1 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: So tell me. It's an absolute pleasure to talk to you. 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan of NASA and the absolutely I'm 3 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: astonished by everything that you do. Can you tell us 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: firstly what your position is there and what your mission 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: is if I can use that terminology. 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 2: Sure, thanks Phil Well. I work at NASA headquarters in Washington, 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 2: d C. Where I work in the Planetary Science Division 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 2: and the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which is one of 9 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 2: the best named offices to work in. And we are 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 2: really excited because our DART mission, the double Asteroid Redirection Test, 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 2: is coming to a combination on Monday evening US time, 12 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 2: that will be Tuesday morning Australian time. We are deliberately 13 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 2: crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid when we don't need to. 14 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 2: This is not a dangerous asteroid, so we're doing this 15 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 2: test when we don't need to do it on an 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 2: asteroid that isn't dangerous, in order to learn how to 17 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 2: do it if we ever discover an asteroid that really 18 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 2: is dangerous and we have to. 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: Well, let me stop you there, Tom. Everything that NASA 20 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: does is important, so there is definitely a necessity to this. 21 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: In fact, I obviously you might have seen they did 22 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: a documentary a few years ago with Bruce Willis where 23 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: he had a simulation of him landing on an asteroid 24 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: trying to blow it up, and you know, I mean 25 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,199 Speaker 1: that's to me, says, don't trust the private sector because 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: they always over complicate things. You know, I'd leave it 27 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: to the experts. 28 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 2: Well, I don't want to get into trouble there. I mean, 29 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 2: the private sector did a launch our spacecraft, SpaceX, gave 30 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 2: the Dart spacecraft a terrific right on their on their 31 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 2: Falcon nine, and we're headed in exactly the right direction. 32 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, but you wouldn't let Bruce Willis on board, that's 33 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 1: my point. 34 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 2: Well, that's fine, but I mean when you're you know, okay, 35 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 2: there are some things that you want an actor to do. 36 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: But for you know, find your airplanes and operating on 37 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 2: your knee and deflecting your asteroids, I think you the 38 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 2: professionals to do it. 39 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: Of course. And with that in mind, is now, can 40 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: I call it a spice ship? Would that be? Is 41 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: that what it is? 42 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 2: It's fair we call it a spacecraft because it's it's 43 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 2: pretty small. It's about the size of a big vending 44 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 2: machine with big solar panel wings on. 45 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: It, so it doesn't have of course, unless you no. 46 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 2: No, we would not send a crude spacecraft to crash 47 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 2: onto an asteroid. 48 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: That would be cruel, of course. But this is pardon 49 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: me if I'm being correct about this twenty million miles away. 50 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 2: It's about eleven million kilometers, so that's about eight million 51 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 2: miles miles from Earth a point of impact. And that 52 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 2: was by design. I mean Earth is you know, Earth 53 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 2: is a planet. Earth is in orbit around the Sun. 54 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 2: Asteroids are also in orbit around the Sun. And the 55 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 2: only asteroids that are ever a danger to the Earth, 56 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 2: or ever a hazard to the Earth are the asteroids 57 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 2: whose orbits intersect with the orbit of the Earth. Right, 58 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 2: and even then nothing bad happens unless Earth than the 59 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 2: asteroid arrive at that intersection point at the same time. Now, 60 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 2: this asteroid we're doing a test on doesn't intersect the 61 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 2: orbit of the Earth, but it does come close, and 62 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 2: so we're timing this test to happen when this asteroid 63 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:16,919 Speaker 2: is relatively close to Earth in order to get really 64 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 2: good bandwidth, really good data back. 65 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: And how did you select the asteroid? 66 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 2: Well, I can't claim credit for that. Other members of 67 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 2: the team selected the asteroids. Some years ago. And the 68 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 2: virtue of this asteroid is that it is a binary asteroid. 69 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 2: It's a double asteroid that's part of the double in 70 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 2: the name of the mission. It's a small asteroid about 71 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty meters across that's orbiting around a 72 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 2: bigger asteroid about eight hundred or so meters across, and 73 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 2: it goes around once every eleven hours and fifty five minutes. 