A Beautiful Planet calls Earth's atmosphere "a delicate cocoon of air that shields us from our star's radiation." Of course, the atmosphere doesn't completely block electromagnetic radiation from the Sun; without some sunlight reaching the surface, plants could not harvest the Sun's energy, and practically no life as we know it could exist. The atmosphere's ozone layer does filter out much of the harmful ultraviolet light (or "UV rays") produced by the Sun. UV rays can cause skin cancer, and catastrophic damage to the ozone layer may have contributed to Earth's most extensive mass extinction of species ever, the End-Permian extinction (also known
I Was a Satellite of the Sun is responsible for deadly radiation. Animated scenes explain orbital dynamics, auroras, solar radiation, and other scientific topics. The first panel reads: "In episodes" "Uncredited" I Was a Satellite of the Sun I Was a Satellite of the Sun - () Soviet feature dramatic science-fiction film of 1959 with animation elements. The story is told as an autobiography of the astronaut character Andrew, and set in the future, where space flight is common. Scientist/Astronaut Petrovich pioneers the way to the Sun, but his spacecraft is never heard from again. Later, Andrew's laboratory investigates means of protection from deadly radiation. Andrew repeats