11 episodes
Spaceship Earth - Season 1 (Winter)
First aired May 18, 1997Season 1
Spaceship Earth Season 1 (Winter)
Episodes
Episode 1
Week 1: The Journey Begins (New Year)
May 18, 19975 min
Why it is cold when the Earth is closest to the sun. Why we see Venus in the morning. The planets are close, the stars unreachable.
Episode 2
Week 2: Travelling in the Solar System (Early January)
May 18, 19975 min
Day and Night. A gigantic Sun with tiny planets. A look at the Zodiac. The solar system is the present; the stars are the past.
Episode 3
Week 3: The Moon, Our Companion (Mid-January)
May 18, 19975 min
The Sun is on time but the Moon is late. Why we see the Moon as a crescent. The half-moon crosses the Earth's orbit. Where the Moon came from. The Moon: Delay in space and Time.
Episode 4
Week 4: The Full Moon (Late January)
May 18, 19975 min
Discovering Mercury. Distant moons of other planets. Why we always see the same side of the Moon. Why we see the Sun so low but the Moon so high.
Episode 5
Week 5: Earth's Rotation (January/February)
May 18, 19975 min
Earth's Rotation. The Moon shows us where Mars is. Copernicus: The Earth in orbit. Why the Earth turns. Crossing time zones.
Episode 6
Week 6: Copernicus and Kepler (Early February)
May 18, 19975 min
Hidden planets. Kepler discovers the planets' timetable. The Earth moves more quickly in Winter. Earth overtakes Mars. Why we have two tides every day.
Episode 7
Week 7: Gravity (Early/Mid-February)
May 18, 19975 min
Why the Earth is round. Newton's apple. Why the Earth does not fall into the Sun. Three minutes more Sun every day. Sundials and the Earth's axis. Comets.
Episode 8
Week 8: The Stars (Mid-February)
May 18, 19975 min
Columbus and the Pole Star. Earth wobbles over the centuries. The imaginary 'heavenly vault'. The Sun, our star. Infinitely large to infinitely small.
Episode 9
Week 9: The Calendar (Late February)
May 18, 19975 min
Leap Days: The Earth misses a quarter of a day. Gregorian and Orthodox calendars. Solar and lunar calendars. Solid and gaseous planets.
Episode 10
Week 10: Waning Moon and Solar Eclipses (Early March)
May 18, 19975 min
The half-moon shows where we are going. Where the stars go during the day. The Moon and the planets: The Sun's invisible companions. The Moon's shadow on the Earth: Solar Eclipses.
Episode 11
Week 11: Eclipses and Occultations (Mid-March)
May 18, 19975 min
Annular solar eclipses. Partial solar eclipses. The Moon eclipsed in Earth's shadow. Occultation of Aldebaran.