1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And on February twenty one, 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: NASA celebrated upon receiving word that the Mars rover called Perseverance, 6 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: had touchdown safely upon the Red planet. And if you 7 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: listen to Monday's episode, you heard me cover the basics 8 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: of the rover, including all the instruments in tech that 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: it's carrying. Today, I thought I would talk more about 10 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: the journey to launching that rover and what it's been 11 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: doing up on Mars since it touched down a couple 12 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: of weeks ago. Now, when it comes to space missions, 13 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: a lot of factors come into play. There's the tech, obviously, 14 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: I mean without the tech, we wouldn't be able to 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: get to space or do anything useful once we're out there. 16 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: But there's also money and politics, two factors that can 17 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: actually make or break space missions. In fact, the whole 18 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: purpose of the space race, when you really boil it down, 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: was because of political pressures between the United States and 20 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union. We had a lot of benefits that 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: came out of it that had nothing to do with politics, 22 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: But the money would never have been there had it 23 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: not been for that political pressure. Personally, I wish it 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: were otherwise. I would love it if just the pursuit 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: of knowledge was enough for us, But we live in 26 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: the real world. NASA, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 27 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: is a US federal government agency, and as such, it 28 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: is particularly subject to the whims of politics and budget committees, 29 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: and that means it can be really tough to make 30 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,919 Speaker 1: long term plans, as changes in the government can really 31 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: shake things up from one group of leaders to the next. 32 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: This is no small matter. The person in charge of 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: leading NASA gets that job through political appointment. The President 34 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: of the United States appoints the nominee, who then must 35 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: receive approval from the US Senate. This administrator is both 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: the head of NASA as well as the top advisor 37 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: when it comes to matters involving space. Every four years 38 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: in the United States we have presidential elections, and when 39 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: those elections lead to a change in which political party 40 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: is holding the executive branch that is the president, well, 41 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: that typically means we also will see a change in 42 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 1: leadership at NASA. Since the agency's founding in the late 43 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, there have been thirteen official administrators and another 44 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: eleven acting administrators, meaning they were filling in the position 45 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: while a new administration was in the process of choosing 46 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: a successor. Oh and uh. Of those acting administrators, Alan 47 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 1: love Lace, actually served as that role twice. So leadership 48 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: at NASA has changed twenty four times since the agency 49 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: was founded in October night. If we were to average 50 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: that out, it would mean that the head of the 51 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:20,239 Speaker 1: agency changes every you know, two point six years or so. Now, 52 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: if you've listened to tech stuff for a while, or 53 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: if you've listened to a show I used to do 54 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: with aerial casting called Business on the Brink, you've heard 55 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: stories about companies that were plagued with issues that either 56 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: caused or contributed to a sort of revolving door situation 57 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: at the executive leadership level. And when you've got top 58 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: leadership changing frequently, it can be difficult to maintain momentum 59 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: or a long term strategy. And when it comes to space, 60 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: you you have to plan long term because the amount 61 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: of time it takes to conceive, develop, produce, and execute 62 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: a mission can span several years or even more than 63 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: a decade. Long term plans are hard y'all. Many of 64 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: NASA's long term plans have focused on Mars, and I 65 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: would say we're still firmly in the phase of learning 66 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: about Mars itself. We know a lot about the planet already, 67 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: but there are many questions that we still have. So 68 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: let's do a quick rundown on stuff we already know 69 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: about Mars. And first let's get the obvious stuff out 70 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: of the way. It's the fourth planet out from the Sun, 71 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: which makes Earth and Jupiter. It's next door neighbors. It's 72 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: smaller than Earth. The diameter of Mars is a bit 73 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: more than half of Earth's diameter. The Earth has about 74 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: ten times the mass of Mars. This also means that 75 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: the gravity on Mars is less than what you would 76 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: experience here on Earth. On Mars, you would weigh about 77 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: thirty eight percent of what you weigh here on Earth. 78 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: Of course, your mass would remain the same. Mass doesn't change, 79 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: but your weight would change. And we call it the 80 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: red planet because it's red, So that okay, that that 81 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: that makes sense. And it's also a planet, so that 82 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: also I mean that it tracts. And we know why 83 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: it's red too. It's red because of the regulars on Mars, 84 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: that's what we call the rocks and the loose soil 85 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: on the surface, it happens to be rich with iron, 86 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: and as we know, rust is the product of oxidation. 