Space exploration, our greatest adventure, is having a big impact on our lives. It is helping us to discover a universe of unimaginable scale and beauty, and it is reaching down into our world and influencing the way we live.
So much has happened in just a few decades. Imagine what we will be doing in space a few decades from now.
The first man to imagine a fleet of communication satellites was the science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke.
He described a space-based global communication system in 1945, years before space exploration began.
In 2012, the satellite tracking of Hurricane Sandy had people glued to their TVs - watching these images.
As the superstorm spun ever closer, people boarded up and moved out.
We can already break free from low Earth orbit to travel beyond our Moon. One day perhaps we’ll take the long journey to step on Mars.
Some of you may even find your way into orbit, whether as an astronaut or as a passenger.
Space tourism is one of the most exciting offshoots of space exploration. One day you too could have a satellite view of the Earth.
To Space & Back takes audiences on an incredible journey from the far reaches of our known universe to our own planet. It is an extraordinary story of human ingenuity and incredible engineering, describing how the technology that transports us through space is paving the way for the devices and apps we use every day. What is happening above is coming back down to Earth!
Our curiosity and desire to see farther have generated two stories. The stories run in parallel, one reaching out into the depths of space and the other reaching back down to you here on Earth. What follows is that second story - of how the technology developed for space exploration is now shaping your world - and influencing the way you live.
The human eye – magnificent. It’s perfectly adapted, beautiful and expressive – a single glance can speak volumes. But what’s even more remarkable is what an eye can do with light.
To help us see farther, we built rockets. These powerful machines defy Earth’s gravity, carrying whatever we wish to put out into space - including probes, unmanned space craft designed for exploration.
When we placed one of the most powerful telescopes of all above Earth’s atmosphere, we could peer even deeper into space. We saw a universe teeming with billions of galaxies, many just like ours.
As large as a football field, and still evolving and growing, the International Space Station is a test bed for living and working away from Earth, preparing us for future deep-space missions.
Here, inside this artery, we’re about to meet the biggest killer in the western world: fatty deposits that can cause a heart attack. Coming to the rescue is a “cool” laser developed to study the Earth’s atmosphere from space. Surgeons thread this tiny device through the artery, where its laser safely vaporizes the blockage, allowing blood to flow freely again.
The farthest you can see is upwards, to a black sky lit with thousands of pin-points of light. Since mankind first looked up, we’ve wanted to know more about these lights. But without help, we could only see a simple naked-eye view. Until, that is, we built telescopes. From radio to X-ray, from small to extremely large and powerful, they gave us the ability to see so much more.
Some probes drop robot explorers onto the surface of planets. They carry our curiosity to other worlds, allowing us to explore without human risk.
Connecting you to everything you're watching and chatting about is a vital piece of space technology.
At 37,000 kilometers above you in high Earth orbit, it looks like it's hanging motionless, but it’s not. It’s zipping by at 11,000 kilometers an hour, keeping pace with Earth’s rotation in what’s known as geostationary orbit.
And it’s far from alone.
To Space & Back, narrated by James May, explores the way each of us has been changed by the discoveries made by the international space program. From the devices we use every day to the tools that are breaking new ground in medicine and engineering, we can thank space exploration for making our modern lives possible.
To Space & Back is available in 4K in April 2013.
The 8K 3D premiere is scheduled for September 2013.
To Space & Back is produced by Sky-Skan in association with the Franklin Institute.
We're proud to announce that it is the most
technologically advanced fulldome show ever produced,
in full 8K, 3D stereo, and 60 frames per second.
Startling clarity
To Space & Back is available in all formats up to 8K. For those theaters that can offer 8K resolution, this is the forefront of fulldome visualization across the world.
The ultimate immersive experience
To Space & Back in 3D stereo utilizes patented interference filter technology that dramatically improves the 3D view. Instead of merely splitting the two images into complimentary colors, the images take advantage of narrow bandwidths of red, blue, and green, resulting in two separate full-color images, one seen by each eye, with no loss of resolution.
For amazing sharpness
and smooth motion
Sixty individual frames are projected per second, creating the smoothest transitions possible. 60fps is at the cutting edge of modern visualization, and is considered a "future-proof" technology for shows of all formats.