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1972 was the year
a great love affair ended.

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The human race
fell out of love with the moon.

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It was a classic case
of familiarity breeds contempt.

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There'd been six moon landings,

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and we'd grown bored.

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To this day, no-one has been back.

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The moon did turn out to be dull.

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It's... What do you see?
A barren, colourless landscape

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with fragmentary rock
all over the place.

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Our eyes wandered
to other more intriguing worlds.

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Throughout the solar system,
scientists found many more moons

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that seemed far more exciting than
our own dull pile of grey rock.

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For 35 years,
our own moon has been abandoned.

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But now,
all that's about to change.

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This is the story
of our love affair with the moon.

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What inspired it,
how it faded away,

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and how now we're slowly,
but surely,

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falling in love all over again.

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Our love affair with the moon
s an ancient one.

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It is Earth's constant companion
in the dark emptiness of space.

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The moon has looked down
on the whole of human history.

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And throughout history,
we have looked up at it.

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It has inspired great myths
and legends.

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We've feared it
and we've worshipped it.

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5,000 years ago, in a remote
corner of the Outer Hebrides,

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a Neolithic community
made its home.

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We know very little
about these people,

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but they've left us an enduring symbol of
their profound relationship with the moon.

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Islanders Margaret Curtis
and her husband Ron

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have devoted their lives
to understanding that relationship.

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I find a link with these people -

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that our minds seem work
along the same ideas.

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This has been very much a detective
story - sorting it all out.

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They may not have had writing,

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but they've set the stones up
in such a way

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that we can fathom out
what they were after.

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No-one knows for certain what the
Standing Stones of Callanish represent.

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But their positioning suggests
that they're a tribute to the moon,

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part sacred site
and part ancient observatory.

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These stones at Callanish
are a sort of lunar computer -

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a lunar calendar.

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And it's a computer that's still
working after 5,000 years,

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which is more than we can say for
the computers we've got nowadays.

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The stones seem to be arranged so they track the movements
of the moon through the sky from month to month.

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Nowadays, we're not fully aware
of what the moon's doing in the sky.

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We know short days in the winter,
long days in the summer.

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But the moon's plodding on, doing the same
sort of thing over a much longer cycle.

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Whereas we nowadays aren't fully aware of where the
northernmost moon rises or sets, or the southernmost,

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our prehistoric ancestors -
5,000 years ago -

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did know and they set
these stones out

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to mark these
extreme positions of the moon.

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Most of all, the stones could predict the
timing of a spectacular and rare lunar event.

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To the south of Callanish
is a range of hills

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which resemble
a woman lying on her back.

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Every 18 years, the full moon rises
out of the hills.

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It rolls along the woman's body...
and then vanishes.

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But moments later,
it is re-born -

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right in the centre
of the stone circle.

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Legend says that anyone
who witnessed this magical event

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would be blessed
with the gift of fertility.

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It has always been
the full moon,

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above all else,
that has stirred the human spirit.

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Yet the moon
has no light of its own.

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Its glow
is simply reflected sunlight.

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As it orbits our planet,

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the portion of the sunlit surface
that we see changes.

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This gives us
the phases of the moon -

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a twenty-nine-and-a-half-day cycle
that waxes to full

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and then wanes back to new.

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When the moon is full, the night
sky glows ten times brighter

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than when it's new.

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On this night, the same full moon
can be seen all over the Earth.

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It has always inspired awe.

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In times gone by,

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the full moon was believed
to bring out our darker selves

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in a monthly wave of madness
and bloodshed.

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The word lunacy derives
from the Latin for moon

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and crimes that happened
at this time

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were looked upon more leniently.

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But when it comes to nature,
the moon's impact isn't legend.

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The full moon triggers
a frenzy of activity.

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It is the time
of the highest tides.

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And in the oceans,
the full moon's bright light

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is a mating call for sea creatures
all over the world.

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The full moon governs the very
reproduction of these species.

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And now, scientists have discovered it
may be doing the same for us humans.

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Research suggests
that the full moon may play

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a significant role
in our own cycles of fertility.

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In the late 1970s, scientists
studying female fertility

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noticed a baffling coincidence.

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We knew that the moon cycled

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every twenty nine and a half days,

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and we knew...

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a
twenty-nine-and-a-half day cycle

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was the most fertile
woman's cycle length.

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That a woman who had a
26-day cycle, or a 40-day cycle,

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or a 60-day cycle,

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was much less likely
to be fertile in that cycle.

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At the time, it was unclear whether
this was a chance phenomenon

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or whether the two were related.

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But further research on women with
twenty-nine-and-a-half day menstrual cycles

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threw up even more links with
the patterns of the lunar cycle.

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In that group of women
who cycle as frequently as the moon,

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they tended to start their periods in the
full moon, at the day of the full moon.

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And as you move away from
the full moon toward the new moon,

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a smaller and smaller and smaller
proportion of the group

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is starting their menstrual period.

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That was a very exciting
natural biologic phenomenon,

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that said there's something
in nature about the moon

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that coincides with women getting
their period at the full moon.

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The fertility cycles of women
are related to the moon cycle,

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and I don't think women's fertility
drives the moon,

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I think it's the other way around.

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No-one knows for sure
why this phenomenon exists,

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or how it works.

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It is one of the moon's
many mysteries.

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Until very recently,

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the moon remained an enigma.

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And it was this mysterious quality
which fuelled our fascination.

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Where did it come from?

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What was it made of?

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And the biggest question of all -
was it a world like ours?

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Did it harbour life?

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For millennia,
it was impossible to know.

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No-one even knew what the surface
of the moon looked like.

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All that changed in 1608, when an Italian
astronomer made a primitive telescope.

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For the first time, he was able
to get a close-up look at the moon.

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His name was Galileo Galilei.

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And what he saw shattered
conventional wisdom.

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At the time, the Church insisted

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that all heavenly bodies were
perfect, unblemished spheres,

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and that the Earth was the only body
in the universe that was flawed.

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But Galileo's close-up
view of the moon's surface

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revealed a world
that was far from perfect.

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He described it as "Rough and uneven,
just like the surface of Earth itself."

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Perhaps it WAS a living world,
like our own.

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Hundreds of years later, our knowledge
of the moon had barely improved.

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Just how ignorant we were
was revealed in 1835.

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An American newspaper
published a front-page story

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announcing that herds of bison had been
observed tramping across the lunar surface.

