Space's Deepest Secrets Season 8 Episode 10 The New Explorers

In season 8 episode 10 of Space's Deepest Secrets, titled "The New Explorers," the focus is on the future of space exploration and the scientists, engineers, and astronauts who are leading the way. With new technologies and new missions on the horizon, the episode explores the goals and challenges of space exploration in the 21st century.

The episode begins by taking us to the SpaceX headquarters in California, where we meet some of the team working on the company's ambitious plans for Mars colonization. Through interviews with members of the SpaceX team, we learn about the challenges of building self-sustaining habitats on the red planet, and the exciting potential for human exploration and scientific discovery that Mars represents.

Next, the episode switches its focus to the future of space telescopes and the search for exoplanets. We visit the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland to learn about the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, which is set to launch in 2021. This new telescope promises to be far more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, and could provide crucial information about the formation of the universe and the search for habitable exoplanets.

We also learn about the role of citizen scientists in discovering new exoplanets. Through programs like Planethunters.org, thousands of volunteers around the world are able to analyze data from space telescopes and help identify potential new planets. The episode profiles one such citizen scientist, a teacher named Kian Jek of Toronto, who has made a major contribution to exoplanet research.

The episode then shifts its focus to the role of private companies in space exploration, with a particular focus on the efforts of Elon Musk's SpaceX. We learn about the company's plans for a reusable rocket system that could radically reduce the cost of space travel, as well as its ambitious plans for a lunar mission in 2022. Finally, we hear about the growing interest in space tourism, with companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic working to make suborbital flights more accessible to the general public.

Throughout the episode, we hear from scientists, engineers, and astronauts who are passionate about the future of space exploration. From the challenges of building habitats on Mars to the search for life on exoplanets, the episode paints a vivid picture of the exciting opportunities and difficult challenges that lie ahead in the quest to explore the cosmos.