87 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 1: So it's time for some chemistry, all right. So the 88 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: simple formula is that you get iron or f E 89 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: on the elemental table and you get an oxidizer. Here 90 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 1: on Earth, the most common combination tends to be iron 91 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,039 Speaker 1: water and oxygen. Water is more like a catalyst. In 92 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: this case, iron exposed just oxygen does oxidize, but the 93 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 1: process is fairly slow. Water speeds us up a lot, 94 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: and if the water has a lot of electrolytes, which 95 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: is not just what plants crave, then the process happens 96 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: even faster. That's why iron exposed to salt water will 97 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: rust pretty darn quickly. Now does that mean the iron 98 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: on Mars rusted in a similar way, perhaps due to 99 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: torrential rainstorms. Well maybe that's one hypothesis, but there are 100 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: other possibilities, such as solar radiation breaking down molecules like 101 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide into oxidants that rusted the iron over the 102 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: course of millions of years, or there might be several 103 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: reasons combined that led to the oxidation process, but Mars 104 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: is reddish color was one of the reasons scientists suspected 105 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 1: that water is or was on the surface of the 106 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: planet before we were able to actually verify. Oxidizing reactions 107 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: can be either endothermic or exothermic. That means that, depending 108 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: upon the actual reactants, you might need to add heat 109 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: to cause the oxidation process to start, or the process 110 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: itself might really ease heat. So with iron oxidation, you're 111 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: talking about an exothermic reaction, meaning it does generate heat. 112 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: If you expose a very tiny speck of pure iron 113 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: to an environment that has oxygen and maybe some water 114 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: vapor like you know our atmosphere does, well, that spec 115 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: will oxidize very quickly and release more heat than can 116 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: disperse through that tiny tiny piece of iron. We're talking 117 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: like itty bitty little flecks of iron. So you end 118 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: up getting a super hot fleck of iron because the 119 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: heat can't disperse quickly enough, and that ends up being 120 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: a spark. Anyway, that's kind of getting off track. More 121 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: to the point. The fact that Mars has rust on. 122 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: It tells us that iron and some sort of oxidizer 123 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: have to be or at least had to be present, 124 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: and it brought up the possibility that the planet has 125 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: or had water on it. This would be one of 126 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: the facts that we were trying to establish for a 127 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: long time with various observations and Mars missions, and we 128 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: did eventually mind ice on Mars. Mars is also very cold. 129 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: The average temperature on Mars is minus eighty one degrees 130 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: fahrenheit or nearly minus sixty three celsius, and the atmosphere 131 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: on Mars is primarily carbon dioxide. We would not be 132 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: able to breathe there. It's a very thin atmosphere too, 133 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: so not not a whole lot of it, and most 134 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: of its carbon dioxide. Mars has two moons, Damos and Phobos, 135 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: both discovered by astronomer A Esop Hall in eighty seven. 136 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,319 Speaker 1: Hall had almost given up looking for moons around Mars, 137 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: but his wife Angelina encouraged him to keep looking, and 138 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: according to the story, he found both of them within 139 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: that week. So I think we all owe Angelina credit 140 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: for this as well. It's no surprise that the two 141 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: moons were difficult to spot. They are two of the 142 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,239 Speaker 1: smallest moons in our Solar system. Phobos is the larger 143 00:08:57,280 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: of the two by a little bit, and it also 144 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: orbits Mars at a really low altitude of six thousand 145 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: kilometers or just three thousand, seven hundred miles. Now, for comparison, 146 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: our own moon around Earth is three hundred eighty four 147 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: thousand kilometers or two hundred thirty eight thousand, nine hundred 148 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: miles away. So Phobos is super close to Mars, and 149 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons why it's very hard to spot. 150 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: There's not a whole lot of distance between Phobos and 151 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: the planet it orbits, and it's very tiny, so picking 152 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: it out in the nineteenth century was really hard to do. Dams, 153 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: while smaller, is also a bit further out in its orbit, 154 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: and this also means that the two moons have vastly 155 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: different cycles. Phobos orbits Mars three times per day and 156 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: Dams takes about thirty hours to do a full circuit 157 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: around Mars. Phobus is fate is also sealed. Every year 158 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: it gets a little bit closer to Mars because its 159 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: orbit is decaying and in line and by in time 160 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: I mean like fifty million years or so it will 161 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: either collide with Mars or it might break apart into 162 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: eighty eight pieces, and then Mars will get a ring. 163 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: Come on, we all know Mars deserves a ring. Beyonce 164 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: would agree with me. Both Phobos and Damos always present 165 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: the same face to Mars, which makes them kind of 166 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: like our moon. You know, if you look up at 167 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: the moon, you're always looking at the same face of 168 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: the moon. And by the way, this is a good 169 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: time to remind people that the phrase dark side of 170 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: the moon doesn't mean that one side of the moon, 171 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: either Earth's moon or Mars's moon, is always dark. There 172 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: is a light side and a dark side of these moons, 173 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 1: but the sides change because of the cycles, just as 174 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: Earth always has a side that is, you know, lit up, 175 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 1: and another side that's dark. But it's not like it 176 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: stays that way all the time. That's why we have 177 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: night and day. Now, all that being said, it's possible 178 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 1: that future trips tomorrow Mars might use these moons as 179 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: a forward base. For one thing, If you established the 180 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: base on the side of the moons that always face Mars, 181 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: you've got the rest of the Moon behind you blocking 182 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: radiation from space and the Sun in particular for most 183 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: of the time, which is a good thing because, as 184 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: we all know, space is always trying to kill you, 185 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: and cosmic radiation is one of the many weapons of choice, 186 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: along with stuff like you know, the lack of a 187 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: breathable atmosphere and the effects of vacuums on humans and 188 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: long term effects of exposure to micro gravity. I've done 189 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: full episodes about how space is trying to kill you. 190 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: I guess it's a good time to transition to some 191 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: of the missions that various countries have launched to get 192 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: more info on Mars. There's a lot more that we 193 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: know about Mars. For example, it doesn't have tectonic plates 194 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: the way Earth does. Uh. It has the largest volcano 195 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: is in the Solar System, but none of them are active. 