1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Text, a production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: and welcome to tex Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio and I 4 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: love all things tech Now. At the end of July 5 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:28,319 Speaker 1: twenty NASA plans to launch a new rover on a 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: journey to Mars to continue the work of Sojournal, Spirit, Opportunity, 7 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: and Curiosity, all of which have really extended our knowledge 8 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: of the Red planet. This new rover is called Perseverance, 9 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: and it really is something special. So today we're going 10 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: to learn about the rover and its mission, and also 11 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: a high risk, high reward experiment called Ingenuity that is 12 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: not technically part of Perseverance, but is going along for 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: the ride. However, before we do that, we've got a 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: lot of other ground to cover, both here on Earth 15 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: and on Mars, and I want to talk a little 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: bit about why I chose this as a topic in 17 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: the first place. First is timing. Obviously, this episode should 18 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: come out a couple of weeks before the scheduled launch, 19 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: assuming everything goes well. And another reason is that these 20 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: missions often reinforce things that I find really inspiring and 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: even hopeful. Transporting a spacecraft to Mars, let alone landing 22 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: something on that planet, and then using that something to 23 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: explore and conduct scientific experiments. That's a monumental achievement. It 24 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: requires so much work, and it builds on more than 25 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: a century of discoveries and theories. It's a team effort 26 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: in which hundreds of people pull their talent and expertise 27 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: to pull off what when you really look at it, 28 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: seems like it should be impossible. So while we have 29 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: tons of problems we need to address here on Earth, 30 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: from dealing with the pandemic to addressing real social inequalities 31 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: and more, I look at how people have managed to 32 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: build devices that explore another planet, and it strikes me 33 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: that if we have the determination, we really can achieve 34 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: incredible things. We just need to apply that determination. Anyway, 35 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: here we go. As I record this, NASA has already 36 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: pushed back the launch a couple of times. So at 37 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: the moment when I'm sitting at this microphone, the scheduled 38 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 1: launch date is for July. Now, if that date should 39 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: slip for whatever reason, NASA will have a relatively narrow 40 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: window to launch or else face the reality that they 41 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: will have to shelve this project for more than two years. 42 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: So why is that. Well, let's imagine the Solar system. 43 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: Earth is the third planet out from the Sun, Mars 44 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: is the fourth planet out Earthen Mars revolve around the 45 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: Sun at different speeds, which means sometimes the two planets 46 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: are moving closer together and sometimes they are moving further 47 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: apart in their respective orbits. Both planets have elliptical rather 48 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: than circular orbits around the Sun, which also means there's 49 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: a point in the orbit where each respective planet is 50 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: closest to the Sun. This is called the parahelion. And 51 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: there's also a point in the orbit where each respective 52 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: planet is furthest from the Sun. This is the aphelian 53 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: oh and also, both of these orbits are slightly tilted 54 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: with respect to one another, complicating things even more because 55 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: they don't lie in the same orbital plane. These three 56 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: dimensional realities are a real pain in the neck. All 57 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: of this means that when the planets do approach one another, 58 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: they aren't in the same spots in their respective orbits 59 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: as they were the last time they got close to 60 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: one another. The closest they've been to each other in 61 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: recorded history is about thirty three point nine million miles apart, 62 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: or fifty four point six million kilometers, and at that distance, 63 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: it would take light about three minutes to travel from 64 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: one planet to the other, and that's the fastest stuff 65 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: in the universe. Remember, nothing goes faster than light. To 66 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: even have that situation, you would need the Earth to 67 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: be at its aphelian where it's furthest from the Sun, 68 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: and Mars would have to be at its parahelion, where 69 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: it is closest to the Sun, and both planets are 70 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: on the same side of the Sun. And this does 71 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: not happen frequently, at least not on human terms. That 72 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: thirty three point nine million mile distance happened back in 73 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: two thousand three, and according to math, that was the 74 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: closest the two planets have been for fifty thousand years. Now, 75 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: generally speaking, you do get two spans of time when 76 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: the two planets are relatively close to each other. But 77 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: because we're not just looking at orbital position, but the 78 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: shape of the orbits themselves, it's complicated and those are 79 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: a lot of parameters that you have to have line up. 80 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:29,559 Speaker 1: This scenario where Earth passes between Mars and the Sun 81 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: is called opposition, and we call it opposition because from 82 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: our perspective here on Earth, Mars appears to be exactly 83 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: opposite where the Sun is. As the Sun is setting 84 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: at night, Mars is rising in the east, and when 85 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: Mars sets in the west during the morning hours, the 86 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: Sun is rising in the east. During opposition, Mars appears 87 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,679 Speaker 1: as if it is a red star in the sky, 88 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: nearly as bright as Venus is. If it happens when 89 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: Mars is closest to the Sun, we call it parahelick opposition. Moreover, 90 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: the distance will begin to grow after that point as 91 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: the planets begin to move apart from each other due 92 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: to their different orbital velocities and elliptical orbits. So at 93 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: the extreme end, when the two planets are the furthest 94 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: they can possibly be from each other on either side 95 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: of the Sun. So the Sun is in between Earth 96 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: and Mars, they are two hundred forty nine million miles apart, 97 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: or four hundred one million kilometers. At that distance, it 98 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: would take light a whopping twenty two minutes to travel 99 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: between Mars and Earth. Not that this really matters because 100 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: you also have