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for the answers to the following questions what is the x prize

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why are aviation and space contests important

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what is the purpose of simulated mars habitats on earth

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doing all right ready to go for this thing

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today i tested out at three g's in the centrifuge it was a very intense

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experience as a centrifuge spun around to simulate the heaviness of a rocket

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launch it was really difficult to move my arms

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and legs for such a long time

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i've been here at space camp for almost a week now and i feel really prepared

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for my last mission wish me luck

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what exercises really changed my life i think i can feel myself getting

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healthier every time i run maybe you should volunteer for an

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experimental research project do they give prizes or money if they do

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don't tell tony because we'll find ourselves under

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strict observation in the treehouse for the next six months

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i've spent a few days here before it's not that bad well speaking of prizes

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tony sent us an email and said to be sure to check out the x prize

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there must be money involved 10 million dollars

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what sign me up what do you have to do to win the 10 million dollars

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i'm not sure but tony said to contact mr eric linberg

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i wonder if he's related to charles linberg as a matter of fact

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he's his grandson here he is now hi you must be the treehouse detectives

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i got tony's email how can i help you guys

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hi mr linberg we want to know more about the x prize

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what kind of contest is it it's a 10 million dollar prize to be awarded to

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the first privately funded suborbital space launch

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that doesn't sound too hard well to win the prize

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you have to be able to carry three people to an altitude of 100 kilometers

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or 62 miles return safely that's important and do

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it again within two weeks okay maybe that's a little harder why

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was the x prize created the mission of the x prize is to create

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a future in which the public can personally participate in space travel

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and its benefits i'm there just tell me where and when i

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can go how soon can tourists go into space

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oh hold on a minute no one's won the prize yet but when

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someone does win the prize it'll probably take a year or two before the

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paying public can go and fly into space who started the x prize

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peter diamandis was reading my grandfather's book the spirit of saint

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louis when a light bulb went on in his mind and

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he thought that's it we need a prize for space travel that's

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how i'm gonna get to space in 1996 we launched the x prize

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under the arch in saint louis danger grandfather charles limberth

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and the ortig prize in 1927 for being the first person to fly solo across

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atlantic ocean very good you know your history people

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often forget that aviation was developed by

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contests and prizes like the ortig prize and the bendix prize

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and we hope to do the same thing for space travel with the x prize

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what will happen to nasa if we have commercial space flight

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well private industry can often operate more efficiently than government

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and private enterprise will allow nasa to concentrate on their core mission of

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science and exploration without having to operate a space

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transportation system i guess nasa doesn't operate the

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airlines today even though in the early years when it

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was naca it was important to the development of commercial aviation

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that's right and the more people who have the opportunity to fly into space

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and look at our planet and experience what those astronauts

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are telling us as a life-changing experience the more

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they'll work harder to try to save our planet and the quality of life

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that we know for future generations now this is truly

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exciting to think that i might get to go to space

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as a tourist thanks mr limburg you're very welcome i'll see you in

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space fantastic next stop mars

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one step at a time space cowboy seriously didn't tony tell you

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corinne is already on her way to the mars society research habitat

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oh right i forgot i can't wait to read a report

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it's like a postcard from the red planet and isn't bianca simulated spacewalk

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happening later today yes it is she said we should contact

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space camps mission control this afternoon

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we've got trios detectives on mars performing spacewalks developing rovers

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and landers we're practically on mission control

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we are go for liftoff

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dr muscatello said he would meet me at the mars analog research station

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but where is it my gps says it should be right about

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here

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wow dr muscatello this looks just like mars

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it is so cool actually on mars it's quite cold

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around minus 60 degrees celsius if we're really on mars

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you'd be frozen why don't you come inside

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if it's so cold on mars why do you have the habitat in the middle of a hot

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desert we built it here because this environment not only looks as alien as

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mars but it also exhibits landforms made by

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infrequent rain and wind that are very similar to the martian

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landscape what is the purpose of the habitats

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the idea behind the habitats is to build simulated mars bases here on earth

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in places that resemble mars as much as possible then scientists who volunteer

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their time live and work there and study the biology