196 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: They've all gone extinct millennia ago. It doesn't have a 197 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: magnetic field the way the Earth does. That has lots 198 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: of consequences from Mars, one of which is that the 199 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: solar wind from the Sun is gradually siphoning off Mars' 200 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: atmosphere over you know, millions of years. So there are 201 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: other things we know, but let's let's talk about some 202 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: of the missions we've sent to Mars to learn more 203 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: about it. The first successful Mars mission was Mariner four, 204 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: which did a fly by of the planet in nineteen 205 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: sixty five. There have been other attempts that predated Mariner four, 206 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: but NASA's Mariner four was the first to actually make it. 207 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: All the others had mission failures. A few years later, 208 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: Mariner six and Mariner seven followed suit, and then the 209 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: former uss ARE launched its own successful orbiter spacecraft in 210 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one. The first space have to land on Mars, 211 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 1: you know, without actually crashing into it, was the Mars 212 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: Pathfinder with the Sojourner rover, which launched in nineteen and 213 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:16,679 Speaker 1: landed in n Sojourner remained in operation for less than 214 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: ninety earth days. There wouldn't be another successful landing on 215 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: Mars until two thousand three. That's when NASA had its 216 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: Mars Exploration Rover mission and launched a pair of rovers 217 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: to the Red planet. One was called Spirit, the other Opportunity. 218 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: They launched a few weeks apart in the summer of 219 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: two thousand three and landed on Mars in January two 220 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: thousand four, in very different locations on the planet. Both 221 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: of these Rovers made contact by using a parachute and 222 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: then retro rockets and then massive air bags, so the 223 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: landing was a bumpy one. Mars atmosphere is thin, but 224 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: it does exist, so parachutes are viable presuming that what 225 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: where it is you're trying to land on Mars isn't 226 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: too heavy, and they don't slow you down as much 227 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: as they would on Earth because there's just not as 228 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: much atmosphere to catch and slow you down. These rovers 229 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: also stayed in service a very long time. Spirit gave 230 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: up the Ghost pun intended in but Opportunity remained active 231 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: until the main purpose of these rovers was to look 232 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: for signs of past water activity on the surface of Mars. 233 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: While Spirit would get stuck in two thousand nine and 234 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: finish out its mission as a stationary platform kind of 235 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: like a lander, Opportunity kept working until it was clear 236 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: that it was beyond reach and had expired. The NASA 237 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: Social team shared the message my battery is low and 238 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: it's getting dark, and frankly, a lot of people on 239 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: the Internet got very sad that this robot on Mars 240 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: was going offline. By that time, people had sort of 241 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: a scry a kind of personality and life to this 242 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: robot in no small thanks to the NASA Social team, 243 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: and people got really caught up on how this robot 244 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: was so far from home and all alone and I'm sorry, 245 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: I can't read my notes because something's in my eye. 246 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: The Spirit and Opportunity were each doing science long after 247 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: their initial planned missions, which was great, but Mars missions 248 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: don't always go that way. The Phoenix Lander, which wasn't 249 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: a rover but a stationary Mars science platform, launched on 250 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: August four, two thousand seven. It landed on Mars on 251 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: May two thousand eight. It also used a parachute and 252 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: thrusters during landing, achieving a soft landing in the process, 253 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: and it landed near the polar region of the northern 254 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: part of Mars, and scientists knew that it was going 255 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: to have a pretty short useful life, or at least 256 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: was likely to, because, as George R. R. Martin would say, 257 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: winter is coming. The Phoenix Lander operated until NASA lost 258 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: contact with it in November two eight, essentially six months 259 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: after it had landed. By that time, sun exposure on 260 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: that part of Mars was very low, which meant the 261 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: lander couldn't get enough energy for its solar panels in 262 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: order to recharge its battery. But it did do a 263 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: lot of science in those six months, examining the polar climate, 264 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: the composition of the lower atmosphere on that part of Mars, 265 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: and studying the history of water and ice on Mars. 266 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: It might not have had a very long life like 267 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: Spirit or Opportunity, but it did do a ton of work. 268 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: Then we move up to twenty eleven with the launch 269 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: of the Mars Science Laboratory, better known to the rest 270 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: of us as the Curiosity Rover. This one was much 271 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: bigger than the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. It weighed in 272 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: at more than a ton at least on Earth Martian gravity, 273 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: being about a third of Earth's gravity, and as I 274 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: mentioned in the pre Perseverance episode, Curiosity required an up 275 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: to that point unique approach with a sky crane. So 276 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,679 Speaker 1: think of it as a platform that uses rockets to 277 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: maintain a position above a specific point on Mars, kind 278 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: of hovering above it, and then it lowers the rover 279 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: jeep sized rover down to the ground below with cables. 