All language subtitles for Tales.From.The.Explorers.Club.S01E04.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG

[Josh Gates] To prove
a controversial theory,

Explorers Club member
Thor Heyerdahl
attempts to cross

thousands of miles
of open ocean on a simple
balsa wood raft.

Will his impossible voyage end
with vindication, or at
the bottom of the Pacific?

The first extraterrestrial car
is custom-tuned to dodge
a lunar gauntlet

on its way to a discovery
that rewrites the story
of earth's origin.

[astronaut over comms] Okay,
Jimmy, let's go to work.

[Josh] A miracle plane
burning no fuel

flies club member
Bertrand Piccard
around the globe.

As long as the wind
doesn't snap it in two.

And a Roaring '20s airship
braves polar storms,

carrying a club legend
to the top of the world.

Leave it to The Explorers Club
to show

that the real drama
isn't always reaching
the finish line,

but surviving the ride.

-Fire.
-[explosion]

Welcome to the world-famous
Explorers Club.

For over 100 years, this has
been a gathering place
for trailblazers.

The people who dare to venture
higher, further, and faster.

As a member
of this exclusive club,

I'm bringing one-of-a-kind
access to its archives...

This is incredible!

...artifacts...

[Josh] Oh, my word.

...and my fellow explorers.

This is actual lunar dust.
Unbelievable.

The expeditions planned here
have tested the boundaries
of human possibility.

Its flag has flown
on death-defying voyages
into the unknown

that forever
changed our world.

These are the greatest
adventures of all time.

These are...

...TalesFrom
The Explorers Club.

The most amazing part of some
Explorers Club expeditions

is not the destination,
but the journey.

Sometimes because
the destination is so extreme

that it demands
a means of transport
that doesn't yet exist.

This was the challenge
facing Norwegian ethnographer
Thor Heyerdahl 75 years ago,

when he came to the club
and used this very globe

to plan a mission
many warned him was suicide.

Heyerdahl's proposed journey
stretches nearly 5,000 miles.

And although he has
the club's support,
his expedition

is the result of
an academic dispute with
a former club president.

Let's back up a bit,
and this'll all make sense.

The year is 1945.

For a decade, Heyerdahl
has been obsessed
with answering

one of history's
greatest riddles.

Few places on earth
are more isolated
than Polynesia,

the vast, triangular area
of the Pacific Ocean

extending from Hawaii
to Easter Island
to New Zealand.

The Polynesians have occupied
the islands there
for 1,000 years,

but where did they
originally come from?
How did they get there?

The scholarly consensus
is that they came
from the West,

from Asia,
on outrigger canoes.

But Thor questions
that conclusion.

Reexamining the evidence,
he's developing
a radically different theory.

He's convinced
that the solution
to the mystery

lies thousands of miles away
from where experts claim,
in South America.

In 1937, Heyerdahl had visited
the Polynesian Island
of Fatu Hiva,

and was struck
by apparent similarities
between Polynesian traditions

and those of indigenous
South Americans.

According to myth,
Tiki, the father
of the Polynesian tribes,

led his people to their remote
islands from a mountainous
land beyond the sea.

Thor sees a link
between this myth

and an Andean legend
about a king called Kon-Tiki,

who fled West over the ocean
to escape his enemies.

Beyond this parallel,
Thor's evidence is spotty.

But he believes
that the mountainous region
is Peru,

and that the Polynesians
are descendants

of an ancient South American
population predating the Inca.

But how could anyone,
with only
Stone Age technology,

make the 5,000-mile voyage
from South America
to Polynesia?

Heyerdahl believed that
the indigenous inhabitants of
what is now modern-day Peru

built and sailed seaworthy
rafts made of balsa wood
as early as the 6th Century.

The same type of rafts
that Spanish conquistadors
described in their journals

1,000 years later.

But making a seaworthy raft
is one thing.

Navigating it 5,000 miles
across the Pacific Ocean

to a cluster of islands
you don't even know are there
is something else.

So, how did Thor explain that?

Heyerdahl's answer
is hiding in plain sight.

He believes that two
natural forces in the Pacific

can propel a rudimentary
wooden raft
over a massive distance,

right to Polynesia's doorstep,

even without the ability
to meaningfully
steer or navigate.

The first is the trade winds,
the persistent winds blowing
East to West near the equator.

