1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,440 Why do scientists suspect that there was once water on Mars? 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,840 What is the Mars microprobe and how will it navigate below the surface of Mars? 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,800 What is the relationship between geometry and the Mars microprobe? 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,600 Okay guys, I'm here with Dr. Robert Mitcheltree, who is working on current explorations into 5 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,220 the Martian landscape. 6 00:00:25,220 --> 00:00:29,880 Right now, we're on top of NASA Langley's Impact Dynamics Facility. 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,820 Back in the 1960s, this is where they tested the lunar landers. 8 00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:33,820 Pretty cool. 9 00:00:33,820 --> 00:00:36,700 Dr. Mitcheltree, what on earth are we doing up here? 10 00:00:36,700 --> 00:00:38,620 Well, I like it up here. 11 00:00:38,620 --> 00:00:42,020 You can look down on the surface of the earth from up here. 12 00:00:42,020 --> 00:00:47,420 Like you can look out at the water and how it meanders across the land there. 13 00:00:47,420 --> 00:00:51,580 And we know that even if you remove that water, there would still be a distinctive shape to 14 00:00:51,580 --> 00:00:52,980 the pattern it makes. 15 00:00:52,980 --> 00:00:58,040 And it's those kind of patterns we see on the surface of Mars, but none of them have 16 00:00:58,100 --> 00:00:59,980 any water in them. 17 00:00:59,980 --> 00:01:02,420 And we wonder, where did the water go? 18 00:01:02,420 --> 00:01:04,900 So where do scientists think the water went? 19 00:01:04,900 --> 00:01:08,140 Some of them think it seeped beneath the surface. 20 00:01:08,140 --> 00:01:12,460 And that's the purpose of Mars' microprobe, to go to Mars and look for water beneath the 21 00:01:12,460 --> 00:01:13,460 surface. 22 00:01:13,460 --> 00:01:14,820 Is that the microprobe? 23 00:01:14,820 --> 00:01:17,340 Well, this is just a model of the microprobe. 24 00:01:17,340 --> 00:01:21,060 The actual microprobe is much larger, about the size of a basketball. 25 00:01:21,060 --> 00:01:26,580 But it has this same shape, and it's this shape, it's actually like a right triangle 26 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,280 that is used to fly through the atmosphere of Mars. 27 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:31,840 As it approaches the planet, it'll be tumbling. 28 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,200 And then when it hits the atmosphere, no matter how it hits the atmosphere, it'll reorient 29 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,240 itself and fly nose forward. 30 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:43,440 And it'll continue to fly like that, all the way down, accelerating from 17,000 miles an 31 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,360 hour to 400 miles per hour when it strikes the surface. 32 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:54,080 This outer shell breaks away, and the inside penetrometer, that fist-shaped instrument, 33 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,740 pierces down through the soil and begins looking for water underneath the surface. 34 00:01:59,740 --> 00:02:04,820 So once the microprobe penetrates the surface, how does it find water, or look for water? 35 00:02:04,820 --> 00:02:11,020 Well, this really small, fist-shaped instrument has a small drill in it, and when it's down 36 00:02:11,020 --> 00:02:16,500 in the dirt, it digs with the drill, pulling some dirt inside of it, and it has even a 37 00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:17,980 laser in there also. 38 00:02:17,980 --> 00:02:23,900 And it uses the laser to shine some energy on the dirt, and it measures the outgassing 39 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,240 of the dirt, and that's how it looks for water. 40 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:27,520 Okay, big deal. 41 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,240 So what if it finds water on Mars? 42 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,820 Water's the key to understanding several interesting aspects about Mars. 43 00:02:32,820 --> 00:02:35,440 We don't go there just to understand if there's water there. 44 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,120 It's what effect water has on other things. 45 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,560 The more interesting question is the question of life. 46 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,600 All life we know on Earth is tied some way to liquid water. 47 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:52,660 And if we can find water on Mars, we're one step closer to understanding if life ever 48 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:54,680 existed there or still does. 49 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:56,720 Well, that's definitely something to think about. 50 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:57,720 Thanks, Dr. Mitcheltree. 51 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:58,720 My pleasure. 52 00:02:58,720 --> 00:02:59,720 Appreciate it. 53 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:00,720 Hey, you. 54 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,800 If you're interested in topics like life on Mars and other Mars explorations, just check 55 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:05,400 out the website addressed on your screen.