280 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,679 Speaker 1: Perseverance would use a very similar method, but again I 281 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: covered that in the previous episode, so I'm not going 282 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: to repeat it here, because all chances are you've heard 283 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: it already. In ten, NASA launched the Insight Lander, which 284 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: touched down on Mars in November of that year. Insight 285 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: is kind of like a Martian weather station. It monitors 286 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: stuff like wind, pressure and speed, temperature and so on, 287 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: but it's also measuring seismic activity on Mars, and it 288 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: attempted to get a temperature reading of the planet's interior, 289 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,640 Speaker 1: but it turned out that the clumpy nature of Martian 290 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: soil meant that the temperature probe wasn't able to get 291 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: enough purchase to dig down in order to do the work. 292 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,120 Speaker 1: Mars is hard, y'all. Now, when we come back, we'll 293 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: talk more about the lead up to Perseverance itself, but 294 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:22,400 Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break. So as of this recording, 295 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: there have been forty nine attempts to send missions to Mars, 296 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: whether a fly by spacecraft, an orbiter, a lander, or 297 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,640 Speaker 1: a rover, and some of the missions, to be fair, 298 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 1: had multiple components. So out of all those missions, about 299 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: half were outright failures and some of the remaining were 300 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: really only partial successes. There's never a guarantee that any 301 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: one mission is going to achieve its goals. So when 302 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: we factor all this in that NASA's leadership changes pretty regularly, 303 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,679 Speaker 1: that if you miss a launch window to Mars you 304 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: have to wait two and a half years to try again. 305 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,719 Speaker 1: It even when things line up you might have a 306 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: fifty chance of success, you start to see how the 307 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: odds are stacking up against you. And of course there's 308 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: also the matter of budget. Because NASA is a government agency, 309 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: it has to appeal to Congress for its budget, and 310 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: since twenty ten, Congress has granted NASA the equivalent of 311 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: around half a percent of the total federal budget, or 312 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: between eighteen and twenty one billion dollars depending on the year. Now, 313 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: this isn't just a blank check. The administration at the 314 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,120 Speaker 1: White House gets a big say in where that money goes. 315 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: When Barack Obama announced his administration's space policy, it really 316 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: shook things up quite a bit over at NASA. For 317 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: one thing, it removed all funding for the Constellation program, 318 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: which had as its mission objectives the funding of vehicles 319 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: that could launch crews to low Earth orbit, the Moon 320 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: and ultimately to Mars. But it had gone over budget. 321 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: It was under funded despite being over budget. In other words, 322 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: it was going to be way more expensive than what 323 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: anyone had anticipated, and there had been numerous delays. So 324 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:15,359 Speaker 1: after a thorough review of the program, UH, the White 325 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: House decided to no longer funded. This, by the way, 326 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: remains a controversial decision. There were some within NASA who 327 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: adamantly disagreed with the decision. There were others who were 328 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: saying that perhaps it was merited. UH. I probably need 329 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: to do a full episode about the Constellation project at 330 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: some point and really dive into all sides of that story. Anyway, 331 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: back in twenty sixteen, the European Space Agency had to 332 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: go it alone with a mission that had intended to 333 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: be a joint effort between the e s A and NASA, 334 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: and the reason NASA was no longer part of this 335 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,640 Speaker 1: dance was because of changes to NASA's budget in general. 336 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: Around twenty twelve, the White House budget request US began 337 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: to allocate less money to go towards unmanned missions to 338 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: Mars and more money dedicated toward human exploration and commercial spaceflight. 339 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: New goals included a mission that would ultimately send astronauts 340 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: to an asteroid, something that still hasn't happened as of 341 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: right now. Oh and also some funding went toward the 342 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,880 Speaker 1: launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, something else that 343 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: hasn't happened yet. When the James Webb Telescope was first proposed, 344 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: the target launch was let me check my notes, two 345 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,199 Speaker 1: thousand seven, but if all goes as planned, it will 346 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: launch on Halloween of this year, so better late than never. 347 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 1: As for that European mission, it was part of a 348 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: program called Exo Mars. The effort involved launching both an orbiter, 349 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: which measures trace gases in Mars' atmosphere, and a lander 350 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: called the Shia Parelli E d M. The orbiter entered 351 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,919 Speaker 1: into its planned orbit without issue. It is still orbiting 352 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,439 Speaker 1: Mars now. In fact, it even got a look at 353 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: the Perseverance, but the lander crashed on Mars and did 354 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: not survive. A second part of this program, originally scheduled 355 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 1: for eighteen, has since been pushed to twenty twenty two, 356 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: and in NASA's absence, the Russian space program rose Cosmos 357 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 1: has stepped into partner with the E s A. The 358 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: budget cuts did not bode well for projects like Perseverance. 