[wind blowing]

The second is
the Humboldt Current, a
powerful flow of cold water

moving North along
South America's coast, then
West all the way to Polynesia.

Heyerdahl's commitment
to a theory rooted
in blind faith is astounding.

But is the voyage
he's proposing
even remotely possible?

My fellow Explorers Club
member, expedition filmmaker
Trevor Wallace,

has some perspective on Thor's
seemingly improbable theory.

He has sailed the same waters,
and cataloged the same islands

that gripped
Heyerdahl's curiosity.

Heyerdahl's theory is that
ancient South Americans

are rafting West
across the Pacific
to these islands.

Technically speaking,
is this even possible?

Technically, yes. I think
most people would, would say,

you have a current, you have
the Humboldt Current

that's coming out from
South America and pushing
towards Polynesia.

-[Josh] Right.
-[Trevor Wallace] And you have
trade winds.

So you put a sail up
on anything that floats,

and hypothetically,
it could get there.

But it goes against
all conventional knowledge.

-Right.
-Like, you know,
the Polynesians

were the wayfinding voyagers.

-Yeah.
-Whereas, South Americans,

they were not
a voyaging culture.

Right, those were rafts
in a lake environment.

-Yeah. [laughing]
-Yeah. Right?

Yeah. You know, they
could have been transporting

heavy, monolithic
stone structures.

-Sure.
-But are they voyaging
over ocean?

-No.
-Probably not. [laughing]

-So this didn't really
make a lot of sense.
-Right.

[Josh] In 1946,
Heyerdahl confidently
presents his theory

to America's
leading anthropologists.

Thor.

Who instantly reject it.

The most eminent
is Explorers Club member

and former club president
Herbert Spinden.

I'm sure this makes sense
to you.

He tells Heyerdahl
that his evidence is weak,

and that he's ignoring
a wealth of linguistic data
linking Polynesia with Asia.

You know, the Polynesian
language has parallels.

But in Asia.
Not in South America.

And the idea of ancient
Peruvians sailing 5,000 miles

across the Pacific
on simple rafts?

-[sighs]
-This is the way
they traveled. I know it.

-Now, look...
-Damn it, Herbert,
I know I'm right!

All right! Let's see
how far you get

going from Peru to Polynesia
on a balsa raft.

Please.

This final dig, intended
to slam the door
on their dispute,

will provide the fuel
that propels Thor
into Explorers Club history.

Heyerdahl preps
an audacious voyage

that will take him and a crew
of five other Scandinavians
across the Pacific.

The idea of marooning
themselves on a homemade raft

on the world's largest ocean
sounds like a rejected pitch
forCastaway 2,

especially since
only one of them
has any experience at sea.

Heyerdahl himself
has never learned to swim.

But the line
between insane and inspired
can be a fine one.

In Peru, Thor's team
builds their unique raft,

based on the descriptions
of the Spanish conquistadors,

using only materials available
to ancient South Americans.

The plan is called everything
from irresponsible
to preposterous.

But Heyerdahl's confidence
is unshaken.

He's challenged nature
since boyhood,

once shocking his parents
by venturing alone

into the icy Norwegian
wilderness with only
a sleeping bag.

As his raft takes shape,
the crew dubs it the Kon-Tiki,

after the Andean legend.

Nine balsa logs
comprise the 18' by 45' base,

held together by hemp ropes.

The deck is covered
by a latticework of bamboo.

In the center
is a bamboo cabin.

At the stern, a steering oar.

The mast is made
of rock-hard mangrove.

The main square sail
bears a likeness
of the sun god.

The Kon-Tiki is straight out
of the 6th Century,

a vessel without a nail,
rivet or screw.

It set sail from Peru
on April 28, 1947.

The only modern gear
they bring are a navigational
tool called a sextant,

a hand-cranked radio,
and a 16 millimeter camera.

Filming an expedition
as it happens. Great idea,
Thor. I owe you one.

In the first weeks
of the voyage, the crew
has harrowing encounters

with marine creatures
in the Pacific.

They become the first people
to cross paths
with a living snake mackerel,

after it washes aboard
at night into a crewman's
sleeping bag.

They attract the attention
of a whale shark that nearly
upends the raft.

From there on out,
the shark encounters
pick up steam,

as Heyerdahl unwittingly stars
in his own Shark Week special
decades ahead of schedule.

