1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,135 - Good evening ladies and gentlemen, 2 00:00:02,168 --> 00:00:04,103 how's everyone doin' tonight? 3 00:00:04,136 --> 00:00:05,204 - [Audience Member] Good, how are you? 4 00:00:05,237 --> 00:00:06,839 - Good, I'm well thank you for asking! 5 00:00:06,872 --> 00:00:07,940 (audience applauding) Thanks for coming out 6 00:00:07,973 --> 00:00:09,075 to visit us tonight. 7 00:00:09,108 --> 00:00:10,043 We are absolutely grateful for your 8 00:00:10,076 --> 00:00:12,278 participation and interest. 9 00:00:12,311 --> 00:00:15,181 Like the Mars Rover, Charles Elachi's curiosity 10 00:00:15,214 --> 00:00:17,050 knows no bounds. 11 00:00:17,083 --> 00:00:20,286 In his 46 year career at JPL as a world leading reasearcher 12 00:00:20,319 --> 00:00:23,122 in radar science and eventual Director 13 00:00:23,155 --> 00:00:25,892 of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he has spent 14 00:00:25,925 --> 00:00:29,028 his entire career as a modern day Magellan. 15 00:00:29,061 --> 00:00:32,065 With the landing of the latest rover in August 2012, 16 00:00:32,098 --> 00:00:33,900 he oversaw one of the most challenging 17 00:00:33,933 --> 00:00:36,903 engineering feats since the Apollo moon landing. 18 00:00:36,936 --> 00:00:39,906 To quote him from a post-landing press conference, 19 00:00:39,939 --> 00:00:42,041 "I could only think of the words of Teddy Roosevelt 20 00:00:42,074 --> 00:00:44,177 "as I was sitting there, 'It is far better to dare 21 00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:47,080 "mighty things, even though we might fail, 22 00:00:47,113 --> 00:00:49,115 "than to stay in a twilight that knows neither victory 23 00:00:49,148 --> 00:00:52,752 "nor defeat,' and the team brought us victory." 24 00:00:52,785 --> 00:00:54,087 Yeah they did. 25 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,123 Tonight, Dr. Elachi will discuss that particular victory, 26 00:00:57,156 --> 00:00:59,192 his storied career in space exploration, 27 00:00:59,225 --> 00:01:01,227 and the remarkable work that JPL is doing 28 00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:04,197 as it monitors it's existing 19 spacecraft across 29 00:01:04,230 --> 00:01:08,201 the solar system, and prepares for the next generation. 30 00:01:08,234 --> 00:01:10,903 Some additional details about our esteemed guest. 31 00:01:10,936 --> 00:01:13,272 From 2001 to 2016, he was the Director 32 00:01:13,305 --> 00:01:15,274 of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 33 00:01:15,307 --> 00:01:17,310 He is currently a professor of electrical engineering 34 00:01:17,343 --> 00:01:19,312 and planetary science at the California 35 00:01:19,345 --> 00:01:21,247 Institute of Technology. 36 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,317 In his career at JPL, Dr. Elachi was a leader 37 00:01:24,350 --> 00:01:27,253 in developing the field of spaceborn imaging radar, 38 00:01:27,286 --> 00:01:29,288 the principal investigator on numerous research 39 00:01:29,321 --> 00:01:30,957 and development studies, 40 00:01:30,990 --> 00:01:33,259 and flight projects, sponsored by NASA, 41 00:01:33,292 --> 00:01:35,828 and he is currently the Team Leader 42 00:01:35,861 --> 00:01:37,563 of the Cassini Titan radar experiment, 43 00:01:37,596 --> 00:01:38,831 and a co-investigator 44 00:01:38,864 --> 00:01:42,201 on the Rosetta Comet Nucleus Sounder experiment. 45 00:01:42,234 --> 00:01:45,004 He is the author of over 230 publications, 46 00:01:45,037 --> 00:01:47,039 and the holder of several patents. 47 00:01:47,072 --> 00:01:49,108 The recipient of numerous honors, he was named 48 00:01:49,141 --> 00:01:52,778 one of America's best leaders by US News and World Report, 49 00:01:52,811 --> 00:01:54,981 and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard 50 00:01:55,014 --> 00:01:58,117 University's Kennedy School of Government in 2006. 51 00:01:58,150 --> 00:02:00,953 He also has an asteroid named after him in recognition 52 00:02:00,986 --> 00:02:04,056 of his contributions to space exploration. 53 00:02:04,089 --> 00:02:05,191 (cheerful laughter) 54 00:02:05,224 --> 00:02:06,292 Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome 55 00:02:06,325 --> 00:02:08,261 tonight's guest, Dr. Charles Elachi. 56 00:02:08,294 --> 00:02:11,865 (audience applauding) 57 00:02:13,132 --> 00:02:14,134 - Thank you. 58 00:02:19,138 --> 00:02:21,040 Thank you very much for the nice introduction, 59 00:02:21,073 --> 00:02:23,910 and good to see all of you here. 60 00:02:25,277 --> 00:02:28,247 When you think about it, for literally thousands of years, 61 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,950 our ancestors kind of looked up at the sky 62 00:02:30,983 --> 00:02:33,853 and wondered about all these stars, 63 00:02:33,886 --> 00:02:36,856 what's on them, how they came about, 64 00:02:36,889 --> 00:02:38,191 and particularly they noticed that some of them 65 00:02:38,224 --> 00:02:42,061 actually do move, and these turned out to be the planets. 66 00:02:42,094 --> 00:02:43,863 And one of them was a little bit more 67 00:02:43,896 --> 00:02:46,966 reddish than others, you know, which was Mars, 68 00:02:46,999 --> 00:02:50,937 and people wondered what's on that star? 69 00:02:50,970 --> 00:02:52,138 And when you think about it, also even 70 00:02:52,171 --> 00:02:54,073 few hundred years ago, we didn't know 71 00:02:54,106 --> 00:02:56,209 that there was a Uranus, or a Neptune, 72 00:02:56,242 --> 00:02:59,178 we didn't know about the rings of Saturn. 73 00:02:59,211 --> 00:03:02,982 We didn't know about the satellite around Jupiter. 74 00:03:03,015 --> 00:03:05,918 And here in one generation, we have visited 75 00:03:05,951 --> 00:03:08,154 each and every one of those planets. 76 00:03:08,187 --> 00:03:10,256 When you think about it, isn't that amazing? 77 00:03:10,289 --> 00:03:13,226 That we have done in one generation what people 78 00:03:13,259 --> 00:03:16,929 have dreamt about for thousands and thousands of years. 79 00:03:16,962 --> 00:03:18,130 In one generation. 80 00:03:18,163 --> 00:03:20,066 Not only we visited them, but on some of them 81 00:03:20,099 --> 00:03:22,034 we have rovers, some of them we have landers, 82 00:03:22,067 --> 00:03:24,003 some of them we have probes. 83 00:03:24,036 --> 00:03:27,840 So what I'm going to do today is to kind of describe to you, 84 00:03:27,873 --> 00:03:29,242 why do we explore? 85 00:03:29,275 --> 00:03:31,143 Why is it something really exciting? 86 00:03:31,176 --> 00:03:32,845 What have we learned? 87 00:03:32,878 --> 00:03:34,947 And what are some of the future things 88 00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:37,950 that we're planning to do, what is the future holding 89 00:03:37,983 --> 00:03:40,019 for particularly this great institution, 90 00:03:40,052 --> 00:03:43,756 which was elite players in making that happen. 91 00:03:43,789 --> 00:03:46,192 Now before I start on that, I thought because I always 92 00:03:46,225 --> 00:03:49,895 get asked question, "How did you end in this field? 93 00:03:49,928 --> 00:03:51,998 "How did you end coming to JPL?" 94 00:03:52,031 --> 00:03:54,900 So I thought I'll start with one or two charts 95 00:03:54,933 --> 00:03:57,236 to kind of tell you a little bit about my background, 96 00:03:57,269 --> 00:04:01,173 and when did I get involved in space. 97 00:04:01,206 --> 00:04:03,943 So you look at that picture to the left. 98 00:04:03,976 --> 00:04:07,213 That kid who is kind of looking like a little bit upset? 99 00:04:07,246 --> 00:04:09,315 That's me. (audience laughing) 100 00:04:09,348 --> 00:04:12,051 And maybe that was my first experience with space 101 00:04:12,084 --> 00:04:14,186 because my mom dressed me like an angel 102 00:04:14,219 --> 00:04:16,922 because it was my brother first communion, 103 00:04:16,955 --> 00:04:19,158 that my brother is the guy in front of me. 104 00:04:19,191 --> 00:04:22,161 And I was very unhappy because I was dressed in a dress 105 00:04:22,194 --> 00:04:24,930 instead of pants. (audience laughing) 106 00:04:24,963 --> 00:04:27,933 So I used to hate that picture, but now I love it. 107 00:04:27,966 --> 00:04:29,969 So that was my first introduction to space, 108 00:04:30,002 --> 00:04:32,138 I was born in Lebanon. 109 00:04:32,171 --> 00:04:35,141 Then I wanted my undergraduate education in France, 110 00:04:35,174 --> 00:04:37,176 so you see that in the middle. 111 00:04:37,209 --> 00:04:41,113 Then I came to Caltech for my graduate degree, 112 00:04:41,146 --> 00:04:43,983 and at the right that was my first team here, 113 00:04:44,016 --> 00:04:47,053 and I see one of them is here, Joby, where are you Joby? 114 00:04:47,086 --> 00:04:50,122 There you are, so she's the lady sitting with the red dress. 115 00:04:50,155 --> 00:04:51,424 So you can see when I was younger 116 00:04:51,457 --> 00:04:52,892 I used to have a mustache, 117 00:04:52,925 --> 00:04:54,827 I used to have a lot of hair. 118 00:04:54,860 --> 00:04:56,829 When I showed the picture in the middle 119 00:04:56,862 --> 00:04:59,899 to my younger daughter, she kind of slipped, 120 00:04:59,932 --> 00:05:02,268 she said, "Dad, you used to look pretty good before!" 121 00:05:02,301 --> 00:05:03,869 (audience laughing) 122 00:05:03,902 --> 00:05:05,137 I told her, "What do you mean?" I said. 123 00:05:05,170 --> 00:05:07,306 "Oh, sorry sorry, but now you are very distinguished." 124 00:05:07,339 --> 00:05:10,042 So she corrected herself very quickly. 125 00:05:10,075 --> 00:05:12,845 So anyways, I did my undergraduate at Caltech, 126 00:05:12,878 --> 00:05:17,083 and started working here at JPL as a summer student first, 127 00:05:17,116 --> 00:05:20,119 and as a part time academic, like many of the people 128 00:05:20,152 --> 00:05:23,289 sitting here, and then I was offered a job as a TI 129 00:05:23,322 --> 00:05:26,192 working for couple of years, and 48 years later 130 00:05:26,225 --> 00:05:27,960 I was still here. 131 00:05:30,095 --> 00:05:33,299 Now let me go to the original topic of about 132 00:05:33,332 --> 00:05:36,068 when you look in the sky, I'm sure you can count 133 00:05:36,101 --> 00:05:38,003 hundred of stars. 134 00:05:38,036 --> 00:05:40,773 But in reality, when you look through a telescope, 135 00:05:40,806 --> 00:05:43,042 particularly a telescope like the Hubble telescope, 136 00:05:43,075 --> 00:05:46,846 you'd be amazed of how many stars and galaxies 137 00:05:46,879 --> 00:05:48,114 are in the sky. 138 00:05:48,147 --> 00:05:50,783 This picture here which was taken with the Hubble telescope 139 00:05:50,816 --> 00:05:54,019 that correspond to an area about the size of a dime 140 00:05:54,052 --> 00:05:56,889 at the end of your hand, that's about the area 141 00:05:56,922 --> 00:05:58,758 that you see in here. 142 00:05:58,791 --> 00:06:00,893 And literally you are seeing billions 143 00:06:00,926 --> 00:06:03,896 and billions of stars and galaxies. 