Secrets of the Solar System

The ultimate guide to humankind's exploration of our Solar System, told by the passionate explorers who sent spacecraft to every major celestial body yet visited. From the raging inferno of Sun all the way to the icy beauty of Pluto, these are emotional tales of discovery, illustrated with stunning space imagery, often revealing the possibility of life beyond Earth. Discover how, by dodging deadly radiation belts, we now know that beneath Jupiter's swirling clouds lies a ball of spinning liquid metal, or how Saturn's rings were formed at the time of the dinosaurs and are kept stable today by dozens of tiny moons. Marvel at the possibility that we may already have discovered life on Mars in a key experiment carried out in 1976, only for a controversial decision by scientists led them to ignore the result. Learn the amazing story of how we finally made it to the hellish surface of Venus, a feat that has been compared to sending a deep-sea submarine to another planet. These billion dollar missions often took decades to plan and execute, with the very real possibility of failure at any time. There is jeopardy and stress at every turn - entire careers are at stake. In this way, Secrets Of The Solar System is about more than space exploration; these are surprisingly moving human stories featuring many of the world's top space scientists, and they reveal not just wonderful, far away vistas and amazing science, but also the dedication and perseverance needed to explore the Solar System for all humanity.