Riding the Humboldt Current,
the Kon-Tiki
travels Northwest,

passing below
the Galapagos Islands,

before the current dips
to the South
and continues West.

Also pushed by the trade
winds, the raft averages
more than 55 miles per day.

A month into their voyage,
the crew has already
sailed 1,200 miles.

But at this point, Thor
discovers a horrific problem.

The Kon-Tiki is riding
lower in the sea.

-This is not a good thing?
-Yeah, I mean, the whole
reason he chose balsa wood

is because it's incredibly
buoyant. But it's also porous.

That was one of the fears
all along.

And a lot of his critics
were saying, oh, it's gonna
fill up with water and sink.

So when it starts to ride low,
they're thinking, oh, wow,
it's really happening.

Right. And I have to imagine
these guys
are terrified by this?

-There's no lifeline for them.
-Right.

And I mean, for Heyerdahl
in particular,
he was fully committed.

The guy couldn't even swim,
so, [laughing].

-Which, by the way,
is the craziest part of this.
-Yeah. Yeah.

Like, maybe some swim lessons
before the trip? Something?

Because there is no,
to your point, like, there's,
they, they're not calling AAA.

-No.
-Nobody's coming.

-No.
-This raft goes in the water,
you're dead.

As an experiment, Heyerdahl
cuts off a piece
of the Kon-Tiki's wood.

What will happen to it
if he casts it adrift?

[wood splashing in water]

Oh, God.

In a flash, their expedition
is no longer an adventure,
but a pending catastrophe.

How long do we have?

Days. Maybe a week.

[Josh] This is Explorers Club
Flag Number 123.

It was given to Thor Heyerdahl
for his epic voyage aboard
his balsa raft, the Kon-Tiki.

Critics were certain
the Kon-Tiki, its crew,
and this flag

would never be seen again.

And a month into
their journey, when the raft
appeared to be sinking,

Thor feared they were right.

But then, he discovered that
a twist of fate weeks before
they set sail

had saved them all.

There is a treasured piece
in the Explorers Club archives

that can explain what happened
with a little help from
club archivist Lacey Flint.

So this is an old
piece of wood.

A very old piece of wood.
Actually, it's not that old.
Uh, it's only from 1947.

It's a piece
of the actual Kon-Tiki.

-An actual piece
of the Kon-Tiki raft?
-Mmm-hmm.

An actual piece of the raft.
Yes, absolutely.

And it is light as a feather.
This is balsa wood.

Balsa wood. Really
light weight, really porous.

Um, it's actually
what you use to make
model airplanes with.

So this
is what's absorbing water

and causing the raft to sit
real low in the water.

[Flint] Yeah, absolutely.

[Josh] But the Kon-Tiki
doesn't sink.

[Flint] The Kon-Tiki
does not sink, and...

-So, why?
-That's because they were
using fresh balsa wood.

So the initial plan was to
just buy some balsa wood
when they got to Peru.

-Right.
-Serendipitously, turns out,
no balsa wood logs.

So they actually have to go
to the Ecuadorian Jungle,

chop down their own logs,
and then fashion the raft.

-Okay.
-And the reason
this is important

is because those logs
still had fresh sap in them.

And that sap is what's
filling in all these
porous gaps here,

and helping them to float.

And if they had sourced
the balsa wood from Peru,
what would have happened?

Really probably would have
filled with water, and it
would have sunk.

Wow.

[Josh] Satisfied
that they won't be
swimming to Polynesia,

the crew
of the Kon-Tiki sails on.

Three months pass
with no land in sight.

Then, on the 101st day
of their voyage, they finally
spot an island on the horizon.

It is Rangiroa, 475 miles
East of Tahiti.

The date is August 7, 1947.

It's the moment
Thor and his crew
have been praying for.

Beautiful.

[Josh] But when they draw
within sight of the island's
beach, their hearts sink.

Just below the ocean surface,
a massive coral reef
blocks their path.

The coral is as sharp
as razorblades,
and stretches for miles.

Land is in sight. They're
right there. And between them
and safety is this coral reef.

So what can they do?

They can't do anything.
As a drifting vessel, they're
at the mercy of the ocean.

The big problem is that
the Kon-Tiki was not meant
to be maneuverable.

-Right.
-And so, like, they're not
getting around the reef,

they're going straight
into it, and they just
have to hold on

and hope that they don't
get torn to shreds.

