Roving Mars

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00:00:25 Space exploration began with dreaming.
00:00:31 into the heavens and wondering, "How
00:00:37 The earliest answers
00:00:41 Now, they are sought
00:00:46 And while each mission increases
00:00:49 it also leads our imagination
00:00:53 How did life begin? Did it happen
00:00:59 The answer may lie on Mars.
00:01:09 ROVING MARS
00:01:32 Mars today is desolate, dry, and barren.
00:01:35 And at first glance, has little in
00:01:40 And yet from orbit, we see what looked
00:01:46 Clues that three or four billion years ago,
00:01:49 Mars may once have been wetter and
00:01:53 And since life blossomed here on Earth,
00:01:58 Did it ever take place on Mars?
00:02:12 To answer this question, NASA's jet
00:02:17 of scientists and engineers whose mission
00:02:23 what was needed to support life.
00:02:26 A geologist and astronomer at
00:02:30 Steve Squyres, was chosen to lead
00:02:33 As principal investigator, he would direct
00:02:37 life's most essential resource: water.
00:02:42 I've been working on the question of water
00:02:45 You can't learn what you need from
00:02:49 A geologist is sort of like a detective
00:02:55 Um, somethin' happened here a long time ago.
00:02:57 Was it warm? Was it wet?
00:03:02 The key is in the clues and the
00:03:06 On Earth, a geologist can find
00:03:09 crack it open with a hammer,
00:03:11 But we're not ready to send
00:03:22 So we had to build a robot geologist.
00:03:24 And the only place this could be done
00:03:27 where some of the most innovative
00:03:31 We're talking about a robot.
00:03:34 land on the surface, take a look around,
00:03:41 carrying everything it needs with it:
00:03:43 cameras, instruments, communications
00:03:50 Something that can look inside rocks
00:03:53 what clues those rocks hold.
00:04:03 This place, to me, is almost sacred.
00:04:06 This is the place where our rovers
00:04:09 before they leave this planet.
00:04:11 Everything that we do in this room must
00:04:20 Over four thousand people have worked
00:04:24 For every single piece of this spacecraft
00:04:27 there was a person somewhere who conceived
00:04:31 Who took it from a concept to
00:04:38 It's taken this team three years to design
00:04:42 and we still have work to do.
00:04:47 We can only launch when the two planets are
00:04:51 and that's just a month away.
00:04:53 But we still have tests to run.
00:04:56 We're working almost around the clock
00:05:08 There's no one person who can really get
00:05:11 "I understand everything about this vehicle."
00:05:16 It's now burst the bounds
00:05:22 Well this rover is-is more than just
00:05:25 This rover also has to be a-a spacecraft.
00:05:29 It actually has to fly itself from
00:05:32 In addition, it has to do the very subtle
00:05:37 of all the things that happen as it enters
00:05:40 We had to stuff all that intelligence
00:05:46 that little six-wheel vehicle back there, so
00:05:54 I call our spacecraft "The Origami Spacecraft,"
00:05:58 a complicated series of folds.
00:06:00 We've had to punch holes in the lander
00:06:04 We've had to fold everything into these
00:06:09 to fit inside this tetrahedron.
00:06:15 It's beautiful, but at a price.
00:06:25 There have been missions to Mars
00:06:27 There've been dozens of them.
00:06:32 Mars is a spacecraft graveyard.
00:06:37 A spacecraft has to travel about three
00:06:42 at about sixty thousand miles an hour.
00:06:45 But it still takes seven months
00:06:48 Trying to hit our landing sites from that
00:06:51 from Los Angeles to New York and having it
00:07:03 The smallest mistake on our part
00:07:07 Two of the last three missions
00:07:12 One spacecraft burned up in
00:07:14 the other one crashed on the surface.
00:07:17 This time, NASA decided to send
00:07:20 to double our chances of success.
00:07:26 The two rovers are named Spirit
00:07:32 The rovers have very different
00:07:34 They did even when they were babies,
00:07:37 Spirit was our troublesome first-born.
00:07:40 Every test we ran, it seemed
00:07:42 and the first time you try
00:07:46 So we'd run these tests on Spirit and
00:07:49 and we'd run another test
00:07:51 By the time we got to Opportunity,
00:07:53 we'd learn stuff and things
00:08:14 The biggest problem was that we
00:08:17 of the rovers. Once we realized how
00:08:21 we also realized that the
00:08:22 couldn't get them to the ground
00:08:29 As the rover got heavier,
00:08:31 As the lander got heavier,
00:08:33 The whole thing got heavier
00:08:35 From the very beginning on this mission,
00:08:41 The air bags are like the air bags in
00:08:44 They inflate explosively around the
00:08:52 The first time we tested them,
00:09:00 The setbacks we knew
00:09:01 I always tell people when
00:09:03 Uh, the same thing probably what happened
00:09:07 Captain Cook in their exploration.