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Readers were entranced
by this vision.

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A few days later, it was revealed
to be an elaborate hoax.

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The only way to find out
what was really on the moon

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was to go there and take a look.

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But over 100 years later, it still
seemed an impossible dream.

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All that finally changed
in the early 1960s.

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I believe that this nation should
commit itself to achieving the goal,

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before this decade is out,

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of landing a man on the moon and
returning him safely to the Earth.

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Kennedy's bid for the moon
came out of a Cold War battle

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to win over peoples'
hearts and minds.

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It was an inspired move,
tapping into an ancient dream.

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Finally, we would find the answers
to the moon's great mysteries.

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How was it formed?

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What was it made of? And was it
a home for some form of life?

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The moon had always been the symbol
of the remote and the unreachable.

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And here,

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people are going to leave Earth
and go to the moon!

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But, if they wanted
to lay claim to the moon,

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the Americans had a lot
of catching up to do.

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Their Cold War rival,
the Soviet Union, was way ahead.

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The Russian's ambitious space programme
produced a string of firsts,

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including the first satellite in
orbit and the first man in space.

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And in 1959, they'd set out to solve
one of the moon's greatest mysteries -

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something that had kept humans
guessing for centuries.

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What was on the far side of the moon -
the side that always faces away from us?

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To find out, the Russian mission would have
to circle the moon for the first time.

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On the 7th of October,

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the probe disappeared behind
the far side of the moon,

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and its cameras leapt into action.

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For 40 minutes, it snapped away

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whilst scientists waited
on tenterhooks.

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When the images were transmitted
back to Earth,

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they had their answer.

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The far side was actually
just the same as the near side.

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But the lack of surprises
didn't matter.

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These blurred images made history.

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And the mission consolidated the
Russians' lead in the space race.

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The Americans weren't
keen on second place.

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I guess the American people are
alarmed that a foreign country,

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especially an enemy country,
can do this. We fear this.

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Definitely alarmed. Do you admire
the Russians for doing it or not?

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No. We should've been
first to have it.

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The Russians had all the headlines.

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But landing a man on the moon
was an entirely new challenge.

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At the time when Kennedy made
his famous speech,

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scientists knew so little
about the moon

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that the prospect of sending a
human there seemed almost reckless.

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Their knowledge of lunar geography
was so sketchy,

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they didn't know
where they could land safely.

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They didn't even know whether the moon's surface
was strong enough to support a space-craft,

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or even a man.

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They needed answers quickly.

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The first step for the Americans was
a series of probes called Ranger.

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00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,679
They carried
on board television cameras

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to take detailed close-up pictures
of the lunar surface.

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But it wasn't exactly
a sophisticated approach.

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The Rangers went in hard, crashing
kamikaze-style into the surface,

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00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,840
furiously filming away
until the moment of destruction.

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00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:14,399
The 4,300 images
taken by the Ranger probes

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00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,399
were the clearest views
we'd ever had of our moon.

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00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,240
It was now clear
it was a harsh and hostile world.

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But the pictures were vital
to prepare for the ultimate goal -

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the moon landing.

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00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:29,559
It was an epic endeavour.

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00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,560
No expense was spared.

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00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:39,839
At its peak, the moon programme employed
more than 400,000 people in America

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00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:45,199
and cost over $25 billion, nearly
$150 billion in today's money.

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00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,239
People were electrified

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00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,799
by the race to the moon. And the
United States was spending...

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00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,399
I think it was 4.5% of our entire
national budget on space.

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00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,879
But most Americans
were 100% in favour of,

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00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:03,479
let's push on and whatever
it costs, let's get to the moon.

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00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:05,559
Ten... nine... eight...

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00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,559
By 1968,
NASA was ready for a test run.

216
00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,919
..four... three... two... one...

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Zero!

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We have commenced!
We have lift-off!

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Lift-off at 7.51am
Eastern Standard Time.

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Apollo 8 wouldn't actually
land on the moon,

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but it would go into lunar orbit.

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Although they weren't
going to touch down,

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this would be the first time

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that humans
had ever visited another world.

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This transmission is coming to you personally
halfway between the moon and the Earth.

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00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,039
Back on Earth, people watched
and waited and listened.

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00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,319
And the astronauts
didn't disappoint.

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00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,719
Hovering just above
the moon's surface,

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their broadcast
was from the book of Genesis.

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"In the beginning, God created
the Heaven and the Earth.

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00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,399
"And the Earth
was without form and void.

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00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:08,879
"And darkness
was upon the face of the deep.

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00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,719
"And the spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters."

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00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,639
"And God said, 'Let there
be light.' And there was light."

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00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,959
I don't know. It just caught
the country by surprise.

236
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,919
It was so moving

237
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:28,759
and... comforting.

238
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,039
And I think, at that point,

239
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:38,359
we realised the importance
of a space mission

240
00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,519
for bringing self-confidence
to people.

241
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,279
On their fourth orbit
around the moon,

242
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:49,519
the astronauts saw something
no human eyes had ever seen before.

243
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,039
It was the Earth, rising out
of the blackness of space.

244
00:16:54,040 --> 00:17:00,040
The pictures they took changed the
way we viewed our planet forever.

245
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:04,360
We have commenced! We have lift-off!

246
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,039
And then came the big one.

247
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,519
On July 16th 1969,

248
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,560
Apollo 11 was launched.

249
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:19,679
Oh, I remember watching it.

250
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,119
It was like, "Wow!" Like watching
science fiction come true.

251
00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:27,119
On its final descent
to the moon's surface,

252
00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:29,199
unknown to the watching audience,

253
00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,679
a series of alarms went off
inside the lunar module.

254
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,200
NASA decided to over-ride them.

255
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,679
The gamble paid off.

256
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:40,800
Houston, er...

257
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,599
..Tranquillity Base here.

258
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:46,520
The eagle has landed.

259
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,559
I'll now step off the ladder.

260
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,520
It's one small step for man...

261
00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:00,679
..one giant leap for mankind.

262
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:07,320
More than 600 million people
watched the broadcast worldwide.

263
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,479
HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN

264
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:18,520
The experience bonded the human race in a way
which had never happened before. Or since.

265
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,799
It was one of those rare occasions

266
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,919
that brought the whole nation...

267
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:27,959
and, in a sense, the whole world,

268
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,320
together in a shared experience.