a big old Sun in the way, 101 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: so you would actually have complications. This scenario is called 102 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: a solar conjunction. Now here's the thing. Because of all 103 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: the factors that I've described here, it takes a little 104 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: more than two years to go from one opposition or 105 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: one conjunction to the next one. And actually it's about 106 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: twenty six months. So Earthen Mars will get the closest 107 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: they can possibly be in their respective orbits to one another, 108 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: and then it takes another twenty six months for it 109 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: to happen again. Halfway through those toy six months, you 110 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: will get to the point where they are furthest from 111 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: each other and you get the conjunction. Now, why did 112 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: I spend so much time talking about that, Well, it's 113 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: because NASA has to take all of this into account 114 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: when planning out emission to Mars. You want to minimize 115 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: the distance that your spacecraft has to travel in order 116 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: to get to its destination. Space travel is tough, man, 117 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: I mean, it requires a lot of fuel, and fuel 118 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: has mass, and mass means that you need more to 119 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: get out into space. So you can't just add more 120 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: fuel to a launch vehicle all willy nilly, because just 121 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: adding that fuel changes things. Moreover, you want to minimize 122 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: all the things that can go wrong while traveling from 123 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: point Earth to point Mars. One good way to do 124 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: that is to reduce the amount of travel time, which 125 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: means aiming for a time when the two planets are 126 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: going to be closest. Moreover, you don't just launch when 127 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: Earth and Mars are close, because it takes about a 128 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: hundred fifty days or so for a space vehicle to 129 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: get from Earth to Mars under ideal conditions, and these 130 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: planets remain in motion that whole time. It's not like 131 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: they just stop. So if you aim your rocket to 132 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: where Mars is now, Mars won't be there by the 133 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: time the rocket arrives at that location in space. The 134 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: best you can hope for is maybe a note written 135 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: by Mars that says something like sorry, I missed you, 136 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: And Mars is notoriously bad at writing notes, so instead 137 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: you have to aim at where Mars will be rather 138 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: than where Mars is. It's like leading a target if 139 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: you were skeet shooting right a clay pigeon is shot 140 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: up into the air, you have to lead it a 141 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: little bit if you want to hit it well. This year, 142 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: Mars and Earth will actually be closest, not in July, 143 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: during the scheduled launch, but in October. Specifically on October, 144 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: that's when the two plants will be thirty eight point 145 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: six million miles apart or sixty two point one million kilometers. Again, 146 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: not as close as they were back in two thousand three, 147 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: because they are not gonna be at the ideal points 148 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,319 Speaker 1: in their respective orbits to be absolutely the closest they 149 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: can be. The last day NASA can launch a space 150 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: vehicle and take advantage of all this would be August. 151 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: If conditions prevent NASA from launching by that date, will 152 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: probably be waiting around two years before we get another opportunity. 153 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: This is also why if you look at the history 154 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: of missions to Mars, you'll see they hit pretty much 155 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: every two years or so. This is also why when 156 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,559 Speaker 1: we talk about potential human missions to Mars, we typically 157 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: talk about a long mission that would see astronauts stay 158 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: on Mars for a couple of years, because it would 159 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: be too challenging to land on Mars, you know, goof 160 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: around for a week or so, and then try and 161 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: launch back to Earth because the distance would be mounting 162 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: between the two planets. We would need a mission where 163 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: we could spend an appreciable amount of time on Mars, 164 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,959 Speaker 1: perhaps creating new rocket fuel on Mars itself. That way, 165 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: we don't have to carry a return trips worth of 166 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: fuel on our way there. That would be kind of 167 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: a deal breaker, because not only are you talking about 168 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: an enormous amount of weight, which again adds to your 169 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: concerns when you're launching the vehicle, it also represents a 170 00:10:54,800 --> 00:11:00,079 Speaker 1: massive hazard. You know, rocket fuel is dangerous stuff. But 171 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 1: we'll get more into that when we talk about one 172 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: of the experiments that Perseverance is going to do on 173 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: its mission. Interestingly, whether the launch vehicle takes off on 174 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: July or on August fifteenth, or any date in between, 175 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: the estimated date when it will enter service, that is, 176 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: when it will land on Mars and establish communications from 177 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: the surface of the red planet back here to Earth, 178 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: that date is the same. It's February twenty one. So 179 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: if the launch does go ahead as planned, and I 180 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: really hope it does, it's still going to be a 181 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: while before NASA can conclude whether or not the mission 182 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: was a success, or even just the initial part of 183 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: the mission is a success. Moreover All, this distance between 184 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,839 Speaker 1: Earth and Mars means that any rover mission to Mars 185 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 1: requires a lot of automation, a lot of autonomy. The 186 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: distances here mean that at minimum, you're looking at around 187 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: six min minutes between when you can send a command 188 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: to a rover on Mars and when you'll get a 189 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: return signal. That's if Earthen Mars are as close as 190 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:12,559 Speaker 1: they can possibly be, and usually that's not even the case. 191 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: We don't typically have that right. Most of the time. 192 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: Earth and Mars are pretty far away from each other. 193 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: When the Curiosity rover arrived on Mars on August six, 194 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: two twelve, the distance between the two plants meant it 195 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: took nearly fourteen minutes to get signals from the rover. 