00:09:08 Uh, what is guaranteed is that
00:09:12 Three...two...one.
00:09:17 These rovers have to land
00:09:23 The parachute design we
00:09:26 The lander had gotten so heavy that
00:09:30 We were practically out of time and
00:09:33 would destroy
00:09:36 We had to build a whole 'nother set of new designs.
00:09:40 No less than three or four
00:09:47 We were running out of money,
00:09:53 Uh, well, I mean, the drop was successful.
00:09:56 Yeah.
00:09:57 See, uh, the fact that, uh, the parachute
00:10:01 Well, yeah, I'd rather have it
00:10:04 Mars.
00:10:04 Yeah.
00:10:05 That's right. Unfortunately, strictly
00:10:10 was the chute that we
00:10:50 Mars is a tough place to send a spacecraft.
00:10:53 The average temperature is sixty degrees
00:10:55 It goes down to a hundred below zero
00:10:59 There can be dust storms
00:11:03 But if the rovers make it, they'll give us
00:11:05 what it would be like to be on Mars.
00:11:08 We'll be able to look off into the distance
00:11:11 and then actually go and see what we find.
00:11:25 The rover's arm has the same dimensions
00:11:28 an elbow, and a wrist. The arm tucks up
00:11:33 for when we drive around. But when
00:11:36 the arm unstows and reaches out
00:11:41 to place the instruments on a rock
00:11:49 The hand has four fingers. One is a
00:11:53 to tell us, in detail, what the rocks are made of.
00:11:56 And the fourth one is called the RAT.
00:11:58 The Rock Abrasion Tool.
00:12:03 MARS
00:12:07 To examine the rocks, we've got to
00:12:12 So to deal with the bumps, our engineers
00:12:15 rocker-bogie suspension system. It's a very
00:12:19 the six wheels to go up and over
00:12:23 while the rover itself hardly tilts at all.
00:12:31 'Kay. Come on in, guys.
00:12:34 Stay clear of this thing 'cause
00:12:36 Watch! Watch the wheels. Watch the wheels.
00:12:39 It goes way beyond this single mission.
00:12:41 See that?
00:12:41 The eventual goal is to send humans to Mars.
00:12:44 But the first person to walk on
00:12:46 It's someone in high school.
00:12:51 So it's turnin' in place, then when it gets
00:12:54 we're gonna drive it backwards.
00:13:02 We've invested so much work...
00:13:05 so much of our hopes and our
00:13:11 And then when you think about
00:13:12 the ride they're gonna get on
00:13:16 what it's gonna be like when
00:13:18 at mach two goin' through
00:13:30 You're standing next to this little robot
00:13:34 the surface of another world.
00:13:44 And once they're gone, that's it.
00:13:47 we're never gonna see
00:13:51 We've done everything we can to prepare them
00:13:55 But it's gonna be very hard to say goodbye.
00:14:54 NASA
00:15:18 Spirit will be launched first, then
00:15:24 Mars and Earth are both orbiting the sun so
00:15:27 relative to each other.
00:15:30 there's a brief interval when the
00:15:35 At that time, and only at that time,
00:15:40 So this is our one shot.
00:17:41 We don't fire a rocket motor
00:17:43 We don't need to. We just place the
00:17:49 to Mars and let it
00:17:52 million miles until it reaches the planet.
00:17:57 Once it's been pushed on it's way
00:18:00 it has to, uh, maintain its orientation
00:18:05 to correct its orientation and
00:18:08 and-and get to this very, very tiny,
00:18:15 So all that has to take place over the
00:18:30 7 MONTHS AFTER LAUNCH
00:18:36 SPIRIT LANDING DAY
00:18:47 Planning is when the real challenge begins.
00:18:50 Mars is so far away it takes about ten
00:18:54 one way between Mars and Earth.
00:18:59 you first hit the top of the Martian
00:19:01 we're bouncing on the surface.
00:19:03 So there's nothing we can do
00:19:06 The rovers are on their own, and we're just
00:19:10 waiting for a radio signal that shows
00:19:13 Not going to be an issue. The current
00:19:23 Celsius which, um, is close to the
00:19:29 However...
