1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 My Outro For My 21st Birthday 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:43,080 Coming up on this episode of Destination Tomorrow, we take a look at a new device that may help 3 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:48,240 give doctors a type of x-ray vision. We'll also find out about a unique spacecraft designed 4 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,200 to help scout out locations on Mars for future human missions. And we take a look back at 5 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,800 the history of the Space Shuttle. Plus, Johnny Alonzo finds out how sonic booms work. All 6 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:10,800 this and more next on Destination Tomorrow. 7 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:16,120 Hello everyone, I'm Cara O'Brien and welcome to this edition of Destination Tomorrow. For 8 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,840 many years now, NASA planners have been sending different types of spacecraft to Mars to answer 9 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:26,200 basic questions about the Martian atmosphere, mineralogy, and of course, to find out if 10 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,640 life exists there. Although these missions have been very successful in answering key 11 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,520 scientific questions, it has been determined that we need to change our focus towards issues 12 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:41,200 relating to human factors. With the agency's new push to have human crews at Mars by around 13 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:46,400 2030, there's a need to begin looking at the challenges associated with getting crews there. 14 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,240 Researchers will need to spend a great deal of time looking for suitable landing sites 15 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,840 that are free of dangerous obstacles, have sufficient amounts of water, and are scientifically 16 00:01:54,840 --> 00:02:00,280 interesting. To help in this task, a spacecraft called the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has 17 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:07,560 been designed to help pave the way. Jennifer Pulley finds out more. 18 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,000 Although the first planned human missions to Mars probably won't take place until about 19 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,720 the year 2030, NASA planners are already beginning to gear up for them. Literally millions of 20 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:22,440 key decisions are now being made to help ensure the success of human flights to Mars in the 21 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,760 future. Of course, one of the most important decisions that must be determined early on 22 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,720 is where to land our crews. Planners need to find a landing site that is not only free 23 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:37,740 of dangerous obstacles like boulders and craters, but there must also be scientifically valuable 24 00:02:37,740 --> 00:02:42,160 points of interest. And of course, water close by is a definite plus. 25 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:47,560 To help prepare the way for these human missions, NASA planners have developed a unique spacecraft 26 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:53,480 called the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO. Now, this spacecraft will use advanced 27 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:59,560 science instruments and high-resolution cameras to scout locations of interest and possible 28 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,920 landing sites for these human missions. To help us understand how the Mars Reconnaissance 29 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:08,880 Orbiter will work, I spoke with Scott Striepe here at the NASA Langley Research Center to 30 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,220 find out more. Well, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a 31 00:03:12,220 --> 00:03:17,440 multipurpose spacecraft that's designed and built for the next NASA mission to Mars. Basically, 32 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,240 the orbiter will continue NASA's exploration theme of Follow the Water. It will be on a 33 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:27,800 very small science orbit. It will be looking for water ice, vapor, and liquid water on 34 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,600 the surface, in the atmosphere, and even below the surface. Also, it will be able to take 35 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,080 some of the highest resolution pictures ever taken of Mars. And from that, NASA scientists 36 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:43,440 can evaluate potential landing sites for future robotic and human missions. Also, after the 37 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:48,120 primary science mission is completed, it will become a communication relay for future 38 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,120 Mars missions. So how is the MRO mission different from other 39 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:56,120 missions to Mars? Well, this particular mission has a high-resolution 40 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,200 camera on board. It will take more detailed pictures than we've ever been able to take 41 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,220 before. Carrying the most powerful telescopic camera 42 00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:07,580 ever flown to another planet, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be able to show surface features 43 00:04:07,580 --> 00:04:12,440 on Mars as small as a kitchen table. This high-resolution camera will provide a wealth 44 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:18,120 of information about possible landing sites by photographing the Martian surface in unprecedented 45 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,360 detail. Now, how is this high-resolution camera different 46 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,960 from other cameras used on other missions? Well, this will be able to show things on 47 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,920 a much smaller scale than we've ever been able to get on Mars. You can get details of 48 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,800 boulders and surface features that we've not been able to take with pictures. For example, 49 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,600 they'll leave me investigations to try to go and find the Mars rovers that are currently 50 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,760 there and maybe even look for some of the spacecraft that we lost previously to see 51 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,800 if we can better understand why those didn't complete successfully. 