144 00:06:03,929 --> 00:06:06,899 So when you think about it, it's an amazing universe 145 00:06:06,932 --> 00:06:08,901 that we live in. 146 00:06:08,934 --> 00:06:11,170 And if you zoom in a little bit on that picture 147 00:06:11,203 --> 00:06:13,038 so that you see some of the galaxies, 148 00:06:13,071 --> 00:06:15,107 it's a very active universe. 149 00:06:15,140 --> 00:06:18,110 So you see actually galaxies which are interacting, 150 00:06:18,143 --> 00:06:20,045 you see stars which are forming, 151 00:06:20,078 --> 00:06:22,181 you see stars which are basically dying. 152 00:06:22,214 --> 00:06:25,951 So we do live in a very active universe. 153 00:06:25,984 --> 00:06:29,188 And some how in one of those galaxies, 154 00:06:29,221 --> 00:06:32,124 is kind of similar to our Milky Way galaxies. 155 00:06:32,157 --> 00:06:36,929 Around one of those little stars, we have planets. 156 00:06:36,962 --> 00:06:40,866 Somehow they came about, and this is our solar system. 157 00:06:40,899 --> 00:06:42,902 So you see the Earth and Mars and Venus, 158 00:06:42,935 --> 00:06:45,204 and somehow on one of those planets, 159 00:06:45,237 --> 00:06:47,072 there was all the right ingredients, 160 00:06:47,105 --> 00:06:48,874 the right temperature, 161 00:06:48,907 --> 00:06:53,045 that basically led to cells which formed, and those cells 162 00:06:53,078 --> 00:06:55,948 led to the life that we are familiar with. 163 00:06:55,981 --> 00:06:58,117 So when you think about it, it's amazing. 164 00:06:58,150 --> 00:07:00,920 How did it start from the beginning of that universe 165 00:07:00,953 --> 00:07:03,889 about 14 billion years ago, and here we have 166 00:07:03,922 --> 00:07:06,225 people like you and I sitting down having 167 00:07:06,258 --> 00:07:08,127 this conversation tonight. 168 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,030 So don't you wonder, how did that came about? 169 00:07:11,063 --> 00:07:14,834 And particularly on our planet after 3.8 billion years 170 00:07:14,867 --> 00:07:17,069 of evolution, guess what it produced? 171 00:07:17,102 --> 00:07:19,038 Produced JPL! (audience laughing) 172 00:07:19,071 --> 00:07:23,843 So people don't appreciate that JPL took 3.8 billion years 173 00:07:23,876 --> 00:07:26,278 to actually evolve and be where we are here, 174 00:07:26,311 --> 00:07:30,049 and more important, the employees at JPL through all 175 00:07:30,082 --> 00:07:34,019 that evolution, had a certain attitude. 176 00:07:34,052 --> 00:07:35,921 Guess which one in this picture, 177 00:07:35,954 --> 00:07:37,923 there is one guy who's a JPL employee. 178 00:07:37,956 --> 00:07:40,860 (audience laughing) 179 00:07:40,893 --> 00:07:42,962 But the point I want to make about this picture, 180 00:07:42,995 --> 00:07:45,030 this is from the early days of JPL, 181 00:07:45,063 --> 00:07:47,933 is while everybody is looking in this direction, 182 00:07:47,966 --> 00:07:49,101 the JPL employee is looking 183 00:07:49,134 --> 00:07:50,936 in that direction. (audience laughing) 184 00:07:50,969 --> 00:07:52,838 And that has a meaning behind it, 185 00:07:52,871 --> 00:07:55,174 because we don't go where other people go. 186 00:07:55,207 --> 00:07:57,810 We try to look at things differently, 187 00:07:57,843 --> 00:08:00,880 we look at things out of the box, and we are looking 188 00:08:00,913 --> 00:08:02,882 at things that nobody else looks at, 189 00:08:02,915 --> 00:08:04,917 and we try to make them reality. 190 00:08:04,950 --> 00:08:07,052 Now, one thing I want to make sure for particularly 191 00:08:07,085 --> 00:08:09,088 the young JPL employees here, don't try to come 192 00:08:09,121 --> 00:08:11,891 with that dress code, that's not the normal 193 00:08:11,924 --> 00:08:13,259 dress code you know. 194 00:08:15,227 --> 00:08:18,130 So now what I'm going to show you, that just looking 195 00:08:18,163 --> 00:08:21,066 at the last 15 years, actually what this 196 00:08:21,099 --> 00:08:23,202 great institution has accomplished. 197 00:08:23,235 --> 00:08:25,271 So I'm going to show you a very short video 198 00:08:25,304 --> 00:08:28,140 which show you about every launch, and every activity, 199 00:08:28,173 --> 00:08:31,143 and every encounter which happened just in 15 years. 200 00:08:31,176 --> 00:08:33,346 So if we can get that video. 201 00:08:37,015 --> 00:08:40,286 (dramatic inspiring music) 202 00:09:58,964 --> 00:10:03,035 (staticky mumbled speaking) (cheerful applause) 203 00:12:17,302 --> 00:12:19,905 (enthusiastic cheering) 204 00:12:19,938 --> 00:12:22,241 A fantastic demonstration of what our nation 205 00:12:22,274 --> 00:12:25,844 and our agency can do. I could only think of the words 206 00:12:25,877 --> 00:12:28,180 of Teddy Roosevelt as I was sitting there, 207 00:12:28,213 --> 00:12:30,949 "It is far better to dare mighty things even though 208 00:12:30,982 --> 00:12:33,919 we might fail, than to stay in a twilight 209 00:12:33,952 --> 00:12:36,188 that knows neither victory nor defeat." 210 00:12:36,221 --> 00:12:38,757 And the team brought us victory. 211 00:12:38,790 --> 00:12:40,859 - [Obama] I just wanted to call and say congratulations 212 00:12:40,892 --> 00:12:43,028 to the entire Mars Science Laboratory team, 213 00:12:43,061 --> 00:12:44,963 and really all of JPL. 214 00:12:44,996 --> 00:12:46,865 You guys should be remarkably proud. 215 00:12:46,898 --> 00:12:49,101 And this is the kind of thing that inspires 216 00:12:49,134 --> 00:12:51,137 kids across the country. 217 00:14:56,127 --> 00:14:57,195 - Anyway, when you think about it, 218 00:14:57,228 --> 00:15:01,867 it's amazing. (audience applauding) 219 00:15:03,935 --> 00:15:06,038 It's amazing what our nation and this institution 220 00:15:06,071 --> 00:15:08,307 has done in the last 15 years. 221 00:15:08,340 --> 00:15:10,943 Usually when people ask me, 222 00:15:10,976 --> 00:15:12,945 "How many employees are there at JPL?" 223 00:15:12,978 --> 00:15:14,880 And I'm, "Employees, we don't have any employees, 224 00:15:14,913 --> 00:15:16,848 "we have 6000 explorers!" 225 00:15:16,881 --> 00:15:19,818 Because that's what people actually do here. 226 00:15:19,851 --> 00:15:21,820 And the other thing, I mean I didn't come up 227 00:15:21,853 --> 00:15:24,823 with this title about the Golden Age of Exploration, 228 00:15:24,856 --> 00:15:26,892 I was showing the video to Jim Cameron 229 00:15:26,925 --> 00:15:28,961 who is the ultimate storyteller, 230 00:15:28,994 --> 00:15:30,162 and at the end what they said, 231 00:15:30,195 --> 00:15:32,864 "You know this was a golden age of exploration." 232 00:15:32,897 --> 00:15:34,866 You know, when he saw the thing. 233 00:15:34,899 --> 00:15:36,201 So now what I am going to do is tell you 234 00:15:36,234 --> 00:15:38,036 a little bit about some of these missions. 235 00:15:38,069 --> 00:15:40,138 I cannot go through all of them otherwise 236 00:15:40,171 --> 00:15:42,908 you won't go home tonight, so I'm going to start 237 00:15:42,941 --> 00:15:46,011 by talking about probably one of the most exciting, 238 00:15:46,044 --> 00:15:49,181 and in many peoples mind, the most exciting missions 239 00:15:49,214 --> 00:15:53,018 that JPL is conducting, and that's the Cassini mission. 240 00:15:53,051 --> 00:15:57,055 And the Cassini is not just spacecraft which visited Saturn, 241 00:15:57,088 --> 00:16:01,994 but it really explored over a period of almost 13 years, 242 00:16:02,027 --> 00:16:05,197 explored the whole system, which is around Saturn. 243 00:16:05,230 --> 00:16:08,133 Now Saturn is a beautiful planet, everybody knows about it 244 00:16:08,166 --> 00:16:11,003 because of the rings and they look great and you see 245 00:16:11,036 --> 00:16:14,106 that's a more detailed picture of the rings, 246 00:16:14,139 --> 00:16:18,210 but there is more fundamental reason for exploring Saturn 247 00:16:18,243 --> 00:16:21,847 is because by analyzing the rings and understanding 248 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,049 the satellites around Saturn, it shed light 249 00:16:24,082 --> 00:16:27,285 about how our own solar system actually formed. 250 00:16:27,318 --> 00:16:29,855 One of the key theories about the formation 251 00:16:29,888 --> 00:16:32,891 of our solar system is when a dust cloud collapsed 252 00:16:32,924 --> 00:16:35,827 and formed the sun, there was a lot of dust around it, 253 00:16:35,860 --> 00:16:38,096 so there were rings around it, and the particles 254 00:16:38,129 --> 00:16:40,932 in those rings agglomerated together and they became rocks 255 00:16:40,965 --> 00:16:42,934 and they became bigger rocks, and bigger rocks, 256 00:16:42,967 --> 00:16:46,138 and they became the planets that we are. 257 00:16:47,238 --> 00:16:49,908 So by watching Saturn rings, it could give us 258 00:16:49,941 --> 00:16:53,045 some insight about how our own planet 259 00:16:53,078 --> 00:16:55,981 and how our own solar system actually formed. 260 00:16:56,014 --> 00:16:58,850 Now to make you believe me, you can see in that picture 261 00:16:58,883 --> 00:17:00,952 what looks like a small satellite is forming 262 00:17:00,985 --> 00:17:03,922 just at the edge of that ring. 263 00:17:03,955 --> 00:17:06,258 And if you zoom a little bit more in some other one, 264 00:17:06,291 --> 00:17:09,261 you actually see in those gaps that is on Saturn, 265 00:17:09,294 --> 00:17:11,997 actually small satellites is forming. 266 00:17:12,030 --> 00:17:14,132 So it's in a sense we are doing an experiment, 267 00:17:14,165 --> 00:17:17,969 by watching Saturn, it's like you are in your lab 268 00:17:18,002 --> 00:17:20,939 doing an experiment of forming a planetary system, 269 00:17:20,972 --> 00:17:23,308 and that's actually what's happening on Saturn. 270 00:17:23,341 --> 00:17:27,079 Of course, our solar system took many billions of years 271 00:17:27,112 --> 00:17:29,247 to form, and here we have been watching it only 272 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:33,952 for 14 years, but it gives us some idea about it. 273 00:17:33,985 --> 00:17:36,288 Now just to tell you about some of the major discoveries, 274 00:17:36,321 --> 00:17:40,859 this is a satellite of Saturn called Titan, 275 00:17:40,892 --> 00:17:42,194 it's about the size of our moon. 276 00:17:42,227 --> 00:17:46,898 It's a very big satellite, it has cloud all around it. 277 00:17:46,931 --> 00:17:49,968 But what's amazing, and it has about the same pressure 278 00:17:50,001 --> 00:17:52,804 as the Earth here, so if you are on Titan 279 00:17:52,837 --> 00:17:55,040 it's about the same pressure, but the atmosphere 280 00:17:55,073 --> 00:17:58,076 is mostly made of methane and hydrocarbon, 281 00:17:58,109 --> 00:18:00,078 and it's much colder than here, 282 00:18:00,111 --> 00:18:02,848 but when we looked at it in more detail, 283 00:18:02,881 --> 00:18:05,283 we actually found something very similar. 