The Search for Life in Outer Space
How would we on planet Earth respond to a message from an intelligent civilisation elsewhere in the galaxy, perhaps a million years more advanced than we are? The message might be incomprehensible, or it might change the world overnight. Some believe it would be the beginning of the end for our own civilisation. The existence of life in space may finally be transformed from science fiction to science fact this month as data from the Viking spacecraft on the surface of Mars begins to pour back to Earth. Viking is the first-ever attempt to reach beyond our tiny corner of the universe and discover whether we are alone. Nobody expects to find Little Green Men on Mars, but the existence of even the most primitive bacteria on another planet would vastly increase the probability that there is someone else out there in the cosmos, and that we may one day get in touch. James Burke and Professor Carl Sagan report from Viking Mission Control in Pasadena as the decision to land is made, and present a documentary assessing the chances of making contact with extra-terrestrial life.
With the participation of senior members of the Viking Science Team, and biologists, anthropologists, cosmologists and politicians who have thought about the probability-and the implications for mankind - of that first, contact.