269
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,639
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin only walked
on the moon for less than three hours.

270
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,239
But on that night,

271
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,639
people all over the Earth
looked up at the night sky

272
00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,640
and knew that there were two men
up there, looking back at them.

273
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,599
I remember the night
of the landing.

274
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,559
And I looked up from the
parking lot and there was the moon.

275
00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,039
And you could see
the little dark smudge,

276
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,999
over on the right side of the moon,

277
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,639
which is the Sea of Tranquillity,

278
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:14,039
and you knew
that there were two men -

279
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,439
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin -

280
00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:23,239
by that time trying to sleep
in their lunar module

281
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,799
on the surface of that smudge

282
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:28,960
that you can see from Houston.

283
00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,199
Over the next three years, five
more missions landed on the moon.

284
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,239
Each one was more ambitious
than the last.

285
00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:47,239
Whereas Armstrong and Aldrin had only taken a
few tentative steps from the lunar module,

286
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,319
the astronauts on later missions
travelled miles across the surface.

287
00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,479
They spent days at a time on the
moon, visiting different locations,

288
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,279
collecting samples
of rock and soil,

289
00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,200
and setting up
scientific experiments.

290
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,039
Guess what we just found?

291
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:09,119
I think we found what we came for.
Just old rock, eh? Yes, sir.

292
00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:11,479
But down on Earth,
with each mission,

293
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,080
the public interest
was starting to wane.

294
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,079
By the time it came to Apollo 17,

295
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:23,199
NASA even had to pay the American
TV networks to cover the mission.

296
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,279
By the fourth or fifth time
that we had gone to the moon,

297
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,959
it was probably
page two or three news.

298
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,159
You know,
it certainly wasn't headline..

299
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,239
There is more soil!

300
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:38,639
People were getting bored
with going to the moon.

301
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:44,159
Once you've seen astronauts
collect rocks for a few times,

302
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,719
it ceases to fascinate.

303
00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,839
Going to the moon had been done.

304
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,799
And there was a feeling that
it was now time to do other things.

305
00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:00,719
There's a state of apathy in the United
States now. People just don't care.

306
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,879
I think that we are spending
too much money on the moon.

307
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,159
I think they could use the time, energy and
money better here in the United States.

308
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,439
There's lots of room
for improvement here.

309
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:16,679
Rather than spend all that money exploring
space when people are starving here,

310
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,080
that money could be put to very
good use in improving life here.

311
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,119
When we finally got there,

312
00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:27,879
it turned out our moon
didn't harbour life or even water.

313
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,319
It was not the home of the Gods
or rampaging herds of bison.

314
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:37,599
It was a barren and bleak place -
a dead rock in the sky.

315
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:42,319
We'd built it up in our imagination
for tens of thousands of years.

316
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,959
And the disappointment
was crushing.

317
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:46,519
People thought maybe...

318
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,079
there were people alive
on the moon,

319
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,199
maybe there are things up there.

320
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,519
But what we learned when we got
there is what we saw was the case.

321
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:55,879
It's a very cold place

322
00:21:55,880 --> 00:22:00,959
and it's desolate and it's not capable
of supporting life as we know it.

323
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,000
Hey, team...

324
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,759
♪ I was strolling
on the moon one day... ♪

325
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:16,119
When astronaut Gene Cernan stepped off
the lunar surface for the last time,

326
00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,599
it was no giant leap for mankind,

327
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,880
but the last stumble
of a dying era.

328
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,399
NASA cancelled
the next three moon missions

329
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,960
and quietly drew
the Apollo programme to a close.

330
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,600
Cernan was the last human being
ever to walk on the moon.

331
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,600
To this day, no-one has returned.

332
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,640
The love affair was over.

333
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,719
But although the public's relationship
with the moon had gone sour,

334
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,439
for a small band
of dedicated scientists,

335
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,559
the romance was just beginning.

336
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,599
They now had actual pieces
of the moon to study.

337
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,959
Nearly 400 kilos of lunar rock

338
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,519
had been brought back
by the astronauts.

339
00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:24,839
They hoped that these rocks would unlock
the unanswered mysteries of the moon.

340
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,079
Because, despite the moon landings,

341
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,599
scientists still didn't know
the answer to the big questions.

342
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,759
Where had the moon come from?

343
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,600
And how had it formed?

344
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,199
One of those starry-eyed
young scientists was Gary Lofgren,

345
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,279
a geologist working for NASA.

346
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,119
He was given the job of cutting
up each sample ready for study.

347
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,519
You just had no idea
what you were going to see,

348
00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,599
looking at these really
strange-looking rocks

349
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:56,519
that were just jumbles of debris.

350
00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,599
It was a chance to really
look at them closely,

351
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,519
to not actually touch them,
but come very close,

352
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,319
and we realised we'd never seen anything like
that on Earth, or never recognised it on Earth.

353
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,359
Most scientists had assumed that
the moon would be similar to Earth.

354
00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:15,279
There'd be a mixture
of young and old rocks,

355
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,959
formed in many different ways.
They were in for a surprise.

356
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,999
It turned out that our thinking
about the moon was really wrong.

357
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,319
Science had not done a very good job of
guessing what the moon was going to be like.

358
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,879
People did think
it was probably fairly old,

359
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,879
but they didn't realise it was
as old as it turned out to be.

360
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,679
We found rocks that are almost
four and a half billion years old,

361
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:39,799
almost the age of our solar system.

362
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:44,559
Some of these rocks formed just 50-100 million
years after the beginning of the planet.

363
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,999
We just don't find rocks that old
on Earth.

364
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,079
The moon was an ancient,
fossilised world.

365
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,439
Its rocks hadn't changed
for billions of years.

366
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,759
Scientists were thrilled.

367
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,999
Basically, the surface of the moon kind
of froze roughly three billion years ago

368
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,199
and preserved the first one and a
half billion years of its history.

369
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,039
The moon tells us very much about the
early history of our solar system.

370
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:15,360
It's probably one of the best recorders
of the early history of our solar system.

371
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,599
This ancient fossil
was a scientific gold mine.

372
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,519
Because the moon
was so well-preserved,

373
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:29,119
it meant scientists could finally answer
the question that had come to obsess them.

374
00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,240
How was the moon formed?

375
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,359
At the time,
there were two competing theories.