196 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: With that sort of delay, it's impossible to manually control things, 197 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: so you have to create vehicles that can land and 198 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: operate on their own. One way to do that is 199 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: to design parachutes that deploy once the spacecraft or ejected 200 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: rover reaches a certain altitude above Mars. But the Martian 201 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: atmosphere is really thin. That's going to be important later 202 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: in this episode two. In fact, the atmospheric pressure at 203 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: the surface of Mars is similar to what you would 204 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: find at thirty five kilometers of altitude here on Earth, 205 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: so that's a lot thirty five thousand meters above the Earth. 206 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: That air pressure is similar to the standard surface level 207 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: air pressure on Mars. To put it another way, we 208 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: measure atmospheric pressure and units called milla bars. Here on Earth, 209 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: the pressure at sea level is one thousand, thirteen millibars. 210 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 1: Mars is atmospheric pressure varies during the Martian year, but 211 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: it averages out to be between six to seven millibars. 212 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: That's it, So one thirteen here on Earth, six to seven, 213 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: not thousand, just six to seven on Mars. Now, since 214 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: parachutes work by forcing air into a canopy and then 215 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: effectively turning that canopy into a wing, you need atmosphere 216 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: for it to work. A parachute would be useless on 217 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: Earth's Moon, for example, because there's not enough atmosphere to 218 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: turn the parachute into a wing. Mars has an atmosphere 219 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,559 Speaker 1: it's in, but it's there. However, it is so thin 220 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: that parachutes can typically only provide a little bit of 221 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: the breaking and support during the landing process. So NASA 222 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: has used a few different techniques to get rovers on 223 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: the surface and not have them just break apart upon 224 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: landing including housing rovers in landing craft equipped with air bags. 225 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: The air bags could help cushion the impact on the landing. 226 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: On Mars, the Curiosity Rover had a super awesome approach. 227 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: The rover was inside a descent vehicle, which in turn 228 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: was inside a larger uh structure. It was called the 229 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: Mars Science Laboratory or MSL, and the MSL had thrusters 230 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: on it that could make fine tune adjustments during the 231 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 1: descent phase in order to maintain the right orientation. That 232 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: also had a heat shield to absorb heat during you know, 233 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: entering the Martian atmosphere. And once it reached a certain altitude, 234 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: it deployed a parachute which helped slow its descent, and 235 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: then at a bit lower in altitude, the MSL ejected 236 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: a descent stage. So this was kind of a platform 237 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: with thrusters on it, and the rover was mounted inside 238 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: the platform and this would fire its thrusters, slowing its 239 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 1: descent further until it hovered above the Martian surface. Then 240 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: it lowered the Curiosity rover on a tether, turning the 241 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: descent vehicle into what they called a sky crane. The 242 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: idea was that the rover would touch down on Mars, 243 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: it would sever the tether to the descent stage, and 244 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: then the rover would be ready to go to work. 245 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: And here's the thing. This whole process from entering Mars's 246 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: atmosphere all the way to the point where the rover 247 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: touched down would take about seven minutes. But you remember 248 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: the delay. It was fourteen minutes of a communication delay, 249 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: So the whole process took about half the time it 250 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: takes communications to go from Mars to Earth at this 251 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: point in the two planets orbits. So the whole process 252 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: had to happen without human intervention, and not only that, 253 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: a success would mean that the rover would actually be 254 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: down on Mars for seven minutes before we even knew 255 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: if it had worked. And it turns out it did work, 256 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: which truly is phenomenal. And I even did a special 257 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: podcast with Tom Merritt of Daily Tech News show Fame 258 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: back when this happened in two thousand twelve. I remember 259 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: getting really emotional about this because when you consider the 260 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: innovation and inventiveness required to make something like this actually work, 261 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: it's really incredible. The perseverance rover will follow in curiosities 262 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: um tire tracks, and that it's going to use a 263 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: similar strategy for e d L. That stands for Intrigue, 264 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: Descent and Landing, so it's also going to use the 265 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: skycrane maneuver in order to land. And this time the 266 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: descent vehicle will have a couple of new tricks up 267 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: its proverbial sleeve. For example, it will have a set 268 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: of tools called Terrain relative Navigation or TRN, which will 269 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: scan the Martian terrain and allow the vehicle to change 270 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: its descent path in order to avoid any terrain that 271 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 1: looks particularly hazardous and that improves the chances of a 272 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,719 Speaker 1: successful touchdown. And it's also going to have a microphone, 273 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: so we'll get to hear what it sounds like to 274 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,200 Speaker 1: land on Mars. Plus if the rover wants to bust 275 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: out some David Bowie karaoke on the way down, that 276 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: microphone will come in awful handy. When we come back, 277 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: I'll talk more about the tools aboard the Perseverance, what 278 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 1: they are meant to do, and a bit about how 279 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 1: they work, But first let's take a quick break. Perseverance 280 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: is about the same size as its predecessor, Curiosity, which 281 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: means it's the size of a small car. It weighs 282 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: a bit more than Curiosity as well. UH has a 283 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:05,440 Speaker 1: mass of one thousands, so here on Earth it weighs 284 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: two thousand, two hundred sixty pounds. If we don't include 285 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: the rover's arm. The rover measures about ten ft long 286 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: by nine ft wide, and it's seven ft tall. That's 287 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 1: a three meters by two point seven meters by two 288 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: point two meters, so it's a pretty big rover. Before 289 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,400 Speaker 1: we get into the super techy stuff and the goals 290 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: of perseverance, let's look at some other related things. For example, 291 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: the launch vehicle perseverance will depend upon the launch of 292 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: an Atlas five one launch vehicle from the United Launch Alliance. 293 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: This is a two stage rocket essentially, and it stands 294 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: fifty eight meters or one ft tall when the payload 295 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: is attached to the top. Fully fueled. With the payload 296 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: in place, the full launch vehicle weighs five hundred thirty 297 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: one thousand kilogram ms or one point one seven million pounds. 