359 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,439 Speaker 1: NASA estimates that all told, the cost of the Perseverance 360 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: mission will be somewhere in the neighborhood of two point 361 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: seven to two point nine billion dollars. The majority of 362 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: that cost went into the development of the spacecraft and 363 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: the rover that was two point two billion of the total, 364 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: and the rest would cover the launch of the payload 365 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: into space, which was around two fifty million dollars, and 366 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: the cost of operating the mission for the projected length 367 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: of service UH the projected mission is to last two years, 368 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: but keep in mind that other missions to Mars have 369 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: had numerous extensions to their missions when conditions allowed it. Still, 370 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: that cost is much lower than the development costs were, 371 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 1: and the benefits of extending missions when feasible are unknown 372 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: and thus incalculable, and they're usually pretty cool. So while 373 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: we don't know how much it's going to cost in 374 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: the long run, we also aren't really sure of what 375 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 1: kind of amazing benefits we might see due to those missions. 376 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: NASA began working on the Perseverance mission back in when 377 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: less than one million dollars of its budget went to 378 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: the preliminary stages of defining mission objectives, which in turn 379 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 1: informed engineers as to the types of tools and instruments 380 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,399 Speaker 1: that the rover would require to carry out its mission. 381 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: For the following two years, the amount of NASA spent 382 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: on Perseverance hovered around the one hundred million dollar mark, 383 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: But in twenty six is really kicked into gear. That's 384 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: when the actual build phase for the project began, and 385 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: from twenty sixteen until last year, NASA would spend an 386 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: excess of three hundred million dollars per year on the project, 387 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: with the peak coming in with more than five hundred 388 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: million dollars of NASA's budget going toward Perseverance. Now what 389 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: certainly an expensive endeavor. I don't want to give the 390 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: impression that Perseverance stands out over all other NASA missions. 391 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: Other Solar System exploration missions like the two Viking spacecraft Cassini, 392 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: and Perseverances, older but smaller sibling Curiosity, are all more expensive, 393 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,439 Speaker 1: especially when you adjust for inflation. If you don't adjust 394 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: for inflation, then it doesn't look that way, but inflations 395 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: of things, so we have to take that into account. 396 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,679 Speaker 1: And those aren't the only missions that NASA's done that 397 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: are more expensive than Perseverance. Perseverance currently ranks as number 398 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: seven in NASA's planetary exploration programs in terms of cause, 399 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:02,639 Speaker 1: And if you look at long term projects with human 400 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: space flight, Perseverance doesn't even really mirrit attention the Apollo program, 401 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,880 Speaker 1: which sent multiple missions with astronauts to the Moon that 402 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: cost around two hundred billion dollars when you adjust for inflation. 403 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 1: Now that's not a big surprise, because keeping humans alive 404 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: in space and bringing them back to Earth safely is 405 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: really hard. In fact, it's it's hard enough that sadly 406 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: we have not always been successful doing it. But still 407 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:34,639 Speaker 1: pursuing any expensive mission is a risk with changes in leadership, 408 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: you never know when the new suits are going to 409 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: tell you to stop working on a project and shift 410 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: funds around elsewhere. Perseverance managed to persevere through the changes, 411 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,200 Speaker 1: even as we saw goals shift away from further missions 412 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: to the Moon under Obama and then back again under Trump. 413 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: Now the reason I lead with all this is because 414 00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: after all these changes, the pandemic threatened to mothball the 415 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: Perseverance launched for a couple of years. If NASA had 416 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,439 Speaker 1: not come up with contingencies to deal with the dangers 417 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 1: of COVID, the mission would have to wait, and that 418 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: would have been a bummer. And then there's the danger 419 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: that the NASA of the future wouldn't have the budget 420 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: to follow through on the mission, and even with all 421 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,919 Speaker 1: the measures in place, the possibility of missing that window 422 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: was very real. NASA had to push back the launch 423 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,440 Speaker 1: date a couple of times, and there was a real 424 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: deadline that they had to hit. If Perseverance had not 425 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: gotten off Earth by August, it would have had to 426 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: sit around in the tool shed for a couple of years. Now. 427 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,160 Speaker 1: I don't actually think it would be in a tool shed. 428 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: I'm just imagining. Perseverance is kind of like, you know, 429 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: a writing lawnmower. It also marked a major shift in priorities. Typically, 430 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,679 Speaker 1: when approaching a launch date, Priority one has to do 431 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,439 Speaker 1: with making sure everything is in place for a successful launch, 432 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: but with the pandemic, Priority one shifted to the health 433 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,919 Speaker 1: and safety of all those working together to make this happen, 434 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: and it required drastic changes, with some people working from 435 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: home like a lot of us have had to do, 436 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: and others adopting additional safety measures in order to work 437 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: on location. Matt Wallace, the deputy project manager of NASA's 438 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: Mars Exploration program, put it like this quote. We called 439 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 1: the effort Mars twenty twenty safe at work. The objective 440 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: was to keep the team as safe or safer than 441 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,639 Speaker 1: they would be if they were not working. Putting a 442 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: spacecraft together that's going to Mars and not making a mistake. 443 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 1: It's hard, no matter what. Trying to do it in 444 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: the middle of the pandemic. It's a lot harder, end quote. 