284 00:18:05,316 --> 00:18:07,252 You look at the picture on the right at the south pole 285 00:18:07,285 --> 00:18:10,155 on Titan, and it has lakes on it. 286 00:18:10,188 --> 00:18:13,058 And these are lakes which are the size of the Great lakes. 287 00:18:13,091 --> 00:18:15,894 So actually, if I show you a series of pictures, 288 00:18:15,927 --> 00:18:19,831 actually it look like it rains on Titan, 289 00:18:19,864 --> 00:18:22,934 that liquid goes into rivers, rivers go into ocean, 290 00:18:22,967 --> 00:18:25,003 then they evaporate, they go up in the atmosphere, 291 00:18:25,036 --> 00:18:26,138 there are the clouds, 292 00:18:26,171 --> 00:18:29,107 so it's very similar to our own planet, 293 00:18:29,140 --> 00:18:31,943 except it's all made of hydrocarbon. 294 00:18:31,976 --> 00:18:33,311 You know, the rain is not made of water, 295 00:18:33,344 --> 00:18:36,181 it's made of kind of gasoline if you want. 296 00:18:36,214 --> 00:18:38,984 So I keep jokingly tell people, if you live on Titan, 297 00:18:39,017 --> 00:18:40,785 you don't need to go to the gas station, 298 00:18:40,818 --> 00:18:42,988 you can just go to the nearest lake and take a bucket 299 00:18:43,021 --> 00:18:45,757 and you can fill your car with it. 300 00:18:45,790 --> 00:18:48,994 And then on the picture to the left, we saw desert 301 00:18:49,027 --> 00:18:51,129 sand dunes, similar to what you see in the Sahara 302 00:18:51,162 --> 00:18:54,966 and the tropical, or in the dry arid regions 303 00:18:54,999 --> 00:18:56,201 around our planet. 304 00:18:56,234 --> 00:19:00,038 So here you have a satellite which have a lot of similarity. 305 00:19:00,071 --> 00:19:03,175 Not identical, but a lot of similarity to our own planet, 306 00:19:03,208 --> 00:19:06,278 and number of scientists believe that this could be 307 00:19:06,311 --> 00:19:09,948 a prebiotic planet, that mean a planet which have organic 308 00:19:09,981 --> 00:19:14,252 material, and maybe it was early way of how life started. 309 00:19:14,285 --> 00:19:16,821 And some people think there might be life different 310 00:19:16,854 --> 00:19:18,990 than ours which doesn't require water. 311 00:19:19,023 --> 00:19:20,892 You know, actually you can, but you have 312 00:19:20,925 --> 00:19:23,128 all the hydrocarbon which exist on it. 313 00:19:23,161 --> 00:19:26,131 So now we are starting to think about future missions 314 00:19:26,164 --> 00:19:30,235 of possibly put boats in those lakes, go sailing, 315 00:19:30,268 --> 00:19:32,137 have possibly balloons in the atmosphere 316 00:19:32,170 --> 00:19:35,240 to explore it more in detail, rover on that planet. 317 00:19:35,273 --> 00:19:37,309 So this is one example of the kind of things 318 00:19:37,342 --> 00:19:40,278 that we'll be doing, or our nation and NASA 319 00:19:40,311 --> 00:19:43,848 will be doing over the next couple decades. 320 00:19:43,881 --> 00:19:46,218 Another interesting satellite of Saturn, 321 00:19:46,251 --> 00:19:48,987 this one is much smaller, is called Enceladus, 322 00:19:49,020 --> 00:19:51,089 and it's all made of ice on the surface, 323 00:19:51,122 --> 00:19:53,892 we know that from what we call spectroscopy, 324 00:19:53,925 --> 00:19:55,293 but what was very puzzling, as you see 325 00:19:55,326 --> 00:19:58,230 those blue stripes at the bottom. 326 00:19:58,263 --> 00:20:02,033 So when we flew by those blue stripes, also on Cassini, 327 00:20:02,066 --> 00:20:05,103 by using what we call a thermal infrared instrument 328 00:20:05,136 --> 00:20:08,139 which measures the heat, we find that those stripes 329 00:20:08,172 --> 00:20:10,976 actually are warmer than the environment around them. 330 00:20:11,009 --> 00:20:12,277 So that was very intriguing. 331 00:20:12,310 --> 00:20:15,947 But then Cassini looked back toward those stripes 332 00:20:15,980 --> 00:20:19,084 and we actually saw geysers shooting out of those stripes, 333 00:20:19,117 --> 00:20:22,120 so it's like you are up in Yellowstone and these geysers 334 00:20:22,153 --> 00:20:24,856 are shooting up, except these geysers 335 00:20:24,889 --> 00:20:27,058 are like 50 kilometers high. 336 00:20:27,091 --> 00:20:29,928 So they are higher than when you are flying on an airplane. 337 00:20:29,961 --> 00:20:32,097 You know, you will see geysers shooting up. 338 00:20:32,130 --> 00:20:35,033 And being the typical JPL's always look 339 00:20:35,066 --> 00:20:37,969 in the different direction, actually the team here, 340 00:20:38,002 --> 00:20:41,840 which was an amazing team, actually targeted Cassini 341 00:20:41,873 --> 00:20:44,209 to fly through one of those plumes, and they found 342 00:20:44,242 --> 00:20:46,244 that actually it's water ice, 343 00:20:46,277 --> 00:20:48,980 and it has organic material in it. 344 00:20:49,013 --> 00:20:53,051 So now one theory is that possibly these geysers 345 00:20:53,084 --> 00:20:55,987 are coming out from an ocean below that ice, 346 00:20:56,020 --> 00:20:58,923 which is liquid, and then as soon as you say 347 00:20:58,956 --> 00:21:02,294 a liquid ocean of H2O, then people will be say, 348 00:21:02,327 --> 00:21:05,063 "Could there be life in it today?" 349 00:21:05,096 --> 00:21:09,000 Now you will say, "Well but Enceladus is way out, 350 00:21:09,033 --> 00:21:10,935 "how could it be liquid water in it?" 351 00:21:10,968 --> 00:21:13,938 Well it turn out as Enceladus goes around Saturn, 352 00:21:13,971 --> 00:21:17,842 you have this big planet, and it creates tides, 353 00:21:17,875 --> 00:21:20,211 so you have the ice is being pumped back and forth 354 00:21:20,244 --> 00:21:22,213 back and forth for billions of years, 355 00:21:22,246 --> 00:21:24,883 and that generates heat and that's what melted 356 00:21:24,916 --> 00:21:26,284 the ice below the surface. 357 00:21:26,317 --> 00:21:28,286 So now one mission people are thinking about 358 00:21:28,319 --> 00:21:32,090 is actually to go fly a spacecraft which will go fly 359 00:21:32,123 --> 00:21:34,225 through those plumes, collect samples, 360 00:21:34,258 --> 00:21:36,261 and possibly bring them back to Earth, 361 00:21:36,294 --> 00:21:39,164 and then you can analyze the composition of those samples. 362 00:21:39,197 --> 00:21:41,966 So that's another example of these far out missions 363 00:21:41,999 --> 00:21:44,002 that we are thinking about. 364 00:21:44,035 --> 00:21:47,005 Now this one is one of my favorite pictures. 365 00:21:47,038 --> 00:21:50,141 This is a picture of Saturn, taken from Cassini 366 00:21:50,174 --> 00:21:54,112 when it was behind Saturn relative to the sun. 367 00:21:54,145 --> 00:21:57,782 So Saturn was blocking the sun, and when you do that, 368 00:21:57,815 --> 00:22:00,852 you can see very faint light around it, so it's the same, 369 00:22:00,885 --> 00:22:03,855 now I barely can see you because the light is in my face, 370 00:22:03,888 --> 00:22:07,192 but if I block it I can see you much better. 371 00:22:07,225 --> 00:22:11,062 So basically from that picture, actually what you see 372 00:22:11,095 --> 00:22:13,298 those two little dots, that's us. 373 00:22:13,331 --> 00:22:16,134 That's the Earth and the moon next to it. 374 00:22:16,167 --> 00:22:19,237 So that little dot, is all of you live on this dot, 375 00:22:19,270 --> 00:22:21,906 all your friends, all your neighbors, 376 00:22:21,939 --> 00:22:25,043 all the people you like, all the people you don't like. 377 00:22:25,076 --> 00:22:27,879 They are all living on that little dot. 378 00:22:27,912 --> 00:22:30,248 So that give you a perspective of our position 379 00:22:30,281 --> 00:22:32,150 in this solar system. 380 00:22:33,184 --> 00:22:36,221 Just imagine in the universe. 381 00:22:36,254 --> 00:22:40,792 Now, Cassini have been flying for almost 13 years, 382 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,830 but unfortunately in September it's coming to an end, 383 00:22:45,863 --> 00:22:48,166 so it's going to be a bittersweet kind of moment, 384 00:22:48,199 --> 00:22:52,036 because basically all the fuel on it have been consumed, 385 00:22:52,069 --> 00:22:54,873 but again the imaginative team said, "Well we're not 386 00:22:54,906 --> 00:22:56,908 "going to crash without a big celebration, 387 00:22:56,941 --> 00:22:58,243 "we are going to figure out a way 388 00:22:58,276 --> 00:23:00,945 "of how to we get even more science." 389 00:23:00,978 --> 00:23:03,047 So they came up with the idea of actually 390 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,851 bringing the spacecraft very very close to Saturn, 391 00:23:06,884 --> 00:23:09,821 and fly between Saturn and the rings, 392 00:23:09,854 --> 00:23:12,257 and really coming close to Saturn. 393 00:23:13,991 --> 00:23:16,194 And that's what you see is happening as we speak today, 394 00:23:16,227 --> 00:23:19,264 we are coming every few days, we are coming diving 395 00:23:19,297 --> 00:23:23,868 between the rings and Saturn itself, and getting 396 00:23:23,901 --> 00:23:27,305 some amazing perspective about Saturn and about what exists 397 00:23:27,338 --> 00:23:31,009 between the planet itself and the rings. 398 00:23:31,042 --> 00:23:34,012 And then on September 15, is actually we will 399 00:23:34,045 --> 00:23:36,214 crash the spacecraft into Saturn. 400 00:23:36,247 --> 00:23:38,116 Now you say, "Why in the heck are you doing that, 401 00:23:38,149 --> 00:23:39,951 I mean this is a great spacecraft?" 402 00:23:39,984 --> 00:23:42,187 Well, one thing we want to make sure is that 403 00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:45,824 once we lose control of it, when all the propellant 404 00:23:45,857 --> 00:23:48,793 is consumed and we lose control of it, it doesn't end 405 00:23:48,826 --> 00:23:53,097 at some future time crashing into Titan or in Enceladus, 406 00:23:53,130 --> 00:23:55,166 and carry some of our microbes with it. 407 00:23:55,199 --> 00:23:58,069 We want to make sure those satellites are very pristine, 408 00:23:58,102 --> 00:24:00,805 so if we go to explore for life in them 409 00:24:00,838 --> 00:24:03,107 we don't find the life that we took with us here. 410 00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:05,310 So that's part of the reason we actually will crash it. 411 00:24:05,343 --> 00:24:08,279 So it doesn't mean that people are not doing a good job, 412 00:24:08,312 --> 00:24:10,915 just mean that we on purpose did that. 413 00:24:10,948 --> 00:24:13,084 So that happen September 15, I think 414 00:24:13,117 --> 00:24:15,153 at 2:30am in the morning. 415 00:24:16,921 --> 00:24:19,824 The other great mission that is ongoing now is called Juno, 416 00:24:19,857 --> 00:24:22,193 and that's a mission going exploring Jupiter. 