52 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,400 Because the camera and five other science instruments will produce huge amounts of data 53 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:55,640 every day, the MRO has been designed to send information at ten times the rate of any previous 54 00:04:55,640 --> 00:05:01,040 Mars mission. An added benefit to the MRO is that it will continue to be used as a communications 55 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:06,600 platform for robotic missions of the future, long after its initial 24-month science phase 56 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,720 is complete. It also has a new suite of instruments that 57 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:14,080 we've never brought, except for some instruments that will continue to look at the weather 58 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,640 patterns of Mars to understand how the weather impacts the motion of the water on the surface 59 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,320 and in the atmosphere. Now, Scott, what is your role in the Mars 60 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,520 Reconnaissance Orbiter mission? Well, I lead a team of NASA engineers that 61 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,120 supports the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's navigation team during the aerobraking phase. Here at 62 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,320 NASA Langley, we have unique capabilities in aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, thermal 63 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,720 analysis and flight mechanics. We're bringing all that in to help the Mars Reconnaissance 64 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,960 Orbiter mission during that critical aerobraking phase. 65 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,360 Aerobraking sounds like aeronautics and braking. I'm assuming this has something to do with 66 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,880 slowing the vehicle down? Aerobraking is a technique that you can reduce 67 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:54,720 the size of a spacecraft's orbit without using very much fuel. And in fact, the Mars Reconnaissance 68 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,960 Orbiter, when it arrives at Mars, will use its engines to put itself into a fairly large 69 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,520 elliptical orbit. Instead of using additional fuel to make that a smaller orbit, what it 70 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,640 will do is skim the upper atmosphere of Mars over a period of six months. And every time 71 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,560 it goes through the atmosphere, it'll lose some of its orbital energy through atmospheric 72 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,000 drag. But you have to be careful because if you go too deep in the atmosphere, you could 73 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,960 cause major components to overheat and thus damage them. 74 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:23,240 By using aerobraking at Mars, MRO is able to save hundreds of pounds of fuel. And what 75 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,120 that means is we don't have to send all that weight from Earth to Mars. And we can use 76 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,120 maybe a smaller rocket or use that weight for something else, like the science missions. 77 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,440 So Scott, what is the expected length of this mission? 78 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,920 Well, after aerobraking finishes, the primary science mission lasts one Martian year, which 79 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,760 is about 24 Earth months. After that's completed, that's when it will become a communication 80 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:44,840 relay for future missions. 81 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:48,080 Now, the term reconnaissance means that you're looking for something. You said you're looking 82 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,320 for water. What else are you searching for? 83 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,760 It'll help the NASA scientists investigate future potential landing sites for other robotic 84 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,480 missions, but also for the human missions that are coming. 85 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:02,120 So Scott, finally, what are your overall expectations for the MRO mission? 86 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:06,440 I'm really excited about the MRO mission. Not only do you have subsurface radar, very 87 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,840 high resolution images, the search for water in all three forms, looking at the weather 88 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,840 patterns and the ability to send detailed information to and from future landers. I 89 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,520 think MRO is uniquely positioned to be able to not only expand our knowledge of Mars, 90 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,080 but also continue our recent success at Mars. 91 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,520 The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to take about seven months to reach Mars and 92 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:33,560 an additional 21 months to take its measurements, but researchers believe that it will continue 93 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:38,920 to be a valuable communications platform for many years to come. Coming up, we'll find 94 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:44,160 out about a new device that may give doctors a form of X-ray vision. But first... 95 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:49,240 Did you know that one big concern for future human missions to Mars is the Martian dust? 96 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,600 Because Mars has a very thin atmosphere and has about one-third the gravity of Earth, 97 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:58,200 the dust on Mars reacts differently to wind than the dust here on our home planet. The 98 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:03,480 smallest dust grains on Mars are as fine as cigarette smoke and can simply hang in the 99 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,920 air, potentially causing breathing problems for astronauts if it gets introduced into 100 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:13,240 the spacecraft. This dust can also form into tornado-like dust devils that can reach as 101 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:20,240 high as five miles, producing huge storms that can engulf the entire planet.