298 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: The five for one designation tells us a lot about 299 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: the launch vehicle, as it turns out, so that five 300 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: and five four one refers to the diameter of the 301 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,439 Speaker 1: fairing that holds the payload in place with the launch vehicle. 302 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: So in this case, the spacecraft that will hold the 303 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: perseverance and this fairing is five meters in diameter. That's 304 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,360 Speaker 1: what that five means. So what's the four and five 305 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: or one means? Well, that tells us how many solid 306 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 1: fuel rocket boosters are part of this launch vehicle. So 307 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 1: there are four solid fuel rocket boosters, and the one 308 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 1: tells us how many rocket engines are in the second stage. 309 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: This is called the center and there are single engine 310 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: centaurs and dual engine centaurs, so this one is a 311 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: single engine centaur. The first stages rocket engine is called 312 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 1: the r D one eight and this one was made 313 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: in Russia. The engine burn is the fuel made of 314 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: kerosene and liquid oxygen. The second stage centaur uses fuel 315 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: made of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which must be 316 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: kept at very low temperatures to remain liquid, and for 317 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:17,359 Speaker 1: that reason they are called cryogenic propellants. So at launch, 318 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: the boosters and rocket engine for the first stage will 319 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: carry the vehicle up to a certain altitude and that's 320 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: where the first stage will separate from the rest of 321 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: the vehicle. The first stage will fall back to Earth. 322 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: The second stage ignites and propels the spacecraft out to 323 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: its trajectory to bring it on an intercept course with Mars, 324 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: and then it separates from the launch vehicle, and then 325 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,400 Speaker 1: Perseverance aboarded spacecraft will be on its way on its 326 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 1: very long trip out to Mars. So, assuming everything goes 327 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: as planned, Perseverance will touch down on Mars in February 328 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one thanks to the skycrane maneuver. If things 329 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:57,119 Speaker 1: don't go as planned, uh, I mean, I don't know, 330 00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,479 Speaker 1: I mean if it if it doesn't launch Biogus fifteen, 331 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: there's a real question of whether or not the project 332 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: can be put on hold for two years. And if 333 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: something goes wrong, well, I guess you know, the mission 334 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: scrapped and stuff can go wrong because space, as it 335 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 1: turns out, is super hard. I mean, like that thing 336 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: is trying to kill you. But let's say it all 337 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,399 Speaker 1: goes to plan and the rover makes it to Mars. 338 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,120 Speaker 1: What is it going to do when it's there. Well, 339 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,359 Speaker 1: NASA says the mission will last at least one year 340 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: on Mars. That is one Martian year. That's equal to 341 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: six hundred eighty seven Earth days, so nearly two full 342 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: Earth years. If the mission is a success, we may 343 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: well see the experiments stretch on much longer than that. 344 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 1: The Opportunity mission was only intended to last for ninety days, 345 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: but it was able to continue for nearly fifteen years. 346 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: But what is Perseverance going to do when it's up 347 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: there all that time. The overall program Perseverance is part 348 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,199 Speaker 1: of it is called the Mars Exploration Program or m 349 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: e P, and one of the primary goals of m 350 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: e P is to look for signs of life, most 351 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 1: likely signs that life once existed on Mars thousands and 352 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: thousands and millions of years ago. But boy, it really 353 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: would be cool if we found evidence of microbial life 354 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: on Mars today. NASA has laid out four science objectives 355 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: that Perseverance will pursue in an effort to further this goal. 356 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: The four objectives are looking for habitability, that is, seeking 357 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: out areas that could have supported microbial life in the 358 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: ancient past, seeking bio signatures, so looking for evidence that 359 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: microbial life actually did exist in these habitable environments, such 360 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:50,199 Speaker 1: as in signs and the rocks themselves. Cashing samples. This 361 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: is all about collecting and analyzing rock and soil samples, 362 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: and preparing for humans, which will take on the super 363 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 1: cool challenge of producing oxygen on Mars. Now we'll dive 364 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: into these more in a moment, but in addition to 365 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: the four primary objectives, Perseverance will also study the seasons 366 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,719 Speaker 1: on Mars and how weather patterns change, including stuff like 367 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: dust storms. It will be building on our understanding of Mars, 368 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 1: which will be critical if we ever do actually want 369 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,719 Speaker 1: to send astronauts there or colonists. So a lot of 370 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: what Perseverance will be doing sets the stage for future 371 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: missions with actual humans on Mars. NASA is going about 372 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: this in a very methodical way. And I say that 373 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: because I'm sure at least some of you remember the 374 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: private organization called Mars One that had the stated goal 375 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: of establishing a permanent colony on Mars. The Mars One 376 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: Plan was to create habitats on the planet, or technically 377 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: under the surface of the planet, because Mars doesn't have 378 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 1: the same protective measures as Earth does when it comes 379 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: to deflecting harmful radiation and articles from stuff like you know, 380 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: the Sun, and the Mars One Plan didn't have anything 381 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: in it about coming back to Earth. This was a 382 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: one way trip. The organization was founded in two thousand eleven. 383 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: It attempted to raise money from investors and through an 384 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: application process in which people would vie to be considered 385 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:26,200 Speaker 1: as astronauts for this mission, but it ultimately didn't go anywhere, 386 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: and that, by the way, is a big strike against 387 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: space exploration. Typically in space exploration, you gotta go somewhere, right, 388 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: So the owners ended up liquidating the organization in early 389 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,800 Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen. Some people think the whole thing was 390 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 1: nothing more than a scam. Now. I don't know if 391 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: the founders intentionally set out to mislead people or not, 392 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 1: but I was certainly skeptical of the efforts, as it 393 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: seemed to be taking a lot of assumptions as concrete facts, 394 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: and that's dangerous. Now, that's not the case with NASA's approach. 