417 00:24:22,226 --> 00:24:25,296 It got there about a year ago, and basically 418 00:24:25,329 --> 00:24:29,033 what that mission does by using microwave radiation, 419 00:24:29,066 --> 00:24:33,071 it can probe deep into the atmosphere of Jupiter 420 00:24:33,104 --> 00:24:36,808 and see what's internal composition of that planet. 421 00:24:36,841 --> 00:24:40,812 And to do that, it comes and fly very very close to Jupiter, 422 00:24:40,845 --> 00:24:43,047 even in the radiation belt, and then it goes far out, 423 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:44,883 and then come back in. 424 00:24:44,916 --> 00:24:46,818 And it has a camera on it, and I picked 425 00:24:46,851 --> 00:24:48,119 one of those pictures. 426 00:24:48,152 --> 00:24:51,055 Look at the amazing picture of what you actually can see, 427 00:24:51,088 --> 00:24:54,859 all these are basically hurricanes which are happening, 428 00:24:54,892 --> 00:24:57,195 each one of them is the size of our planet. 429 00:24:57,228 --> 00:25:00,999 So this is a very dynamic planet, and that will 430 00:25:01,032 --> 00:25:04,002 give us insight in actually the atmospheric dynamic 431 00:25:04,035 --> 00:25:06,237 and how hurricane form, how they dissipate, 432 00:25:06,270 --> 00:25:08,006 how they interact. 433 00:25:08,039 --> 00:25:12,176 So in addition to seeing deep into the inside of Jupiter, 434 00:25:12,209 --> 00:25:15,079 also is giving us a new insight about the atmospheric 435 00:25:15,112 --> 00:25:17,248 dynamic around it. 436 00:25:17,281 --> 00:25:20,218 And these are some of the more recent pictures 437 00:25:20,251 --> 00:25:23,855 that were acquired with that mission. 438 00:25:23,888 --> 00:25:26,224 Now around Jupiter there is another satellite which is 439 00:25:26,257 --> 00:25:29,994 very exciting, kind of like Enceladus except much bigger, 440 00:25:30,027 --> 00:25:31,930 and it's called Europa. 441 00:25:31,963 --> 00:25:33,932 And as you can see from that picture, 442 00:25:33,965 --> 00:25:37,769 Europa is made of ice, we have known that from Galileo, 443 00:25:37,802 --> 00:25:39,070 and even from Voyager, 444 00:25:39,103 --> 00:25:41,239 and you see that brown material, and when I say ice 445 00:25:41,272 --> 00:25:43,007 I mean H2O ice, 446 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,944 it's the thing you put in your drink when you are 447 00:25:45,977 --> 00:25:50,048 making a martini or something, that kind of ice, H2O. 448 00:25:50,081 --> 00:25:53,184 But you see also these fractures and all these cracks 449 00:25:53,217 --> 00:25:56,154 which are on it, and when you look at it a little bit 450 00:25:56,187 --> 00:25:59,891 more detail, what that remind me at the top, 451 00:25:59,924 --> 00:26:03,895 is if you fly from here to Europe over the North Pole, 452 00:26:03,928 --> 00:26:07,065 you see these icebergs which are floating. 453 00:26:07,098 --> 00:26:09,300 So that's exactly what is here, it looks like big 454 00:26:09,333 --> 00:26:12,103 iceberg which are floating on the surface, 455 00:26:12,136 --> 00:26:13,905 and if you look carefully you can trace 456 00:26:13,938 --> 00:26:15,974 some of those features, you trace them to the edge 457 00:26:16,007 --> 00:26:18,042 of an iceberg, and then they re displaced. 458 00:26:18,075 --> 00:26:21,112 So that indicate that actually that the ice is moving, 459 00:26:21,145 --> 00:26:24,215 which implies that most likely there is an ocean below it, 460 00:26:24,248 --> 00:26:26,951 and then from measurement of the gravity field 461 00:26:26,984 --> 00:26:29,120 and magnetic measurement, people have concluded 462 00:26:29,153 --> 00:26:31,889 that actually there is a thin layer of ice, 463 00:26:31,922 --> 00:26:34,258 thin meaning anywhere between few hundred meters 464 00:26:34,291 --> 00:26:37,962 to few tens of kilometers, and then there is a deep ocean 465 00:26:37,995 --> 00:26:40,798 below that, which all made of H2O. 466 00:26:40,831 --> 00:26:42,800 So again that brings the same question, 467 00:26:42,833 --> 00:26:47,005 could there be life if there is actually an H2O ocean now, 468 00:26:47,038 --> 00:26:49,140 could there be life actually in that ocean? 469 00:26:49,173 --> 00:26:52,076 Again today, not past life, but life today. 470 00:26:52,109 --> 00:26:54,979 So that's the next major mission that they planned, 471 00:26:55,012 --> 00:26:57,081 or one of the next major mission being planned, 472 00:26:57,114 --> 00:26:59,117 is a mission to go to Europa. 473 00:26:59,150 --> 00:27:02,153 First to put an orbiter around Jupiter, 474 00:27:02,186 --> 00:27:05,857 fly through a series of fly by of Europa, and using 475 00:27:05,890 --> 00:27:09,894 a very high resolution cameras and a sounder, 476 00:27:09,927 --> 00:27:13,831 you know a radar sounder, determine how thick that ice is, 477 00:27:13,864 --> 00:27:15,833 and where is it the thinnest. 478 00:27:15,866 --> 00:27:18,970 And then shortly after that we'll be putting a lander 479 00:27:19,003 --> 00:27:22,974 on the surface so we can analyze what is that ice made of, 480 00:27:23,007 --> 00:27:26,110 how hard it is, is there any organic material in it, 481 00:27:26,143 --> 00:27:28,112 and guess why we are doing that? 482 00:27:28,145 --> 00:27:31,282 Because after that we want to land on it, drill our way 483 00:27:31,315 --> 00:27:34,952 down through that ice, and put a submarine in that ocean 484 00:27:34,985 --> 00:27:37,088 and see what is that ocean made of, 485 00:27:37,121 --> 00:27:38,923 is there life in that ocean? 486 00:27:38,956 --> 00:27:42,860 And people are already working on actually what I call 487 00:27:42,893 --> 00:27:46,798 a upside down rover, which are down in the ocean, 488 00:27:46,831 --> 00:27:49,901 where actually you put the rover through the ice, 489 00:27:49,934 --> 00:27:52,770 the rover floats up, and drive at the bottom 490 00:27:52,803 --> 00:27:54,772 of the ice upside down. 491 00:27:54,805 --> 00:27:57,175 And that, Kevin Hand, is one of the scientists here 492 00:27:57,208 --> 00:27:59,977 working with a team of engineers who are actually, 493 00:28:00,010 --> 00:28:01,946 they are doing this in Alaska. 494 00:28:01,979 --> 00:28:04,982 So they went through lakes which are actually frozen, 495 00:28:05,015 --> 00:28:07,919 and they drilled the hole, they put that rover 496 00:28:07,952 --> 00:28:11,155 upside down in it, and we control it from JPL here. 497 00:28:11,188 --> 00:28:13,925 So this is kind of the early technology that 498 00:28:13,958 --> 00:28:17,028 possibly 15 years from now you probably will read about it 499 00:28:17,061 --> 00:28:20,298 that we are doing that on Europa. 500 00:28:20,331 --> 00:28:23,901 Now, so that's one major emphasis that JPL is doing, 501 00:28:23,934 --> 00:28:24,902 is potentially looking up 502 00:28:24,935 --> 00:28:28,139 present life in our solar system. 503 00:28:28,172 --> 00:28:30,141 But also there is a lot of interest on Mars, 504 00:28:30,174 --> 00:28:32,176 and Mars has interest for a variety of reason, 505 00:28:32,209 --> 00:28:35,012 and one historic, you know people in science fiction 506 00:28:35,045 --> 00:28:36,914 stories, it's a place where potentially 507 00:28:36,947 --> 00:28:40,084 we might be able to travel some time in the future, 508 00:28:40,117 --> 00:28:43,187 but also Mars has a lot of similarity with Earth. 509 00:28:43,220 --> 00:28:46,224 It has differences, but it has a lot of similarity also. 510 00:28:46,257 --> 00:28:48,993 Mars is about one quarter the size of Earth, 511 00:28:49,026 --> 00:28:50,962 so if you look at the land mass on Earth, 512 00:28:50,995 --> 00:28:53,231 if you forget the oceans, that's about the same area 513 00:28:53,264 --> 00:28:56,134 as Mars, so it's a fairly large place. 514 00:28:56,167 --> 00:28:58,202 It has polar caps, you can see the polar cap 515 00:28:58,235 --> 00:29:01,005 at the bottom in this case. 516 00:29:01,038 --> 00:29:03,107 The day on Mars is a little bit longer 517 00:29:03,140 --> 00:29:06,010 than a day on Earth, few tens of minutes longer. 518 00:29:06,043 --> 00:29:09,080 The year on Mars is about two years on Earth. 519 00:29:09,113 --> 00:29:12,216 Mars has an atmosphere, not as thick as our atmosphere, 520 00:29:12,249 --> 00:29:14,051 but it has an atmosphere. 521 00:29:14,084 --> 00:29:17,221 And then if you zoom on it, Mars has a lot of similarity, 522 00:29:17,254 --> 00:29:20,124 you look at the geology on Mars, it looks very similar. 523 00:29:20,157 --> 00:29:22,293 Sometime I give this as a test to the audience, 524 00:29:22,326 --> 00:29:24,228 tell them guess which one is the Grand Canyon 525 00:29:24,261 --> 00:29:26,197 and which one is a canyon on Mars. 526 00:29:26,230 --> 00:29:27,999 You know, if I don't tell you, you might, 527 00:29:28,032 --> 00:29:30,935 I'll bet you half of you think it's the one on the right 528 00:29:30,968 --> 00:29:32,170 is on Earth, half of you will think the one 529 00:29:32,203 --> 00:29:33,971 on the left is on Earth, 530 00:29:34,004 --> 00:29:37,909 so I will have a test coming up, so hold on. 531 00:29:37,942 --> 00:29:40,311 You look at volcanoes, we have volcanoes on Earth, 532 00:29:40,344 --> 00:29:42,046 you have volcanoes on Mars. 533 00:29:42,079 --> 00:29:44,182 That's Mount Olympus, it's higher 534 00:29:44,215 --> 00:29:47,018 than the Himalayas at Mount Everest on Earth, 535 00:29:47,051 --> 00:29:50,288 and clearly even that now it's extinct, but clearly 536 00:29:50,321 --> 00:29:52,957 at an earlier time on Mars when the volcano 537 00:29:52,990 --> 00:29:55,960 was forming, there was a lot of volcanic activity 538 00:29:55,993 --> 00:29:57,195 happening on that planet. 539 00:29:57,228 --> 00:29:59,864 So even that now it looks like a frozen planet, 540 00:29:59,897 --> 00:30:02,233 or a death planet, some time in the past 541 00:30:02,266 --> 00:30:05,870 really it was a very active planet. 542 00:30:05,903 --> 00:30:08,306 If you really zoom on the things, this one is a test. 543 00:30:08,339 --> 00:30:11,175 I ask people to guess which one is Death Valley 544 00:30:11,208 --> 00:30:12,877 and which one is Mars. 545 00:30:12,910 --> 00:30:15,112 I give that test all the time to my students, 546 00:30:15,145 --> 00:30:17,148 so let me see how many of you think 547 00:30:17,181 --> 00:30:19,884 the one to the right is Mars? 548 00:30:20,851 --> 00:30:22,820 Okay, that's a good number. 549 00:30:22,853 --> 00:30:26,157 How many of you think the one to the left is Mars? 550 00:30:26,190 --> 00:30:27,225 That's a little bit more. 551 00:30:27,258 --> 00:30:28,860 Sorry, I forgot, I don't know 552 00:30:28,893 --> 00:30:30,061 which one is which. (audience laughing) 553 00:30:30,094 --> 00:30:32,830 The two look so similar. 554 00:30:32,863 --> 00:30:36,133 Now, some of you might have been a little bit perceptive. 