The Public Broadcasting Service announced it will air documentaries on NASA’s Voyager mission, astronaut Scott Kelly and the mainland U.S.’ first total solar eclipse since 1979 and air six limited series under the banner “PBS Summer of Adventure.”
A documentary with the working title “The Farthest” will celebrate the twin Voyager spacecraft, whose mission began in August 1977.
Originally approved to travel only to Saturn and Jupiter, the spacecraft took advantage of a once-in-176-year planetary alignment and used gravity- assisted slingshot trajectories to extend the missions, with Voyager 2 also visiting Uranus and Neptune.
The two spacecraft, equipped with less computing power than a cellphone, sent back unprecedented images and data from all four outer planets and their many spectacular moons.
“This is one of the boldest and most spectacular space missions of all time,” said executive producer Sean B. Carroll of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, one of the documentary’s producers.
“As we approach the 40th anniversary of the mission’s launch, with both spacecraft still going strong and farther from Earth than any other object humans have created, we felt it was important to tell the story of how Voyager came to be and what important discoveries it made possible.’
Beyond A Year in Space” is a follow-up to the 2016 special “A Year in Space.” It will pick up where the first film left off — Kelly’s last day in space and return to Earth.
The documentary captures Kelly’s reunion with his family and friends and follows him and his identical twin brother and fellow astronaut, Mark Kelly, as they undergo testing for NASA’s twin study.
The twin study hopes to identify precisely what changes Scott Kelly underwent after 12 months aboard the International Space Station by comparing him to Mark, who spent the year on Earth. The data NASA aims to gain from this study will help scientists understand what it will take for humans to endure long-duration space travel.
“Beyond A Year in Space” is scheduled to premiere in November.
The science series “Nova” will air a documentary on the first total solar eclipse in the mainland U.S. since 1979, the same day it occurs, Aug. 21.
“PBS Summer of Adventure” will consist of “The Story of China,” “Big Pacific,” on the Pacific Ocean, “Rare — Creatures of the Photo Ark” on the quest by National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore to document the Earth’s species, including those at risk of extinction; “Nature’s Great Race,” a look at animal migrations; “Weekend in Havana,” a walking tour of the Cuban capital; and “Great Yellowstone Thaw,” the stories of four animal families as they emerge from the cold and take advantage of the great thaw in Yellowstone National Park, before escaping the park’s soaring temperatures.
The announcements came in connection with PBS’ portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour which is being held in Pasadena.
—City News Service