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Summer of Space


This summer, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing with KCET’s “Summer of Space” with 20 new hours of out of this world programming.

Get an exclusive first look “Blue Sky Metropolis,” composed of four one-hour episodes that examine Southern California’s role in the history of aviation and aerospace. The documentary series explores untold story of the largest homegrown industry that has received only a fraction of the attention heaped upon the Hollywood entertainment business. Narrated by Emmy Award® winning actor Tony Goldwyn, "Blue Sky Metropolis" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. PT.

Relive the excitement of man’s first steps on the moon and the long journey it took to get there with such programs as a new five-part “Nova: The Planets” (premiering Sunday, July 28, 9 p.m. PT), “American Experience: Chasing the Moon” and more.

Stay tuned to KCET and check back often for upcoming programming dates. Stream the episodes on kcet.org or the free PBS App.

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An image from Tom Lamb’s “Marks on the Land” series. | Courtesy of Jacques Garnier/The Legacy Project
The legacy has of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro has endured largely through several aviation-related art exhibitions displayed in the Palm Court Arts Complex, which is part of the Orange County Great Park, where the marine base once stood.
Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. | Flickr/NASA Marshall Space Flight Center/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Scientists with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have performed long-distance tinkering on many projects, helping to extend the life of those probes and satellites many times beyond their original scheduled missions.
Tuskegee P-51 Mustang at the Palm Springs Air Museum | Wikimedia Commons/Jwissick
Here’s a quick tour of some of SoCal’s aviation museums and their unique offerings.
Griffith Observatory just after sunset. | Flickr/Pedro Szekely/Creative Commons
The longstanding relationship between Griffith Observatory and the Los Angeles Astronomical Society enables Angelenos of all walks of life to enjoy astronomy. 
MDRS Hab, rover and astronaut | Kavya Manyapu
The Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, operated by The Mars Society and staffed by dedicated astronaut-volunteers, is dedicated to examining how humans may explore Mars. 
 Astronaut Thomas Stafford looks at a banner with Snoopy's image. | NASA
Unknown to many, Snoopy has been working with NASA since the late 1950s, even before man first stepped on the moon. Space, as it turns out, is the final frontier — even for beagles.
The moon | NASA
Even though it's long been studied, visited by twelve astronauts and several robots, the moon remains a source of mystery. 
Panorama of the moon taken during mission Apollo 17. | Wikimedia Commons/NASA - Lunar and Planetary Institute
In 1970, President Richard Nixon gave Apollo 11 lunar samples to 135 friendly countries and to every U.S. state and territory. 49 years later, many of those samples are unaccounted for.
Orbit Pavilion | NASA JPL-Caltech
Southern California is a wonderland for the outer space enthusiast. Space exploration's influence on SoCal can be found all over  — sometimes in unexpected places. 
Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, STS-107 mission specialist, prepares to simulate a parachute drop into water during an emergency bailout training session in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. | Flickr/NASA Johnson/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0)​
There have been numerous women on the ground who made NASA's journeys possible. The following women are just a fraction of the Asian Americans whose remarkable work continues to impact the investigation of worlds beyond our own.
 Satellite dishes | Flickr/Sleepy Monsieur/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Santa Clara University's Robotic Systems Laboratory conducts satellite mission control operations, yet the lab's staff consists almost entirely of students.
Robert Irwin's Miracle Mile at LACMA | rocor/Flickr/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Over the past few decades, artists and scientists have helped bring focus to the art-science-technology track of Southern California's present creative economy.
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