Craig Sechler
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, from its conception to completion.
Follow along as NASA launches the Mars 2020 Mission, perhaps the most ambitious hunt yet for signs of ancient life on Mars. In February 2021, the spacecraft blazes into the Martian atmosphere at some 12,000 miles per hour and lowers the Perseverance Rover into the rocky Jezero Crater, home to a dried-up river delta scientists think could have harbored life. Perseverance will comb the area for signs of life and collect samples for possible return to Earth. Traveling onboard is a four-pound helicopter that will conduct a series of test flights—the first on another planet. During its journey, Perseverance will also test technology designed to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, in hopes that the gas could be used for fuel—or for humans to breathe—on future missions
In October 2020, a NASA spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx attempts to reach out and grab a piece of an asteroid named Bennu to bring it back to Earth. The OSIRIS-REx team has just three chances to extend its spacecraft’s specialized arm, touch down for five seconds, and collect material from the surface of Bennu. But if they can pull it off, scientists could gain great insight into Earth’s own origins—and even learn to defend against rogue asteroids that may one day threaten our planet.
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has upended life as we know it in a matter of mere months. But at the same time, an unprecedented global effort to understand and contain the virus—and find a treatment for the disease it causes—is underway. Join the doctors on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 as they strategize to stop the spread, and meet the researchers racing to develop treatments and vaccines. Along the way, discover how this devastating disease emerged, what it does to the human body, and why it exploded into a pandemic.
High in the Peruvian Andes lies the ancient city of Machu Picchu, a lost city of doorways and passages that hint at the ghosts of its past. Who were the mysterious people who built it and why? The answers lie below the surface, and mummy kings wait to share their stories. But will these revelations finally lay the ghosts of Machu Picchu to rest.
After years of anticipation, autonomous vehicles are now being tested on public roads around the world. As ambitious innovators race to develop what they see as the next high-tech pot of gold, some experts warn there are still daunting challenges ahead, including how to train artificial intelligence to be better than humans at making life-and-death decisions. How do self-driving cars work? How close are we to large-scale deployment of them? And will we ever be able to trust AI with our lives?
Investigate how an asteroid vanquished the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Join scientists as they drill into the impact crater and, for the first time, reconstruct the hell on earth that unfolded in the minutes, hours and months after the impact.
Explore the ruins of Port Royal, once a flourishing pirate city, known for extravagance, women and liquor. The city which went by the sobriquet "wickedest city on earth", lies in shambles deep below the waters of Jamaica's Kingston Harbor after a devastating tsunami struck it on June 7, 1692
After decades of amazing discoveries, spacecraft Cassini embarks on its final -- and most daring -- mission: a dive below Saturn's rings.
Drain Alcatraz uses cutting edge visual effects to 'drain' the waters around the notorious island of Alcatraz. With the waters drained away the secrets of Alcatraz are revealed, including exactly why the island's infamous prison was so inescapable.
Join the New Horizons team to examine the latest findings and imagery from Pluto and the fringes of our solar system. They reveal a world unlike any other we've seen yet.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal in April 2015. Scientists race to calculate the impact and devise ways to mitigate future disasters.
Historians and engineers investigate how Allied forces conspired to destroy Hitler's "supergun".
As part of a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the growing economic espionage threat, the FBI has released a short video, "The Company Man: Protecting America’s Secrets." Based on an actual case, the video illustrates how one company was targeted by foreign actors and what the FBI did to help
Amid the ever-changing cyberwar landscape, the powerful National Security Agency is viewed with a mixture of awe and fear around the world.
In recent years, an unusual spate of deadly shark attacks has gripped Australia, resulting in five deaths in 10 months. At the same time, great white sharks have begun appearing in growing numbers off the beaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, not far from the waters where Steven Spielberg filmed Jaws. What's behind the mysterious arrival of this apex predator in an area where it's rarely been seen for hundreds of years? Are deadly encounters with tourists inevitable? To separate fact from fear, NOVA teams with leading shark experts in Australia and the United States to uncover the science behind the great white's hunting instincts. With shark populations plummeting, scientists race to unlock the secrets of these powerful creatures of the deep in their quest to save people -- and sharks.
A team of palaeontologists led by Nizar Ibrahim go in search of Spinosaurus, a giant meat eater believed to be even larger than Tyrannosaurus rex.
Scientists and survivors revisit the harrowing EF5 twister that ripped through Moore in 2013 and explore the challenges of predicting extreme weather.
Millions of people around the world live in the shadow of active volcanoes. From Japan s Mount Fuji to the Sleeping Giant submerged beneath Naples to the Yellowstone Supervolcano in the United States, NOVA travels with scientists who are attempting to discover how likely these volcanoes are to erupt, when it might happen, and exactly how deadly they could prove to be.
Across the Himalayas are stories of the yeti, or abominable snowman. Half man, half ape, the yeti is said to roam only the most remote peaks, where people rarely venture. Now, veteran explorer and climber Gerry Moffatt sets out to find proof in a hunt that will test his stamina. As conventional scientific theories challenge ancient beliefs and credible witnesses, he works to separate fact from fiction and find hard evidence that the legend is real.
A rebel animal breaks from his pack and lives to be one of the oldest wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
Produced by South Florida PBS in Miami, Florida, Changing Seas gives viewers a fish-eye view of life in the deep blue. Join scientists as they study earth’s last frontier and discover the mysteries of our liquid planet.
National Geographic: Incredible Human Machine takes viewers on a two-hour journey through an ordinary, and extraordinary, day-in-the-life of the human machine. With stunning high-definition footage, radical scientific advances and powerful firsthand accounts, Incredible Human Machine plunges deep into the routine marvels of the human body. Through 10,000 blinks of an eye, 20,000 breaths of air and 100,000 beats of the heart, see the amazing and surprising, even phenomenal inner workings of our bodies on a typical day. And explore striking feats of medical advancement, from glimpses of an open-brain surgery to real-time measurement of rocker Steven Tyler's vocal chords.
This movie was released by the U.S. Department of Labor as a way to document those who were involved with the cleanup of New York City after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Time travel is one of mankind's favorite fantasies. But what if it were possible to build a real time machine? To travel into the future, or the past? Scientists are now teetering on making that impossible dream, reality.
Madison Avenue executive Graham Marshall has paid his dues. A talented and devoted worker, he has suffered through mounting bills and a nagging wife with one thing to look forward to: a well-deserved promotion. But when the promotion is given to a loud-mouthed yuppie associate, Graham unleashes his rage on an overly aggressive panhandler, who he accidently kills by pushing him into the path of an oncoming subway train. He re-thinks his problems with an entirely new solution. First, he arranges an "accident" for his annoying wife. Then he creates another "mishap" for his boss. It seems like the world is once more Graham's oyster…but a missing cigarette lighter and a prying police detective may change all that.
