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Top Scientists Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku and J. Craig Venter
“Star Wars” Filmmaker George Lucas, Discussing Life Outside Our Solar System.
Rooted in the latest scientific
research, ALIEN PLANET takes viewers on a dramatic virtual mission of
the future through the possibilities of life outside of our solar system
and the deconstruction of the living form, based on the laws of
evolution and physics.
Mankind’s greatest adventure is only decades away: In
our century, unmanned space probes equipped with artificial
intelligence will be sent to search for life on planets beyond our solar
system.
This is the latest scientific
research from the NASA Origins Program, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) Planet-Finder Mission and European Space Agency’s Darwin Project. The
result is a special two-hour computer-animated TV program that features
some of the world’s most renowned scientists, including Stephen W.
Hawking, Michio Kaku.
Also featured on Alien Planet:
Darwin 4 are J. Craig Venter, plus Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas, who
discuss the possibilities of life outside our solar system and
deconstruct the animals on Darwin 4, based on the laws of evolution and
physics.
But what will happen when we find it?
"Alien Planet" takes viewers on a dramatic virtual mission of the future – a trip to a fictional planet known as Darwin 4.
Imagine a world like our own, just 6.5 light years away – but teeming with life forms unlike anything found on Earth
Take a simulated journey into the
near future, where astronomers and biologists alike marvel at the
potential of Darwin IV, a nearby planet with two suns, 60% gravity and
an atmosphere capable of supporting life.
Having identified Darwin as a
likely home for life, scientists send a series of unmanned probes to the
planet. Initially, the expectation is to find microscopic life.
But the probes soon find
themselves in the middle of a developed ecosystem, teeming with diverse
creatures of all sizes.Peering through the "eyes" of the probes, marvel
at the planet's bizarre inhabitants.
Like the lumbering Groveback,
which supports a mini forest of vegetation on its back; deadly
Prongheads who hunt in packs like wolves; and the graceful Gyrosprinter,
an elk-like creature with a body dotted by luminescent biolights.
The look and biology of each
animal is based on the laws of evolution and physics, then modeled to
fit the hypothetical environment of Darwin IV. Leading minds in the
fields of paleontology, astrophysics and astrobiology explain how these
creatures might evolve otherworldy characteristics like hollow bodies,
"jet" propulsion and piercing tongue skewers.
“The life we have on Earth must have
spontaneously generated itself,” says Stephen W. Hawking, physicist and
author of A Brief History of Time.
“It must therefore be possible for life to be generated spontaneously, elsewhere in the universe.”
And, as the story unfolds, that would be Darwin 4, located 6.5 light years from Earth, with two suns and 60 percent of Earth’s gravity.
Having identified Darwin 4 as an environment that could support life, Earth sends an unmanned pilot mission consisting of a “mother ship,” dubbed Von Braun, and three probes: Balboa, da Vinci and Newton. Their goal: find and assess any life forms on Darwin 4.
“We will be the bystanders much more so than we are today with our robotic emissaries,” notes Dr. James Garvin, Chief Scientist, NASA.
“It must therefore be possible for life to be generated spontaneously, elsewhere in the universe.” And, as the story unfolds, that would be Darwin 4, located 6.5 light years from Earth, with two suns and 60 percent of Earth’s gravity.
Having identified Darwin 4 as an environment that could support life, Earth sends an unmanned pilot mission consisting of a “mother ship,” dubbed Von Braun, and three probes: Balboa, da Vinci and Newton. Their goal: find and assess any life forms on Darwin 4.
“We will be the bystanders much more so than we are today with our robotic emissaries,” notes Dr. James Garvin, Chief Scientist, NASA.
“But that’s okay ... they’ll act more like
us in the sense that they’ll observe, mine the data, understand the
anomalies and find the sweet spots.”
Darwin 4 is experienced through the "eyes" of the probes Newton (also known as Ike) and da Vinci (nicknamed Leo), whose data are relayed back to Von Braun and then communicated back to Earth.
The biological and atmospheric data from the probes and mother ship are relayed through computer voice simulation and on-screen readouts. Initially, the expectation is to find microscopic life, but the probes soon find themselves in the middle of a developed ecosystem teeming with diversity of life of all sizes – just like Earth.
Darwin 4 is experienced through the "eyes" of the probes Newton (also known as Ike) and da Vinci (nicknamed Leo), whose data are relayed back to Von Braun and then communicated back to Earth.
The biological and atmospheric data from the probes and mother ship are relayed through computer voice simulation and on-screen readouts. Initially, the expectation is to find microscopic life, but the probes soon find themselves in the middle of a developed ecosystem teeming with diversity of life of all sizes – just like Earth.
“If
you look at the diversity of what species look like on this planet,
nature has come up with better things than our best science fiction,”
comments J. Craig Venter, of the J. Craig Venter Institute, who
successfully mapped the human genome.
The life that Darwin 4 supports tests the
limits of technology and the intellects of the greatest minds of our
generation. It appears that life on the planet is bigger, faster – and
more dangerous – than we ever imagined.
As Michio Kaku, one of the founders of
string theory, and professor at City University of New York, notes,
“Chances are, when we meet intelligent life forms in outer space,
they're going to be descended from predators.”
Visually based on author/artist Wayne
Barlowe’s book Expedition, and rooted in real-life exploratory endeavors
scientists have designed the planet of Darwin 4 (which lies in a known
star system), the probes and the spacecraft, as well as the various life
forms found there.
The
mission is brought to vivid life via state-of-the-art computer
animation and visual effects by Meteor Studios, the creative team behind
the Emmy
The scientists and evolutionary biologists
who developed the mission and its possible results include Garvin;
Victoria Meadows, research scientist, NASA/JPL Virtual Planet
Laboratory; Randy Pollock, space instrumentation system architect,
Hamilton Sundstrand; Joan Horvath, executive director, Global Space
League; James Kirkland, state paleontologist, Utah Geological Survey;
David Moriarty, professor, Biological Sciences Department, California
State Polytechnic University; and Curtis Clark, professor, Biological
Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University.
ALIEN PLANET will also be simulcast in high
definition on Discovery HD Theatre, the first-ever Discovery
Channel/Discovery HD Theatre simulcast. The producer of ALIEN PLANET is
John Copeland (Babylon 5).
Executive Producer for Discovery Channel is
Tomi Landis. Executive producers for Evergreen Films are Pierre de
Lespinois and Frances LoCascio. Animation and visual effects by Meteor
Studios. The writers are Peter Crabbe and Steve Eder.
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