Skip to main content
Back to Show
PBS Space Time

The Most Important Satellite You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of

Season 11 Episode 11

One of the most important reasons we go to space is to know our own planet better. Today I'm going to tell you about an orbiting facility that literally watches Earth's biosphere breath and grow and die with incredible resolution. I'll talk about its profound existential and economic importance, and about why it's in danger of being lost.

Support Provided By
Season
What If The Universe Is Math?
17:33
If you believe the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis then yes. And so are you.
The New Science of Moon Formation
15:32
Learn more about the time when the moon didn’t exist, and then hours later suddenly did.
How Can Matter Be Both Liquid And Gas?
15:19
We explore Supercritical Fluids and how being "in the between" is their superpower.
How Are Quasiparticles Different From Particles?
15:31
These are particles you may not even heard of!
How To See Black Holes By Catching Neutrinos
12:53
We study the most bizarre known particles.
Are there Undiscovered Elements Beyond The Periodic Table?
16:13
We explore if it's really possible that new elements exist beyond the periodic table.
What If Humanity Is Among The First Spacefaring Civilization
15:30
Let’s see how if alien civilizations will ever reach us.
Why Did Quantum Entanglement Win the Nobel Prize in Physics?
14:40
Quantum Entanglement reveals that the universe is stranger than we thought.
The Equation That Explains (Nearly) Everything!
15:29
We explain how The Standard Model of particle physics works!
The Real Possibility of Mapping Alien Planets!
14:59
This is the craziest proposal for an astrophysics mission that has a chance at happening.
Why Is 1/137 One of the Greatest Unsolved Problems
14:37
In physics, the Fine Structure Constant is one the strangest numbers.
Science of the James Webb Telescope Explained!
12:00
We explore all the cool facts of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Active loading indicator