Horizon S37E05 · Miracle In Orbit

Overview

When and how did space and time begin? The birth of the Universe is one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy. It has perplexed the best scientific minds for centuries. Decades before space travel was possible, astronomers dreamed of putting a telescope into orbit to try and answer these fundamental questions. It wasn't until the 1970s, when space flight had become a reality, that NASA resolved to build just such a space telescope. They named it Hubble. This was one of the most ambitious missions ever conceived. The technical challenges were enormous and it took 12 years to design and build. Travelling at seventeen thousand miles an hour, the Hubble Telescope would take pictures of the furthest reaches of space, transmitting them 400 miles back to Earth. In April 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. But just weeks later, disaster struck - the $2 billion telescope had a fatal flaw in its main mirror. This was not just a disaster for NASA; it was a national scandal. Hubble had to be saved; scientists and engineers began to search desperately for a solution to the problem. Plans for an adventurous repair mission began to take shape but it was two years before work could be carried out. It took astronauts five gruelling space-walks to carefully replace the instruments and patch up the telescope. But nobody knew if Hubble would be able to deliver on any of its original promises. Finally, the miracle happened. An unexpected avalanche of data from Hubble confirmed that the telescope was fixed. At last it began to solve the most fundamental puzzles of the Universe. Hubble has given us breathtaking images of the birth of stars; it has found black holes swallowing matter at the centre of galaxies; and last year the Hubble Telescope resolved the most fundamental question in astronomy - the age of the Universe. At last, half a century of scientific endeavour was rewarded. Horizon marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope by tracing the extraordinary tale of triumph, disaster and eventual success of this unique window into the Universe.

Torrents

Subtitles

Episodes

1. 1 1. Breath of Life2000-01-12 · 1h 0mIn this moving film Horizon follows the Loughran family in their fight to save the life of their daughter Sheila who suffers from cystic fibrosis. They lost their youngest daughter
2. 2 2. The Lost City of Nasca2000-01-20 · 1h 0mOn a barren desert in South America lies one of the greatest archaeological puzzles in the world. Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand are hundreds of straight lines, geo
3. 3 3. The Diamond Makers2000-01-27 · 1h 0mThere is something so special about diamonds, and they are so valuable, that people have always been prepared to go to the most extraordinary lengths to find them. But how would we
4. 4 4. Supervolcanoes2000-02-03 · 1h 0mHidden deep beneath the Earth's surface lie one of the most destructive and yet least-understood natural phenomena in the world - supervolcanoes. Only a handful exist in the world
5. 5 5. Miracle In Orbit2000-02-03 · 1h 0mWhen and how did space and time begin? The birth of the Universe is one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy. It has perplexed the best scientific minds for centuries. Decades bef
6. 6 6. Complete Obsession - Body Dysmorphia2000-02-17 · 1h 0mWhat happens when a completely healthy person wants their leg amputated? Gregg is 55 and does not feel physically whole. This is despite the fact that he is physically healthy and
7. 7 7. Is GM Safe?2000-03-09 · 1h 0mSome people see GM food as a ground-breaking scientific idea that could help to end world hunger and reduce global pollution. Others see it purely as 'Frankenstein foods' on 21st c
8. 8 8. Planet Hunters2000-03-16 · 1h 0mIf extra-terrestrials do exist they must have a home. Horizon tells the story of the race to find out where in the Universe this might be. The answer, for scientists across the wor
9. 9 9. Moon Children2000-04-04 · 1h 0mA handful of children around the world cannot tolerate the sun. Any exposure leads rapidly to skin cancer. They must either play indoors during daylight or be protected from head t
10. 10 10. Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction2000-10-12 · 1h 0mScattered across the world’s oceans are a handful of rare geological time-bombs. Once unleashed they create an extraordinary phenomenon, a gigantic tidal wave, far bigger than any
11. 11 11. Conjoined Twins2000-10-19 · 1h 0mConjoined twins are among the rarest of human beings. There are probably fewer than a dozen adult pairs living in the world today. Only a few hundred pairs of conjoined twins are b
12. 12 12. The Lost World of Lake Vostok2000-10-26 · 1h 0mIt sometimes seems as if our planet has no secrets left - but deep beneath the great Antarctic ice sheet scientists have made an astonishing discovery. They’ve found one of the lar
13. 13 13. Vanished: The Plane that Disappeared2000-11-02 · 1h 0mOn August 2nd 1947, a British civilian version of the wartime Lancaster bomber took off from Buenos Aires airport on a scheduled flight to Santiago. There were 5 crew and 6 passeng
14. 14 14. The Secret Treasures of Zeugma2000-11-09 · 1h 0mIn the summer of 2000, one of the great frontier cities of the Roman Empire, the city of Zeugma, all but disappeared from the face of the Earth under the flood waters of a dam. In
15. 15 15. Valley of Life or Death2000-11-16 · 1h 0mAt the heart of the AIDS epidemic in Africa, there is a deadly mystery that has puzzled scientists for years. There are groups of people who are four times less likely to get HIV t
16. 16 16. Extreme Dinosaurs2000-11-23 · 1h 0mAmazing new discoveries in South America are revolutionising what we thought we knew about the dinosaur world. It now seems that South America was home to both the largest meat-eat
17. 17 17. Supermassive Black Holes2000-11-30 · 1h 0mIn June 2000, astronomers made an extraordinary discovery. One that promises to solve one of the biggest problems in cosmology - how and why galaxies are created. Incredibly, the a
18. 18 18. The Boy who was Turned into a Girl2000-12-07 · 1h 0mIn 1965 in the Canadian town of Winnipeg, Janet Reimer gave birth to twin boys - Bruce and Brian. Six months later a bungled circumcision left Bruce without a penis. Based on a rad
19. 19 19. Atlantis Reborn Again2000-12-14 · 1h 0mHorizon puts Graham Hancock's controversial theories about the past to the test, dissecting his evidence for a lost civilisation. Graham Hancock offers various pieces of evidence