395 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:05,120 Speaker 1: It's always dangerous. Space is always dangerous, but they're not 396 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: taking assumptions as fact. Their approach is to build a 397 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: foundation of knowledge upon which future missions will continue to build, 398 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,159 Speaker 1: with the hopeful goal of one day having astronauts themselves 399 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 1: set foot on Mars. But NASA is not quite as 400 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: cavalier as the Mars one plan. So let's start with 401 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: the analysis of Mars and the search for life. Then 402 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: we'll move on to the components that have more to 403 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: do with laying the groundwork for human exploration in the 404 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: distant future. And then we have the issue of ingenuity 405 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:41,160 Speaker 1: to talk about, but that's for a kicker at the end. 406 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: One of the things Perseverance has that Curiosity doesn't have 407 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,640 Speaker 1: is a drill. So Perseverance will be able to drill 408 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: into soil and rocks on Mars to collect samples for analysis. 409 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:57,360 Speaker 1: The drill is on the rover's big arm, but a 410 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: smaller arm actually plays a part in the two. It 411 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: can supply sample tools to the drill, so as the 412 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,120 Speaker 1: drill is working, the soil and rock that it ends 413 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: up removing can be collected in one of these tubes. 414 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,919 Speaker 1: Then the little arm can take that tube full of 415 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: material and store it back on the rover. At the 416 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: end of this the rover will store certain rocks and 417 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,160 Speaker 1: soil samples, very specific ones, ones that the team back 418 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: on Earth have identified as being particularly interesting. It'll store 419 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: a collection of these in a cash that's intended for 420 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 1: later retrieval, and the idea that these would someday be 421 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: returned to Earth. I'll talk about that at the end 422 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: of this episode. Now, this mission itself lacks the ability 423 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: to come back. There's nothing about the Perseverance mission that 424 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 1: allows them to return to Earth, so this will have 425 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: to wait for a future mission. The plan is to 426 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: collect at least twenty samples. However, the rover does have 427 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,119 Speaker 1: enough equipment to collect as many as forty three. Now. 428 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 1: Along with the forty three sample tubes, the rover will 429 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 1: also carry five special tubes called witness tubes. The purpose 430 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 1: for these is to make sure that the stuff Perseverance 431 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: is finding is actually coming from Mars. See. One of 432 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: the risks of this kind of exploration is that our 433 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: equipment might unwittingly introduce stuff from Earth into Mars, and 434 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,239 Speaker 1: if that stuff happens to be organic in nature, like 435 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: it happens to be the same as an organic marker, 436 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: it could mean that any evidence we find that suggests 437 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: life was once on Mars could actually be a total 438 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: red herring, because it could turn out that the organic 439 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 1: material actually came from Earth in the first place and 440 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,719 Speaker 1: was unwittingly released on Mars. It's kind of like one 441 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: of those movies where you've got a crooked cop who 442 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: drops a bag of incriminating material right in front of 443 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: a suspect and says, well, why do we have here? 444 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: Looks like we've got some evidence, except, of course, the 445 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 1: rover wouldn't be doing this on purpose. It's not scuzzy, 446 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: you know, bad cop type. The witness tubes can capture 447 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: contaminants and allow researchers on Earth to discern whether the 448 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 1: stuff that was collected on Mars actually is totally Martian 449 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: in origin, or if it has some contaminants that were 450 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:21,880 Speaker 1: accidentally brought by Perseverance, So they can do that if 451 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 1: those tubes ever find their way back to Earth, so 452 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,959 Speaker 1: this is also part of that long term deal. The 453 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: rover will hermetically seal all the sample tubes and store 454 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 1: it temporarily in the rover itself, but eventually the team 455 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: will determine a location where the rover will store all 456 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: of these tubes called the Sample Cash Depot, and this 457 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: is where they will stay until a future mission can 458 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: pick them up and bring them back home to Earth. 459 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: There are seven major scientific instruments aboard the Perseverance, so 460 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: let's go through those. First up is the mass cam Z, 461 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: a camera mounted on a vertical gold pole, thus the 462 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: term mast and this is near the center of the rover. 463 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,920 Speaker 1: The camera has a panoramic camera as well as a 464 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: stereoscopic imaging camera, so it can take really wide shots 465 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: of the horizon, or it can use its stereoscopic lenses 466 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: to capture three dimensional images on Mars's surface. Now, not 467 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: only will this camera be used to take lovely photos 468 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: and to help the team on Earth determine where to 469 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: send the rover, it also can help engineers back on 470 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: Earth learn more about the mineralogy of Mars' surface. Next, 471 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: we have the Supercam, which by day is a mild 472 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: mannered photographer for the Daily Planet. Wait, sorry, no, I 473 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: I meant that it's a camera intended to analyze the 474 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: chemical composition of stuff on Mars at a distance. Then 475 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: you've got pixel p I x L that actually stands 476 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: for Planetary Instrument for X ray litho chemistry. And if 477 00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: you're wondering what litho chemistry is, you're not alone, because 478 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: I don't think I have ever seen that word ever 479 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,239 Speaker 1: before I started researching this episode. In fact, as I 480 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: was researching the term, the only time I was seeing 481 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: any instance of litho chemistry as a word was in 482 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: reference to pixel itself, and this annoys me. I mean, NASA, 483 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: if you're going to use cute acronyms for your tools, 484 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: you can't just get around the inconvenience of not having 485 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: the correct letters by making up a word. But let's 486 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: suss it out. So litho means stone. Now it all 487 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: makes sense, right. Litho chemistry means the chemical makeup of 488 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: stones on Mars in this case, And this device uses 489 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: X rays in order to really study the stones around 490 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: the rover. X rays have a shorter wavelength and carry 491 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: way more energy than the visible light spectrum does. The 492 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: pixel has a spectrometer, which is a device that measures 493 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: the spectral components of something. And no, this isn't about 494 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: specters like ghosts or something. This is more about a spectrum, 495 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: you know, like the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation or the 496 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: spectrum of visible light. So they measure a continuous variable 497 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: of some sort, and the pixel measures the electromagnetic radiation 498 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: that's reflected off of various materials on Mars, which then 499 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: tells us more about what those materials are made of. 500 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: Then we've got these scanning habitable environments with Raymond luminescence 501 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 1: for organics and chemicals, and this is a really cute acronym. 