[Josh] After 4,300 miles,
the six men

are just a few hundred yards
from their goal.

But they're staring death
in the face.

Why don't we just land?

We can't just land, okay?
The coral
will tear this raft apart.

Let's just swim for it.

We can't just swim, either.
The coral will tear us apart.

Listen. We have to stay
on this raft.

As the Kon-Tiki
washes toward the reef,

the crew's radio man
makes contact with a HAM radio
operator in New Zealand.

His last, hurried words:
"50 yards left, okay,
here we go. Goodbye."

All the crew can do now
is brace for impact.

A fortuitous swell throws
the Kon-Tiki into the shallows
beyond the breakers.

The cabin and mast
break apart.

Hanging onto the logs,
every member of the crew

is able to stagger onto land,
largely unharmed.

The island
is uninhabited, but one
radio transmission later,

help is on the way.

The flag of Norway,
and below it, the flag
of the Explorers Club,

welcome envoys
of a neighboring
Polynesian island.

Against all odds, defying
all reason, Heyerdahl's voyage
is a success.

Today, the Kon-Tiki resides
in a Norwegian museum.

In recent decades, most
experts have become
more convinced than ever

that Heyerdahl's
migration theory is invalid.

DNA evidence shows
almost conclusively that
Polynesia's earliest settlers

came from Asia,
not South America.

Still, a flicker of doubt
remains.

One DNA study has revealed
that several
Polynesian populations

bear a genetic signature
traced to Native
South Americans.

And critics can no longer
claim that the epic sea voyage
Thor envisioned

was impossible.

To make a journey many
believed was delusional,

Kon-Tiki logged over 4,000
miles across the Pacific.

But another unique vehicle
of exploration proved that
distance isn't everything.

After all, it traveled
only 17 miles,

just far enough for the men
onboard to find a treasure

that would change
our understanding
of how our planet was born.

And the really cool part is,
they didn't do it on earth.

The date is July 25, 1971.

At Cape Kennedy in Florida,
the crew of Apollo 15,

David Scott, Jim Irwin,
and Explorers Club member
Al Worden,

attend a final briefing
on the eve of their liftoff.

All right, guys.
TLI is scheduled
for T-plus two hours.

As on all Apollo moon flights,
they'll be carrying

a downsized version
of the Explorers Club flag,

trimmed down
to save space and weight.

Apollo 15 marks a huge
turning point in America's
space program.

To this time, it's been about
beating the Russians.

Now, it's about solving
the riddle of our
solar system's creation.

NASA knows that the moon
is a galactic time capsule.

Its rocks hold clues
to its origin.

But the rocks retrieved
from missions before Apollo 15
don't offer the best evidence.

They come from areas chosen
for their flat terrain,
tailor-made for safe landings.

The Apollo 15 astronauts
will land in a geologically
rich area,

rimmed by
mountains and canyons.

Their goal is to learn about
the moon's origins
by finding its oldest rocks.

The Mount Hadley Delta
should be a rich site.

And Spur Crater. I like
our chances there.

Agreed.

They're told to keep
a special lookout

for a white, crystalline rock
called anorthosite,

since some
of the scientists believe

it could be the remnants
of the moon's
primordial crust.

But to cover their search zone
effectively,

they'll need greater range
than any previous mission.

What's the distance
from our landing site
to Delta L, though?

It is three miles.

In the past, lunar astronauts
only explored areas
the size of a football field,

never straying farther
from their landers than they
could safely walk back

in case of an emergency.

Apollo 15 has the solution.

A very American solution.
A car.

Its official designation
is the LRV,
for Lunar Roving Vehicle.

[NASA narrator] The LRV.
A spacecraft with wheels.

[Josh] The rover is
a 460-pound electric go-kart.

Every part has been whittled
down to its lightest,
most efficient iteration.

Max speed,
eight miles per hour.

There is no steering wheel
or foot pedals.

-Just a joystick.
-[mechanical whirring]

Each wheel
is independently driven
by a quarter-horsepower motor.

Its builders have literally
reinvented the wheel,

creating wire mesh tires
with titanium treads.

On top of all that,

it folds up like a beach chair

for easy storage
in the Moon lander's
descent stage.

The lunar rover pre-dated
Mike Massimino's 18-year
career as a NASA astronaut.

