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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Conferences and Broadcasts _ Wonders of the Solar System

Posted by: djellison Mar 7 2010, 10:06 PM

Part one was tonight on BBC2 and BBCHD.

It was, without question, the best hour of scientific programming I have ever seen.

Posted by: Stu Mar 7 2010, 10:21 PM

I was at work so I recorded it, hope to get it watched tomorrow. Prof Cox could make a phone book sound fascinating, so I'm dying to see what he did with all the amazing stuff that's Out There... smile.gif

Posted by: helvick Mar 7 2010, 10:27 PM

Got to agree with Doug - the best hour of Science TV ever, can't wait for the rest of these.

Showing us Sunset over Gusev and Oppy's Phobos Eclipse shots was pretty nice for all us MER fans but the whole show is wonderfully shot, scripted and produced.

For those of you in the UK who missed it, get it on iPlayer. For the rest of you I'm sure it will be hitting BBC World and the various Science channels before long.

Posted by: kohare Mar 7 2010, 11:00 PM

QUOTE (helvick @ Mar 7 2010, 10:27 PM) *
For those of you in the UK who missed it, get it on iPlayer. For the rest of you I'm sure it will be hitting BBC World and the various Science channels before long.

I'm one of those in the UK who managed to miss it! It seems to be a series of five parts, being shown on BBC2 first on Sunday at 9.00 pm then repeated on BBC2 on Tuesday at 7.00 pm. I've already set the recorder .......

Posted by: nprev Mar 7 2010, 11:08 PM

blink.gif ...High praise indeed! I'll definitely be watching for this to hit the US.

Posted by: djellison Mar 7 2010, 11:21 PM

Seen the #wonders comments on twitter? They are all utterly awesomely positive.

Posted by: Stu Mar 7 2010, 11:24 PM

Hmmm. This has "buy it on DVD, then watch it on my laptop, with headphones on, in quiet periods, when no-one can disturb me" written all over it... smile.gif

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 8 2010, 08:36 AM

Yes it was a very good documentary, just pitty he didn’t mention the italian astronomer Pietro Angelo Secchi who was a pioneer in spectroscopy and was the first to realise that our Sun is a star. Together with the “Star” episode in BBC’s series “The Planets” some great multi-media.
Any idea which spacecraft filmed the Earth’s auroras?
Looking forward to the 2nd episode…
cool.gif

Posted by: 4th rock from the sun Mar 8 2010, 10:22 AM

Good show. Nice images and atmosphere, most of them new to me (or at least from a fresh perspective). Impressive locations and night-sky photography.
Looking forward for the next episodes.

Posted by: As old as Voyager Mar 8 2010, 05:14 PM

QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 7 2010, 10:21 PM) *
I was at work so I recorded it, hope to get it watched tomorrow. Prof Cox could make a phone book sound fascinating, so I'm dying to see what he did with all the amazing stuff that's Out There... smile.gif


I agree, his presenting style and sheer excitement at the subject matter is really refreshing.

I also learnt today that he played keyboards in UK band D:REAM (of 'things can only get better' fame) laugh.gif

Posted by: Stu Mar 9 2010, 08:13 PM

Caught the repeat on BBC2 earlier this evening...

WOW... What a magnificent program. Fantastic graphics, great science, poetic descriptions, all held together by Prof Brian Cox, who I swear could make the physics of cleaning a toilet sound fascinating and magical and wondrous. The guy feels absolute and genuine joy when he's talking about the universe, he revels in being a part of it, and if you're an astronomy or space enthusiast it's impossible to watch this program, and listen to him, and not feel like you're suddenly a seven year old again, reading your first astronomy book and learning about the wonders of the universe for the first time.

Has the UK finally got its own Carl Sagan? Time will tell, but the signs are promising.