74 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 2: And we know this because our view from Earth is 75 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 2: in that plane where we're going around, and so we 76 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 2: don't literally see the two asteroids, but we see the 77 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 2: total brightness of the two of them shining and reflected 78 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 2: some and every time one goes in front or behind 79 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 2: the other, we see a little bit of dip, a 80 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 2: dip in the brightness, and those things happen repeatedly, you know, 81 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 2: twice every time around. That's how we know the orbit 82 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 2: is all in hours in fifty five minutes. And so 83 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 2: after we execute this impact on the smaller asteroid, we're 84 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: going to change that orbit by just a little bit. 85 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 2: So it'll be like if you drop your wristwatch for 86 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 2: those people who still wear wristwatches, if you drop your 87 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 2: wristwatch and start it starts running a little bit fast. 88 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 2: You might not notice the next day, but a couple 89 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 2: of weeks later you will notice that things are not happening. 90 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: At the rain time. 91 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 2: Fantastic, but absolutely it was really brilliant idea. I credit 92 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 2: that to doctor Andy Chang at the Applied Physics Lab. 93 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: And how did you get the spice craft to where 94 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,679 Speaker 1: it's going? How long did it take? Well? 95 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 2: The tricky business, of course is like I said, Earth 96 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 2: and the asteroid are on an orbit around the Sun, 97 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 2: and so anything we do in interplanetary space means we 98 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 2: have to get our spacecraft also into an orbit around 99 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 2: the Sun that gets to where our destination is at 100 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 2: the right time. 101 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: Right of course, So we launched. 102 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 2: Dirt last November twenty third, and so it's been since 103 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 2: then in cruise on an orbit that's sort of close 104 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 2: to the orbit of the Earth, but not quite on 105 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 2: track to meet the Asteroidnamos, specifically the asteroid Dimorphoks that's 106 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 2: the little Moon next Monday. 107 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: Wow, the maths on that is UNBELI we can't get 108 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: the trains to run on time. Here. We still have 109 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: timetables and there are any coming from out the road. 110 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: NASA can get things done on top. That's what I 111 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: like about NASA is when they say the Space Shuttle 112 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: will be arriving back on Earth at nine eleven and 113 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: fifteen seconds. Bang there, it is always on time. I 114 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: like to call that NASA time. 115 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: And the reason is you can't stop gravity. 116 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, well there's that too. In fact, I'm with that 117 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: in mind. I'd like to with your help, because I 118 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: understand how it works, but also because we have some 119 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: visuals here, I'd like to show the people and perhaps 120 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: with your help, how I understand how the procedure is 121 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: going to work. If that's okay, sure, using obviously Crewe 122 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: devices such as a cat toy, which obviously takes the 123 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: part of the asteroid, right, I mean, is it is 124 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: it close? Obviously the asteroid will be a more sort 125 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: of metallic gray than this cat ball is. 126 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 2: We know it's we know it's not that color. Definitely 127 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 2: right that it's probably pretty great. Actually, we really know 128 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 2: very little about this asteroid, specifically because it's so small. 129 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 2: We we know it exists, we know roughly what size 130 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 2: it is, but we don't know what shape it is. 131 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 2: And that's one of the things that makes this very 132 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 2: very difficult. Because we've had to. The engineers have had 133 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 2: to program the computer on the spacecraft to interpret the 134 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 2: images that our telescoping imager is feeding it once per 135 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 2: second in the last four hours, recognize which dot in 136 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 2: that in that image is the thing we want to target, 137 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 2: and steer the spacecraft to it so that it hits 138 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 2: it at a speed of fourteen thousand miles an hour. 139 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 2: So there's no time, no opportunity to turn around or 140 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 2: to wait, and we have to teach the computer to 141 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 2: recognize an object that we don't know what it looks like. 142 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 2: We're just approximating, of course, and so it's a very 143 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 2: difficult thing to do. 144 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: Well. It doesn't look exactly like this for the people 145 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: that I'm looking at it, but do you know, for 146 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: the sake of imagination and for the spacecraft I found 147 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: obviously the cat toys have been brilliant. This giant mouse, 148 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: if you press its nose, it has, you know, a 149 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: sort of a space like look and a tail which 150 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: I presumeing we're going to use in this instance for propulsion. 151 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: So here comes the dart. There's the asteroid fourteen thousand. 152 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: I felt we should get some space too. Can we 153 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: cue the space so I can actually have the whole atme. There, 154 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: that's the space in the background. 