But he's always been
moonstruck by
its colorful history.

The lunar rover
is kind of crazy to me.

-Yeah, yeah.
-It is. It's like...

It's like let's not just
go to the moon,
let's bring a car up there.

-Yeah. The dune buggy.
-Right? A dune buggy.

Who's ever built a car
for the moon before?

-Right?
-[laughs]

These are the first ones
and it's hard enough
I would imagine to build a car

-on Earth. Right?
-Right.

How do you design
a car for the moon, right?

I mean, what are
the design challenges here

that they have to meet
and figure out?

Uh, anything you do
in space is harder.

-Right.
-Then what you're...
'Cause you have to account

for things that are
at the extreme.

-Especially on the moon
for a car.
-Right.

You have extreme
temperatures, 500 degrees,
uh, temperature swings

that this car is gonna
have to withstand.

So that's not an easy thing
right there.

-Right.
-And the terrain
is really hostile.

You've got rocks
and sharp edges

and lots of dust
all over the place.

-It's pretty challenging.
-I mean, it's... it's...

-...it is built for that low
gravity environment, right?
-Yes.

Like, would it work on Earth?

Ah, no. I don't think
you'd want it to

because it was
so lightly constructed

for the 1/6 gravity
of the moon.

You would put your foot
right through the floor board

-if you tried it on Earth.
-Really?

-Yeah. Wouldn't be workable.
-Wow.

[Josh] This lunar hotrod
was 17 months in the making.

But NASA contractors
had been tinkering
with prototypes for a decade.

Everything from a motorcycle,

to a mechanical worm,

to something resembling
the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.

But in the end,
GM and Boeing win the job

and produce a state
of the art moon buggy.

And since it cost
the modern equivalent
of $266 million,

NASA thinks it might
be wise to give
the Apollo 15 astronauts

a little driver's ed.

But to do it right,
they have to do something
a little crazy.

Transform a piece
of Arizona into the moon...

...the hard way.

[man] Five, four,
three, two, one.

Fire!

Fifty years ago,
the Apollo 15 astronauts

went rock hunting
in the world's first
extraterrestrial car.

With any luck, I'll be doing
some off-roading on the moon
in my lifetime,

following in
their tread marks.

A half century
after designing the LRV,

NASA gave me
a sneak peek of the future
in a prototype rover.

I took the wheel
for my joy ride

on a lunar surface
mock up in Houston.

This is officially
the coolest 4x4
I've ever been in.

Actually, I guess
it's more like a 12x12.

Okay, Josh, I'm transferring
control over to you.

-[Josh laughs]
-Do a pure twist
to your right.

[Josh] Get out of here.

Got a speaker system here.
Play some tunes.

[man] Yeah, all the comforts
you want in a RV,
you want in this.

[Josh]
And what about cup holders?

[man] I already got
cup holders for ya.

-[both laugh]
-[Josh] They're in.

What you just saw
was the lunar rover
of the future.

To learn how to drive
the original in 1971,

the Apollo astronauts
needed a lunar test track
like the one I navigated

or attempted to navigate.

So, NASA got busy
doing a little moon-scaping.

[Josh] Its starting point
is this 66-acre field
of volcanic cinders

near Flagstaff, Arizona.

To make the rover's
driving experience
as real as possible,

engineers recreate
a specific portion
of the moon's terrain.

That means burying
explosive charges

to make 426 craters.

All in the same position
and of the same size
as the ones on the moon.

[man] T minus 10,
nine, eight, seven...

[Josh] The fun part
is that they're going

to blast the majority
of them all at the same time.

[man] ...two, one.

Fire!

[Josh] The result is surgical.

The blown out terrain
perfectly mimics an actual
sector of the moon's surface.

Making it an ideal
obstacle course

for a version
of the rover suitable
for use on Earth.

The ride in Arizona
is a little otherworldly...

...but it's got nothing
on the real thing.

The date is July 31, 1971.

History's first
extraterrestrial drive
is a treat

for astronauts
Irwin and Scott.

It works, I think bucking
bronco was somewhat
of an understatement.

This thing really
gave 'em quite a jolty,
uh, bouncy ride.

They were bouncing
all over the place
with this thing.

They had to wear seatbelts,
not just for good form,

'cause they would've been
thrown away from this thing.

-Right.
-If they weren't buckled in,
they would go flying with it.