555 00:30:36,166 --> 00:30:38,002 On the one to the right at the beginning, 556 00:30:38,035 --> 00:30:41,239 there was a snake going through, so that's how I remember 557 00:30:41,272 --> 00:30:44,141 that the one to the right, I mean to your right, 558 00:30:44,174 --> 00:30:46,210 is actually the Earth, because there was a snake 559 00:30:46,243 --> 00:30:47,979 which was going around it. 560 00:30:48,012 --> 00:30:50,948 But the point of this is that the geologic activity 561 00:30:50,981 --> 00:30:53,150 which formed Mars are the same as the geologic 562 00:30:53,183 --> 00:30:54,952 activity which formed Earth. 563 00:30:54,985 --> 00:30:59,190 So when human go and land on it, an astronaut land on Mars, 564 00:30:59,223 --> 00:31:02,927 she will think that she's in Death Valley doing that. 565 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,930 So it's very similar to our planet. 566 00:31:05,963 --> 00:31:07,832 And of course we have now two rovers 567 00:31:07,865 --> 00:31:09,934 which have been exploring that planet. 568 00:31:09,967 --> 00:31:12,203 The one to the left is Opportunity has been there 569 00:31:12,236 --> 00:31:16,073 for 13 years, I kind of lost track how long, 570 00:31:16,106 --> 00:31:18,910 it was supposed to work for 90 days, and then there was 571 00:31:18,943 --> 00:31:20,177 a whole bet going on. 572 00:31:20,210 --> 00:31:23,247 Some people said maybe one year, and everybody thought 573 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,150 they are crazy, they don't know what they are talking about. 574 00:31:26,183 --> 00:31:28,185 Well 13 years later, it's still exploring it, 575 00:31:28,218 --> 00:31:32,023 and the one to the right is Curiosity. 576 00:31:32,056 --> 00:31:34,992 But the interesting thing particularly about Curosity, 577 00:31:35,025 --> 00:31:37,828 it's basically like a chemistry lab which was 578 00:31:37,861 --> 00:31:40,965 packaged inside a car-sized rover, 579 00:31:40,998 --> 00:31:42,800 and it's now exploring this planet. 580 00:31:42,833 --> 00:31:45,937 So it has in it most of the things that you find 581 00:31:45,970 --> 00:31:48,072 in a first class chemistry lab, 582 00:31:48,105 --> 00:31:50,808 it has an oven that you can put sample in it 583 00:31:50,841 --> 00:31:53,144 and heat it and note what gas coming from it, 584 00:31:53,177 --> 00:31:57,048 it has an x-ray spectrometer, which basically similar 585 00:31:57,081 --> 00:31:59,183 to what a dentist use to look at your teeth, 586 00:31:59,216 --> 00:32:01,819 except a lot more expensive, 587 00:32:01,852 --> 00:32:04,055 we have a gamma ray spectrometer, 588 00:32:04,088 --> 00:32:07,258 we have a laser beam which actually zaps the rocks, 589 00:32:07,291 --> 00:32:09,260 see what's being emitted from them, 590 00:32:09,293 --> 00:32:11,295 and actually make an analysis for it. 591 00:32:11,328 --> 00:32:14,098 So it has a whole chemistry lab in it, and it has 592 00:32:14,131 --> 00:32:16,133 a drill which actually drills the rocks and takes 593 00:32:16,166 --> 00:32:20,271 samples and allow us to figure out what's in that sample. 594 00:32:21,939 --> 00:32:24,041 And that's what the surface kind of look like. 595 00:32:24,074 --> 00:32:26,877 For a geologist, this gives a lot of feeling 596 00:32:26,910 --> 00:32:28,312 that these are dry lakes. 597 00:32:28,345 --> 00:32:30,881 It looks somewhat similar to when you go 598 00:32:30,914 --> 00:32:33,150 in the Central Valley, or around Owens Valley, 599 00:32:33,183 --> 00:32:35,186 and you see a lot of those dry lakes. 600 00:32:35,219 --> 00:32:39,023 So it has a lot of the similar features as dry lakes. 601 00:32:39,056 --> 00:32:42,026 And when you look at he Orbiter data, it looks 602 00:32:42,059 --> 00:32:44,095 like there are streaks which happen when the surface 603 00:32:44,128 --> 00:32:47,899 warms up, during the summer or during noon, 604 00:32:48,999 --> 00:32:50,901 you see actually these streaks coming down. 605 00:32:50,934 --> 00:32:53,904 To make a long story short, the two major discoveries, 606 00:32:53,937 --> 00:32:56,907 that number one, we believe that in a past time 607 00:32:56,940 --> 00:33:01,045 actually there was liquid water H2O on Mars at the same time 608 00:33:01,078 --> 00:33:03,981 when Mars formed and Earth formed, so we started 609 00:33:04,014 --> 00:33:07,084 very much alike, but then Mars went one way 610 00:33:07,117 --> 00:33:10,087 where actually the water went away, most likely 611 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,290 it's frozen below the surface and became much dryer, 612 00:33:13,323 --> 00:33:16,227 when Earth led to you and I living here. 613 00:33:16,260 --> 00:33:20,064 So the key question is, during those first few hundreds 614 00:33:20,097 --> 00:33:23,200 of millions of years, could have life started on Mars? 615 00:33:23,233 --> 00:33:26,003 If it was very similar to Earth, if it had H2O on it, 616 00:33:26,036 --> 00:33:29,173 it had volcanic activity, it had thermal activity 617 00:33:29,206 --> 00:33:31,842 going on, could have life started? 618 00:33:31,875 --> 00:33:34,045 And if it did, how far did it evolve, 619 00:33:34,078 --> 00:33:36,113 and if it did, where is it? 620 00:33:36,146 --> 00:33:38,115 And if it did not, why not? 621 00:33:38,148 --> 00:33:41,052 Why did it happen here and did not happen on Mars, 622 00:33:41,085 --> 00:33:43,754 so that's one of the key objectives that the people 623 00:33:43,787 --> 00:33:47,858 on Curiosity are looking for, and our future exploration. 624 00:33:47,891 --> 00:33:49,927 And you see sand dunes similar to here again, 625 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,763 I could have told you I just was last week in Saudi Arabia, 626 00:33:52,796 --> 00:33:55,933 that kind of looks like Saudi Arabia. 627 00:33:55,966 --> 00:33:57,835 And these are some of the more recent images 628 00:33:57,868 --> 00:33:59,003 of these sand dunes. 629 00:33:59,036 --> 00:34:02,340 It looks very Earth-like in arid regions. 630 00:34:04,041 --> 00:34:07,978 Now one thing to kind of maybe impress you a little bit, 631 00:34:08,011 --> 00:34:09,847 to show you about the challenge that the people 632 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,850 who did this mission had to face to actually accomplish. 633 00:34:12,883 --> 00:34:14,118 So I thought I'll pick two example 634 00:34:14,151 --> 00:34:17,254 of the technical challenges to do these missions. 635 00:34:17,287 --> 00:34:19,924 So in the case of Curiosity, after we traveled 636 00:34:19,957 --> 00:34:23,261 225 million kilometers, we landed in a area 637 00:34:25,229 --> 00:34:27,198 of about two kilometers. 638 00:34:27,231 --> 00:34:30,067 Now to give you an idea of what that mean, 639 00:34:30,100 --> 00:34:32,269 that mean if I go outside and hit a golf ball 640 00:34:32,302 --> 00:34:35,239 toward St. Andrews in Scotland, the golf ball 641 00:34:35,272 --> 00:34:37,908 had to go straight in the cup. 642 00:34:37,941 --> 00:34:39,910 That's how accurate it has to be. 643 00:34:39,943 --> 00:34:41,912 And to make it a little bit more challenging 644 00:34:41,945 --> 00:34:44,081 for the good golfers, the cup is moving, 645 00:34:44,114 --> 00:34:46,784 and you still have to get it straight in the cup. 646 00:34:46,817 --> 00:34:50,921 So that's the kind of accuracy that people had to do 647 00:34:50,954 --> 00:34:53,157 in the navigation and the technology which had to be 648 00:34:53,190 --> 00:34:56,861 developed in the navigation to make that happen. 649 00:34:56,894 --> 00:35:00,131 Another example of the challenge is when we arrived 650 00:35:00,164 --> 00:35:04,068 at Mars, the energy in the capsule, that mean 651 00:35:04,101 --> 00:35:08,139 for the technical people here, the one half M V square, 652 00:35:08,172 --> 00:35:10,975 that amount of energy is equivalent 653 00:35:11,008 --> 00:35:14,912 of 18,000 race cars going at full speed. 654 00:35:14,945 --> 00:35:16,847 And we had seven minutes to dissipate 655 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,283 all that energy and land softly on the surface. 656 00:35:19,316 --> 00:35:22,119 So we had to use, of course we had to use heat shield, 657 00:35:22,152 --> 00:35:25,189 we had to use parachutes, we had to use retro-rockets, 658 00:35:25,222 --> 00:35:28,292 and then finally we sky-craned it, landed carefully, 659 00:35:28,325 --> 00:35:30,161 in the case of Opportunity if you notice 660 00:35:30,194 --> 00:35:32,129 in the video it was airbags, 661 00:35:32,162 --> 00:35:35,166 and all of that had to work perfectly. 662 00:35:35,199 --> 00:35:37,201 And you cannot joystick it, because it takes 663 00:35:37,234 --> 00:35:39,837 about 10 to 15 minutes for the signal 664 00:35:39,870 --> 00:35:42,239 to go to Mars and signal to come back. 665 00:35:42,272 --> 00:35:43,974 But you had only seven minutes, 666 00:35:44,007 --> 00:35:46,177 so you cannot sit down and joystick all of this. 667 00:35:46,210 --> 00:35:47,912 So now I'm going to show you a video, 668 00:35:47,945 --> 00:35:50,047 which I know many of you probably have seen, 669 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,217 I've seen like 300 times or 400 times. 670 00:35:53,250 --> 00:35:56,153 But it really reflects the spirit of the people here 671 00:35:56,186 --> 00:35:58,055 who do that, so I thought you would enjoy, 672 00:35:58,088 --> 00:36:01,759 because even after 300 times or 400, I still enjoy it. 673 00:36:01,792 --> 00:36:03,160 Matter fact, my heartbeat goes up 674 00:36:03,193 --> 00:36:05,930 every time I watch that video. 675 00:36:07,197 --> 00:36:10,034 So that shows you what actually was happening in the 676 00:36:10,067 --> 00:36:12,870 Mission Operation Room when we actually landed Curiosity. 677 00:36:12,903 --> 00:36:16,874 - [Man] Coming upon entry. (dramatic music) 678 00:36:16,907 --> 00:36:19,243 The (mumbling) entry interface. 679 00:36:19,276 --> 00:36:21,245 At this time, we'll begin pressurizing the propulsion 680 00:36:21,278 --> 00:36:24,048 system to increase the thrust of the system. 681 00:36:24,081 --> 00:36:25,182 We'll use that for all the maneuvering 682 00:36:25,215 --> 00:36:28,219 in the atmosphere we're about to do. 683 00:36:29,319 --> 00:36:30,888 Vehicle has just reported via tones 684 00:36:30,921 --> 00:36:33,291 that it has started guided entry. 685 00:36:35,125 --> 00:36:36,894 We have seen peak acceleration. 686 00:36:36,927 --> 00:36:39,930 (dramatic music) 687 00:36:39,963 --> 00:36:43,968 We should have parachute deploy around mach 1.7. 688 00:36:46,837 --> 00:36:48,105 The parachute has deployed. 689 00:36:48,138 --> 00:36:49,974 We are decelerating. 690 00:36:50,907 --> 00:36:54,011 (speakers talking at once) 691 00:36:54,044 --> 00:36:55,145 We're down to 90 meters per second, 692 00:36:55,178 --> 00:36:59,016 at an altitude of 6.5 kilometers, descending. 