445 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: But the team did do this, which made the rover's 446 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: name of Perseverance all the more appropriate. And in fact, 447 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,919 Speaker 1: Perseverance has a small plate on the left side of 448 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: its chassis that commemorates the efforts, as well as honoring 449 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,439 Speaker 1: healthcare workers around the world. The plate shows the Earth, 450 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: complete with a launched spacecraft sitting atop a sort of scepter, 451 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,400 Speaker 1: and wrapped around the handle is a single serpent. It's 452 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 1: a vocative of the rod of Asclepius, associated with a 453 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 1: Greek god of healing and medicine whose name I most 454 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: certainly mispronounced. Now, that's not the only plate that's mounted 455 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: on the chassis of Perseverance. There's a plate made of 456 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: titanium that has the name of the rover engraved upon it. 457 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: There's a plate that shows the Sun, the Earth and 458 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: Mars on it with the inscription ten million, nine hundred 459 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: thirty two thousand, two hundred explorers on it. Attached to 460 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: this plate are three silicon chips with ten point nine 461 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: million names stenciled on them in incredibly tiny printing. Surrounding 462 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: the sun are dashed rays of light on this plaque. 463 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: Those dashed is actually spell out a message in Morse code, 464 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: and that message is eat at Joe's No, I'm sorry, 465 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: wait wrong note, I'm sorry. It says explore as one 466 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: that's that's far more inspirational, has pointed out to me 467 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: on Twitter by Jim I will Spare, sharing his Twitter 468 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: handle just in Casey doesn't want it publicized. The Perseverance 469 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,760 Speaker 1: also has a plate that shows the evolution of rovers 470 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: sent to Mars, starting with the Sojourner from and leading 471 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: up to Perseverance and Ingenuity as well. It looks a 472 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: lot like one of those stick figure family stickers that 473 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: you see on the backs of cars occasionally, where it's 474 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: like the parents, the kids, the pets, that kind of thing. 475 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: It's very cute. Now when it comes to hidden messages, 476 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: NASA can get a little playful. The Curiosity rover has 477 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: wheels that lead a dot and dash pattern in the 478 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: regular as it PAS says over Mars, and yes, that's 479 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: also morse code. That message just reads out jp L 480 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: that stands for Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Perseverance has another 481 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: coded message included in the whole package. While landing, the 482 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: rover took an image straight up at the open parachute 483 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: that was slowing its descent, actually took video of it, 484 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: and the parachute has bands of white and red on it, 485 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: and before long some clever folks sussed out that these 486 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: were patterns that represented a message written in binary. When translated, 487 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: the message says dare mighty things, which is pretty cool. 488 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: And in addition, the outermost ring of colors on the 489 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: parachute appears to be Earth coordinates for the jp L, 490 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 1: so if a Martian comes across this discarded parachute, they'll 491 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: know where to send the return As planned, the Perseverance 492 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: touched down on Mars on February one. NASA captured a 493 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: lot of data during Intrigue Descent and Landing or e 494 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: d L as they say. Sensors in the spacecraft's heat 495 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: shield measured temperatures and pressure changes, which will help future 496 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: engineers have a better understanding of the conditions they need 497 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 1: to take into account for future missions to Mars, including 498 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: those that might have human astronauts aboard. The atmospheric readings 499 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: will also give insight into future flying vehicles, and of course, 500 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: the Ingenuity helicopter will give us more information about this too. 501 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: The moment the spacecraft deployed the parachute, the Perseverance camera 502 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: system began to document the descent process, and you can 503 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,400 Speaker 1: watch the descent, which included a camera mounted below the 504 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: spacecraft so that you can see the landscape of Mars 505 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: grow closer. You can watch as the jettisoned heat shield 506 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: falls a long long way down until it moves out 507 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: of frame so it's still falling when the camera angle 508 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: has shifted enough where you can no longer see it. 509 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: NASA's video of the ascent really shows how incredible this 510 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: whole process is, how technical it is, and you also 511 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 1: get to hear NASA engineers react with joy at the 512 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: announcement of each successful milestone during the landing process. It's 513 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: a joyous experience and I do recommend checking it out. 514 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: The video is on YouTube. It's about three and a 515 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: half minutes long, and it's called Perseverance Rover's Descent and 516 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: touchdown on Mars. The video also shows when the terrain 517 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: relative navigation system comes online. That's the system that allows 518 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: the entry craft to identify a suitable landing spot for 519 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: the rover. The thrusters on the entry vehicle then helped 520 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: maneuver the falling spacecraft toward that spot. Then the landing 521 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: engines prime and the backshell on the entry vehicle jettison's 522 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: and for a moment, the view of Mars and the 523 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: video tilts in a way that might seem alarming, but 524 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: in fact that tilt represents the vehicle's move to get 525 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: out of the way of the falling backshell to avoid 526 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 1: any possible collision. Once at the right altitude, which is 527 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 1: about twenty meters off the surface of Mars, the landing 528 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,720 Speaker 1: thrusters provide enough thrust to hover over the landing spot, 529 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: and the skycrane begins to lower perseverance to the surface, 530 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: extending the cables slowly and setting the rover onto the 531 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: regular This part of the video shows dust scattering beneath 532 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: the rover because of the thrusters, until the camera on 533 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,480 Speaker 1: the rover is low enough that it's actually in the 534 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: dust cloud. Then the view pretty much shifts to the 535 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: skycrane