( If I had one criticism - which is nothing to do with the content of the show, or its presenter - it would be that, again, the BBC is trying its hardest to drown out the narration with the background music. This is becoming increasingly common with BBC programs, both factual and entertainment, and seriously, someone at Auntie needs a slap, because it's getting to the point where it's distracting at best and ********** annoying at worst. There's no point in having someone as knowledgeable as Prof Cox narrating so wonderfully if you can't hear what he's saying because THE MUSIC IS SO LOUD!!!!!!! mad.gif mad.gif mad.gif )

Posted by: Explorer1 Mar 9 2010, 08:54 PM

When will this be coming to Canada, any ideas?

Posted by: Stu Mar 9 2010, 09:33 PM

From Prof Cox himself (via Twitter):

I think Science Channel starts showing wonders in the US / Canada at the start of August

Posted by: SFJCody Mar 9 2010, 10:06 PM

My mum phoned me tonight to say she had seen 'a teenager talking about space and physics and things' on BBC2 and he reminded her of a young me.

blink.gif I'm 14 years younger than Prof Cox!

Posted by: PFK Mar 9 2010, 10:56 PM

Two things I found gratifying about it:

(i) Contrary to so many documentaries dealing with space matters it didn't feel obliged to show an explosion every 3 minutes to keep people's attention.

(ii) There was much less emphasis on Cox "discovering" facts - so often nowadays these things are framed as journeys of discovery, and in previous examples of his work this, to my mind, has come across as a bit false. If you've got him beaming in mock wonder at being told something you know damn well he already knew then it can trivialise things.
In this - maybe driven by the script or by him maturing as a host - he talked to us about things he clearly knew. The beauty then was that the TRUE scenes of wonderment on his part (eg the eclipse or the aurora) came across as the genuine thing - and all the more powerful for that. Much as - away from astronomy - 30 years ago David Attenborough told us stuff in Life on Earth and then was gobsmacked when he met the gorillas.

Posted by: djellison Mar 9 2010, 11:48 PM

I didn't notice any music at all. Seriously.

Posted by: Stu Mar 9 2010, 11:52 PM

Watch it again... the river sequence... can hardly hear a word he's saying in some parts. Other places too. But maybe I'm just extra sensitive to it because it's a thing I've noticed creeping into Beeb progs. Glad it didn't spoil it for you. smile.gif

Posted by: ynyralmaen Mar 10 2010, 12:50 AM

QUOTE (PhilCo126 @ Mar 8 2010, 08:36 AM) *
Any idea which spacecraft filmed the Earth’s auroras?


Probably Polar; site http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/polar/ (getting a bit out of date; some links now dead); some example movies http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/movies.html (scroll down to "The Aurora").

Posted by: rlorenz Mar 10 2010, 05:30 PM

QUOTE (helvick @ Mar 7 2010, 05:27 PM) *
Got to agree with Doug - the best hour of Science TV ever, can't wait for the rest of these.
......
For the rest of you I'm sure it will be hitting BBC World and the various Science channels before long.


Be aware they actually shot two versions - a UK version starring Cox (who is a really smart and fun
guy), and an 'international' version wherein random scientists do more of the talking. Hopefully the
latter is as good.

stand by for episode 3 'The Thin Blue Line' about atmospheres on 21 March..... obviously
I havent seen it yet, but we did shoot some quite absurd things on an alaskan glacier
last October...

glad to hear that the initial feedback on the series is so good.

Posted by: djellison Mar 10 2010, 06:17 PM

Fingers crossed BBC will release it on Blu Ray so that people overseas can see it how it's meant to be seen.

Posted by: volcanopele Mar 10 2010, 07:18 PM

QUOTE (rlorenz @ Mar 10 2010, 10:30 AM) *
Be aware they actually shot two versions - a UK version starring Cox (who is a really smart and fun
guy), and an 'international' version wherein random scientists do more of the talking. Hopefully the
latter is as good.

Because clearly we can't understand people with accents and refused to listen to them... rolleyes.gif I'm not sure how Craig Ferguson got through that rule.

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 10 2010, 11:12 PM

BBC's "Life" documentary has Oprah Winfrey narrating rather than David Attenborough for US audiences.

Posted by: ngunn Mar 10 2010, 11:29 PM

That's a great shame. I hope all Americans who don't want to be dumbed-down-to will seek out and be able to find the proper versions. I can't imagine the BBC replacing the voice of (say) Carl Sagan with a non-accented announcer - the audience would want the original.