376
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:39,959
The first was that the moon and the
Earth were formed at the same time,

377
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,639
from the same cloud
of dust and gas.

378
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,919
The other theory was that the moon
was nothing do with the Earth,

379
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,959
but was wandering alone in space

380
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,480
until the Earth sucked it in
with the power of its gravity.

381
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,159
But the rocks themselves didn't
seem to support either theory.

382
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,079
They were different enough
from rocks on Earth

383
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,759
to make it unlikely they were
all formed at the same time.

384
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:09,959
But they had enough similarities to make it equally
unlikely that the moon was completely foreign.

385
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:15,279
Eventually, scientists came up with a new
theory that explained these strange rocks.

386
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,840
It was a brutal tale.

387
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,879
It takes us back
four billion years,

388
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,679
to when the solar system
was a young and volatile place.

389
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,360
There were many planets
and asteroids circling the sun.

390
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,239
One of these was a young Earth.

391
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,679
But there was also another
young planet, a bit smaller.

392
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,200
The two were on a collision course.

393
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,159
Eventually, they crashed together.

394
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,920
It was the biggest bang
the solar system had ever seen.

395
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,639
The impact was so massive

396
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:09,719
that it spewed out millions
of tons of molten rock and gases.

397
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:11,639
As this debris circled the Earth,

398
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:16,440
it came together, forming
a separate body - our moon.

399
00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:28,599
When it first formed, the moon was ten times
closer to the Earth than it is today.

400
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,239
So it appeared
much bigger in the sky

401
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,999
and its gravitational pull
was much stronger.

402
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:40,159
But, over time, it slowly
drifted away from the Earth

403
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:45,039
to its present position, about a
quarter of a million miles away.

404
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,039
And there, its orbit seemed
to have stabilised,

405
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,760
its distance from Earth
fixed for all time.

406
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:02,440
But a little-known Apollo project
has blown that cosy theory away.

407
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,119
Deep in the wilds of West Texas,

408
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:12,119
Jerry Wiant coaxes his elderly motorbike
up to the top of the Davies Mountains.

409
00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:16,559
He and his trusty bike
have made this same journey to work

410
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,960
every night
since the Apollo programme.

411
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,800
He is on his way to the Texas
Laser Ranging station.

412
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:33,240
This small outpost is one of only
three of its kind in the world.

413
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,679
We're the last
living Apollo project.

414
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,319
Many people think,
"The Apollo projects?

415
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,119
"Oh, they're dead and gone."
That's not true.

416
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,159
We're still getting valuable data.

417
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,439
Scientists all over the Earth
are still using that data.

418
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,919
So we're still operating,
in spite of the fact

419
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,080
that everybody's forgotten
what the word Apollo used to mean.

420
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:06,719
Each clear night, Wiant focuses
his telescope on the lunar surface

421
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:10,279
and fires a powerful laser
straight at the moon.

422
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,719
This will measure the exact
position of the moon in space.

423
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,399
All right,
we're ready to fire the laser.

424
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:23,039
What we hope is that our beam goes
from here to the moon surface

425
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:28,279
and it comes back and our goal
is to measure how long does it take

426
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,119
for our light to go from here
to the moon and back.

427
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:33,799
Their target is a simple device

428
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,959
placed on the moon
over 35 years ago.

429
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:41,159
The Apollo astronauts left behind
some simple glass reflectors,

430
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,679
rather like the reflectors
on a bicycle light.

431
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,719
This is a chunk of glass
that's a corner reflector.

432
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,799
And you can see it. It's three sides
and this would be the front side.

433
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,759
So light entering here
will go directly back to its source,

434
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,079
and then, our telescope
gathers that light

435
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,679
and then feeds it
to our detector.

436
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,519
There are four panels
of reflectors on the moon,

437
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,839
placed at four different sites.

438
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,759
This one I'm holding
in my hand is one.

439
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,839
And you can see
there's a row of ten by ten.

440
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,639
This a panel of a hundred of these
individual corner reflectors.

441
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,159
Look at the footprint.

442
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,839
You can see the astronaut's
footprint in the moon's surface here.

443
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,639
This is an Apollo 14 site,
the second site.

444
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,359
And, I don't know if you can see it,

445
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:32,439
but there's a... there's a bag...
there's a Ziploc bag right here.

446
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,439
You can see the red seam.

447
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,999
The astronauts were not required
to pick up their litter.

448
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,879
So there's a free Ziploc bag
if anybody would like to have it(!)

449
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:46,039
If the moon's orbit was fixed,
then its distance from the Earth

450
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:47,759
should have stayed the same

451
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,039
ever since Jerry
began his measurements.

452
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,199
But it hasn't.
The moon, it seems, is on the move.

453
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:59,079
The moon is receding
at a certain rate per year.

454
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:03,039
3.8cms per year, I believe,

455
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:04,799
that it's moving out,

456
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,040
moving away, receding.

457
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,599
It doesn't sound like much.

458
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:14,199
But over time, it's going to bring
some big changes.

459
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:19,159
As the moon pulls away, it'll put an end to
one of nature's most glorious spectacles -

460
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:20,960
a total solar eclipse.

461
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,639
The moon is 400 times smaller
than the sun.

462
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:35,199
But at the moment, it's also precisely 400
times closer to the Earth than the sun is.

463
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:40,759
This amazing coincidence means that, when the
moon passes directly in front of the sun,

464
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,359
it appears exactly the same size.

465
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:47,399
We are living at the only time
in the history of the solar system

466
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,999
when this unique spectacle
is possible.

467
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,239
As the moon drifts away from us,

468
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,160
this awe-inspiring sight
will be over forever.

469
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:07,079
So, over the years, scientists continued
to make new discoveries about our moon.

470
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,319
But somehow, it was never enough
to reignite our passion

471
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,879
for our closest neighbour.

472
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,759
And that was partly because
our attention had turned elsewhere.

473
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:21,639
There are over 150 other moons
in the solar system,

474
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,719
and, by the late 1970s,
we were starting to explore them.

475
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,400
The results were spectacular.

476
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,839
The journey of discovery began
with the Voyager probes.

477
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,439
They were sent to explore
the outer solar system -

478
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,439
the gas giants
like Jupiter and Saturn.

479
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,079
Until now,
these extraordinary worlds

480
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,119
had been seen only
through telescopes.

481
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:51,959
It took two years for these probes to
reach their first port of call - Jupiter.

