The Earth's biosphere provides much of our directly-observed scientific knowledge, but it comprises only a narrow layer of our planet, which is in turn only one of a near endless universe. Often, then, to understand more about our world, we have to look beyond it. These films seek answers abroad by gazing, and even traveling, into space. Observatories on the ground train their telescopes on distant planets and stars, satellites beam their message out and back to earth from orbit, and innovators dream of missions to mars, and beyond, becoming ever closer to reality.
"We have made our peace with the fact that we are not coming back. We are the first ever people on another planet. We are now interplanetary." In 2024 a private organization plans to send a group of four people to Mars. Paul Leeming and Pauls Irbins are both shortlisted candidates for the planet's f
Imagine a city in space, a round structure miles across that millions of people would call home. Engineers working at NASA in the 1970s developed colorful proposals for permanent settlements in space, but their plans were shelved and forgotten. Decades later, a new generation of dreamers from high s
In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance. Solar-sintering aims to raise questions about the future of manufacturing and trigger dreams of
This film looks at the question of life outside of the solar system, focussing on the work of Dr Duncan Forgan — a theoretical astronomer from the University of Edinburgh — and Grant Miller, an observational astronomer based at the University of St Andrews. Grant uses the James Gregory T
This animation shows the 2299 high-quality (multiple transits), non-circumbinary transiting planet candidates found by NASA's Kepler mission so far. These candidates were detected around 1770 unique stars, but are animated in orbit around a single star. They are drawn to scale with accurate radii, o
An old man takes his grandson to witness a solar eclipse in this gorgeously rendered view of life in a small town in India. Mr. Pathak is a retired civil engineer and lives in Taregna, a small town in India. He is worn out by life's many setbacks and is indifferent to his family – Laxmi , his
Spacefaring outlines the true story of the high tech Indian Space Program against the backdrop of a rural village that appears to be suspended in time. In the near future will we be able to create sustainable colonies on other planets, or will we make the same mistakes as here on earth? What can we
A journey through time & space, and the fight for existence. A dark premise contrasted with the divine imaginary creates a hypnotic ride of tone and emotion. Only "in-camera effects" were used to capture "Sci-Fly". The wonders of our own world were filmed in order to create another.
Over 6,600 satellites have been launched into space since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957. 3,600 are currently in operation and launch frequencies are ever increasing to satisfy our global thirst for more communication, data and broadcast channels. In 2012 I began a long-term partnership w
May 1961. Italian amateur radio operators record the voice of an unknown female cosmonaut re-entering the Earth's atmosphere in a malfunctioning spacecraft of the Soviet Vostok program. According to Soviet officials this never happened. If it did, she was the first woman in space.
Solar flares don't just create beautiful polar lights, but can also damage satellites and disrupt power grids. Astrophysicist Sami Solanki attached a telescope to a giant helium balloon to research into the activity of the Sun.