NOVA: The Planets Season 1 Episode 5 Ice Worlds

NOVA: The Planets is a show exploring the wonders of the solar system, revealing some of the most awesome sights and amazing discoveries. In season 1 episode 5, titled “Ice Worlds,” the show delves into the icy planets of our solar system.

The episode begins with a trip to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. Europa has always been a source of fascination for NASA, and the show reveals how they will send a spacecraft called the Europa Clipper to investigate it. The spacecraft will search for clues about whether there is life on Europa. NOVA’s team examines the possibility that the moon has a sub-surface ocean by talking to scientists and viewing simulations of what lies beneath the ice.

Next, the episode travels to Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Titan is the only known moon in our solar system to have its own atmosphere, which is heavily composed of nitrogen with traces of methane and ethane. The show explains how the European Space Agency made the first-ever landing on Titan in 2005 with the Huygens probe. The show also highlights how NASA is planning to send a drone called Dragonfly to Titan’s surface to investigate further.

After visiting Titan, the show returns to Earth to examine one of the most extreme environments on our planet: the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The show investigates how scientists can use the valley’s barren landscape, as well as the life forms that survive there, to learn about the possibility of life on other planets.

The episode then presents different strategies that scientists use to identify life in icy environments, like Europa and Enceladus. The show also examines the possibility of water surrounding Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, and its potential for having life.

The episode ends with a visit to Pluto, an icy planet on the edge of our solar system. In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto, revealing the icy planet's complex terrain, mountains, and glaciers. The show examines the spacecraft’s instruments and the mission to explore Pluto.

Overall, NOVA: The Planets season 1 episode 5 is an enlightening and captivating journey through the icy planets and moons of our solar system. The episode explores NASA’s missions to investigate these environments and the techniques used by scientists to detect potential life beyond Earth's atmosphere. The episode also touches on the current obstacles that prevent life missions to be sent to those places and how the scientific community is looking for solutions.