Episode
Natural World: Spacechimp
Overview
In 1961, a four-year-old chimpanzee named Ham became the first animal to return from space alive. He proved that humans could survive the extreme conditions of space. This drama, based on NASA's records and archive footage, tells the story of this remarkable chimp and Jeff, the handler who came to love him over two years of training.
Details
- Series
- Natural World
- Season
- Season 27
- Episode
- Episode 8
- Air date
- 2008-02-22
Episode context
Spacechimp is Episode 8 in Season 27 of Natural World. It aired on 2008-02-22.
Previous / Next
Episode 7: Badgers - Secrets Of The Sett
While badgers are easily recognized, remarkably few people have ever seen one alive. It's a creature blamed for destruction and disease, but surprisingly little is known about the sett society. We spy on them for over a year in a Devon valley, Big Brother style, with hidden underground cameras.
Episode 9: Elephant Nomads of The Namib Desert
This is the remarkable story of two baby elephants struggling to survive their critical first six months in the oldest desert on earth. The Desert Elephants of Namibia suffered a poaching holocaust in the 1980s. As the most endangered elephant population in the world recovers, every single calf is vital. Himba and Dusty are born in a boom year, but when the short-lived rivers on which they depend disappear underground, their lives depend on the memories, experience and decisions of the females who lead their tiny families.
More episodes from this season
Episode 6: Saved By Dolphins
Since ancient times, there have been legends of dolphins rescuing humans at sea. Two recent cases where swimmers were rescued from sharks by dolphins seem to show that the legends are true. Dramatisations from the Red Sea and New Zealand's North Island help scientists analyse what makes dolphins take pity on humans.
Episode 10: Lobo: The Wolf that Changed America
Ernest Thompson Seton rode into the wilds of New Mexico just before the turn of the century to kill a wolf named Lobo. The book he wrote inspired many generations of naturalists.
Episode 5: White Falcon, White Wolf
On a remote island in the Canadian Arctic, a pair of white gyrfalcons and a pack of arctic wolves are struggling to raise their young. As the falcons' eggs hatch, the parents must find enough arctic hares to feed them. The wolf pack are raising their cubs in a hillside den. The film records behaviour that has never been seen by scientists, let alone filmed.
Episode 11: Reindeer Girls
Elle and Inga, 17-year-old cousins from the north of Norway, are far from ordinary teenagers. They are reindeer herders, equally at home helping reindeer swim fjords or ice fishing as playing with the internet and mobile phones. We follow the girls and their families as they accompany the reindeer herds on the annual migration across the acrtic tundra, gaining a unique insight into the lives of the girls and the reindeer on which they depend in this bleak and beautiful world.
Episode 4: Tiger Kill
Simon King has filmed Africa's big cats for 20 years, but he has never seen a wild tiger. With so few remaining wild tigers, documenting a tiger making a kill is becoming harder. Simon seeks the help of tiger expert Alphonse Roy, who has spent 17 years in the Indian jungle.
Episode 12: Moose In The Glen
Multi-millionaire landowner Paul Lister wants to turn his 23,000 acre estate north of Inverness into Europe's first wilderness reserve. Reinstating the old Caledonian pine forests is the first of his plans. He then wants to release long lost animals, starting with moose and wild boar, and eventually predators such as brown bears, lynx and wolves. Some of the local people are far from convinced by Paul's vision. Will he even be allowed to let loose moose in the glen?
Episode 3: Earth Pilgrim - A Year on Dartmoor
This exquisitely photographed film is a spiritual journey into the ethereal landscape of Dartmoor with Satish Kumar, the world-renowned ecologist, former Jain monk and pilgrim for peace.
Through changing seasons, Satish walks the moor and explores ancient woods and rivers, which are home to a wealth of wildlife including red deer, emperor moths, starling roosts, kestrels and foxes. His meditations on the natural world are lyrical, uplifting and timely.
Episode 13: Naabi - A Hyena Princess
The story of Naabi, a young hyena growing up in Tanzania. Here hyenas aren't just scavengers, they're also skilled hunters when they work together in the clan. But life is still a struggle, and except for the few weeks a year when the wildebeest pass through, there isn't enough food to go around. Lions are their mortal enemies - they are quick to attack hyenas and often scavenge their kills. After Naabi's mother is killed by lions, life becomes even more difficult for the young hyena and she's forced to leave the clan, braving the perils of the outside world as she travels alone in search of food.
Episode 2: Raising Sancho
This is the story of a young giant otter's journey to adulthood.
Rescued by local fishermen as a baby and raised by giant otter expert Carolina Vargas, this is the story of a young giant otter's journey to adulthood. At first, Sancho is utterly dependent on Carolina, and has to be bottle fed and taught how to catch fish. Eventually Carolina knows that she will have to break their extraordinary bond as Sancho makes his way back into the wild. Giant otters are highly social animals, so Carolina doesn't know whether an orphaned giant otter can survive alone in the world's biggest wetland. In the idyllic Pantanal, we follow Sancho's story as he learns to survive in a world fraught with danger.
Episode 14: Spectacled Bears - Shadows Of The Forest
Paddington Bear celebrates his 50th birthday this year, but behind the children's story is a very real creature that still lives in Deepest Darkest Peru - the Spectacled Bear. Little is known about the habits of this elusive creature, and as narrator Stephen Fry reveals, many of our assumptions were wrong. For years they were thought to be gentle vegetarians, but the latest studies reveal a new and alarming side to this endangered bear.