mars lost its romance.

But Sagan takes us back to the Red Planet, a world of ancient lakes and river beds, planet spanning canyons and the colossal Olympus Mons. From the observations of Percival Lowel to Goddard's rockets and the Viking mission, in which he was involved, Sagan shows that, far from being a desolate world, Mars beckons to be explored.

There are no Martians yet, but the future exploration and colonization from Earth may one day give rise to the Canals and Cities once imagined.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• cosmos
• carl
• sagan