502 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: The acronym is share Lock. This is another spectrometer, but 503 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: rather than X rays, this one uses an ultra violet laser. Now, 504 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: like X rays, ultra violet waves are shorter in wavelength 505 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 1: and higher in energy than the visible spectrum, but they 506 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: don't penetrate as far as X rays do. The spectrometer 507 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 1: will also measure the composition of materials on Mars and 508 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 1: search for the press of organic compounds. It also has 509 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 1: a high resolution camera for microscopic imaging, so that's pretty neat. 510 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: Then there's the Radar Imager for Mars's Subsurface Experiment or 511 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: rim FACTS. This one uses a radar system that can 512 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: penetrate the ground and give what NASA calls a quote 513 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: centimeter scale resolution of the geologic structure of the subsurface 514 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: end quote super nifty. Then there's one more scientific experiment 515 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: aboard the Perseverance that we need to talk about, as 516 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,080 Speaker 1: well as ingenuity, something I haven't really covered yet, but 517 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: keep teasing, but we'll get back to that after we 518 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 1: take another short break. The last of the major experiments 519 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 1: aboard the Perseverance is the Mars Oxygen Institute Resource Utilization 520 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: Experiment or MOXI. What a rate acronym. Now, this experiment 521 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: will attempt to generate oxygen from the carbon dioxide that's 522 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 1: in Mars's atmosphere. See Here on Earth, c O two 523 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: makes up about point zero four percent of our atmosphere, 524 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 1: and that's it, and honestly, that's enough. C O two 525 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: is a greenhouse gas. In fact, out of all the 526 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: greenhouse gases that humans release in our atmosphere, CEO two 527 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: makes up eighty one point three per cent of them. 528 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: So a little c O two can go a long 529 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: way when it comes to the greenhouse effect. But Mars's 530 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,360 Speaker 1: atmosphere is a totally different story. There, c O two 531 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: is a major player. It makes up of Mars's atmosphere. Oxygen, 532 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: by contrast, makes up a tiny point one three of 533 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: Mars's atmosphere. Here on Earth, it's twenty one of our atmosphere. Now, 534 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,960 Speaker 1: it's incredibly obvious that we humans need oxygen, and it 535 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: stands to reason that would be way better if we 536 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: could produce is the oxygen we need on Mars while 537 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: you know, we're actually on Mars, as opposed to bringing 538 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,799 Speaker 1: everything with us, everything we decide we need to bring 539 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: we have to launch off the Earth, and launching stuff 540 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: is expensive and it's risky, so it would be better 541 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 1: if we could create all the stuff we need while 542 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: we're already on Mars. On top of that, besides breathing, 543 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: we need oxygen as a component for rocket fuel, so 544 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,799 Speaker 1: using the resources of Mars to create fuel would be 545 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,359 Speaker 1: a huge deal. Again, we wouldn't have to send our 546 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 1: return trips worth of fuel out on the launch. That 547 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: would be enormous. Now, Moxie isn't going to terraform Mars. 548 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 1: It's a small scale experiment, more like a proof of concept. 549 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: It will take c O two from Mars's atmosphere and 550 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: convert it into oxygen and carbon monoxide through an electrochemical process. 551 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,759 Speaker 1: So Moxie pulls in air from the environment. It will 552 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:01,080 Speaker 1: pass that air through a filter and then pressure rize 553 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 1: the c O two so that it's approximately one atmosphere 554 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,439 Speaker 1: in pressure. That is one Earth atmosphere in pressure, which 555 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:10,840 Speaker 1: is much greater pressure than what you would find in Mars' 556 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:14,360 Speaker 1: own atmosphere. The CEO two then goes to a solid 557 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 1: oxide electrolyzer or s o x E. The electrochemical process 558 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: does the separating at a temperature of eight hundred degrees celsius, 559 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,319 Speaker 1: so things get pretty toasty. There are gas preheating components. 560 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: There's also an exhaust cooling component. All of this is 561 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: really important for moxy to operate, but also it's important 562 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,439 Speaker 1: to cool the exhaust in order to protect the other 563 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:41,359 Speaker 1: experiments that are aboard the Perseverance. The exhaust also has 564 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: to pass through a filter before it can be vented 565 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: back out to the Martian atmosphere. Now why is that, Well, 566 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: it gets back to those contaminants I mentioned earlier. We 567 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,480 Speaker 1: have a responsibility to limit the sort of contaminants we 568 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,000 Speaker 1: could introduce to another planet, and there's actually an official 569 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 1: policy about this is called the Planet Erry Protection Requirements. Now, 570 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:06,319 Speaker 1: assuming Moxi's experiments are successful, we might see NASA and 571 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 1: other organizations create larger implementations of this same technology to 572 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,640 Speaker 1: make a significant amount of oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. 