-I mean, you literally could
go flying out of this thing.
-You're out.

-That's right. Yeah.
-Right.

[Josh] But this
is swashbuckling
in the pursuit of science.

[astronaut] Okay, Dewey,
let's go to work.

[Josh] During their
three days on the moon,

Irwin and Scott collect
170 pounds of lunar
rocks and soil.

The rare samples
will keep geologists
busy for decades.

But one treasure hunt
in the rover stands
above all.

On the rim of Spur Crater,

three miles
from their landing site,

Irwin and Scott have found
their geological holy grail.

A half pound chunk
of anorthosite.

It's a piece of the moon's
original crust.

Older than any moon rock
ever found.

It comes to be known
as the Genesis Rock.

Its geology is eerily
similar to rocks from Earth.

Leading to a radical
new theory about
the moon's origin.

Four and a half
billion years ago

when Earth was still
a mass of molten magma,

it was blind sighted
by a Mars-sized asteroid.

Within a matter of weeks,
the debris had coalesced
into a single mass.

About a year later,
that mass had evolved
into the spherical foundation

of Earth's inextricable
dance partner, the moon.

The cosmic collision
believed to have formed
the moon

may have also helped
create us.

A moonless Earth
would have no
or much gentler tides.

Tides were likely
a key ingredient
to creating life on Earth.

By sloshing together
its primordial soup
of foundational chemicals.

So the Genesis Rock tells
more than just the story
of the moon's origin,

it also tells of our own.

Without the lunar rover,
the Apollo 15 astronauts
would never have found it.

But on its third
and final day on the moon,

it still has one pioneering
duty to perform.

An historic first
to be witnessed
live on Earth

by millions
of television viewers.

When the Apollo astronauts
completed their last drive

in the lunar rover
50 years ago,

they chose a very specific
parking spot.

While not the same
as parking a car
in New York City,

the challenges are comparable.

The rover was about
to make history one last time
with its dashcam.

[Josh] On the previous
three successful
Apollo missions,

the astronauts blasted off
the moon unseen.

Not this time.

From a distance of 500 feet,

the rover's camera
is aimed at the Apollo lander,
the Falcon,

as Jim Irwin and Dave Scott
prepare for liftoff.

[Josh] The lunar rover
was an electric vehicle
far ahead of its time.

But when it comes
to launching rockets
out of the Earth's atmosphere,

they require a lot of fuel.

Let's just say the MPG
isn't exactly ideal.

One Explorers Club member
had a vision

for environmentally
responsible travel

that everyone said
was impossible.

Like, you know, flying
a plane around the world
without a drop of fuel.

Bertrand Piccard
set out to make
that dream a reality.

The moment when
this crazy idea first
occurs to Piccard

takes us back to 1999,

when he's on the brink
of achieving a different
first.

Soaring over Egypt,
he and his co-pilot
are minutes from completing

the first non-stop,
round the world
balloon flight,

but their liquid propane fuel
is nearly exhausted.

He began with 3.7 tons,

now only 10 gallons remain.

Piccard lands triumphantly,

but his close call
ignites a vision.

A world in which man
can fly without burning
fossil fuels.

He vows to one day
make another flight
around the world

in a plane powered
solely by the sun.

Aviation experts dismiss
the idea as fantasy.

But Piccard devotes
the next 15 years of his life
to realize his dream.

His compulsion to push
the limits runs in his blood.

In 1960, his father,
Jacques, was the first

to plunge to the ocean's
lowest point, Challenger Deep.

Bertrand's grandfather,
Auguste, designed
the submersible

that Jacques piloted.

Thirty years after gaining
fame with his pioneering
balloon flights

studying the Earth's
stratosphere.

Like many explorers,
Bertrand is competitive
to the point of obsession.

He doesn't
just want to live up
to the family legacy,

he wants to take it
to new heights.

To assist him, he's recruited
former Swiss Air Force fighter
pilot Andre Borschberg

and a team of crack engineers.

After years of effort,
they've created a radical
new aircraft

unlike any ever built.

The Solar Impulse.

The plane holds one pilot.

It has the wing span of a 747,

but weighs the same
as a mid-sized car.

The skeleton is carbon fiber.

Three times lighter
than paper.

Seventeen thousand
solar cells,

each as thin as a human hair,

cover the wing and fuselage.

The energy flows
to four 17-horsepower
engines.

