Spacetime

August the 2nd, 2048. A space craft has just reached Mars. The crew has landed on the Red Planet: One giant leap for mankind. Seventy-nine ears after the first moon landing man has set foot on another planet. This is a fictional scenario. But men on Mars will become a reality. We have known ever since the 1960s what it looks like on Mars. Dozens of probes have visited the Red Planet and sent back photographs and data. There have been reports of storms and barren deserts. In the end we are left with more questions than answers - especially the burning question of life, past or present, on our neighbour planet. Only a manned mission to Mars will solve the riddle once and for all, when scientists and engineers research the Red Planet on the spot.

For centuries man has gazed at the stars. For centuries the universe has fascinated us and given rise to numerous questions. What is still out there? How did it all originate? Where do we come from? But we also live in permanent danger. Along with us, millions of objects are hurtling through space: meteorites, comets, asteroids. Some of them we know. Others have yet to be discovered. The biggest of them are true killers. If they hit the Earth, it could mean the end of mankind. We search for asteroids and observe them, calculate their orbits, and assess how dangerous they are. We can even land on them. But not every object coming from outer space is discovered. And when heavenly bodies come too close to the Earth they pose a real threat.

Even today, a rocket is still the only suitable means of transporting loads and people into orbit and beyond. Only with the help of a rocket can astronauts and supplies reach the International Space Station. Today satellites determine our lives. But it is only with the power of rockets that they can be launched - or probes advance into space to explore asteroids and the planets in our solar system. Man's curiosity drives him on and on. He wants to penetrate even deeper into the universe - to the boundaries of our solar system and beyond - but this calls for totally new propulsion systems: new technologies engineers and scientists are already working on.

Einige Gefahren des Universums sind unberechenbar - andere hat der Mensch sich selbst eingebrockt. Dabei ist Weltraummüll lange nicht die einzige Bedrohung im All: Wie gefährlich ist kosmische Strahlung für Astronauten und was löst Sonneneruptionen aus? Wie das Überleben im Weltraum trotz all der Risiken dank Wissenschaft und Technik funktionieren kann, zeigt die vierte Folge "Spacetime" mit Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter.

Was haben Wurmlöcher mit Einsteins Relativitätstheorie zu tun und welche Bedeutung hat der Nachweis von Gravitationswellen? Ein Schwarzes Loch verschlinge alles, was sich ihm nähert, schenkt man der geläufigen Annahme Glauben. Was aber ist wirklich dran am Traum von sekundenschneller Reise durch Raum und Zeit? Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter nimmt uns mit auf eine Expedition ins All und erklärt die Phänomene des Universums in einer neuen Folge „Spacetime“.

Mit dem Weltraumtaxi an den Rand des Weltraums oder für 20 Millionen zur ISS? Werden wir bald schon im All arbeiten und Urlaub machen? Die kommerzielle Raumfahrt verspricht neue Möglichkeiten und grandiose Visionen. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter geht den fantastischen Versprechungen auf den Grund und erklärt, warum nicht jeder der ins All fliegt, gleich ein Astronaut ist: Das Ticket ins Universum in der sechsten Folge "Spacetime".