573 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:16,720 Speaker 1: And that will be a big step in the direction 574 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 1: to send people to Mars, as it will give those 575 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,320 Speaker 1: people an important component for making the rocket fuel needed 576 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,919 Speaker 1: to return back here to Earth. And now finally it's 577 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,480 Speaker 1: time to talk about ingenuity, a high risk, high reward 578 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,120 Speaker 1: experiment it's high risk because no one really knows yet 579 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:36,880 Speaker 1: if it's actually gonna work. It's high reward because if 580 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:40,080 Speaker 1: it does well, we'll have an incredible experience that we 581 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: can build upon. So what the heck is Ingenuity? It's 582 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:49,600 Speaker 1: a helicopter. Yeah, Perseverance is bringing along with it a 583 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:53,760 Speaker 1: helicopter to Mars, so you can get to the chopper 584 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: and get to Mars at the same time, thus fulfilling 585 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:03,840 Speaker 1: two different Arnold schwarz Senegger film plots simultaneously. It's never 586 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 1: been done before. Now let's get more specific. When I 587 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:11,800 Speaker 1: say helicopter, I don't mean the sort of flying vehicle 588 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 1: that carries people around here on Earth. This is more 589 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: like a drone. It's a very small aircraft. It's autonomous, 590 00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 1: which yeah, I would have to be. There's no way 591 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: you can fly this thing via remote control back here 592 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,320 Speaker 1: on Earth. It would crash and then you'll be waiting 593 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:31,319 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes or whatever in order to find out about it. 594 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 1: The Ingenuity has a mass of one point eight kgrams, 595 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:40,319 Speaker 1: so here on Earth it weighs four pounds, and it 596 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: makes sense that it needs to be lightweight because the 597 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: Martian atmosphere is so thin. Now, Remember, heavier than air, 598 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,560 Speaker 1: aircraft need to generate lift, and you can think of 599 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 1: lift as a force that presses up on the underside 600 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,200 Speaker 1: of a wing or, in the case of a helicopter, 601 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: the underside of its rotors, which really a rotor is 602 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,560 Speaker 1: just a wing that moves in a circle. This force 603 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:06,200 Speaker 1: has to be strong enough to counteract the weight of 604 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,120 Speaker 1: the object in order to get off the ground. If 605 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:11,920 Speaker 1: the gravity of Mars were the same as that of Earth, 606 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,520 Speaker 1: this would be super hard to do because the atmosphere 607 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: is so thin you would struggle to generate enough lift 608 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:23,320 Speaker 1: to counteract the weight of the flight vehicle. But gravity 609 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,279 Speaker 1: on Mars is also not as strong as it is 610 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,720 Speaker 1: here on Earth. It's actually about one third of Earth's 611 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 1: gravity a little more than that. So yeah, you've got 612 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: a thin atmosphere, but you also have less gravity and 613 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:38,080 Speaker 1: therefore less weight to worry about. So your mass stays 614 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:41,160 Speaker 1: the same because gravity does not affect how much mass 615 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,759 Speaker 1: something has, but your weight is different. So while the 616 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,880 Speaker 1: helicopter gadget weighs around four pounds here on Earth, on Mars, 617 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:51,360 Speaker 1: it's going to be closer to a pound and a half. 618 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,719 Speaker 1: Now I would still have one pot eight krams of 619 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:59,200 Speaker 1: mass because mass doesn't change, but that mass would weigh 620 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,080 Speaker 1: the same as an object that has just point six 621 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,760 Speaker 1: eight kilograms of mass here on Earth. So if somehow 622 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,879 Speaker 1: you were able to take an earth point six eight 623 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 1: kilograms and put it against this thing while it's on Mars, 624 00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:17,440 Speaker 1: the scales would balance out. Now, considering the rotors on 625 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 1: this thing, I'm actually really impressed they were able to 626 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 1: get the weight that low because each rotor, and there 627 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:26,280 Speaker 1: are two of them, measures four feet or one point 628 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:30,080 Speaker 1: two meters in lengths Now, just remember that these rotors 629 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 1: are mounted in the center. So the helicopter also has 630 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,560 Speaker 1: solar panels. Those are going to be used to charge 631 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:40,560 Speaker 1: the onboard battery. It has a wireless communication system that 632 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:44,160 Speaker 1: allows engineers on Earth to relay commands to the helicopter 633 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: via the rover. So in this case, the engineers could 634 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 1: give pretty general commands, such as how long the helicopter 635 00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,400 Speaker 1: would operate or how high it was to fly. But 636 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: then the helicopter has to do all the actual flying 637 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:58,960 Speaker 1: on its own. There will be no steering this thing 638 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:04,239 Speaker 1: due to that community cation lag. The helicopter has inertial sensors, 639 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,879 Speaker 1: so it can tell what it's orientation is whether it's 640 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 1: upright or not. It's also got a laser altimeter, so 641 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: this is essentially a laser range finder, so it shoots 642 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,440 Speaker 1: a laser at the ground. It essentially measures the amount 643 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:21,480 Speaker 1: of time it takes for the laser to go out 644 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,680 Speaker 1: from the laser range finder, hit the ground, and come 645 00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,400 Speaker 1: back up and hit a sensor, and from that it 646 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,799 Speaker 1: can determine how high up it is. It's also got 647 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,200 Speaker 1: two cameras on board. One of them can take color 648 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,120 Speaker 1: images and the other one can only take black and 649 00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:38,600 Speaker 1: white images. And it's got some heating components inside of it, 650 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,880 Speaker 1: which is important because it needs to stay in an 651 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:45,400 Speaker 1: operational temperature even during the Martian night. Uh the average 652 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:51,279 Speaker 1: temperature on Mars is about minus sixty degrees celsius, though 653 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,920 Speaker 1: in the daytime during the Martian summer, if you happen 654 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:57,319 Speaker 1: to be near the equator, you might reach a high 655 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:01,520 Speaker 1: of up to twenty degrees celsius. That's twenty degrees positive. 656 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:05,360 Speaker 1: So there is a really wide variation in temperatures on 657 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,200 Speaker 1: the planet. That's something else that we would have to 658 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:09,040 Speaker 1: prepare for if we were to ever actually, you know, 659 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,279 Speaker 1: go there. Now, NASA has made it clear that this 660 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:16,240 Speaker 1: aircraft is considered a quote completely independent of the Mars 661 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:19,880 Speaker 1: twenty twenty science mission end quote, which is why the 662 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: ingenuity doesn't really show up when you look at the 663 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,879 Speaker 1: breakdown of experiments that are aboard the Perseverance. It's also 664 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:31,080 Speaker 1: described as a quote demonstration of technology end quote. That 665 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: means ingenuity isn't going to be relied upon to deliver 666 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:37,879 Speaker 1: any you know, scientific data about Mars. It's really meant 667 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,520 Speaker 1: to give us an idea if the powered flying device 668 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 1: is a viable approach on Mars. It's also meant to 669 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,960 Speaker 1: prove that the manchaization of technology is necessary to allow 670 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:51,280 Speaker 1: for this will actually work. And if it does work, 671 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,200 Speaker 1: then that means we could see all sorts of flying 672 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:56,800 