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and geology of these mars-like environments

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where are the other mars habitats oh we have one in devon island which is in the

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canadian arctic that's a polar desert just like mars a

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third habitat is being installed in iceland which resembles volcanic areas

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of mars and a fourth one is being designed for

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australia which has lots of very dry red desert terrain

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so what kinds of experiments do scientists do in the habitats

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scientists live and work here just as they would on mars one ongoing research

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experiment being conducted is to look for microscopic life forms

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called extremophiles that can survive in very extreme

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environments why do they look for extremophiles mars might have similar

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organisms so we need to know where to look and what

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characteristics they might have scientists are also looking at rocks in

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the desert that have a coating called desert varnish

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which looks like a stain why is that important

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the varnish rocks have a biological component that eats the rock

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on mars the spirit rovers examine rocks with varnish as well

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so there might be a form of life on mars do you have your own mars rover

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no but we do have transportation we use atvs just like you did today

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scientists use atvs why would a scientist need an atv

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to evaluate exploration techniques they might use an atv to extend an

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astronaut's range cliff reconnaissance vehicles can

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descend steep embankments their research might be useful to help us

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learn how to overcome the limitations of living on mars

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i would love to live on mars and ride atvs well let's see what it would be

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like but first we have to put on our spacesuits

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spacesuits i don't have a spacesuit

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wow this is great do you think that we'll really go to mars

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most definitely we already have the technology to travel to mars

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we would just have to be very clever and use the resources that are already on

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the red planet what kind of resources does mars have

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the atmosphere of mars has a lot of carbon dioxide

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which you would combine with hydrogen brought from the earth with the right

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catalyst you make methane which is your fuel for the return trip

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home but what would happen if you got there

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and the process didn't work with a plan developed by robert zubrin and david

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baker called mars direct you would send the earth return vehicle

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to mars without astronauts who would land and start making fuel

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once you knew the fuel tanks were full the astronauts would leave earth

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speaking of leaving earth can we go exploring you bet

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but don't forget your helmet and backpack yes that's very important

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are you ready to see mars you bet

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bianca can you give me the order of switches to deactivate the antenna

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roger turn off b2 b3 b4 b5 and finally b1

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roger our eva mission is on target going to get the broken antenna

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this is excellent work keep up your concentration

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space camp this is mission control the satellite is worse than it was before

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wait a minute that sounds like jacob you got me

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katherine rj and i are monitoring your progress from the treehouse

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it looks like you're having a great time plus you've been on some amazing

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simulators and really experienced space yes and i learned how important

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communication and teamwork are in space travel

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here's into the a dr d got it i'll be right back with a new one

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for an astronaut to be successful you have to have the proper training

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that's right there's a lot of practice practice and more practice

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don't forget astronauts have to be physically fit

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eat a healthy diet and also practice practice practice

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we also learn to avoid spacewalks during solar storms

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radiation is a big problem in space

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here is the antenna do you have any instructions for installing it

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affirmative space is a harsh environment so astronauts not only need protection

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from radiation but also from the extreme temperatures

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of space and from micrometeoroids

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so

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installation complete bianca do you have the order of switches for the

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reactivation of the antenna roger okay trios detectives we have to

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focus on our task here look forward to reading your research

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report goodbye from space camp it's amazing it looks like we were

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learning some of the same things yes we learned about special materials

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used to protect both people and spacecraft from radiation

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like polyethylene you mean plastic bags and we know the galactic cosmic rays are

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a real problem we also learned how astronauts meals are

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planned based upon calorie count in the food pyramid

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let's not forget what we learned about unmanned missions the future of the

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space program depends upon robots preparing the way for people

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wouldn't it be cool if we all became astronauts and worked on a mission

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together sure as long as bianca isn't the

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commander she would make an excellent commander

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and plus now she has more experience than any of us you're right

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it would be pretty cool are you going home

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i think i'll go for a run great i'll run with you

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okay i'll run too catherine prepare to be blinded by my

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pure speed

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so

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so

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the nasa science files was made possible through the generous support of bush

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gardens sea world and nasa langley research

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center's aerospace vehicle system technology office