Their power output is
comparable to the Wright
brothers' first plane.

Spare energy is stored
in four batteries.

They can be fully charged
by the solar cells
in six hours.

Allowing the plane
to fly at night
or under cloud cover.

The date is June 2, 2014.

Piccard's innovative aircraft
prepares for its first
test flight.

It's nearly as silent
as a glider,

but it needs no powered
plane to tow it aloft.

Its takeoff speed is
a blistering 27 miles
per hour.

Usain Bolt could give
the Solar Impulse
a run for its money.

On the ground at least.

At cruising altitude,
its average speed
increases to 45.

The Solar Impulse
was a marvel
of energy efficiency,

but there was a tradeoff.

The craft was so big and light

that it became unstable
in anything but perfect
weather.

A down draft or up draft
could snap the plane in two.

It was no match for rain
or turbulence

and banking more
than 10 degrees

would throw it
into a tailspin.

Despite the risks,
Piccard sets out
to make history

on March 25, 2015.

The starting point
for Solar Impulse's

round the world flight
is Abu Dhabi,

the capital
of the United Arab Emirates.

The plan is to complete
the 26,000 mile trek
in 12 legs

with Piccard and Borschberg
alternating as pilots.

Borschberg takes
the first leg.

Mission control
is 3,000 miles away
in Monaco,

where meteorologists
will monitor weather models
to help steer the plane

through corridors
of pristine weather.

Borschberg completes
the first leg to Oman
uneventfully.

But on the second leg
en route to India,

Piccard runs into trouble.

[Josh] He can't keep
the plane on its assigned
heading,

but the issue vanishes
as quickly as it appears

and Piccard lands safely.

Bad weather keeps
Solar Impulse grounded
for extended periods

over the next three months.

By day 111,
Solar Impulse
has reached Japan

and now faces
its ultimate test.

A five day, 5,500 mile
flight over the Pacific Ocean
to Hawaii.

Borschberg is at the controls.

The dangers have
never been higher.

If he hits foul weather,
Solar Impulse doesn't
have the speed to outrun it.

And over the open ocean,
there's nowhere safe to land.

Two days out,
Borschberg is faced
with a critical problem.

Not with the weather,
but with the aircraft.

Its batteries are overheating.

Temperatures approach
122 degrees.

If things don't take
a turn for the better,

his only option is to ditch
the fragile airplane

and hope help
can arrive in time.

Exploration and snowboarding.

Two words you wouldn't
necessarily expect to find
in the same sentence.

But with the help
of a grant from Discovery,

Dr. Connor M. Wood
is changing that

with his Explorers Club
expedition.

Connor's a PhD
in wildlife ecology

and an experienced
backcountry snowboarder.

Navigating California's
Sierra Nevada mountains
on snowboards,

he and his team
are deploying
listening devices

that will record
the mating calls
of an endangered species

that spends 30 weeks
of every year buried
under the Sierra snow,

the Yosemite toad.

For two weeks,
just as the snow
is melting,

the toads will sing
their hearts out.

[toad calling]

Giving Dr. Wood
a rare opportunity
to gather data.

Enabling him to estimate
their diminishing population.

Doing that will help him
figure out why the toads'
numbers are declining.

And, hopefully,
discover a way
to save this rare species.

Over the vast expanse
of the Pacific,

the Solar Impulse
and its overheating batteries

were in danger
of crashing into oblivion,

along with Bertrand
Piccard's dream
and Andre Borschberg's life.

[Josh] Borschberg
is at the halfway point

of his five day,
5,500 mile flight
from Japan to Hawaii.

Flight level.
We're at 5,000 feet.

[Josh] The plane's
solar powered batteries
continue to run hot

and the project's engineers
at mission control in Monaco

can do nothing
to cool them down.

Hawaii, the nearest
landing site, is still
2,500 miles away.

Fears mount that
the batteries are suffering
so much abuse

that they can't hold out
much longer.

But Solar Impulse
powers through day three,
then day four.

Getting only brief
and restless sleep,

Andre is also
running low on energy.

But both man
and machine endure.

And on day five,
Solar Impulse lands
in O'ahu.

[all cheering]

Piccard's engineers
determine that the overheating

was caused by excess
insulation in the battery
compartments.

They also discover
that the batteries
are damaged beyond repair.

They don't have enough
spare cells to replace them.