Posted by: helvick Mar 10 2010, 11:47 PM

I'd be surprised if it was dumbed down - more just given a bit of cultural alignment. If the series was shot with this approach in mind from the start (which rlorenz seems to be saying) then I'd be pretty hopeful that it will give some others a chance to shine too. And it gives me an excuse to track down the "other" version once I've seen all the UK episodes to see if the others do as good a job at showing just how awesome science and space exploration actually is. All good as far as I can tell.

And I'm now intrigued to see what Ralph got up to in Alaska = Atmospheres and Glaciers? Can't wait.

Posted by: ngunn Mar 11 2010, 12:09 AM

Right, I'd like to see the other version too. If you see it before me please tell me who does the scene with the can of water, thermometer, sun and umbrella. If anybody does it better than Brian Cox I wouldn't want to miss it.

Posted by: Explorer1 Mar 11 2010, 12:27 AM

I found a link to the full episode (BBC version) online; it's very impressive! But I'm rather hesitant to post the link until a mod clarifies UMSF's policy to this sort of thing, there's nothing in the forum guidelines about this!

Posted by: djellison Mar 11 2010, 08:22 AM

Do you need a forum guideline to tell you not to use UMSF to break the law?

Really?

Posted by: Explorer1 Mar 11 2010, 08:47 PM

I'm sorry, it's a really stupid question in hindsight. I should've just Pm'd you.
I won't mention it again.

Posted by: imipak Mar 12 2010, 08:24 PM

It seems to be a very minority opinion, but personally I can't stand it. Tried watching it twice; couldn't make it further than the first ten minutes. I started making a list of all the ways it fails, irritates and annoys me, but stopped at ten; what's the point? I'm sure some of the 14 year olds it seems to be aimed at will love it, and might develop an interest in the subject; great, fantastic, well done Professor Cox and the BBC for that. It's churlish, I know, but I still wonder why no-one ever makes a science documentaries for adults.

Posted by: Stu Mar 12 2010, 08:39 PM

Shame you didn't enjoy it, but I have to say that the response to this program among people I know who wouldn't normally look at a "spacey" program on TV has been fantastic. For example, people at work who usually make fun (kindly!) of my passion for astronomy and space exploration have told me "I can see why you love it so much now!" and "That program was really interesting!", etc etc. I don't think it's aimed primarily at people like us who already know a lot about the wonders to be found Out There; it's more for a general if not absolute beginners audience. I think "Wonders" will open the eyes of a lot of people to the wonders of the universe. It will also make Brian Cox a household name, which is no bad thing.

Posted by: djellison Mar 12 2010, 08:52 PM

That IS a minority opinion, because whilst you're writing a list of things wrong with it and giving up after 10 minutes I can't think of ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING wrong with it and I have NEVER seen so many positive opinions of something on the interwebs. Ever.

Posted by: ngunn Mar 12 2010, 09:01 PM

Well said, Stu. It's about communicating enthusiasm and using exciting information to do it. I watched it in hope of learning something about how to do that, and it turned out to be a masterclass. Now if I wanted to learn a lot of new facts about the topic of a TV programme I'd watch one about the history of embroidery or something.

Posted by: Stu Mar 12 2010, 09:02 PM

Wow, if you liked it Doug, just say so... laugh.gif

Posted by: Stu Mar 12 2010, 09:11 PM

If anything it was a bit too good; I'm giving one of my Outreach talks tomorrow afternoon in Kendal Museum - "Earth", for National Science and Engineering Week - and I now feel more than a little "Ha! Follow that!" pressure, to be honest! It's bad enough that Brian Cox is knowledgeable and likeable, but he's suddenly made people think that scientists can be sexy. Guess I'll shatter that illusion tomorrow! laugh.gif

Anyway, all I know is that I have literally been stopped in the street half a dozen times this week, since ""Wonders" aired, by people I know who just wanted to tell me (Universe knows why!) how much they'd enjoyed it. So now, knowing that many of the people in the Museum tomorrow will have seen "Wonders" I'm going to have to stand there knowing that the bar has been raised. Horizon, with its boring stock footage, droning narration and poor production values is dead, and deservedly so. "Wonders" has the potential to inspire and excite a huge number of people. I think this could be quite a moment, to be honest.

