RI Christmas Lectures 2015

In the first of the three annual children's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures space doctor, Kevin Fong, explores and probes second by second what it takes to "Lift Off" into space. With Tim Peake, Britain's first astronaut on the International Space Station, only days into his 6 month mission, he'll be helping Kevin answer what keeps astronauts safe and on track as they're propelled into orbit.  

How do you control the energy of 300 tonnes of liquid fuel? What happens to your body if you don’t wear a spacesuit? And how do you catch up with a space station travelling at 17,500 mph to finally get inside? 

With explosive live experiments, guest astronauts in the Lecture Theatre and Planetary scientist, Monica Grady, direct from the launch pad in Kazakhstan, we’ll learn this and more as we recreate those thrilling minutes of "Lift Off". 

In the second of the three annual children's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, space doctor, Kevin Fong explores 'Life in Orbit' on board the International Space Station. As British astronaut Tim Peake settles in to his new home on the Station he'll be sending special reports about what it takes to live and work in space. 

400 km above the Earth, hurtling at a speed of 17,500 mph astronauts' bones and muscles waste away, the oxygen they breathe is artificially made, they face constant threats from micrometeorites, radiation and extreme temperatures. If a medical emergency strikes, Tim Peake is a very long way from home!

In its 15 year lifetime, the International Space Station has never had a major accident. With a British astronaut in orbit, gravity defying experiments and guest astronauts in the lecture theatre Dr Kevin Fong will show us how to survive 'Life in Orbit.'

In the third and final of the Royal Institution's annual children's Christmas Lectures, space doctor Kevin Fong explores the 'The Next Frontier' of human space travel.

In a series finale, live from the International Space Station hurtling at 17,500 mph, 400 km above the Earth, British astronaut Tim Peake will answer questions directly from the children in the lecture theatre audience.

With Tim's help out in Earth's orbit, Kevin will investigate how the next generation of astronauts will be propelled across the vast chasm of space to Mars and beyond.

So, how will life be artificially sustained as we travel the millions of kilometres to the Red Planet and on into the cosmos? How will our food last for 3 years or more? And what is waiting what for us when we finally land? With earth shattering experiments, top space scientists and our astronaut live from space, Dr Kevin Fong will reveal how we'll survive that voyage to space's next frontier and beyond...