The next flight,
Hawaii to San Francisco,

must be pushed back
nine months to April,

when the plane will be ready
and the weather clear.

During the delay,
engineers chill out

by creating a new battery
cooling system.

A manually operated
two way valve allows

cool air to enter
the battery compartment
and heat to be released.

The green light comes
on April 21, 2016.

Piccard is at the helm.

His three day,
2,500 mile flight
goes off without a hitch.

Over the next three months,
Solar Impulse continues
its epic trek

back towards
its starting point
in Abu Dhabi.

On July 26, 2016,

Piccard pilots the mission's
historic final leg.

Crazy as it sounds,
the plane has circled
the globe

without a drop of fuel.

Pointing the way to a cleaner,
more sustainable future.

And the heir to a family
legacy of Explorers Club
triumphs

has his own moment in the sun.

The Solar Impulse
was tailor made

to help an Explorers Club
member fulfill his dream.

A century ago, Roald Amundsen
needed his own custom ride
for one final shot at glory.

Amundsen had gained
fame in 1911

by conquering the South Pole.

By 1926, he was obsessed
with becoming the first man
to reach both Poles.

But at 54, his dog sledding
days were behind him.

He needed a more
user-friendly ride.

[Josh] Hope arrives
in the form of the era's
new marvel, the airship.

Unlike balloons, airships
can maneuver in any direction
against the wind.

They can also stay airborne
longer and carry heavier loads
than airplanes.

Sponsored by fellow
Explorers Club member
Lincoln Ellsworth,

Amundsen purchases an airship
from the Italian government
called the N1.

The N stands for the last name
of its acclaimed designer

and Explorers Club member,
Umberto Nobile.

The deal comes
with one string attached.

Hungry for glory of their own,

the Italians demand
that Nobile will pilot
the flight

and that five Italian airmen
will join Amundsen's
Norwegian crew.

Amundsen counters,
rechristening his airship
the Norge,

Norwegian for Norway.

The Norge is cutting edge
for its time.

A hundred feet longer
than a 747,

it's powered by three
230-horsepower
propeller engines.

Under its fabric skin,
10 compartments

holding lighter than air
hydrogen provide lift.

Sixteen men are aboard
and one female,

Nobile's fox terrier, Titina.

On May 11, 1926,

Amundsen, Nobile and Ellsworth

take the Norge aloft
at Norway's northern
most point,

the island of Spitsbergen.

Seven hundred miles
from the North Pole.

Amundsen's goal
is not just to reach
the Pole,

but continue on
to Nome, Alaska.

Achieving the first flight
across the Arctic Ocean.

The Norge cruises
north at 3,000 feet
at 62 miles per hour.

It's 11 degrees below zero,

but the skies
are mercifully clear.

After 16 hours,
the airship shadow
falls on the North Pole.

It's 1:25 in the morning,
but at this time of year,

the Pole is bathed
in constant sunlight.

There were three nations
collaborating on
this expedition.

Norway, the United States
and Italy.

Nobile had ordered
Amundsen and Ellsworth
to bring miniature flags

to keep down
the weight and volume
of the Norge's load.

But the proud Italian
didn't let the space
constraints hamper him.

The flag he packed
for the journey

faced no limitations
and dwarfed the others.

They couldn't plant
their flags from the blimp,

so they did
the next best thing.

They dropped them.

The remaining 1,700 miles
of their flight to Alaska
is a bumpy ride.

After 71 hours in the air,

they're forced down
63 miles short
of their destination, Nome,

in the tiny Inuit village
of Teller.

The Norge is dismantled
by the crew.

Its parts end up everywhere
from Seattle to Rome.

Much of its canvas
stays in Teller

where the Inuits use it
to insulate their houses.

In 1928, Nobile returns
to the North Pole
in another airship...

...but crashes.

An international search
is launched for the survivors.

Amundsen joins the search.

He takes off from Norway
in a biplane with five others.

Then, like Nobile,
vanishes without a trace.

Tales of daring adventure
after, after all, a mix
of triumph and tragedy,

and of explorers inextricably
linked with their mode
of transportation.

Venturing into the unknown
takes more than skill
and courage.

Sometimes it requires
a very special vehicle.

Custom tuned
and ready for adventure.

And when you're travelling
to places the Explorers Club
members visit,

it's bound
to be one wild ride.