Our Sun has served Earth well for almost five billion years. It's bathed us with heat and energy. But like humans, our home star is mortal. In five billion years, it will stop nurturing its planetary offspring. The aging star will bloat out beyond the orbit of our planet incinerating all living things--including humans if we're still around.

A look at two missions attempting one of the most difficult feats of space exploration - to collect a rock from another world. The film checks in on the US and Japanese attempts to bring a piece of an asteroid back to Earth. The missions have taken decades of planning, but the results will be worth it. We find out how studying these space rocks can teach us about the origins of our solar system and may one day help save Earth from a catastrophic collision.

Pluto is one of the Smaller than our own Moon, Pluto has never had a single visitor from Earth - until now. We keep saying, 'This is it, this is humanity's trip to Pluto. For the first time in human history, Pluto is about to be revealed. We can expect surprises, it's almost guaranteed. Until then, we can only guess what Pluto looks like. And recently, astronomers decided not to call it a planet any more. Once thought to be an isolated oddity, Pluto now marks the beginning of a whole new frontier. it's as if the explorers had climbed up to the top of the Rockies and were looking over and could see the lands of California on the other side. There has never been a better time to venture where no human has gone before. To follow in the footsteps of our robot pioneers and explore beyond the planets of our Solar System.

Right now cosmic forces prowl the universe and threaten man's very existence. They're asteroids and comets; they've left their imprint on planet Earth, literally. Initially helping to build planets through violent collisions, during this fiery bombardment period they may have even seeded Earth with water and the building blocks for life. Since the turbulent formation of the solar system, these space rocks have continued to impact Earth. Some have been so violent that they've led to mass extinctions, including one that wiped out the dinosaur. New theories suggest that asteroid and comet dust harbour deadly viruses that may have triggered some of our worst pandemics. The possibility of future collisions remains a legitimate threat yet despite their dangers, asteroids and comets may hold vital natural resources, which could actually preserve

The magnificent ringed planet Saturn, along with its more than 80 moons, forms the most dynamic planetary system in our neighborhood. With underground oceans and protective magnetic fields, experts are exploring how this collective of satellites has the potential to rewrite the rules of the Solar System.
The closer that we look, the more we see these extraordinary moons like worlds of their own -- so dynamic, so Earth-like. Almost a billion miles from the Sun, these icy worlds could be home for Life 2.0. The moons of Saturn offer possibly the best chance of finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system. With each new mission, we get closer to unraveling the mysteries of Saturn's moons.

Brian Cox looks at our attempts to answer one of the most profound questions we can ask – are we alone in the universe? With scientists sending space probes to the furthest reaches of our solar system and beyond, the scientific search for alien life has begun. Inspired by a childhood love of science fiction, Brian still hopes to hear from ET. In this film, he explains why this search deserves to be taken seriously, and he explores the chances of it happening.