693 00:37:00,150 --> 00:37:03,153 Standing by for (mumbling) separation. 694 00:37:03,186 --> 00:37:06,924 (engines roaring) 695 00:37:06,957 --> 00:37:09,193 We are in powered flight. (enthusiastic cheering) 696 00:37:09,226 --> 00:37:12,096 (all applauding) 697 00:37:13,997 --> 00:37:17,968 We're at an altitude of one kilometer descending. 698 00:37:18,001 --> 00:37:20,004 Standing by for sky crane. 699 00:37:20,037 --> 00:37:21,939 Sky crane is starting. 700 00:37:24,274 --> 00:37:28,346 - [Man] (mumbling), you remain strong. 701 00:37:34,985 --> 00:37:36,053 - [Man] Touchdown confirmed. 702 00:37:36,086 --> 00:37:40,057 We are safe on mars. (enthusiastic cheering) 703 00:37:46,797 --> 00:37:50,268 Now let's see where our curiosity will take us. 704 00:38:13,323 --> 00:38:16,126 - Isn't it pretty cool, this movie? 705 00:38:16,159 --> 00:38:20,231 My wife keep complaining. (audience applauding) 706 00:38:22,199 --> 00:38:23,934 She keep telling me, "But Charles, you have showed 707 00:38:23,967 --> 00:38:26,170 "this movie 300 times, why are you still showing it?" 708 00:38:26,203 --> 00:38:28,238 But people love it! 709 00:38:28,271 --> 00:38:31,175 And in a sense, it give an example, all these people there, 710 00:38:31,208 --> 00:38:33,077 Adam Steltzner and all the other people, 711 00:38:33,110 --> 00:38:35,145 these are the perfect example of that employee 712 00:38:35,178 --> 00:38:36,880 I showed you earlier, 713 00:38:36,913 --> 00:38:38,182 who are, nothing stopped them. 714 00:38:38,215 --> 00:38:41,752 They look in a different direction what everybody looks. 715 00:38:41,785 --> 00:38:44,054 I can tell you, when we first took the concept 716 00:38:44,087 --> 00:38:47,157 of a sky crane to NASA headquarter, we told them 717 00:38:47,190 --> 00:38:49,760 that's how we are planning to land on land, 718 00:38:49,793 --> 00:38:51,128 people shook their head and said, 719 00:38:51,161 --> 00:38:52,863 "You guys in California must be smoking 720 00:38:52,896 --> 00:38:55,099 "something that is illegal. 721 00:38:55,132 --> 00:38:57,868 "Are you kidding us, is that how you are going to do it?" 722 00:38:57,901 --> 00:39:01,238 But people explained it to them, Adam and a number 723 00:39:01,271 --> 00:39:03,874 of his colleagues explained to them, and fortunately 724 00:39:03,907 --> 00:39:06,076 at NASA there were a number of smart engineers 725 00:39:06,109 --> 00:39:08,312 that said, "Yeah, that makes sense, let's go and try it." 726 00:39:08,345 --> 00:39:11,915 And that's how this all came about. 727 00:39:11,948 --> 00:39:13,884 Now of course the first thing we did when we landed, 728 00:39:13,917 --> 00:39:18,155 or shortly after we landed, we did like all of you do. 729 00:39:18,188 --> 00:39:20,023 You get your cell phone, your mom gives you 730 00:39:20,056 --> 00:39:22,826 a new cell phone at Christmas or at the holidays, 731 00:39:22,859 --> 00:39:24,194 and you go and take a picture of yourself, 732 00:39:24,227 --> 00:39:27,297 send it to your mom, say, "Mom, look how good I look!" 733 00:39:27,330 --> 00:39:29,066 You know, so that's actually what this was, 734 00:39:29,099 --> 00:39:32,903 it's a, "Hey mom, I landed safely on Mars!" 735 00:39:33,970 --> 00:39:35,873 Now what are we doing next on that one? 736 00:39:35,906 --> 00:39:37,808 So the next major step is 737 00:39:37,841 --> 00:39:40,077 basically we're planning a mission 738 00:39:40,110 --> 00:39:44,148 which is very similar to Mars 2020 to certain level, 739 00:39:44,181 --> 00:39:46,016 sorry it was then Curiosity, 740 00:39:46,049 --> 00:39:48,285 so it's a similar rover, except the payload 741 00:39:48,318 --> 00:39:50,120 will be completely different. 742 00:39:50,153 --> 00:39:51,822 And what this mission will be doing 743 00:39:51,855 --> 00:39:53,257 is actually to drive around, 744 00:39:53,290 --> 00:39:56,960 it has more sophisticated instrument, look at samples 745 00:39:56,993 --> 00:40:00,164 which potentially could have organic material in them. 746 00:40:00,197 --> 00:40:04,067 Collect those samples, about 30 or 40 or 50 of them, 747 00:40:04,100 --> 00:40:06,870 and put them in the location where then after we can 748 00:40:06,903 --> 00:40:10,274 go land, grab those samples, put them on a small rocket, 749 00:40:10,307 --> 00:40:12,309 launch them in orbit, send another spacecraft, 750 00:40:12,342 --> 00:40:15,946 rendezvous with them and bring those samples back. 751 00:40:15,979 --> 00:40:17,181 Piece of cake. (audience chuckling) 752 00:40:17,214 --> 00:40:19,983 So that's the challenge for the next generation to do that. 753 00:40:20,016 --> 00:40:22,019 Now, to make it a little bit more exciting, 754 00:40:22,052 --> 00:40:23,554 we are looking at actually adding 755 00:40:23,654 --> 00:40:25,189 a little helicopter on it, 756 00:40:25,222 --> 00:40:27,958 so we probably will have a drone which will fly 757 00:40:27,991 --> 00:40:30,227 in front of the rover, and actually survey 758 00:40:30,260 --> 00:40:32,896 the area in front of it. 759 00:40:32,929 --> 00:40:35,299 And that has both aspects, one it will start opening 760 00:40:35,332 --> 00:40:38,836 the frontier of actually doing airplanes and mobility 761 00:40:38,869 --> 00:40:41,972 in the air, where you can go a much broader range, 762 00:40:42,005 --> 00:40:44,842 but the other benefit is now one of the limitation 763 00:40:44,875 --> 00:40:48,145 on how far we drive is every day we can only see 764 00:40:48,178 --> 00:40:50,214 from the camera of the rover, so you can only see 765 00:40:50,247 --> 00:40:52,149 about hundred meter ahead of you. 766 00:40:52,182 --> 00:40:55,018 So you can only plan about hundred meter drive. 767 00:40:55,051 --> 00:40:57,154 If you have the helicopter it can go in front of you 768 00:40:57,187 --> 00:41:00,858 and survey many kilometers and actually based 769 00:41:00,891 --> 00:41:03,060 on that survey, it could show, "Well it's more interesting 770 00:41:03,093 --> 00:41:05,996 "to go here instead of going in that direction." 771 00:41:06,029 --> 00:41:10,100 So it will help actually planning the rover activity. 772 00:41:11,301 --> 00:41:13,837 And the other neat thing twhich have evolved because 773 00:41:13,870 --> 00:41:17,274 of the technology now, is now we have literally hundreds 774 00:41:17,307 --> 00:41:20,110 of scientists around the world that get on their computer 775 00:41:20,143 --> 00:41:22,212 and on the phone and try to debate 776 00:41:22,245 --> 00:41:24,147 what they should be doing next. 777 00:41:24,180 --> 00:41:26,917 By that time you'll be able to put basically glasses 778 00:41:26,950 --> 00:41:31,255 which will actually transpose you as if you are on Mars. 779 00:41:31,288 --> 00:41:34,124 So you can walk next to the Rover and actually explore, 780 00:41:34,157 --> 00:41:36,793 so you'll have hundreds of scientists around 781 00:41:36,826 --> 00:41:39,963 the world actually with those glasses, actually debating 782 00:41:39,996 --> 00:41:42,966 and discussing and deciding what should they do. 783 00:41:42,999 --> 00:41:45,769 So I can kind of imagine how funny it will be if you see 784 00:41:45,802 --> 00:41:49,806 somebody at an airport in Frankfurt with those glasses, 785 00:41:49,839 --> 00:41:52,042 talking about rocks on Mars, I wonder what the other people 786 00:41:52,075 --> 00:41:54,978 around him or her will actually be saying. 787 00:41:55,011 --> 00:41:56,980 But that's going to evolve completely 788 00:41:57,013 --> 00:41:59,817 how we actually do exploration. 789 00:42:00,951 --> 00:42:03,086 Now let me go to the third topic which has been 790 00:42:03,119 --> 00:42:06,156 a major advance as, not only we are exploring 791 00:42:06,189 --> 00:42:09,259 our solar system, but we are starting to actually 792 00:42:09,292 --> 00:42:13,931 explore other planetary systems around other stars. 793 00:42:13,964 --> 00:42:16,066 20 years ago, if people would have said, 794 00:42:16,099 --> 00:42:19,002 "Look there are planets all over the place," 795 00:42:19,035 --> 00:42:21,071 people would have not believed you. 796 00:42:21,104 --> 00:42:23,140 Matter fact, I forgot now his name, 797 00:42:23,173 --> 00:42:27,278 but there was a monk which I think in the 1600 or 1700, 798 00:42:29,879 --> 00:42:31,315 wrote an article about other worlds 799 00:42:31,348 --> 00:42:33,884 and other planets similar to ours. 800 00:42:33,917 --> 00:42:36,286 Guess what happened to him, he was burnt on a stake 801 00:42:36,319 --> 00:42:40,791 because people thought that he's kind of lost his mind, 802 00:42:40,824 --> 00:42:43,060 when we are finding today that almost every star 803 00:42:43,093 --> 00:42:45,829 has planets around it. 804 00:42:45,862 --> 00:42:48,065 And one of the most recent discovery, which was done 805 00:42:48,098 --> 00:42:50,133 with the Spitzer Telescope, which is an infrared 806 00:42:50,166 --> 00:42:54,238 telescope (mumbling), is what's called TRAPPIST 807 00:42:55,839 --> 00:42:58,075 around a star, which we'll call TRAPPIST-1. 808 00:42:58,108 --> 00:42:59,209 Now I remind people, TRAPPIST, 809 00:42:59,242 --> 00:43:00,877 that's not the beer in Belgium, 810 00:43:00,910 --> 00:43:04,214 that's actually a star which is in our, 811 00:43:04,247 --> 00:43:07,818 kind of our neighborhood, and it has about seven planets 812 00:43:07,851 --> 00:43:10,854 about the size of Earth, and a number of them 813 00:43:10,887 --> 00:43:14,825 in what we call the region where the temperature is right, 814 00:43:14,858 --> 00:43:16,193 that water could be liquid. 815 00:43:16,226 --> 00:43:19,863 So we haven't detected life, but they are in an environment 816 00:43:19,896 --> 00:43:22,132 that's very similar to our planet, the same size 817 00:43:22,165 --> 00:43:23,867 and you have what seem to be 818 00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:26,236 similar temperature environment. 819 00:43:27,971 --> 00:43:30,307 And basically that kind of compare it, relative 820 00:43:30,340 --> 00:43:33,176 to the Earth star, it compares relative to our star, 821 00:43:33,209 --> 00:43:35,278 so you can see most of those planets 822 00:43:35,311 --> 00:43:39,049 are about in our neighborhood, or similar neighborhood, 823 00:43:39,082 --> 00:43:40,851 and these are to scale. 824 00:43:40,884 --> 00:43:43,954 So they are roughly about the same size as our planet. 825 00:43:43,987 --> 00:43:46,857 So that's going to be a very exciting thing that we need 826 00:43:46,890 --> 00:43:49,793 to do next, is explore those solar system, 827 00:43:49,826 --> 00:43:51,094 or planetary system. 828 00:43:51,127 --> 00:43:53,130 And the way we do it, you say, "Well how did you do that?" 829 00:43:53,163 --> 00:43:55,899 Now we didn't have pictures, those was artist. 