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Description
In 1979, two unmanned Voyager spacecraft were launched on a mission which would eventually send them out of the solar system. By 1979, both Voyager 1 and 2 had reached Jupiter. The pictures that th...e satellite sent back of the Galilean moons were spectacular. New unimaginable worlds had been discovered. The moons had a variety of surface features, some very ancient, others very recent, indicating variable internal activity. The Voyager spacecraft flew on and passed Saturn in 1980 and 1981 Again, totally new geological features were discovered. Both Jupiter and Saturn and their moons are miniature solar systems and provide us with miniature models of the whole solar system. This programme incorporates a great deal of NASA animations and satellite pictures. It was also filmed on location at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The following members of the Voyager Imaging Team appear in the programme: Dr. Fraser Fanale University of Hawaii; Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, U.S. Geological Survey; Dr. Torrence Johnson, J.P.L. The British scientific consultant was Dr. John Guest of the University of London. The programme is narrated by Ian Holm.
In 1979, two unmanned Voyager spacecraft were launched on a mission which would eventually send them out of the solar system. By 1979, both Voyager 1 and 2 had reached Jupiter. The pictures that th...e satellite sent back of the Galilean moons were spectacular. New unimaginable worlds had been discovered. The moons had a variety of surface features, some very ancient, others very recent, indicating variable internal activity. The Voyager spacecraft flew on and passed Saturn in 1980 and 1981 Again, totally new geological features were discovered. Both Jupiter and Saturn and their moons are miniature solar systems and provide us with miniature models of the whole solar system. This programme incorporates a great deal of NASA animations and satellite pictures. It was also filmed on location at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The following members of the Voyager Imaging Team appear in the programme: Dr. Fraser Fanale University of Hawaii; Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, U.S. Geological Survey; Dr. Torrence Johnson, J.P.L. The British scientific consultant was Dr. John Guest of the University of London. The programme is narrated by Ian Holm.
| Module code and title: | S237, "The Earth, structure, composition and evolution" |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S237; 14 |
| First transmission date: | 12-09-1981 |
| Published: | 1981 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Stuart Carter |
| Contributor: | Ian Holm |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Moons; Saturn; Voayer |
| Footage description: | Shots of Jupiter and its moons and of a Voyager computer animation. Commentary introduces the programme. Over shots of the Voyager space probe taking off from Cape Kennedy, of animations showing the probe in space and of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, commentary gives background information to the Voyager missions. Still photographs of Jupiter and the Jovian moons, Callisto and Ganymede. Commentary gives some details of the geology of these bodies. Animated, cut-away diagrams of each. Eugene Shoemaker speculates on the origins of the grooved terrain on Ganymede. He points out that this is an entirely new feature to geologists. Shoemaker goes on to discuss the geology of the Jovian moons Europe and Io. Voyager probe photographs of these moons. Finally, with the aid of an animated graph, Shoemaker looks at the relationships between the density of the Jovian moons and their distance from Jupiter. Fraser Finali explains that Jupiter controlled the composition of its satellites during their formation. An animated diagram of the solar system shows the Voyager route to Saturn. Shots of Saturn and of its moons Titan, Tethys and Mimax. Commentary discusses the geology of these moons. Shots and animations of the Saturnian rings. Commentary discusses their composition. Shots of Dione and Rhea, two other of Saturn's moons. Shoemaker points out and discusses some of the unsuspected geological features found there Shoemaker, with the aid of diagrams and a graph, examines the relationship between size, density, and distance from Saturn, of the Saturnian moons. He points out that these are entirely different from the Jovian system and speculates on the possible reasons for this. Over shots of severely cratered moons, commentary by Torrence Johnson discusses the effect of the enormous gravitational fields of Jupiter and Saturn in focussing the bombardment of meteors on their satellites and what this tells about the formation and early history of the solar system as a whole. Over shots of Uranus and Neptune and a NASA animation, commentary explains what the Voyager probes still have to achieve. Fraser Fanali goes on to discuss briefly the Galileo mission to Jupiter which will explore the Jovian system in more detail. |
| Production number: | FOUS166N |
| Videofinder number: | 1602 |
| Available to public: | no |