Posted by: ngunn Mar 12 2010, 11:11 PM

QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 12 2010, 09:11 PM) *
Horizon


I agree. I watched the cosmology one. Repetition, hesitation and deviation throughout. They wouldn't last two seconds on 'Just a Minute'.

Posted by: djellison Mar 12 2010, 11:34 PM

The recent Horizon? God it was dreadful. Stock petrol-explosion after stock petrol explosion, every time someone said 'Bang'. It spent a very very long time saying very very little. So much abstract fluffy visual FX - it was like a showreal for 12 year old who just discovered Adobe After Effects.

It was crap.

Posted by: Stu Mar 13 2010, 05:54 AM

QUOTE (ngunn @ Mar 12 2010, 11:11 PM) *
I agree. I watched the cosmology one. Repetition, hesitation and deviation throughout. They wouldn't last two seconds on 'Just a Minute'.


(BUZZ)

Sorry, you used the word "I" twice...

My turn. laugh.gif

Posted by: Stu Mar 13 2010, 06:01 AM

It's a shame Horizon has gone that way. I am sure a lot of us here grew up with Horizon being a regular 'science fix', and we looked forward to the specials after a probe's planetary encounter. They were THE science documentaries to watch. I remember playing video-taped V2 and Magellan Horizons and photographing the screen to make slides for using in my talks (pre Net and Powerpoint and USB sticks and Smartboards and digital projectors... cripes, how did we manage?!). Following the slow death of Horizon has been quite sad. I think Brian Cox just gave it an injection to put it out of its misery.

Posted by: nprev Mar 13 2010, 06:26 AM

Heck, I'm jealous of you UKers who had what sounds like a real science program that lasted long enough to deteriorate... rolleyes.gif

(Nothing against PBS's Nova here in the US, but it sounds as if Horizon was much more in tune with current events.)

Posted by: AndyG Mar 13 2010, 12:37 PM

In my opinion, Horizon seemed to slide in quality shortly after the time that its rival Equinox started, what with its funkier camera angles and off-the-wall shooting than the staid old Beeb would ever have considered.

I suppose the real problem is that TV producers, researchers and directors are largely from meedja studies and arts environments. There have been more than a few occasions when I've got the distinct impression that a Horizon programme explaining something was written by people who don't quite understand it (or, worse, believe it) themselves.

On a meta-level rolleyes.gif I thought the recent Horizon worked quite well: while the first fifty minutes was full of boring balloons and explosions, irritating interviews and, indeed, saying nothing about Dark Energy until the last ten minutes, it did suggest Space Filler rather well. Which is what Dark Energy's all about, no? laugh.gif

Andy

(Seemingly unable to type a reply in the box using the latest FF update)

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 13 2010, 02:45 PM

QUOTE (nprev @ Mar 13 2010, 06:26 AM) *
(Nothing against PBS's Nova here in the US, but it sounds as if Horizon was much more in tune with current events.)



I thought Horizon and Nova were the same program or at least a co production...

Posted by: djellison Mar 13 2010, 05:01 PM

Nova may occasionally play some Horizon episodes - but most Nova episodes only make it to Nat Geo channel over here.

Posted by: jasedm Mar 13 2010, 05:34 PM

Wow, the first episode has certainly elicited some passionate comments!
I thought it was very well put together, and the presenter's enthusiasm is great to see. I agree with some that science documentaries seem to have generally slipped in standard though. I'm looking forward to the next episode very much.

The best science documentary I ever saw was 'The secret treasures of Zeugma' on the BBC in 2000 - all about the flooding of the ancient site of Zeugma in Turkey to make way for a dam/hydroelectric scheme, and the race against time to excavate the fabulous mosaics before the water levels inundated them forever - thoroughly absorbing, and with no whizz-bang frippery (the revelations spoke for themselves). I'd highly recommend it if you can track down a copy.