482
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,799
Scientists all over the world
were gripped,

483
00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:59,480
waiting for the first close-up
pictures of the great giant.

484
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,759
But when Voyager started
transmitting pictures back to Earth,

485
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:05,839
they were in for a surprise.

486
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,959
It seemed it was Jupiter's moons,
rather than the planet itself,

487
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,240
that held the most exciting secrets.

488
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,759
We thought the moons would be lumps
of ice covered in craters.

489
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:19,079
And that was about it.

490
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:24,519
But when Voyager started transmitting back
pictures of Jupiter's innermost moon, lo,

491
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:26,199
there was a strange anomaly.

492
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:31,599
A young NASA scientist spotted an
odd-looking bulge on the moon's side.

493
00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:35,679
I came in about nine o'clock
that morning to the navigation area

494
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:41,239
and the pictures the spacecraft had
taken a day before were on my desk.

495
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,439
I put them on the computer system
and I displayed them,

496
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,879
and I could see that lo,
the moon of lo, was a crescent,

497
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,679
as very often our own moon
is a crescent in the night sky.

498
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:53,919
And I went
and enhanced the brightness,

499
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,239
and there appeared beside lo
an object -

500
00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,999
a huge object that looked like
something I couldn't recognise

501
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,079
and could never have expected

502
00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:06,080
and it completely captured
my attention.

503
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,159
I wanted to know so badly
what that was

504
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,039
that I had to ask myself,
"My goodness! What is that?!"

505
00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,559
And the answer
that occurred to me first

506
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,400
was it looked like another moon,
peeking out behind lo.

507
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,959
But when she looked closer, she realised
it was something completely different.

508
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,199
When I explored it,
I was able to find

509
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,959
that this large, strange object

510
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,679
was this huge plume
of a volcanic eruption

511
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:40,480
arising 270km over the surface of
Io and raining back down onto it.

512
00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:47,159
So I had discovered the first
ever volcanic eruption

513
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:50,440
ever seen on another world
besides the Earth.

514
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:55,479
Io's vibrant volcanic activity

515
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,359
is caused by the
massive gravitational pull

516
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:03,679
exerted by Jupiter, which squeezes
and heats the moon internally.

517
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,759
You could actually see,
looking at the edge of lo,

518
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,879
plumes of what turned out to be
sulphur dioxide gas

519
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,439
shooting up into space,
about 100 miles,

520
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,319
and dropping all this sulphur
dioxide snow back onto the surface,

521
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:21,879
and the whole place is stained
red and yellow with sulphur.

522
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:23,720
It's an incredible place.

523
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,919
Here was a moon to swoon over.

524
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:32,839
It was far more exciting and exotic
than our own boring, lifeless moon.

525
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,560
And lo was just the beginning.

526
00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:41,799
Soon, another of Jupiter's moons -
Europa - was also wowing scientists.

527
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:44,959
Europa's surface had no craters.

528
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,680
Close up, it was covered
in cracks and canyons.

529
00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:56,439
Europa clearly had
a very young surface.

530
00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,959
We could tell that there weren't
many large impact craters

531
00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:03,119
and the surface
was relatively smooth and cracked.

532
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:05,199
Not chasms going deep down into it,

533
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:07,679
but cracks filled
with something darker.

534
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,600
A recently active surface.

535
00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:14,879
Looking at it, scientists realised
it was similar

536
00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,960
to scenes they knew from Earth,
from the poles.

537
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,679
Europa was covered in ice.

538
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,039
And because there were no craters,

539
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:29,319
they knew that the ice must have
melted and refrozen many times.

540
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:31,519
And that could mean
only one thing -

541
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:33,679
there had to be liquid water,

542
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,159
the crucial ingredient
for life on Europa.

543
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,719
It got even more exciting
when scientists began to speculate

544
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:44,959
where the heat to melt the ice
was coming from.

545
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,559
Again, the answer
lay within our own planet.

546
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,999
On the floors
of the oceans of the Earth,

547
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,399
scientists had discovered
"black smokers" -

548
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,959
volcanic heat sources coming
from below the Earth's crust,

549
00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:59,999
warming the water from below.

550
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,319
Perhaps hot vents like these could
exist under Europa's icy crust.

551
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,999
Scientists could barely contain
their excitement.

552
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,359
Liquid water
and a volcanic heat source

553
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:14,199
sounded like the kind of conditions

554
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,239
that many believe
gave birth to life on Earth.

555
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:21,239
The people who work on
the origins of life on Earth today

556
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:24,839
seem to have come
to the conclusion

557
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,559
that the most likely place
for life to have begun

558
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,759
is at a hot vent on the ocean floor

559
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:36,359
and we could have the same sorts of organisms on
the floor of the ocean of Europa, at a hot vent.

560
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:40,599
And if you've got bacterial life, you
could have something eating the bacteria.

561
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:43,719
You could have a whole eco-system
down there.

562
00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:49,959
like sharks grazing on smaller fish eating worms
and the worms eating the bacteria. We don't know.

563
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,279
There could
be all kinds of things there.

564
00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,359
But if you want somewhere
warm and cosy

565
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,279
for bacterial life
to get started and to survive,

566
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:03,560
Europa is probably the best bet we've
got in the entire solar system.

567
00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:10,719
It wasn't just Jupiter's moons
that were attracting attention.

568
00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:14,719
When the Voyager probe
flew past Saturn,

569
00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:18,279
it captured an image
of its largest moon, Titan.

570
00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,399
It was strangely fuzzy.

571
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,879
It looked as though Titan
was shrouded in an atmosphere,

572
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:25,919
just like our own planet.

573
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:28,959
Scientists were desperate
to know more.

574
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,919
What lay beneath
this thick atmosphere?

575
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,880
Could it have
other similarities to Earth?

576
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,719
They didn't get their chance
to find out

577
00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:44,640
until 20 years later,
when Cassini lifted off.

578
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:49,679
It was one of the biggest rockets
ever launched,

579
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,200
but even so, it took
seven years to get to Saturn.

580
00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:00,440
And then,
it turned its attention to Titan.

581
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:06,039
Cassini dropped a probe called
Huygens through the Titan atmosphere

582
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,399
onto the hidden surface.

583
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:10,839
It revealed a world
that scientists believe

584
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:14,399
could be strikingly similar
to the early Earth.