155 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 2: Me. 156 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: So here comes the asteroid, Here comes the dart gently 157 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: pushing into it. 158 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 2: Old no, because well, okay, so your scales are a 159 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 2: little bit off. So if you really wanted to do 160 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 2: if you wanted to do this at full scale, your 161 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 2: asteroid would be kind of a small football stadium full 162 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 2: of rocks, right, and your spacecraft would be a vending 163 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 2: machine or maybe a golf cart. Yeah, okay, so that's 164 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 2: about the right real. 165 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: You're gonna have to suspend disbelief on this one, then 166 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: toe right. 167 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 2: So the cat toy isn't gonna work, But the visual 168 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 2: is you're running your golf cart vending machine into the 169 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 2: side of your football stadium full of rocks at fifteen 170 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 2: thousand miles an hour. So that's not a gentle push. 171 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 2: There is a push because it arives with some momentum, 172 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 2: but there's also a lot of energy released, and at 173 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,839 Speaker 2: that speed, the spacecraft is carrying a kinetic energy energy 174 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 2: of motion that is far far more than the same 175 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 2: massive high explosive So you're releasing a lot of energy. 176 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 2: You're digging a big hole in the asteroid and taking 177 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 2: a lot of that material and blasting it out into 178 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 2: space back in the other direction, which acts like a 179 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 2: little momentary rocket engine and gives the asteroid another push 180 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 2: in the same direction. And that's the real beauty behind 181 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 2: this technique, of course, not just a gentle push. It's 182 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 2: a push plus a big bangs. 183 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,559 Speaker 1: Did you toy with the idea of a nudge? 184 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 2: Not really, because you know, I mean, there's a nudge 185 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 2: and then there's a nudge, right, yeah, Because really the 186 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 2: essence of planetary defense is you're not trying to destroy 187 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 2: the asteroid. You're just trying to give it a nudge, 188 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 2: which is to say, change its motion by a little 189 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:45,559 Speaker 2: bit way in advance. So then so that that event 190 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 2: that you're trying to prevent, which is Earth and the 191 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: asteroid arriving at this magic intersection point at the same time, 192 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 2: just make the asteroid ten minutes earlier ten minutes late. 193 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 2: Then you don't have an impact, a good day instead 194 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 2: of a bad one. So the idea of planetary defense 195 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 2: is to discover these asteroids, all the ones that are 196 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 2: potentially dangerous, very early, so we have years of lead 197 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 2: time and we can give the asteroid a small push. 198 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 2: Maybe it needs a spacecraft moving in fifteen thousand miles 199 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 2: an hour to do it, but make a small change 200 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 2: the asteroid's motion so that it's later early to the 201 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 2: party and does. 202 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:21,199 Speaker 1: Not ariseic terrific idea brilliant concept seems simple to the layman, 203 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: but you know, for those of us that know, it's 204 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: a whole lot of cattle of fish. 205 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 2: Well, but that's the beauty, the whole thing, right, It 206 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 2: should be conceptually simple, so principle is easy to understand, 207 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 2: even if actually making it work takes twenty first century. 208 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: And people can watch this, Tom people can actually, you've 209 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: got a camera. 210 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 2: There, absolutely so. NASA TV and also NASA dot Gov, 211 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 2: NASA Live also on social media, will be streaming everything 212 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 2: live Tuesday morning, your time, so the impact is well, 213 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 2: I'll say, the broadcast starts at six pm East Coast 214 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 2: US time, which I think is eight am Tuesday your time, 215 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 2: and we will be streaming back images from the spacecraft 216 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 2: at one per second. The whole world is going to 217 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 2: see everything that we see, everything the controllers see in 218 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 2: real time, and what we expect to have happen is 219 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 2: a lot happens very fast at the end, only in 220 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 2: the last hour because I Remember it is fourteen thousand 221 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 2: miles an hour, and so we're very very far away 222 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 2: from this fairly small asteroid until the last few minutes. 223 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 2: Only in the last maybe forty five minutes or so 224 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,559 Speaker 2: do we even see the small asteroid that we're aiming for. 225 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 2: And we don't see what it looks like, it's just 226 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 2: a dot until maybe the last half hour. So we 227 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 2: are going to be well, I'll admit my palms are 228 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 2: going to be sweaty. I don't know what the others 229 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 2: are going to be feeling, but it's going to be 230 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 2: tremendously exciting seeing these images come in once per second 231 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 2: and the asteroid getting bigger and bigger and bigger and 232 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 2: bigger and bigger, eventually filling the frame and stop. 233 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: Wow, you don't get an asteroid and to close some space, right. 