above, which detaches and then flies off to avoid 536 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 1: colliding with the rover, and you hear the jubilant tango 537 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:41,000 Speaker 1: Delta touched down, confirmed and there was much rejoicing. When 538 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: we come back, i'll talk about some of the incredible 539 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: stuff Perseverance has already sent us, keeping in mind that 540 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: we haven't really gotten started yet. But first let's take 541 00:33:51,680 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: another quick break. Perseverance landed in Jzero Crater. Now, during 542 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: the planning phase of Perseverance, teams spent five years selecting 543 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 1: the best spot for the rover to land in order 544 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,800 Speaker 1: to carry out its mission, which largely focuses on looking 545 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,760 Speaker 1: for evidence that Mars might have at one point hosted 546 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:23,879 Speaker 1: life in its distant past. To that end, NASA scientists 547 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: wanted a spot that would be a strong candidate for 548 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 1: having that kind of evidence. The Jesero Crater was once 549 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 1: a lake billions of years ago. NASA identified that the 550 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: rim of this crater has organic carbonates in the minerals. 551 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 1: Now Here on Earth, carbonates served part of what makes 552 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: up stuff like seashells, and those can last as fossils 553 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: for billions of years. So while carbonates alone don't indicate 554 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:54,880 Speaker 1: that life was definitively present on Mars. They could represent 555 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: one of the best chances we have of finding evidence 556 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:02,000 Speaker 1: of past life. Perseverance will examine these areas closely, and 557 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: it will also take samples of material, storing them in 558 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,000 Speaker 1: metal tubes that can be left behind so that a 559 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,760 Speaker 1: later mission can retrieve those tubes and bring them back 560 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: to Earth. And let me tell you, the idea of 561 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: bringing back Martian soil here to Earth is something I 562 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,840 Speaker 1: find really exciting. The carbonates will give us more insight 563 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,719 Speaker 1: into the long term history of Mars as well. Carbonates 564 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 1: form through interactions between water and carbon dioxide. By examining 565 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: the carbonates that the crater, scientists will learn more about 566 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 1: how Mars change from being a planet with water on 567 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:40,800 Speaker 1: it to kind of the desert landscape that it is today. 568 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 1: The RIM is where scientists have found evidence of the 569 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 1: greatest concentration of carbonates in this particular crater, though it's 570 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,040 Speaker 1: unknown if the RIM is the so called bathtub ring 571 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: left behind by the ancient lake or if it actually 572 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: predates the lake itself, and it will take some time 573 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: for us to learn more. When NASA was planning up 574 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,400 Speaker 1: this mission, the expectation was that it might be toward 575 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: the end of the two year mission before Perseverance is 576 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: actually at the rim itself. Right now, Perseverance is kind 577 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 1: of bulking up. It's charging its onboard batteries through the 578 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: use of its solar panels, and not just its own batteries. 579 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:23,440 Speaker 1: Perseverance is also supplying juice to the helicopter ingenuities six 580 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 1: off the shelf lithium ion batteries. The helicopter, which is 581 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:32,399 Speaker 1: attached to the underside of Perseverance has already phoned home. 582 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,800 Speaker 1: It will stay on Perseverance between thirty and sixty days, 583 00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:41,200 Speaker 1: charging up gradually. Also attached to Perseverance is the base 584 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:45,200 Speaker 1: station for the helicopter, which will serve as a communications 585 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,880 Speaker 1: node between the rover and the helicopter later on. Everything 586 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:53,720 Speaker 1: so far is performing as expected. Now the charging process 587 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,839 Speaker 1: is a slow one. The first big power up gets 588 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:01,280 Speaker 1: Ingenuities batteries up to thirty capacity. Then after a few days, 589 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: the Perseverance can do a second charging session, thus getting 590 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 1: the batteries up to thirty and each week will be 591 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: much the same, which is why it's going to be 592 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,680 Speaker 1: a little while before we know if helicopters can fly 593 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 1: on Mars but assuming all goes well, sometime this spring 594 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 1: or maybe early summer, we should reach the point where 595 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:25,279 Speaker 1: the helicopter will detach from perseverance and stand on its own, 596 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,280 Speaker 1: and then it will have a window of about thirty 597 00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 1: martian days to conduct test flights. Assuming it gets off 598 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,799 Speaker 1: the ground and returns safely, it will be considered a 599 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:39,919 Speaker 1: monumental success. This is one of those high risk, high 600 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: reward type experiments. We literally do not know if it's 601 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,520 Speaker 1: going to work. NASA plans to have up to five 602 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 1: total test flights if it all works out, but that 603 00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,680 Speaker 1: is a big if. For one thing, the helicopter has 604 00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:56,239 Speaker 1: to survive long enough to try and fly in the 605 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: first place, and that's no small shakes. Temperatures at the 606 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: Jesro Creator can dip down to about negative nineties celsius 607 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,640 Speaker 1: or minus one thirty fahrenheit. Some of that battery power 608 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:11,360 Speaker 1: won't be going to flying. Instead, it's going to be 609 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,719 Speaker 1: going to heating elements to keep everything warm enough so 610 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:17,480 Speaker 1: it doesn't freeze tight. Then there's the dust, which can 611 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 1: cause damage or at the very least coat solar panels 612 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,920 Speaker 1: and make them far less efficient at gathering energy. The 613 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,879 Speaker 1: atmosphere on Mars is very thin, so to generate enough 614 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: lift to get off the ground is a challenge. The 615 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,239 Speaker 1: helicopter device weighs just four pounds. Here on Earth, it's 616 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:37,839 Speaker 1: about two kilograms. I mean it's always two kilograms because 617 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,560 Speaker 1: again that's mass, but you get the idea. The carbon 618 00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:44,480 Speaker 1: fiber rotors, besides