585
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:18,399
Pictures revealed by Huygens
on its parachute descent

586
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:20,839
towards the surface of Titan

587
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,959
showed, at one point,
a network of valleys.

588
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,479
You could have been floating
over many parts of the Earth.

589
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:30,959
We've got hills
and valleys in between them

590
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,639
and the valleys converge
and drain into a sea.

591
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:37,559
So we can see landforms on Titan

592
00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:42,239
that look very familiar to people
who do landform studies on Earth.

593
00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:46,560
The valley networks are very similar to what
you get produced by rainfall on the Earth.

594
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,239
The extraordinary images
of distant moons

595
00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:53,719
revealed them to be places
of great beauty

596
00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:55,799
and tantalising possibilities.

597
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:57,959
They had volcanoes,

598
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,559
ice-covered oceans,

599
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,079
active geysers

600
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,439
and thick atmospheres.

601
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,960
There was even
the possibility of life.

602
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:14,159
Moons were the most exciting places
in the solar system.

603
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:19,119
And so, scientists began to wonder
whether our own long-abandoned moon

604
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:21,600
was perhaps worth another look.

605
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:31,719
So, in 1994, a small
unmanned orbiter, Clementine,

606
00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:33,759
was sent back to the moon.

607
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:37,799
The first spacecraft to make
the journey in more than 20 years.

608
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:41,199
And this mission
would go somewhere new.

609
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:44,839
Technology had moved on
since the seventies.

610
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:48,039
And so, Clementine would be able
to reach an area of the moon

611
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,479
that had never been seen
in detail before -

612
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:52,479
the lunar poles.

613
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:54,599
Clementine spent two months

614
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,559
bombarding the moon
with radio waves,

615
00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:02,519
and in doing so, it made a discovery
that scientists had never dreamt of.

616
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:06,639
They found what appeared to be
patches of ice.

617
00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:11,639
Its radar was getting signals being bounced
back from the surface very strongly,

618
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,919
in a way consistent with there
being patches of ice down there.

619
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,599
And, er... it's not a lot of ice.

620
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:22,999
It could... could fill plenty
of Olympic-sized swimming pools,

621
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,959
but if you were to melt it and
spread it all over the lunar surface,

622
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:28,919
it would be a millimetre thick.

623
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,879
You're not gonna produce oceans
on the moon from this ice.

624
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:33,520
But enough for humans to exploit.

625
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:39,679
The existence of water on the moon,
even if it was frozen,

626
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:42,919
changed everything.

627
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:47,479
The bleak and barren landscape
wasn't so inhospitable after all.

628
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:50,279
Suddenly,
the possibilities seemed endless.

629
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:52,719
With life-sustaining water,

630
00:41:52,720 --> 00:41:55,719
the moon could one day
be a base in space,

631
00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:58,799
a stepping stone
to the rest of the universe.

632
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,520
Humans might even live there
one day.

633
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,280
The love affair was back on.

634
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:09,279
AUDIENCE APPLAUDS

635
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:14,239
As if to drive home
the renewed fascination,

636
00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:18,679
45 years after President Kennedy's
famous pledge to take us to the moon,

637
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:22,160
another US President
launched a new mission.

638
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:25,599
Returning to the moon

639
00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:29,839
is an important step
for our space programme.

640
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,839
Establishing an extended
human presence on the moon

641
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:37,519
could vastly reduce the cost
of further space exploration,

642
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:42,639
making possible
ever more ambitious missions.

643
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:46,919
The moon is a logical step

644
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:51,999
toward further progress
and achievement.

645
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:56,399
Human beings
are headed into the cosmos.

646
00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,840
AUDIENCE APPLAUDS

647
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:05,159
It may have lacked some of his
predecessor's rhetorical flourish,

648
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:09,719
but 35 years after
the last man stepped off the moon,

649
00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:11,799
we are finally going back.

650
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:15,839
NASA has already started planning
the new lunar mission.

651
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,800
And it's going to be big.

652
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:20,639
We are planning to go to the moon

653
00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:24,679
in a particularly different way
than what we did with Apollo.

654
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:28,199
Apollo was short sortie missions.

655
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,679
And we're planning
to go to the moon to stay.

656
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:35,319
It'll be a permanent presence, where
each mission adds more capability.

657
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:38,559
And, eventually,
we'll just have people living there.

658
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:43,359
This time, the aim is to turn
the moon into a home from home.

659
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,839
And when this new lunar base
is established,

660
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:50,839
the moon will become our launch
padto the rest of the solar system.

661
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,879
The moon is near.

662
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,479
It's three days away. And we
can go and practice and perfect

663
00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:00,079
all the techniques and the tools
and the things that we need to do

664
00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:02,760
to go off and explore
our first foreign planet.

665
00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:09,719
We'll bring tools and we'll bring...

666
00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:11,559
some basic machineries

667
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:15,439
and then we'll use those machineries,
along with the lunar resources,

668
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,639
to make what I refer to as the
brute force and ignorance materials.

669
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:23,479
Bricks - one of the first uses of
lunar material will be making bricks.

670
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:27,160
So you can have someplace to live
without being zapped by cosmic rays.

671
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:32,839
But there doesn't seem to be quite
the same urgency as in the 1960s.

672
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:37,119
NASA's plan is to get
back to the moon by 2018.

673
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:39,519
We have to develop
a new lunar lander,

674
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:45,079
we have to develop and establish the
infrastructure on the surface of the moon

675
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,119
that will allow us to live there
for long periods of time.

676
00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:50,959
So, as we start
the development process,

677
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,079
if we could develop it
all at one time,

678
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:56,599
then we could do it quicker, get
to the moon much quicker than 2018.

679
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,239
But given that we have to do this
somewhat serially,

680
00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:01,279
we build infrastructure for travel,

681
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:03,439
then we have to build
the lunar pieces,

682
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:06,039
it'll take between now
and about 2018 to get there.

683
00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:10,599
But NASA's public sector plod to the
moon isn't quick enough for some.

684
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,199
Now the moon is back in fashion,

685
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:15,679
NASA have got competition.

686
00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:18,119
The players in the new space race

687
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,159
are a mixture of dreamers,
hard-headed businessmen,

688
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:23,199
and publicity seekers.

689
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:28,400
But they've got one thing
in common - they want action now.