00:19:31 There are so many things that can go wrong.
00:19:34 The flight computer has to know precisely
00:19:37 If it deploys it too high, when the
00:19:41 will just rip it to shreds.
00:19:43 If we deploy the parachute too low of an
00:19:47 and it
00:19:51 The trick is, every time there's
00:19:54 the parachute deploys, the heat
00:19:58 of the radio signal.
00:20:00 And so Polly's sitting at her console and
00:20:04 and when the number changes,
00:20:08 That event has happened.
00:20:14 Flight director, Jason Willis, reporting
00:20:18 descent and landing.
00:20:20 forty-eight seconds from landing at the
00:20:22 in the southern hemisphere of Mars.
00:20:33 Atmospheric entry in three...two...one.
00:20:46 We have just passed one minute
00:20:48 Current altitude: one hundred
00:20:50 Current velocity: twelve thousand
00:20:55 We are now at an altitude
00:20:57 moving at a speed of twelve thousand
00:21:00 Expected parachute deploy in five seconds.
00:21:12 We're awaiting confirmation the
00:21:18 Parachute's been detected.
00:21:24 Heat shield deployed event.
00:21:25 Uh, spacecraft reporting that heat
00:21:30 Spacecraft reporting lander has separated.
00:21:32 one hundred seventy-three miles per hour.
00:21:39 Expected retro rocket ignition on my mark.
00:21:49 At this point in time,
00:21:56 Any signal that we receive from now
00:22:00 on the ground, and bouncing.
00:22:09 The spacecraft has to survive all the
00:22:21 No signal at the moment.
00:22:24 Standby.
00:22:27 Signal strength is currently intermittent.
00:22:32 We don't see a signal at the moment.
00:22:35 Right. We saw an intermittent signal
00:22:38 however...however, we currently
00:22:43 Okay.
00:22:49 This time, we're approximately ten minutes
00:22:51 The vehicle should have
00:22:53 The deep space network stations at Goldstone
00:23:07 They see it.
00:23:08 What do we see?
00:23:09 We've got the signal!
00:24:22 The first thing we have to do after
00:24:25 to the sun so we'll have some power.
00:24:33 After that, we can deploy the camera
00:24:37 and deploy the antenna so
00:25:01 Our first pictures from Mars!
00:25:22 Look at that!
00:25:46 We could not have imaged returns
00:25:54 as successful as this, and in the
00:26:00 Uh, ladies and gentlemen, Mars.
00:26:23 We sent Spirit to Gusev Crater, a crater
00:26:27 It's a hundred miles in diameter.
00:26:29 What makes it special is that emptying
00:26:34 So Gusev is a hole in the ground
00:26:37 There has to have been a lake
00:26:41 We sent Spirit there to seek out sediments.
00:26:44 To look for sedimentary rocks that
00:26:50 Once we landed, I think the scariest
00:26:52 was the initial unfolding of the rover.
00:27:02 There are so many gears and springs
00:27:06 that have to work just right or you're done.
00:27:19 Once everything's deployed,
00:27:22 We can look off into the distance with our
00:27:26 and we can learn a lot from a distance of
00:27:31 look like and what they're made of.
00:27:35 a composition that looks interesting to us,
00:27:38 and check it out in detail.
00:27:50 For driving, the rover has these kinda
00:27:53 to take images of the terrain in front
00:27:57 and they provide sort of a fish-eye view.
00:28:03 make it's own decisions about how to drive.
00:28:06 It'll drive forward and then take
00:28:08 "That's too big, I have to go around that."
00:28:11 and just move on.
00:28:14 But we can actually program different
00:28:18 into the rover, telling it how aggressive it
00:28:21 we think the terrain is.
00:28:26 These rovers are so complicated, that it
00:28:30 So when we operate 'em, we'll normally
00:28:36 The first rock that we looked at was this
00:28:41 When a rock sits on the surface of a planet,
00:28:45 When it's exposed to sunlight or humidity
00:28:48 can be modified and the evidence of
00:28:52 So to get to the clues you need,
00:28:56 below the weathered surface.
00:28:59 The key to understanding Adirondack
00:29:03 The RAT gives us the ability to grind into a
00:29:07 evidence inside.
00:29:21 So we put a RAT hole into Adirondack
00:29:26 We looked at it with our cameras,
00:29:29 we looked at it with our microscope.