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 13 2010, 05:54 PM

I would have liked to have seen more real space craft imagery - I think images from SOHO, TRACE and STEREO are so spectacular we don't need CGI

I tihink this a short preview of episode 2 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8564405.stm

Posted by: djellison Mar 13 2010, 06:34 PM

SOHO, TRACE and STEREO imagery, great though it is - can't fly you through the chronosphere. The CGI - especially for that - was superb.

Posted by: ugordan Mar 13 2010, 07:17 PM

QUOTE (djellison @ Mar 13 2010, 07:34 PM) *
SOHO, TRACE and STEREO imagery, great though it is - can't fly you through the chronosphere.

How about chromosphere? laugh.gif

Posted by: SFJCody Mar 13 2010, 07:23 PM

On the subject of UK space documentaries, one of the best I've ever seen is a 1995 Equinox episode called 'On Jupiter'

I could post a link to this on youtube but I'm not going to unless I get mod approval.

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 13 2010, 08:02 PM

QUOTE (SFJCody @ Mar 13 2010, 07:23 PM) *
On the subject of UK space documentaries, one of the best I've ever seen is a 1995 Equinox episode called 'On Jupiter'

I could post a link to this on youtube but I'm not going to unless I get mod approval.


I still have that on tape somewhere blink.gif

Posted by: PFK Mar 13 2010, 11:49 PM

A couple of days ago was aiming to post a summary similar to Doug's regarding the Horizon effort - but my computer threw a wobbly (it survived fortunately rolleyes.gif ). I really don't know what they are thinking of when it comes to what appears to be a chosen mandate regarding the need for "whacky" visuals even when just having scientists chatting in front of the camera - contrast that with Cox's explanation of the water heating experiment. So much so that I turned off after 20 minutes - it was just unwatchable.
As an aside, on the subject of iPlayer I was chatting to a BBC IT guy last week who works on various of their web pages, and he thought a subscription process was on the cards for viewers from outside the UK, which would be good for stuff such as this or for ex-pats in general.

Posted by: Explorer1 Mar 14 2010, 04:21 AM

Here's a very nice (and quite legal!) channel for a bunch of things right up our alley:

http://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceRip

Here's a nice one about Oppy's adventures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC6J57DmsW8

Posted by: As old as Voyager Mar 14 2010, 09:01 AM

QUOTE (SFJCody @ Mar 13 2010, 07:23 PM) *
On the subject of UK space documentaries, one of the best I've ever seen is a 1995 Equinox episode called 'On Jupiter'

I could post a link to this on youtube but I'm not going to unless I get mod approval.


I remember that episode, it was instrumental in rekindling my interest in space exploration at the age of 18 smile.gif

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 15 2010, 09:40 AM

Overall, a great 2nd episode with Dr Carolyn Porco discussing the wonders of the solar system in the Saturnian system: Saturn’s rings and the tiger stripes + geyser-like fountains on Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth largest moon…
---O---

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 19 2010, 03:58 PM

Next month, the series will be available on DVD: http://www.bbcshop.com/Science+Nature/Wonders-Of-The-Solar-System-DVD/invt/bbcdvd3191

Posted by: nprev Mar 19 2010, 04:37 PM

Available for purchase, but delivery date not till Dec 4th. Also just in Region 2 format, apparently. sad.gif

Posted by: machi Mar 21 2010, 04:01 PM

Finally I've seen first two episodes. Very nice document, but not flawless. For example, used images are often unnecessarily pixelate (why? For more realistic look?). And Enceladus has four hundred kilometers across? Since when?

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 21 2010, 04:31 PM

QUOTE (machi @ Mar 21 2010, 04:01 PM) *
Finally I've seen first two episodes. Very nice document, but not flawless. For example, used images are often unnecessarily pixelate (why? For more realistic look?). And Enceladus has four hundred kilometers across? Since when?


Im surprised you noticed that, most images weren't on screen long enough to tell what we were looking at.