Speaker 1: drones deployed to Mars in the future to do stuff 673 00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:00,080 Speaker 1: like map out areas or survey regions that are to 674 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:05,480 Speaker 1: treacherous for rovers to manage, or perform other scientific experiments. Now, 675 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,279 Speaker 1: my hope is that all of these experiments teach us 676 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,279 Speaker 1: a lot more about our neighbor planet, and that with 677 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,400 Speaker 1: this information we can plot out further missions. And I 678 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:16,920 Speaker 1: think it would be truly remarkable if I were to 679 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:21,640 Speaker 1: see people land on Mars within my lifetime, and as always, 680 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 1: there are opportunities for the things we learned in the 681 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,920 Speaker 1: technology we developed to make all this possible to benefit 682 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,480 Speaker 1: us in other ways. One of the coolest things about 683 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:37,000 Speaker 1: space exploration that's not really about the exploration itself, is 684 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:40,480 Speaker 1: that all the technology that was once created as a 685 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,920 Speaker 1: necessity in order to achieve mission goals has kind of 686 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:47,320 Speaker 1: found its way into our daily lives and other implementations. 687 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 1: We often see unanticipated benefits as byproducts, and so I 688 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 1: think it's always a good thing for us to push 689 00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 1: back our boundaries of ignorance. You never know what sort 690 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:57,799 Speaker 1: of things you're gonna uncover along the way. As for 691 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,920 Speaker 1: future missions, there are a couple more that I can 692 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,239 Speaker 1: mention briefly. One is a part of a mission that 693 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:07,080 Speaker 1: is called the Exo Mars Program. This one is actually 694 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:10,920 Speaker 1: led by the European Space Agency and the ros Cosmos 695 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:15,720 Speaker 1: State Corporation. The plan is to launch a rover which 696 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:19,319 Speaker 1: would not be that much different from Curiosity and Perseverance 697 00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:24,040 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, again two years apart. This one 698 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,880 Speaker 1: will be called the Rosalind Franklin, named after the British chemist. 699 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:33,120 Speaker 1: NASA is contributing some of the UH components that are 700 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,279 Speaker 1: going to be used in some of the scientific instruments 701 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,080 Speaker 1: as part of this rover. The rover's mission is very 702 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:41,120 Speaker 1: similar to that of Perseverance, primarily looking for evidence that 703 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,200 Speaker 1: life could have existed on Mars in the ancient past. 704 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:49,759 Speaker 1: Another mission is the aforementioned plan to retrieve the samples 705 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:53,799 Speaker 1: that Perseverance is going to collect, assuming its mission is successful. 706 00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:58,319 Speaker 1: This one is a more long term plan because of 707 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:03,160 Speaker 1: the complexities of getting two and back from Mars. So 708 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:06,480 Speaker 1: going from Earth to Mars and back again, really we've 709 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:09,239 Speaker 1: only managed one way trip so far, this would be 710 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,640 Speaker 1: a lot harder. The current proposed timeline would have a 711 00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:16,920 Speaker 1: launch of the initial vehicle, the Sample Return Lander, in 712 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:21,360 Speaker 1: July twenty six, which would actually touch down on Martian 713 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:26,600 Speaker 1: soil in August twenty eight. Now that's an unusually long 714 00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:30,280 Speaker 1: travel time and honestly I don't know all the reasons 715 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,200 Speaker 1: for that. But the lander will have its own mini 716 00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:37,239 Speaker 1: rover provided by the European Space Agency, and this rover 717 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:41,440 Speaker 1: will go and fetch the stored samples that Perseverance had gathered. 718 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:45,240 Speaker 1: In one it will bring those samples to a rocket 719 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:48,400 Speaker 1: that is carried aboard the Sample Return Lander, and the 720 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 1: rocket will blast off, the first time in history that 721 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:54,640 Speaker 1: we will have launched a rocket from another planet, and 722 00:44:54,719 --> 00:44:58,760 Speaker 1: it will then send the payload to rendezvous with another 723 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:03,120 Speaker 1: spacecraft in orbit around Mars. That spacecraft is called the 724 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:06,759 Speaker 1: Earth Return Orbiter, and it will actually launch from Earth 725 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:10,960 Speaker 1: separately from the lander. It would launch in September, a 726 00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:14,480 Speaker 1: couple of months after the lander has launched, but it 727 00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:19,000 Speaker 1: will arrive in orbit around Mars by October, several months 728 00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:23,719 Speaker 1: before the lander touches down. The Sample Return container from 729 00:45:23,719 --> 00:45:27,040 Speaker 1: the rocket will separate, it will dock with the Earth 730 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:30,080 Speaker 1: Return Orbiter, and then the orbiter would prepare for the 731 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,120 Speaker 1: trip back home once Earth and Mars were lined up again, 732 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:38,000 Speaker 1: and the estimated return date would be sometime in twenty 733 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: thirty one. So if everything goes well, it's going to 734 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,000 Speaker 1: take more than a decade to get those Martian rocks 735 00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:49,560 Speaker 1: and soil back here on Earth for analysis. Man, this 736 00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:54,480 Speaker 1: stuff is hard, but super interesting, and that wraps up 737 00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:57,880 Speaker 1: this episode about perseverance. It remains to be seen if 738 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,320 Speaker 1: the launch is going to be a success. I certainly 739 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:02,919 Speaker 1: hope it is. I plan on watching it on July, 740 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,560 Speaker 1: assuming that the launch goes ahead as planned, and I'm 741 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,960 Speaker 1: wishing everyone all the best. This is a very exciting 742 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,960 Speaker 1: kind of mission, and as I said before, I find 743 00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: it personally very inspiring that we can achieve something that 744 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:21,439 Speaker 1: is so difficult to do, and if we can do that, 745 00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:24,000 Speaker 1: then we can tackle some of these problems that are 746 00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:28,960 Speaker 1: enormous here on Earth that seem impossible. But it may 747 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:32,080 Speaker 1: just be that we're not dedicating the effort and the 748 00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:36,040 Speaker 1: resources necessary to really change things. And I think that 749 00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:38,600 Speaker 1: that is something we could entirely do if we set 750 00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,320 Speaker 1: our minds to it. If you guys have future suggestions 751 00:46:42,719 --> 00:46:46,839 Speaker 1: for tech Stuff episodes, or rather suggestions for future tech 752 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:50,080 Speaker 1: Stuff episodes, either way, the only way I know about 753 00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:51,959 Speaker 1: it is if you send them to me, So send 754 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:54,120 Speaker 1: them to me on Twitter. To handle for the show 755 00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:57,440 Speaker 1: is text Stuff H s W and I'll talk to 756 00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:05,319 Speaker 1: you again really soon Y. Text Stuff is an I 757 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:08,920 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 758 00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:12,440 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 759 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:14,040 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.