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30-546: The NASA Academy was founded in 1993 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center by Gerald "Gerry" Soffen . The concept was largely based on the concept of the International Space University . Soffen envisioned the NASA Academy as a leadership program with an inter-disciplinary approach similar to ISU, but without the emphasis on the international and intercultural aspects. Specifically, Soffen created

60-528: A show-within-a-show that plays a part in the plotline to Men in Black II (the faux series is hosted by Peter Graves in the film; coincidentally, Graves once co-starred with Nimoy in Mission: Impossible ). Two other examples are Truth from Legend and Fact from Myth , two nearly identical series existing in alternate universes for which "mini-episodes" were created for YouTube as part of

90-469: A verbal disclaimer about the conjectural nature of the evidence and theories to be presented: This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily the only ones, to the mysteries we will examine. The program included interviews, reenactments, and host segments including Nimoy on location or in studio, and each episode featured voiceovers by Nimoy. The music

120-492: A whole, differentiate it from other NASA leadership development programs: NASA Academy students are typically expected to work long hours: as a general rule, the day is scheduled from 07:30 to 21:00, after which students work on the Team Project or on individual research assignments. However, NASA Academy students are also typically given excellent opportunities, including field trips to other centers and excellent access to

150-483: Is a unique summer experience of higher learning whose goal is to help guide the future leaders of the American Space Program by giving them a glimpse of how the whole system works. — Gerald Soffen , NASA Academy Founder (1926–2000) The NASA Academy states its mission as follows: "to identify and recruit the future leaders of the space exploration community, to introduce them to the key aspects of

180-471: Is also a feature of the annual Space Studies program conducted by International Space University . The Viking 2 lander was posthumously named after Soffen. Additionally, a crater on Mars was named "Soffen" in 2006. The crater is centered at 23.73 degrees S, 140.86 degrees E on Mars. In Search of... (TV series) In Search of... is an American television series that was broadcast weekly from 1976 to 1982, devoted to mysterious phenomena. It

210-419: Is believed to have died only six days after this episode was broadcast, having drowned as a result of a stroke while swimming. At the time of his death, his identity was not widely known. King Tut : Investigates the ancient Egyptian monarch's final days. Was he a beloved leader who died a natural death or did court intrigues lead to his assassination? Carlos, The World's Most Wanted Man: A chilling profile of

240-790: The Loch Ness Monster ). Additionally, it featured episodes about mysterious historical events and personalities such as Anna Anderson , the Lincoln Assassination , the Jack the Ripper murders, infamous cults (e.g., Jim Jones ), and missing persons, cities, and ships (e.g., Amelia Earhart , Jimmy Hoffa , D. B. Cooper , the Mary Celeste , the Titanic , the lost Roanoke Colony ). Each episode's opening credits included

270-428: The "Mission to Planet Earth" program; Soffen also served as the project scientist for NASA's Earth Observing System as that program was starting. Soffen's focus shifted to education starting in 1990, when he led the formation of GSFC's University Programs office and became its manager. Three years into that role, Soffen created NASA Academy , NASA's premiere leadership training internship. During 1990–1992, he served on

300-682: The Science Advisory Committee for Biosphere 2 . Soffen has been memorialized in several ways by his peers and former students. The "Dr. Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education" was established by the NASA Academy Alumni Association "to continue Jerry's commitment to the future of space by supporting motivated students in the fields of space science and engineering". The "Gerald Soffen Memorial Panel/Lecture"

330-697: The Viking's findings up to that time. "We have started what will become an adventure of mankind in searching for not only the lower forms of life but also the search for intelligent life. This is one of the milestones in the course of human destiny to find cousins". Soffen also predicted that mankind would eventually colonize Mars by using Planetary Engineering . He moved to become NASA Langley's Chief Environmental Scientist in 1968, leading work on remote sensing by satellite as well as laboratory experiments, ground-based measurements, and theoretical models. In 1978, after concluding his work with Viking, Soffen became