Posted by: NickF Mar 21 2010, 10:08 PM

QUOTE (nprev @ Mar 19 2010, 04:37 PM) *
Available for purchase, but delivery date not till Dec 4th. Also just in Region 2 format, apparently. sad.gif


The release date is 12th April (12/04/10) laugh.gif - it's a UK site, remember.

(I can't help you with the region format though, alas)

Posted by: ngunn Mar 21 2010, 10:23 PM

I've just watched the third one, my favourite so far, on atmospheres. It ends with 'Somewhere over the rainbow', which for some reason reminded me of Kubrick's inspired choice of 'The Blue Danube' for 2001. Must be the time of night.

Posted by: nprev Mar 21 2010, 10:55 PM

QUOTE (NickF @ Mar 21 2010, 03:08 PM) *
The release date is 12th April (12/04/10) laugh.gif - it's a UK site, remember.


smile.gif ...well, well! I stand happily corrected.

The format might not be an insurmountable obstacle, though; gonna explore some options. Here in LA they may sell Region 2 compatible players somewhere, and since Region 2 also includes Japan it might be worth investing in one to use for some of my wife's movies.

Posted by: PaulW Mar 22 2010, 04:00 AM

Many DVD players can be easily hacked to become "region-free." On my inexpensive Philips model it was done using nothing more than the number pad on the remote control. Just Google your brand and model number + region +hack.

Posted by: djellison Mar 22 2010, 11:07 AM

Another great episode - and great work by Ralph there - I'm not sure where that analogue was but it really was a superb one for the Huygens landing site.

Posted by: PhilCo126 Mar 22 2010, 05:32 PM

Indeed, good coverage of the January 2005 Huygens probe landing with the parachute shadow visible on Titan's surface...
Interesting bit with the two-seater BAC Lightning T-5 jet with a climb rate of 50000 ft per minute ohmy.gif

Posted by: MahFL Mar 22 2010, 05:45 PM

I saw the Lightning take off at a few airshows, almost before the end of the runway it went into about an 85 degree climb, and was gone......

Posted by: djellison Mar 22 2010, 07:02 PM

I'm glad I got to see one at Fairford in the very early 90's ( got to see a Vulcan before they were retired as well )


Posted by: SkyeLab Mar 22 2010, 08:39 PM

rolleyes.gif Follow the Tweets from the prof here!

http://twitter.com/profBriancox

Brian (not of the Cox variety)


Posted by: PFK Mar 22 2010, 09:48 PM

Another plus is that should they want to illustrate something with an unusually high albedo, they won't need to jet off to another exotic location - just zoom in on his teeth laugh.gif

Posted by: SkyeLab Mar 27 2010, 12:33 PM

Just watched Prof Cox on the BBC's Jonathan Ross show!
Absolutely hilarious!
Warning, does contain some adult humour.
UK folks can catch it on iPlayer (or YouTube will have it
real soon!)
Brian

Posted by: rlorenz Mar 29 2010, 12:30 PM

QUOTE (djellison @ Mar 22 2010, 07:07 AM) *
Another great episode - and great work by Ralph there - I'm not sure where that analogue was but it really was a superb one for the Huygens landing site.


Matanuska glacier (and river), a little north of Anchorage. I had to split from the DPS conference
in Puerto Rico a day early to get to the shoot. mere 48 hours from snorkelling among angelfish
to wobbling around on crampons on the glacier - some pics are on my web page. I was
supposed to get a ride over the glacier in a chopper but they descoped that, bastards.

Re: comments on Horizon etc. - I havent seen many recent ones, but certainly the old ones
(I vivdly remember the V2 at Neptune with Larry Soderblom setting off a fire extinguisher
to 'simulate' the Triton plumes being influential in my formative years) were great.

Often co-produced with WGBH Boston as Nova, I've seen (purely out of vanity) some shows as
both Nova and Horizon, such as the great 'A Place Like Home' post-Huygens Titan episode -
the Nova version seemed a bit dumbed down. Can't speak to more recent Horizon vs Equinox etc., though.

Many of the British producers I've met on shoots have actually had science backgrounds (indeed
one had even done the same Aerospace Systems degree I did at Southampton), so they're not
all 'meedja' types....

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