690
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:37,359
This barren desert
in a remote corner of Utah

691
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:39,999
is the site of a unique experiment.

692
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,599
For one week, it's standing in
for the surface of the moon,

693
00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:46,080
complete with mock-up moon base.

694
00:45:56,640 --> 00:45:58,959
This is the Moon Society -

695
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:02,199
a collection of scientists
and space enthusiasts

696
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,920
who are already preparing for a
commercial mission to the moon.

697
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,319
Putting on a spacesuit
is a two-person job.

698
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:16,839
And, er...
not only because it's difficult.

699
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:21,279
It also is an opportunity
to have somebody else verify

700
00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:25,000
that you have all your connections
secure and safe.

701
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:28,400
Hmm...

702
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:39,879
Not sure what this is, here.

703
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:45,199
Their aim is to establish not
just a human colony on the moon,

704
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:48,279
but a full-scale industrial complex.

705
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:52,879
So they spend their days in the Utah
desert testing out the technology

706
00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:55,839
that could one day be part
of their mission to the moon.

707
00:46:55,840 --> 00:46:59,119
I think you always start
with kind of a thought experiment.

708
00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:01,359
What would it be like
to go to the moon?

709
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:03,639
And what would it be like
to live on the moon?

710
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:05,839
What would
it be like to work on the moon?

711
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:08,799
Then you take it to paper,
start making drawings,

712
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,799
and then
you take it to the next step.

713
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:14,239
Eventually you get
to a life-size prototype

714
00:47:14,240 --> 00:47:18,199
and you try to make things more
and more realistic as time goes on,

715
00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:21,559
so that you flesh out the problems
in order to get there.

716
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:25,679
So the more realism
you can introduce,

717
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:30,840
the more of your homework you can do ahead of
time to make sure the mission's successful.

718
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:36,439
And as they trundle around
practising being on the moon,

719
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:38,839
they can't help but dream.

720
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:44,919
People on the moon
would be involved in using resources

721
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:46,479
to start manufacturing...

722
00:47:46,480 --> 00:47:51,319
First of all, they wanna manufacture
their own building materials

723
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:53,839
and other things that they need.

724
00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:58,839
Anything they manufacture there
would be cheaper

725
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:01,639
than it is to bring up
from Earth's surface.

726
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:05,559
They could also, you know, if we
were to start a settlement on Mars,

727
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:08,559
the moon and Mars could trade,

728
00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:13,479
and they'd be much more viable
together than either one separately.

729
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,079
But there's a problem.

730
00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:19,479
They don't actually have
a spaceship.

731
00:48:19,480 --> 00:48:21,559
Or any money.

732
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,719
But their optimism is unquenchable.

733
00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:26,959
It's WHEN people move to the moon.

734
00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:29,399
It's not a... It's an eventuality.

735
00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:34,199
It's not something that's probably
going to happen or might happen,

736
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:36,200
it WILL happen.

737
00:48:44,720 --> 00:48:47,919
Others are less ambitious
than the Moon Society.

738
00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:53,159
For some, the moon represents a
straightforward commercial opportunity.

739
00:48:53,160 --> 00:48:58,639
We started out as a group
of engineers and space enthusiasts,

740
00:48:58,640 --> 00:49:00,399
got together online

741
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,359
and posed ourselves the challenge

742
00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:08,319
of what is the lowest-cost but
commercially-viable lunar mission

743
00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:10,639
that we could come up with?

744
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:13,519
We came up
with the Trailblazer Mission.

745
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:15,999
Unlike the Moon Society,

746
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:20,039
Trailblazer have at least found
a rocket to take them to the moon.

747
00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:23,839
Although not an entirely
conventional one.

748
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:28,759
The launch vehicle
is a converted SS18 Satan ICBM.

749
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:32,399
That's a Cold War nuclear missile.

750
00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:35,919
They essentially take the missile
out of the launch silo,

751
00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:38,039
remove the warhead,

752
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:43,080
recondition the payload bay
to accommodate commercial payloads.

753
00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:47,999
But these commercial payloads
do not include people.

754
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:49,719
Instead, the converted missile

755
00:49:49,720 --> 00:49:53,560
will deliver much cheaper, lighter
items to the surface of the moon.

756
00:49:54,920 --> 00:49:57,439
This is a line of cosmetics.

757
00:49:57,440 --> 00:49:59,440
This is actually a lipstick.

758
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:04,480
You can see the obvious space theme.

759
00:50:05,560 --> 00:50:09,679
One of the more popular cargo items
is with artists.

760
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:14,679
This is from a gentleman
in Minnesota who has an art gallery.

761
00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:18,839
And this is Alchemist

762
00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:21,519
and this is Intelligence Of Beauty.

763
00:50:21,520 --> 00:50:24,040
These are original artworks.

764
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:29,799
We also have several customers
who have asked us to carry

765
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:33,519
representative samples
of cremated remains...

766
00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:37,799
from loved ones
to the lunar surface.

767
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:41,999
Your going rate for cargo
is $1000 a gram,

768
00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:45,839
including handling and packaging

769
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:48,880
and delivery to the lunar surface.

770
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:55,479
It's not immediately clear what the point is of
delivering lipstick to the surface of the moon.

771
00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:59,559
But if someone's willing to pay,
the technology is there to do it.

772
00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:01,879
This is the Penetrator,

773
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:04,919
which will carry cargo
to the surface of the moon.

774
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,639
Down the middle of the Penetrator

775
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:13,559
is a 1 inch, 2.5cm,
open cargo space

776
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:17,999
into which we can
load various objects

777
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,239
to be carried
to the surface of the moon.

778
00:51:20,240 --> 00:51:22,879
It's carried internally
inside the spacecraft,

779
00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:26,559
and when the spacecraft impacts
at the end of the mission,

780
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:28,959
this will punch through the front

781
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:32,239
and come to rest about ten metres
into the lunar soil.

782
00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:35,799
This is very much
a commercial proposition.

783
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:40,159
They're even offering to deliver business
cards to the surface of the moon.

784
00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:43,079
Or rather,
ten metres under the surface.

785
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:47,719
We have a standard rate
for regular-sized business cards.

786
00:51:47,720 --> 00:51:53,159
One business card just happens
to weigh about one gram.

787
00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:58,159
We expect these items to be there
practically forever,

788
00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:00,680
unless somebody goes up
and removes them.

789
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:12,160
But the big prize is still
to get a person back to the moon.

