Home The Sky at Night Season 13 Episode 12

The Grand Tour

The Sky at Night · Season 13 · Episode 12
In the late 1970s a spacecraft may be sent on a 'tour' of four of the outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - using the gravity and orbital speed of each to boost it on to the next, and sending back photographs and scientific information.

Patrick Moore discusses the chances of success for this ambitious project with Iain Nicolson, a British astronomer, and with Dr W.H. Pickering, head of America's unmanned scientific space programme.

Episode Details

Air date, runtime, timezone, and episode position.

Season
13
Episode
12
Air Date
02/Dec/1969
Air Time
22:00
Runtime

Overview

Episode summary.

In the late 1970s a spacecraft may be sent on a 'tour' of four of the outer planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - using the gravity and orbital speed of each to boost it on to the next, and sending back photographs and scientific information.

Patrick Moore discusses the chances of success for this ambitious project with Iain Nicolson, a British astronomer, and with Dr W.H. Pickering, head of America's unmanned scientific space programme.

Episode Navigation

Move between previous and next episodes.