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360-562: The alumni currently having completed or completing advanced degrees. In addition, Academy alumni account for hundreds of scholarship awards, space agency awards, national awards, professional society awards, and university awards, including five NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-Doctoral Fellows during the past five years -- with at least one in every cohort. Academy alumni are also responsible for hundreds of presentations, projects, publications and patents. —NASA, 2007 Gerald Soffen Gerald A. Soffen (February 7, 1926 – November 22, 2000)

390-483: The best segments from these existing volumes. In 1978, Landsburg produced a Bigfoot documentary using portions of two In Search of... episodes ("The Monster Hunters" and "The Yeti") called Manbeast! Myth or Monster, based on his book In Search of Myths and Monsters. Though Nimoy had written the foreword to Landsburg's book, he did not narrate this documentary. Reruns of the In Search of... series aired during

420-1028: The director of Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters. In this position, Soffen was responsible for the agency-wide program to monitor and maintain the physical well being of NASA astronauts in space, as well as the Biomedical Program, the Space Biology Program, and the Exobiology (also sometimes called the Astrobiology) program. If you ever heard him speak, you know that he was the oratorical equal of luminaries like Carl Sagan. Like Sagan, Soffen spoke cogently, succinctly, and poetically about our search for life beyond earth. In 1983, Soffen transferred from NASA Headquarters to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. Initially, his role at GSFC focused on establishing

450-634: The early 1990s on the A&;E Network . In the later 1990s, the show aired on another of the A&E Television Networks ' properties, the History Channel . The licensing agreement with MCA Television /Universal Domestic Television expired in the early 2000s, ending the show's run. When the show aired on A&E, a re-recording of the original theme music was used plus a new alternate theme. The original opening titles were also modernized. In this incarnation virtually all of Nimoy's on-camera appearances in

480-568: The early 2000s (decade), the NASA Academy at GSFC admitted a French student every year as part of a cooperative agreement with the Centre National d'Études Spatiales , the French space agency. After 14 years, among its alumni are over 50 members with doctorates, 45 employees of NASA centers, 65 NASA contractors, 70 other professionals in aerospace-related fields, 10 math, science and physics teachers, and three CEOs, with approximately 50% of

510-402: The industry, to provide them with critical training, and to build an ever-expanding network of these future leaders, so that these young scientists and engineers are prepared to assume the highest responsibilities of a career dedicated to leadership in space exploration." The 2010 NASA Academy Definitions Document outlines six key criteria that are critical to the program and which, when taken as

540-709: The leaders and decision-makers of the aerospace industry. A NASA Academy class typically varies from 10-20 students per center per year. Participants are selected in a joint effort between the NASA Center, the NASA Academy Alumni Association, the PIs, and the State Space Grant Consortia. Alumni from the previous year's program are typically selected to serve as program coordinators for current sessions. For several years in

570-526: The mid- to late-1970s, Soffen was project scientist for the NASA's Viking program of Mars landers, the first successful missions to perform unmanned experiments on the surface of the planet. In that role, he oversaw all scientific investigations conducted by the landers, coordinating the work of more than seventy scientists around the nation. In 1977, he appeared on an episode of the popular television series In Search Of entitled "Martians" and he spoke about

600-568: The playboy-turned- terrorist called Carlos the Jackal , who was called "The World's Most Wanted Man." UFO Cover-Ups : Examines charges that the U.S. Air Force is hiding alien corpses and the remains of crashed space craft in Hangar 18 of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio . A revival of the series aired on The Sci-Fi Channel for one season, hosted by Mitch Pileggi . A second revival of

630-402: The program explored a general or specific topic in one of several general categories as given in the opening titles: Extraterrestrials, Magic & Witchcraft, Missing Persons, Myths & Monsters, Lost Civilizations, and Special Phenomena (changed to Strange Phenomena from season 3 onward). The program conducted investigations into the controversial and paranormal (e.g., UFOs , Bigfoot , and