790
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:18,359
And there is one private sector challenge to
NASA's moon monopoly that might just succeed.

791
00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:22,359
Government always plays a big role
in getting things started.

792
00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:23,799
But after a while,

793
00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:26,239
the citizenry has to take over.

794
00:52:26,240 --> 00:52:31,239
I mean, after all, the world and
the universe belongs to all of us.

795
00:52:31,240 --> 00:52:33,439
It's not just
individual governments.

796
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:35,840
So I think you're starting
to see that now.

797
00:52:36,920 --> 00:52:39,959
Greg Olsen
has already been to space.

798
00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:43,519
But he's not an astronaut
and he's never worked for NASA.

799
00:52:43,520 --> 00:52:46,119
He's a businessman.

800
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:49,479
Last year, he paid $20 million
for a week-long trip

801
00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:51,959
to the International Space Station.

802
00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:53,799
I know, with my spaceflight,

803
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:56,159
the money I thought about
for five minutes,

804
00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:58,159
and it was a simple
yes or no decision,

805
00:52:58,160 --> 00:53:01,159
and once I made it,
I never thought about money.

806
00:53:01,160 --> 00:53:04,919
Olsen is one of
the new breed of explorers -

807
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:09,159
the space tourists who are prepared
to spend millions of dollars

808
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:11,279
to fulfil a lifelong dream.

809
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:15,279
And now, there's a company who
aim to make their dreams come true.

810
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:17,879
They've already
sent three people into space

811
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:21,959
and now they're adding a new
destination to their brochure.

812
00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:27,239
It gives me great pleasure
to be here today to talk to you.

813
00:53:27,240 --> 00:53:29,640
Because today is a historic day.

814
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:34,720
Space Adventures
is going to the moon.

815
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:40,359
The moon mission
is open to the public,

816
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:43,599
meaning anyone who has
the financial capability

817
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:47,920
to afford the price of the seats.
They're each priced at $100 million.

818
00:53:50,360 --> 00:53:54,279
At the front of the queue
is Greg Olsen.

819
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:57,039
Who wouldn't
want to see the moon up close?

820
00:53:57,040 --> 00:54:00,559
You may not want to go through
the space ride to get there,

821
00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:03,879
but just imagine if you could
look out and there's the moon,

822
00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:07,399
there's this big moon, the way
we're looking at the Earth now.

823
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:09,799
Just... to me,
it would be mind-boggling.

824
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:11,319
I'd really like to do it.

825
00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:15,359
And the company thinks
there'll be no shortage of takers.

826
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:18,599
You really don't have to sell
a moon mission.

827
00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:23,639
It's making history, it's going where
less than 30 people have gone before.

828
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:26,160
You really don't need a sales tactic
for that.

829
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:31,999
In a neat twist from the
Cold War rivalry of the 1960s,

830
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:35,839
the company works in partnership
with the Russian Space Agency.

831
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:41,239
Rich clients provide the funds and the
cash-strapped Russians provide the hardware.

832
00:54:41,240 --> 00:54:46,999
And it's technology straight out of
the 1960s - the Soyuz Rocket System.

833
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:49,159
The Soyuz Rocket System

834
00:54:49,160 --> 00:54:51,439
was first designed in the 1960s

835
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:54,599
for the Soviet lunar programme.

836
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:57,679
Once the Americans
landed on the moon,

837
00:54:57,680 --> 00:55:02,879
the Soviet's lunar programme
was almost just abandoned.

838
00:55:02,880 --> 00:55:05,839
But one of the reasons
why it was abandoned

839
00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:10,359
was that the Soviet manned lunar
programme of the 1960s was a failure.

840
00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:12,999
Not only did they fail
to get a man on the moon,

841
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:16,719
but they also failed to even put
a man into orbit around the moon,

842
00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:20,239
despite 18 attempts
to make the technology work.

843
00:55:20,240 --> 00:55:23,399
They hope that the cash injection
from the rich Westerners

844
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:25,599
will help them
do better this time.

845
00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:27,599
Everything in life is a risk.

846
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,039
There's various degrees.

847
00:55:30,040 --> 00:55:32,759
The Soyuz was designed
for lunar orbit,

848
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:35,719
so it's certainly capable
of doing it.

849
00:55:35,720 --> 00:55:38,959
The Russians have
a great space programme -

850
00:55:38,960 --> 00:55:43,119
great instruction,
great cosmonauts -

851
00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:45,039
so I would have
a lot of confidence.

852
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:51,999
This private-sector mission has a fighting chance of
at least putting a person into orbit around the moon.

853
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:56,599
But even they could be overtaken
by a new dark horse.

854
00:55:56,600 --> 00:56:01,359
A late entry in the new race
to the moon - China.

855
00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:03,399
Its economy is booming.

856
00:56:03,400 --> 00:56:05,439
It's a global superpower.

857
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:08,079
And now it's turning
its attention to space.

858
00:56:08,080 --> 00:56:12,159
In 2003,
the Chinese put a man in space

859
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:14,759
and brought him safely
back to Earth.

860
00:56:14,760 --> 00:56:17,199
In 2005, they did it again.

861
00:56:17,200 --> 00:56:20,359
Now they say they want to put
a man on the moon.

862
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:22,999
Few would bet against them.

863
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:25,039
With China coming up, um...

864
00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:27,759
we've had astronauts,
and cosmonauts in Russia,

865
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:29,519
and now taikonauts in China.

866
00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:33,479
Now, they've had two orbits of the
Earth and, you know, that's nice.

867
00:56:33,480 --> 00:56:36,599
And people say,
"Well, it's primitive technology,".

868
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:40,200
But you wait ten years and see where
those people are with space flight.

869
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:45,679
Whoever wins the race to get back
to the moon, there's little doubt

870
00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:48,840
that our most ancient love affair
is back on.

871
00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:54,599
In many ways, it's a relationship
that's finally grown up.

872
00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:58,520
We've been through infatuation
and courtship.

873
00:56:59,920 --> 00:57:01,920
We've had a bit of a rocky patch.

874
00:57:04,200 --> 00:57:07,800
Now, the relationship has emerged
stronger than ever.

875
00:57:09,440 --> 00:57:13,880
And this time, it looks like
we're in for the long haul.

876
00:57:42,720 --> 00:57:46,359
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006.

877
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:49,760
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk