Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock report on the reaction to the dramatic announcement of the discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus, a gas that could be a sign of life. Venus remains an inhospitable and unlikely host. But if not Venus, where in the solar system is the best place to look for alien life? Chris and Maggie investigate the latest missions to Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Away from the search for life, Pete Lawrencepreviews the best meteor showers of the year.

In just one generation, our ability to search for planets beyond our solar system has transformed. With modern techniques and telescopes, planetary scientists have found thousands of exoplanets in our universe, and many of them have the perfect conditions for life. Are we about to find Earth’s twin?

Mars is infested with robots, orbiting the planet and roaming the Martian surface on a mission to uncover its secrets; now, Perseverance joins this dedicated group of machines to uncover if there is, or was ever, life on the Red Planet.
Our neighbor, Mars, fascinates us. It's a planet that is similar to Earth but with some big differences. Mars is rusty, dusty, frigid, and frozen. Past missions suggest that Mars was once a very different world. The Mars we see today has completely changed from the Mars of a few billion years ago. Without a time machine to explore ancient Mars, we employ a team of high-tech robot investigators, an entire fleet of robotic spacecraft exploring the planet. Working together, they dig into Mars's past to answer the ultimate question -- did Mars once have life?

For decades, scientists have dreamed of finding life on Mars. But despite their best efforts, no signs of life have been found. Could that be about to change? This is the story of the scientists and engineers behind Perseverance: the rover that could change our view of Mars forever.