Take a tour through the Art Gallery of the Galaxy and view what are considered the "crown jewels" of the heavens. Nebulas are mysterious clouds of gas that aren't classified as stars, planets, moons or asteroids. Astronomers use the most sophisticated techniques to view them since they are practically invisible to the naked eye. Nothing less than stunning, nebulas glow, reflect or obscure the galaxy's light with amazing swirls of color. Nebulas mark the regions where the nothingness of space first coalesces, where stars are born and where stars die. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth.

Right now cosmic forces prowl the universe and threaten man's very existence. They're asteroids and comets; they've left their imprint on planet Earth, literally. Initially helping to build planets through violent collisions, during this fiery bombardment period they may have even seeded Earth with water and the building blocks for life. Since the turbulent formation of the solar system, these space rocks have continued to impact Earth. Some have been so violent that they've led to mass extinctions, including one that wiped out the dinosaur. New theories suggest that asteroid and comet dust harbour deadly viruses that may have triggered some of our worst pandemics. The possibility of future collisions remains a legitimate threat yet despite their dangers, asteroids and comets may hold vital natural resources, which could actually preserve

Asteroids strike, planets collide, black holes blast out death rays, volcanoes erupt and ice engulfs the planet. These are the universe's weapons of extinction. They've happened before - wiping out entire species, and they will happen again. Are we next?

At 4.6 billion years old, the Solar System is our solid, secure home in the Universe. But how did it come to be? In this episode we trace the system's birth from a thin cloud of dust and gas. Shocked by a nearby supernova, the pull of gravity and natural rotation spun it into a flat disc from which the Sun and planets coalesced. It all happened in the space of 700 million years, during which the planets jockeyed for position, dodging the Late Heavy Bombardment of deadly asteroids and setting into the neat, stable system that we now realize might be a rarity in the universe.

Huge asteroids have smashed into the earth, and turned it into an enveloped fire, uninhabitable to almost all life on the surface. The world will get hit again. It's just a matter of when. So, what should we do as a species? Should we just, like the dinosaurs, look up and die? The reasons the dinosaurs are extinct is they didn't have a space program. We do. We have the capability to perhaps escape the Earth.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield believes the only chance for human survival is to escape from Earth and build a space colony, but there are real barriers.

The mission of NASA's Osiris-Rex is to intercept a giant space rock and crack the mysteries of a potential killer asteroid. Can it unlock how asteroids kick-start life on Earth and reveal why they might be our ticket to other worlds? To find out, we take a ride with one of NASA's most ambitious missions to investigate a space rock in more detail than ever before, to reveal how asteroids will rewrite the past and forge the future of our solar system.