830 00:43:55,932 --> 00:43:59,803 Basically what we do, we look at the star and measure its, 831 00:43:59,836 --> 00:44:01,905 in this case, the heat emission coming from it, 832 00:44:01,938 --> 00:44:03,273 or the infrared signal, 833 00:44:03,306 --> 00:44:06,877 and if you see every once in a while a dip and then 834 00:44:06,910 --> 00:44:10,113 that dip repeat again in a periodic fashion, 835 00:44:10,146 --> 00:44:12,215 that mean this planet is coming around it and blocking 836 00:44:12,248 --> 00:44:15,085 a little bit of that star, and it goes around it. 837 00:44:15,118 --> 00:44:17,120 It's kind of simple to do that. 838 00:44:17,153 --> 00:44:20,090 So basically between this mission, and Kepler, 839 00:44:20,123 --> 00:44:21,958 which I'll show you in a second, basically what we do 840 00:44:21,991 --> 00:44:24,294 we look at the stars, we measure their brightness 841 00:44:24,327 --> 00:44:27,831 very very accurately, like in one part per million, 842 00:44:27,864 --> 00:44:30,200 and if we see a periodic dip, that indicate 843 00:44:30,233 --> 00:44:33,103 there is a planet which is going around it. 844 00:44:33,136 --> 00:44:36,139 And I think the next one illustrate a little bit better, 845 00:44:36,172 --> 00:44:39,910 because you can see at the top, when you see those dips, 846 00:44:39,943 --> 00:44:42,946 series of dips, and they are exactly periodic, 847 00:44:42,979 --> 00:44:45,048 that tell you a planet is around it, you measure 848 00:44:45,081 --> 00:44:49,019 the period between the two dips, that tell you how long 849 00:44:49,052 --> 00:44:51,855 it takes the planet to go around it's sun. 850 00:44:51,888 --> 00:44:54,224 You look at how deep is that dip, that tell you how big 851 00:44:54,257 --> 00:44:56,960 the planet is, because a bigger planet will block 852 00:44:56,993 --> 00:44:59,062 more of the light than a small planet. 853 00:44:59,095 --> 00:45:01,898 So we can learn a lot by just looking at the dips 854 00:45:01,931 --> 00:45:04,101 in the light of that star. 855 00:45:06,269 --> 00:45:10,140 And so far, I lost track of the number, 3483, 856 00:45:12,108 --> 00:45:14,945 it changes every week, it keep being updated 857 00:45:14,978 --> 00:45:17,280 probably by now it's even more than that. 858 00:45:17,313 --> 00:45:20,984 And recently, not only we were looking at those planets, 859 00:45:21,017 --> 00:45:22,986 but we have a group of artists at JPL 860 00:45:23,019 --> 00:45:25,956 which develop poster and said, "Well let's imagine 861 00:45:25,989 --> 00:45:29,826 "we are on one of those planets, what would it look like?" 862 00:45:29,859 --> 00:45:32,996 Or you're advertising travel to go to that planet. 863 00:45:33,029 --> 00:45:35,298 So they developed a series of posters 864 00:45:35,331 --> 00:45:38,068 which are reasonably accurate. 865 00:45:38,101 --> 00:45:41,772 The one completely to the right, that's a planet 866 00:45:41,805 --> 00:45:43,907 which is around a double star. 867 00:45:43,940 --> 00:45:46,176 So if you live on that planet, you see two suns 868 00:45:46,209 --> 00:45:48,145 in the sky of different temperatures, 869 00:45:48,178 --> 00:45:50,847 so one looks a little bit redder than the other one. 870 00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:52,883 I like personally the one completely to the left, 871 00:45:52,916 --> 00:45:56,186 that's a planet which around a star which is colder 872 00:45:56,219 --> 00:45:58,155 than ours, that mean it emits mostly 873 00:45:58,188 --> 00:46:00,190 in the red and infrared, 874 00:46:00,223 --> 00:46:03,193 so the theory is grass on that planet would be 875 00:46:03,226 --> 00:46:04,961 more red colored. 876 00:46:04,994 --> 00:46:07,230 So here the astronauts are saying, well, it's redder 877 00:46:07,263 --> 00:46:08,965 on the other side of the fence, 878 00:46:08,998 --> 00:46:10,100 instead of greener on the other 879 00:46:10,133 --> 00:46:13,036 side of the fence. (audience laughing) 880 00:46:13,069 --> 00:46:15,906 And this is the TRAPPIST system. 881 00:46:17,006 --> 00:46:19,109 If you were living on one of those planets, 882 00:46:19,142 --> 00:46:22,979 you actually would see six other planets, which are 883 00:46:23,012 --> 00:46:25,182 around you, so that must be an amazing sight 884 00:46:25,215 --> 00:46:27,251 if we live in that world. 885 00:46:29,953 --> 00:46:32,289 Now, the next big challenge, what we want to do next, 886 00:46:32,322 --> 00:46:35,125 is not only to be detected there are planets, 887 00:46:35,158 --> 00:46:38,028 but actually to start taking images of them. 888 00:46:38,061 --> 00:46:39,796 Now you say, "How would you do that?" 889 00:46:39,829 --> 00:46:42,833 The challenge is that we look at the star, 890 00:46:42,866 --> 00:46:44,801 it's very very bright. 891 00:46:44,834 --> 00:46:46,169 Again, the same example I told you earlier, 892 00:46:46,202 --> 00:46:48,905 it's like I'm looking at some little object 893 00:46:48,938 --> 00:46:50,807 next to that light and I cannot see it 894 00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:52,209 because it's shining in my face. 895 00:46:52,242 --> 00:46:54,911 So what we want to do is to block that light 896 00:46:54,944 --> 00:46:57,914 so we can see that planet around it. 897 00:46:57,947 --> 00:47:00,817 To give you an idea, that's actually in that glare, 898 00:47:00,850 --> 00:47:03,920 it's like having a firefly in the glare 899 00:47:03,953 --> 00:47:06,022 and we want to be able to detect that. 900 00:47:06,055 --> 00:47:10,894 So that light is about 10 minus eight, or 10 minus nine, 901 00:47:10,927 --> 00:47:13,964 so that's less than one billionth 902 00:47:13,997 --> 00:47:16,032 the brightness of the star. 903 00:47:16,065 --> 00:47:19,035 And the challenge is to develop telescopes 904 00:47:19,068 --> 00:47:21,872 which are perfect, and then be able to do what we call 905 00:47:21,905 --> 00:47:25,308 a coronograph, to be able to block the light from the star 906 00:47:25,341 --> 00:47:28,111 so we can see the planet next to that. 907 00:47:28,144 --> 00:47:30,313 And this show you an example of a concept 908 00:47:30,346 --> 00:47:32,849 that's being developed here, so you can have 909 00:47:32,882 --> 00:47:36,286 the telescope to your right, and then a smaller spacecraft 910 00:47:36,319 --> 00:47:39,222 which at the beginning it's smaller, separate from it, 911 00:47:39,255 --> 00:47:43,927 deploy a huge shade, and then you look across that shade, 912 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,796 and that shade will block the star and then 913 00:47:46,829 --> 00:47:48,999 you will be able to see what's around that star, 914 00:47:49,032 --> 00:47:51,935 those little planets which are around it. 915 00:47:51,968 --> 00:47:55,005 And by detecting the light from the planet directly, 916 00:47:55,038 --> 00:47:57,207 then you'll be able to do spectroscopy and determine, 917 00:47:57,240 --> 00:48:00,076 does that planet has H2O, that's interesting, 918 00:48:00,109 --> 00:48:02,078 does it have CH4, methane? 919 00:48:02,111 --> 00:48:04,014 That's getting really interesting. 920 00:48:04,047 --> 00:48:06,082 Does it have hydrocarbon in it? 921 00:48:06,115 --> 00:48:07,951 That's getting really interesting. 922 00:48:07,984 --> 00:48:09,886 That they have fluorocarbon, you know those things 923 00:48:09,919 --> 00:48:12,889 you have in your refrigerator, some of these things 924 00:48:12,922 --> 00:48:15,058 are basically done by an industrial society, 925 00:48:15,091 --> 00:48:17,294 they don't exist in nature, so that's getting 926 00:48:17,327 --> 00:48:19,095 really even more exciting. 927 00:48:19,128 --> 00:48:21,932 So that's the kind of thing that people are working on, 928 00:48:21,965 --> 00:48:23,934 and these are a bunch of students are looking at, 929 00:48:23,967 --> 00:48:24,968 I know there are a couple of students 930 00:48:25,001 --> 00:48:26,002 here sitting in the front, 931 00:48:26,035 --> 00:48:29,139 actually developing some of that technology 932 00:48:29,172 --> 00:48:33,944 that actually will be flown possibly in the next decade. 933 00:48:33,977 --> 00:48:36,046 Now I am going to close to remind you 934 00:48:36,079 --> 00:48:38,048 that we live on a beautiful planet. 935 00:48:38,081 --> 00:48:40,216 People always ask me, "Charles, would you like to 936 00:48:40,249 --> 00:48:41,918 "travel to Mars?" 937 00:48:41,951 --> 00:48:43,820 And everybody's expecting for me to say, 938 00:48:43,853 --> 00:48:45,088 "Yeah, of course I would." 939 00:48:45,121 --> 00:48:46,823 And I keep tell them, "No, I think I like it here, 940 00:48:46,856 --> 00:48:48,925 "it's very nice around here. 941 00:48:48,958 --> 00:48:51,027 I love the trees, I love the flowers, 942 00:48:51,060 --> 00:48:52,162 I love all those things here. 943 00:48:52,195 --> 00:48:54,230 So let me tell you a little bit in closing 944 00:48:54,263 --> 00:48:58,835 about what we are doing, looking at our own planet. 945 00:48:58,868 --> 00:49:00,770 One of the thing we have been doing for literally 946 00:49:00,803 --> 00:49:02,839 now more than two decade, is monitoring 947 00:49:02,872 --> 00:49:04,307 the height of the ocean. 948 00:49:04,340 --> 00:49:07,277 We have been measuring very very accurately 949 00:49:07,310 --> 00:49:10,046 the height of the ocean relative to a frame, 950 00:49:10,079 --> 00:49:13,049 and we are seeing that the ocean actually is rising, 951 00:49:13,082 --> 00:49:15,952 and you can see it in that picture at the bottom right. 952 00:49:15,985 --> 00:49:18,121 And the reason the ocean is rising, is that actually 953 00:49:18,154 --> 00:49:21,291 ice is melting in the polar region, the temperature 954 00:49:21,324 --> 00:49:23,927 is going up, even that some people 955 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:26,129 don't think that that's happening, 956 00:49:26,162 --> 00:49:28,932 and actually the ocean is actually rising. 957 00:49:28,965 --> 00:49:31,101 And the people who live along the coast, 958 00:49:31,134 --> 00:49:33,036 you know particularly in Florida, 959 00:49:33,069 --> 00:49:35,972 20, 30 years from now if this continue, 960 00:49:36,005 --> 00:49:38,074 their property is going to be below water. 961 00:49:38,107 --> 00:49:40,276 Now you say, "How do I know that the ice is melting?" 962 00:49:40,309 --> 00:49:42,178 Well, we actually measure it. 963 00:49:42,211 --> 00:49:45,015 We have another mission which actually measure 964 00:49:45,048 --> 00:49:48,151 the gravity field, in this case over Greenland. 965 00:49:48,184 --> 00:49:50,920 And by measuring the gravity field, you can determine 966 00:49:50,953 --> 00:49:54,290 how much mass in that ice actually exists. 