234 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 2: That's right, No, But we want to see the asteroid 235 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 2: filling the field and then confirm a loss of signal 236 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 2: from the spacecraft. And at that moment, that's when the 237 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 2: first test we're doing ends and the second test starts. 238 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 2: Because the first test is can we actually do the 239 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 2: kinetic impact? The second test is how does the asteroid respond? 240 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 2: Because it's one thing to destroy a spacecraft. But the 241 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 2: question at the end of the day is did we 242 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 2: move the asteroid? And by how much did we move 243 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 2: the asteroid? Did we accomplish what we were trying to accomplish, 244 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 2: and how. 245 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 1: Long will that take you to have that information that 246 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:35,959 Speaker 1: be immediate? 247 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 2: Right, So that's what I was talking about before that 248 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 2: it's it's like you've changed the ticking of your clock 249 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 2: and you have to weight to be able to see that. 250 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 2: So we will have astronomers on the ground and will 251 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 2: also be using telescopes in space to see what happens. 252 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 2: In the short term, we should see a brightening of 253 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 2: the object, as there's a lot of dust that gets 254 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 2: kicked up and it gets lit up by the sun, 255 00:12:57,320 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 2: so we should see a general brightening, and then maybe 256 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 2: a week or two or three after that, we'll detect 257 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 2: the difference in that orbit. And as time goes on, 258 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 2: the longer we wait, the more precise a measurement we 259 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 2: get of that change, and more precisely we know exactly 260 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 2: what happened. 261 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: And as I said before, when it comes to precise timing, 262 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: you can't get more precise than that. NASA have they 263 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 1: named anything after you yet, because I can tell it 264 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: was a bit of an issue when I said what 265 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: they called it? Tom, You know they have they got anything? 266 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: Can I give you one? 267 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 2: So well that there's a lot of intricacies there. So 268 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 2: near Earth asteroids cannot be named after living people because 269 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 2: or even dead people, because you never want to have 270 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 2: the circumstance where something named after phil for example, comes 271 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 2: to destroy the Earth. 272 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: Yeah that's right. Yeah, that would be bad for me 273 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: and bad on Instagram. You know, I don't guess that. 274 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 2: But it is true that asteroids out in the main 275 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 2: asteroid belt, out beyond the orbit of Mars that never 276 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 2: come close to the Earth. The prerogative to name those 277 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 2: asteroids goes to the discoverer. The discoverer can nominate a name, 278 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 2: and if it passes the rules of the International Astronomical Union, 279 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 2: it can be adopted. And there are a lot of asteroids, 280 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,359 Speaker 2: and there are a lot of scientists working on asteroids, 281 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 2: and so currently as things are, if you've made a 282 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 2: significant contribution to asteroid science, one of the discoverers will 283 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 2: decide to name an asteroid after you. And so I 284 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 2: have the privilege of having a name it an asteroid 285 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 2: named after me, which is not quite as cool as 286 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 2: it sounds, because even though, like I said, it's the discoverers. 287 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 2: So even though there are asteroids named after Beethoven and Einstein, 288 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 2: there's also an asteroid named after Phil Specter, and there's 289 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 2: an asteroid named after mister Spock, not the TV character, 290 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 2: but the cat owned by the guy who discovered the asteroid, who. 291 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: Was a star trek. They wanted the whole thing down, 292 00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 1: so it's a very. 293 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 2: Very strange to collect to club the people who. 294 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: Have Well, I, as far as I'm concerned, yours is 295 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: the most important moon in the sky. 296 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 2: Tom, Yeah, but that's not. But this is you know, 297 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 2: the asteroid named after me is somewhere else. So we're 298 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 2: with the dark mission is the asteroid detmost and its 299 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 2: moon dimorphos, and that's what it's going to stay. 300 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: Well, when I look up tonight at the sky, I'm 301 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: going to be looking for you, okay, both for your 302 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: job and the more important part, the real Tom. 303 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 2: All right, I appreciate the thought. 304 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: It's such a pleasure that taught to you. Thank you 305 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: so much. Good luck Monday night, Oh, thanks. 306 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 2: So much, and good luck to you and hope everyone's watching. 307 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: Thank you very much.