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660-604: The program to "give possible 'leaders' a view into how NASA, the university community, and the private sector function; [to] set their priorities; and [to] contribute to the success of the aerospace program." The research focus for any specific NASA Academy can change from year to year. In 2015, the Multidisciplinary Aeronautics Research Team Initiative (MARTI) replaced the Aeronautics Academy. NASA Academy

690-728: The series aired on The History Channel for two seasons, hosted by Zachary Quinto . In February 2012, it was announced that Visual Entertainment , under license from Universal Studios , had acquired the home video rights to the original series for the United States and Canada. In Search of: The Complete Collection was released in Canada and the U.S. on December 11, 2012, from VEI's website. The 21-DVD set includes all 144 installments hosted by Leonard Nimoy. Also included are two Rod Serling specials: In Search of Ancient Astronauts and In Search of Ancient Mysteries which aired prior to

720-571: The series was renewed for a second season. The original series ran for six seasons, hosted by Leonard Nimoy . Anastasia : An examination of evidence that the youngest daughter of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II Aleksandrovich Romanov survived the family executions, and settled in Charlottesville, Virginia . Angel of Death: Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal tracks infamous war criminal Josef Mengele to his hiding place in Paraguay . Mengele

750-497: The series were replaced with reused footage, so viewers could hear Nimoy but not see him. A short-lived revival of the show, featuring Mitch Pileggi , aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2002. In January 2018, it was announced that Zachary Quinto , who, like Nimoy, stars as Spock in the rebooted Star Trek films , would host the revived version of the show on History Channel. On March 27, 2019, History Channel announced

780-561: The start of the regular Nimoy series. Three Landsburg specials The Outer Space Connection (1975), Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle (1978), and Manbeast! Myth or Monster (1978), are not included. VEI also included all eight episodes of the short-lived 2002 series hosted by Mitch Pileggi. The style of the original In Search of... has been paid homage to and parodied by many productions. Examples include Mysteries in History ,

810-600: Was a NASA scientist and educator who served in a wide variety of roles for the space agency, primarily dealing with either education or with life sciences—especially the search for life on Mars. He earned his A.B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles , his M.S. from University of Southern California , and his Ph.D. in Biology from Princeton University . He pursued his postdoctoral work at New York University . Working from NASA's Langley Research Center in

840-819: Was composed by Laurin M. Rinder and W. Michael Lewis. A soundtrack album was released on AVI (American Variety International) Records in 1977. Nimoy wrote an episode about the turbulent life of artist Vincent van Gogh , having earlier played the artist's brother Theo in a one-man show. As part of his research, Nimoy found records in the archives of the hospital where Van Gogh was treated that suggested that he suffered from epilepsy rather than insanity. The show also spawned at least six spin-off books, all written by Landsburg with forewords by Nimoy: In Search of Lost Civilizations, In Search of Extraterrestrials, In Search of Magic and Witchcraft, In Search of Strange Phenomena, In Search of Missing Persons, and In Search of Myths and Monsters, with an additional book that collected

870-478: Was created after the success of three one-hour documentaries produced by creator Alan Landsburg : In Search of Ancient Astronauts in 1973 (based on the 1968 book/ 1970 film Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken ), In Search of Ancient Mysteries (1974), and The Outer Space Connection in 1975 (later adapted into popular paperbacks written by Landsburg), all of which featured narration by Rod Serling , who

900-662: Was the initial choice to host the spin-off show. Serling died before production started, and Leonard Nimoy was then selected to be the host. The series was revived with host Mitch Pileggi in 2002 and again in 2018 with Zachary Quinto for the History channel. The original series was shown in Australia in the 1980s under the title Great Mysteries of the World , with each episode having an introduction and conclusion presented by television presenter Scott Lambert. Each episode of

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