Dark Matters

August 2016 Issue

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.