Discovering the Cosmos

A new golden age of space travel is dawning, one that will soon give humans an astronomical view of the world and may eventually allow us to leave Earth and begin life on another planet. See how the space race has expanded from a competition between governments to a commercial enterprise funded by today’s most successful billionaires. From space tourism to plans to colonize Mars, billionaire entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk hope to radically transform our future—and make money doing it.

In just half a century, the human population has doubled to 7.4 billion, and during that time, astronaut and satellite photos have been capturing the startling changes on our planet. See how humans have made their mark reshaping the planet in our quest for new sources of food, power, and shelter. From glimmering new megacities like Shenzhen, China to areas affected by climate change like Mt. Kilimanjaro and Florida, witness Earth’s changing look—the spectacular and the shocking—from 250 miles up.

Over billions of years, planet Earth has become home to an amazing interdependent ecosystem, containing a dizzying variety of animals and plants. But how did life here begin? And does it exist anywhere outside of our solar system? We uncover the secrets of our world by tracking the evolution of the cosmos itself, from the Big Bang onwards. Follow scientists responsible for some of the major breakthroughs in understanding the origins of life and witness how their discoveries are fundamentally changing the way we perceive the universe.

Some scientists, including world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, believe that in order to safeguard humanity’s future, we need to leave Earth and colonize another planet. But is there an alien world out there that we could call home? How would we travel across the vast distances of space to get there? And what would it take to set up a new civilization? See how visionary scientists and engineers are pushing their imaginations and ingenuity to the limits to prepare humanity for what would surely be its greatest adventure yet.