Season 1

A new breed of adventurer is found in Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. This epic adventure was telecast live to the largest audience in the history of exploration. High-tech mathematical and scientific problem solving unlocked the door into Space. NASA archives, personalized flashbacks and the contributions of family and colleagues provide a portrait of this intensely private astronaut.

In an epic story of bravery and conviction, an unknown Norwegian academic named Thor Heyerdahl set out to convince the scientific world that ancient mariners crossed the world's great oceans. Heyerdahl was willing to risk his life to make his point. In 1947, in a balsa raft called the Kon-Tiki, Heyerdahl and his crew embarked on one of the most daring and provocative voyages in history. Original crew members, actual expedition footage and Heyerdahl himself tell the captivating tale of their quest to solve the seafaring mysteries of the past.

This is the remarkable story of a Swiss family whose scientific quests compelled them to take perilous adventures into the earth's stratosphere and to the depths of the ocean. Physicist August Piccard built the first pressurized capsule and became the first to pilot a balloon into the stratosphere and live to tell about it. He then built a revolutionary submarine called the bathyscaph, which was capable of descending to the very bottom of the sea. In January 1960, August's son Jacques realized his father's dream when he piloted the craft to the deepest point on earth, 35,800 feet beneath the waves. Rare expedition footage and exciting first-person accounts offer a fascinating look at these genteel and fearless explorers.

On May 29, 1953, a lanky New Zealander named Edmund Hillary and his climbing partner, Tenzing Norgay, became the first to reach the highest point on earth ó the summit of Mt. Everest. The few brief minutes these two men spent on top of the world profoundly affected the rest of their lives. Actual footage of the climb, sound recordings, letters, diaries and intimate interviews are woven together with evocative new sequences to tell this remarkable tale of human achievement.

Hailed as an American hero, Richard Byrd soared into history when he claimed to be the first man to fly over the North Pole. Four years later, he topped this feat by flying over the South Pole. Then, in the winter of 1934, Byrd faced the ultimate challenge: to survive the Antarctic winter entirely alone. Fellow explorers, original expedition footage and dramatic reenactments shed new light on a controversial expedition that nearly cost Byrd his sanity and his life.