00:29:32 It's not a sedimentary rock.
00:29:36 is a piece of lava too. This was a huge
00:29:40 We came to Gusev Crater looking
00:29:43 long ago in a lake, but what we
00:29:48 The sedimentary rock must be there but it's
00:29:52 and we couldn't get to it.
00:29:56 When we realized that we hadn't
00:29:59 we decided we had to go some place else.
00:30:03 there's this spectacular range
00:30:06 You gotta remember that Spirit was designed
00:30:11 over its lifetime.
00:30:13 So we set out for those hills not
00:30:19 Meanwhile, on the other side of Mars,
00:30:49 When Opportunity landed at Eagle Crater,
00:30:51 it was a three-hundred million mile
00:30:57 We rolled to a stop right in
00:31:00 Bedrock is geologic truth. Opportunity
00:31:14 When we drove off the lander
00:31:17 we saw that it was littered with what looked
00:31:20 An uncountable number
00:31:25 We took out our microscope,
00:31:27 and looked at the soil in detail and
00:31:31 They were perfect spheres.
00:31:37 how I felt when I saw that first picture.
00:31:48 When we got to the outcrop
00:31:51 that the spheres are embedded in the
00:31:56 The rock erodes away and
00:31:58 And roll down into the soil.
00:32:04 The blueberries, it turns out,
00:32:06 a mineral that on Earth is
00:32:09 Next, we found jarosite, which is a
00:32:14 unless there had been water in the rocks.
00:32:18 Our most extraordinary discovery
00:32:23 Ancient ripples that formed when water
00:32:27 billions of years ago.
00:32:29 So there wasn't just water underground
00:32:39 Opportunity discovered that
00:32:42 Mars was most
00:32:44 It was a place that, for some interval of
00:32:49 Decades of work paid off with this discovery.
00:32:55 Billions of years ago there were shallow,
00:32:59 Don't think an ocean, think of salt flats.
00:33:02 And the water may not have
00:33:04 In fact, it may have been so acid
00:33:09 and made wine-red pools under a
00:33:29 All the discoveries that Opportunity
00:33:32 happened in the first six weeks of the mission.
00:33:36 I call Opportunity
00:33:39 Opportunity lands in this place
00:33:43 The driving is
00:33:50 Spirit, our kinda tough hard-working
00:33:53 in this awful, rocky, rugged place
00:33:58 the nearest interesting rocks and has to
00:34:01 just to begin her mission.
00:34:07 Spirit had to work for everything,
00:34:14 We use the power that comes from the
00:34:17 and to charge the batteries.
00:34:20 On the way to the Columbia Hills, Spirit's
00:34:25 We were getting to the point where
00:34:30 Then, one wonderful day we, climbed
00:34:34 we were hit by not one but several gusts of
00:34:39 It was like having a brand new rover.
00:34:46 and started to find stuff that was different
00:34:49 There were salt deposits in
00:34:52 that clearly had been altered by water.
00:34:56 but Spirit finally showed us there had
00:35:01 She gave us exactly what we needed.
00:35:07 These rovers were designed
00:35:10 and they've already done many times that.
00:35:14 They're work horses. They say,
00:35:17 We can go further, we can go faster."
00:35:20 than they were ever intended to.
00:35:28 We don't know what will kill these rovers;
00:35:32 lubrication goes away in the motors,
00:35:35 We have no idea what will happen.
00:35:43 But they're not gonna last forever.
00:35:46 the solar arrays keep getting dirty.
00:35:48 What could happen, with time,
00:35:52 to charge the batteries enough
00:35:54 And if that happens,
00:35:57 And one morning, it just won't wake up.
00:36:08 Spirit and Opportunity have shown us that
00:36:12 Mars had the essential ingredients for life.
00:36:18 of life itself. Right now,
00:36:19 We may be all there is.
00:36:27 But if you can show that life
00:36:31 and then you considere the
00:36:35 it takes no great leap of imagination to
00:36:39 life might be a common phenomenon
00:36:50 Our rovers have gone farther, harder,
00:36:54 believed possible. They've done heroic work.
00:36:58 But some day we won't need robots.
00:37:02 Some day, there'll be humans on the surface
00:37:18 This mission has put us on
00:37:20 more about Mars and about ourselves.
00:37:23 But right now, Spirit and Opportunity
00:37:28 It's not just
00:37:33 In many ways, they are our wildest dreams.
00:37:38 Made by Velese (www.velese.ws)