being very light, will rotate at an 619 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:49,080 Speaker 1: incredible rate around two thousand, four hundred revolutions per minute. Now, 620 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 1: a typical helicopter on Earth, like the vehicle that you 621 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,960 Speaker 1: would ride in, it rotates its rotors somewhere around four 622 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,960 Speaker 1: hundred fifty to five hundred rpm on average, So twenty 623 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:03,719 Speaker 1: four hundred is very fast. While we wait for Perseverance 624 00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:05,840 Speaker 1: and Ingenuity to fill up their batteries. There are a 625 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: few other things we can talk about so far. One 626 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: is that Perseverance has taken some amazing panoramic shots of 627 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:15,880 Speaker 1: the Creator already. If you've ever played with a panoramic 628 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,400 Speaker 1: photography app on your phone, you know that you typically 629 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,200 Speaker 1: line up the shot and then you slowly pan your 630 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: phone so that the edges line up, and usually you have, 631 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:28,120 Speaker 1: you know, some sort of guide like little dots or 632 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,440 Speaker 1: something else to make you go through the process. Smoothly, 633 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,239 Speaker 1: and what's really happening is your phone is taking a 634 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,880 Speaker 1: series of photographs one after the other, and then digitally 635 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,120 Speaker 1: stitches all of those together to create the panoramic view. 636 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 1: The same thing is true with the cameras on the 637 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:47,600 Speaker 1: mast of Perseverance. Perseverance gave itself a couple of days 638 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,719 Speaker 1: to settle in on Mars, taking that first panoramic shot 639 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,480 Speaker 1: on February twenty with its navigation cameras and then following 640 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,600 Speaker 1: that up with a better photo on the twenty one. 641 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,279 Speaker 1: It rotated the mast sort of like a periscope and 642 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,280 Speaker 1: did so three hundred sixty degrees and captured high definition 643 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,360 Speaker 1: photos with the masked cam Z, which is a dual 644 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:13,160 Speaker 1: camera system that takes zoomable photographs. This second panoramic shot 645 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: consists of one hundred forty two images that were all 646 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:21,440 Speaker 1: digitally stitched together, and among the various rocks and stones 647 00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:25,040 Speaker 1: you can see is one the researchers have already nicknamed 648 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,840 Speaker 1: the harbor seal because well, it kind of looks like 649 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,840 Speaker 1: a harbor seal. It's a darker color than the ground 650 00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:35,919 Speaker 1: around it, and scientists hypothesized that the shape is due 651 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,000 Speaker 1: to erosion. Some of which might have been relatively fast acting. 652 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,520 Speaker 1: You know, something you can measure in the hundreds of 653 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:46,680 Speaker 1: thousands of years rather than the billions of years. In addition, 654 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,680 Speaker 1: the images picked up some pitted rocks that have peaked interest. 655 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:54,080 Speaker 1: The rocks could be volcanic, because as I said, Mars 656 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:56,920 Speaker 1: is home to the largest volcanoes in our Solar System, 657 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:00,000 Speaker 1: though they have been active for millions of years. Or 658 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,960 Speaker 1: it's possible that these rocks are made of carbonate minerals. 659 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: It will take time before Perseverance has the juice to 660 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:09,440 Speaker 1: wander over and get a closer look, or maybe even 661 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:13,880 Speaker 1: to gather samples. Future photographs will be sharper, according to 662 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,320 Speaker 1: the team, which is beyond cool. Much of the heavy 663 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,920 Speaker 1: work will take place later this year. One other thing 664 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:24,080 Speaker 1: Perseverance has already done is it got a sound recording 665 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:28,400 Speaker 1: from Mars, and sadly, while you cannot hear any David 666 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:32,240 Speaker 1: Bowie or anything, you can hear the rover's own systems 667 00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:36,600 Speaker 1: and the sound of wind blowing on another planet, which 668 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:40,360 Speaker 1: is phenomenal when you think about it, and it sounds 669 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:54,759 Speaker 1: just like this. The work NASA does with Perseverance will 670 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,360 Speaker 1: give us a deeper understanding of Martian history, and what 671 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,680 Speaker 1: we learn will likely come in handy as we consider 672 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,680 Speaker 1: the possibility of sending astronauts to Mars in the future. 673 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,919 Speaker 1: There are so many engineering challenges for us to work 674 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,680 Speaker 1: out for all of that to come together, from protecting 675 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:17,160 Speaker 1: the crew from harmful radiation to surviving the harsh temperatures 676 00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:21,000 Speaker 1: of Mars, to figure out how to produce oxygen, water, 677 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:25,080 Speaker 1: and food millions of miles from home, and then there's 678 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,719 Speaker 1: the whole you know, getting folks back to Earth part. 679 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:33,239 Speaker 1: The challenges are not necessarily insurmountable, but they are daunting, 680 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,160 Speaker 1: and learning more about the planet will help scientists make 681 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: the best preparations for a successful mission in the future, 682 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:42,879 Speaker 1: and I'm really excited to learn more about what Perseverance 683 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:47,040 Speaker 1: finds out. I always find space missions to be super 684 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:51,440 Speaker 1: cool and interesting, both because we're pushing back our ignorance 685 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:55,359 Speaker 1: bit by bit learning more about the universe we live in, 686 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:59,359 Speaker 1: and also in the long run, we often end up 687 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,520 Speaker 1: with tech achnologies that evolve from things that we used 688 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:06,200 Speaker 1: in space applications, and so we all get to use 689 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:10,920 Speaker 1: space tech in some form or another. Um It may 690 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:13,239 Speaker 1: not look like space tech, but that's where it came 691 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: from and I think that's pretty cool. If you guys 692 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,320 Speaker 1: have suggestions for topics I should cover in future episodes, 693 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:21,960 Speaker 1: let me know. The best way to do so is 694 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,400 Speaker 1: to reach out on Twitter to handle is tech stuff 695 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:30,279 Speaker 1: H s W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 696 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:38,359 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 697 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:41,840 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 698 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.