967 00:49:54,323 --> 00:49:57,927 And as you can see in that picture in the last decade, 968 00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:00,196 actually you see things going down and up, down and up, 969 00:50:00,229 --> 00:50:03,133 because that's the season, going through summer and winter. 970 00:50:03,166 --> 00:50:05,969 But on the average, it's trending down. 971 00:50:06,002 --> 00:50:08,138 And if you calculate how much of that ice 972 00:50:08,171 --> 00:50:10,040 actually has melted, 973 00:50:10,073 --> 00:50:12,108 and how much the temperature has changed, 974 00:50:12,141 --> 00:50:15,311 which expand the water, when you add those two components, 975 00:50:15,344 --> 00:50:19,949 it's exactly what we saw on the previous chart of the ice. 976 00:50:19,982 --> 00:50:22,986 So, usually when I talk with people in Washington 977 00:50:23,019 --> 00:50:26,056 who are kind of not sure or skeptical, but just showing 978 00:50:26,089 --> 00:50:30,160 them those two slides, actually people become believers. 979 00:50:30,193 --> 00:50:32,896 Tell them that actually it's happening, I'm not making it 980 00:50:32,929 --> 00:50:35,865 up, it's actually measurement, which is actually happening, 981 00:50:35,898 --> 00:50:37,801 and the only explanation is actually 982 00:50:37,834 --> 00:50:40,970 that there is warming which is occurring. 983 00:50:41,003 --> 00:50:43,173 Another key application that we have developed 984 00:50:43,206 --> 00:50:46,976 to look at here, and I think I saw Mark here earlier, 985 00:50:47,009 --> 00:50:48,845 I think he's sitting back there, 986 00:50:48,878 --> 00:50:51,047 one of my colleagues down at Caltech, 987 00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:53,917 is actually to use satellite images to look 988 00:50:53,950 --> 00:50:56,019 at slight motions which are happening 989 00:50:56,052 --> 00:50:57,954 on the surface of our planet. 990 00:50:57,987 --> 00:51:00,857 So this is like you take a picture today, 991 00:51:00,890 --> 00:51:03,159 and then you go home, and then tomorrow you take a picture 992 00:51:03,192 --> 00:51:05,195 and in between an earthquake happened, 993 00:51:05,228 --> 00:51:07,263 but don't worry it's not going to happen tonight, 994 00:51:07,296 --> 00:51:10,100 but if something happened, we can actually take 995 00:51:10,133 --> 00:51:13,002 those two images, superimpose them, and measure 996 00:51:13,035 --> 00:51:16,172 displacement down to centimeter scale. 997 00:51:16,205 --> 00:51:19,109 So in a sense we can get a picture of the earthquake. 998 00:51:19,142 --> 00:51:22,178 What you see on the left here is the Napa Valley earthquake, 999 00:51:22,211 --> 00:51:25,949 and it show you the actual motion that have happened. 1000 00:51:25,982 --> 00:51:28,852 Now, clearly that have scientific benefit, 1001 00:51:28,885 --> 00:51:31,821 but also it has a practical benefit, because where you see 1002 00:51:31,854 --> 00:51:34,224 those fringes being very close to each other, 1003 00:51:34,257 --> 00:51:36,893 that means there was a lot of motion which have happened, 1004 00:51:36,926 --> 00:51:38,962 and then you can pass that to the rescuers because 1005 00:51:38,995 --> 00:51:41,164 most likely that's where there was most destruction, 1006 00:51:41,197 --> 00:51:42,966 which actually have happened. 1007 00:51:42,999 --> 00:51:47,036 And this have been used in (mumbling) operational base, 1008 00:51:47,069 --> 00:51:49,205 you know like when there was an earthquake which happened 1009 00:51:49,238 --> 00:51:51,908 in Nepal, we shared something, were able to get the data 1010 00:51:51,941 --> 00:51:55,145 very quickly, and over the next few years 1011 00:51:55,178 --> 00:51:57,881 there will be operational system which will be doing this 1012 00:51:57,914 --> 00:52:00,750 on a global basis, so we'll be able to monitor 1013 00:52:00,783 --> 00:52:03,820 every day continuously, what is changing. 1014 00:52:03,853 --> 00:52:06,856 Now, there are additional benefit people came up with, 1015 00:52:06,889 --> 00:52:08,858 they said, "Well you know, if I'm pumping water 1016 00:52:08,891 --> 00:52:12,061 "from the Central Valley, the surface actually subside 1017 00:52:12,094 --> 00:52:13,963 "a little bit," because you are pulling water from 1018 00:52:13,996 --> 00:52:17,000 underground and actually you see it in many of the farm. 1019 00:52:17,033 --> 00:52:19,202 This technique actually can measure how much subsides 1020 00:52:19,235 --> 00:52:22,172 is occurring, so you can determine how much water 1021 00:52:22,205 --> 00:52:25,041 is being pumped out, so that's another example 1022 00:52:25,074 --> 00:52:27,177 of the practicality of it. 1023 00:52:28,911 --> 00:52:30,280 And this is show you that one example, I think this 1024 00:52:30,313 --> 00:52:33,917 is a dynamic one, we're actually monitoring the changes 1025 00:52:33,950 --> 00:52:37,053 which have been occurring in Los Angeles. 1026 00:52:37,086 --> 00:52:39,889 Now they are amplified a little bit, but actually 1027 00:52:39,922 --> 00:52:41,824 with this technique you see actually Los Angeles 1028 00:52:41,857 --> 00:52:44,761 breathing up and down, and you look at the scale up, 1029 00:52:44,794 --> 00:52:47,864 that's about five centimeters, that's about that much 1030 00:52:47,897 --> 00:52:49,899 that actually we are measuring the changes 1031 00:52:49,932 --> 00:52:52,835 which are occurring due to pumping which is occurring 1032 00:52:52,868 --> 00:52:55,805 from the aquifer below Los Angeles. 1033 00:52:56,906 --> 00:52:58,875 Now, let me close by, particularly 1034 00:52:58,908 --> 00:53:01,177 for the younger people here, to tell you, 1035 00:53:01,210 --> 00:53:04,847 I told you about how I started at JPL, now I tell you 1036 00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:08,818 during the period I was at JPL, it's great fun. 1037 00:53:08,851 --> 00:53:10,019 It's a great thing to work here. 1038 00:53:10,052 --> 00:53:12,255 People think, gee, scientists and engineers, 1039 00:53:12,288 --> 00:53:15,124 they sit down in their lab and that's all what they work, 1040 00:53:15,157 --> 00:53:17,994 but now if you are a geologist or you are doing 1041 00:53:18,027 --> 00:53:21,030 Earth exploration you can travel all around the world. 1042 00:53:21,063 --> 00:53:23,166 This shows some example, up in the left I was in 1043 00:53:23,199 --> 00:53:26,302 the Sahara Desert in Egypt actually doing some work 1044 00:53:26,335 --> 00:53:28,871 looking at some surface drainage. 1045 00:53:28,904 --> 00:53:31,140 The one top to the right we were looking for the City 1046 00:53:31,173 --> 00:53:35,011 of Ubar, so we were doing a little bit of archeology. 1047 00:53:35,044 --> 00:53:37,247 The one bottom right we were hosted by some of the 1048 00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:39,782 Bedouins who were living in the middle of the desert 1049 00:53:39,815 --> 00:53:40,983 in the middle of nowhere, 1050 00:53:41,016 --> 00:53:44,988 and one to the left actually there you have to have people 1051 00:53:45,021 --> 00:53:47,890 which go with you, it's not like you go to the nearest 1052 00:53:47,923 --> 00:53:49,926 earths and you rent a car and then you can go 1053 00:53:49,959 --> 00:53:51,094 in the middle of the desert. 1054 00:53:51,127 --> 00:53:53,863 So you have to do a lot of preparation for it. 1055 00:53:53,896 --> 00:53:55,765 And here I want to tell you a little joke 1056 00:53:55,798 --> 00:53:57,834 I always like to kind of tell. 1057 00:53:57,867 --> 00:54:01,204 We were doing an expedition in Egypt a number of years ago, 1058 00:54:01,237 --> 00:54:05,942 so we had about 30 workers, Egyptian workers who were hired 1059 00:54:05,975 --> 00:54:08,911 by the Egyptian Geologic Survey who went with us 1060 00:54:08,944 --> 00:54:12,248 and we were about couple hundred miles away form any town. 1061 00:54:12,281 --> 00:54:15,051 So to get fresh food, and we were there for like three 1062 00:54:15,084 --> 00:54:17,153 four weeks, to get fresh food 1063 00:54:17,186 --> 00:54:19,889 they brought with them live ducks, 1064 00:54:19,922 --> 00:54:22,892 and because it turned out that ducks can support the heat 1065 00:54:22,925 --> 00:54:25,228 very well, I didn't know that but I learned it from them. 1066 00:54:25,261 --> 00:54:27,130 So one evening we were sitting and all the ducks 1067 00:54:27,163 --> 00:54:30,833 were in the cook tent, so we told the cook, 1068 00:54:30,866 --> 00:54:32,135 "How do you sleep at night, these ducks 1069 00:54:32,168 --> 00:54:33,903 "are so noisy, you know. 1070 00:54:33,936 --> 00:54:35,872 "They are staying in the same place you are sleeping." 1071 00:54:35,905 --> 00:54:37,073 He said, "Oh no, it's no problem, 1072 00:54:37,106 --> 00:54:38,875 "whichever is the noisiest duck, that's what you 1073 00:54:38,908 --> 00:54:41,077 "get for dinner that night." (audience laughing) 1074 00:54:41,110 --> 00:54:43,112 And he said, "You'd be amazed, after a couple of nights 1075 00:54:43,145 --> 00:54:45,282 "the ducks get very quiet." 1076 00:54:48,818 --> 00:54:50,987 And the other thing, let's see I think I'm pushing 1077 00:54:51,020 --> 00:54:54,190 the right button, I think maybe John you can, 1078 00:54:54,223 --> 00:54:57,994 and you meet a lot of great people, that's Cousteau 1079 00:54:58,027 --> 00:55:01,164 who has came here a long time ago and (mumbling) with us. 1080 00:55:01,197 --> 00:55:05,034 You see Prince Andrew, Al Gore, so it is a great place 1081 00:55:05,067 --> 00:55:07,303 to work and a great career to do that. 1082 00:55:07,336 --> 00:55:11,140 And famous movie stars, one thing I tell people stories, 1083 00:55:11,173 --> 00:55:13,242 the reason I came to Caltech I didn't know anything about 1084 00:55:13,275 --> 00:55:17,013 Caltech other than my professor said it's a good school, 1085 00:55:17,046 --> 00:55:19,849 but I looked at the map and I saw gee, it's close 1086 00:55:19,882 --> 00:55:21,951 to Hollywood, if I go there I might meet movie stars, 1087 00:55:21,984 --> 00:55:23,953 I was very much in the movie business. 1088 00:55:23,986 --> 00:55:27,256 But I didn't meet any movie stars until I came to JPL, 1089 00:55:27,289 --> 00:55:29,192 and then I became the director so we had 1090 00:55:29,225 --> 00:55:31,060 a lot of these movie stars. 1091 00:55:31,093 --> 00:55:33,930 But at the end, the most important people around you 1092 00:55:33,963 --> 00:55:36,933 are your family, so I always like to end my talk 1093 00:55:36,966 --> 00:55:39,068 by tell you I get great support from my family, 1094 00:55:39,101 --> 00:55:42,004 these are two daughters and my son-in-law, 1095 00:55:42,037 --> 00:55:44,240 and my wife and her parents. 1096 00:55:44,273 --> 00:55:47,910 So I love every evening going home and telling my wife 1097 00:55:47,943 --> 00:55:50,880 and daughter, "Guess what, we just landed a spacecraft 1098 00:55:50,913 --> 00:55:54,150 "on Mars today, we just brought a sample from a comet." 1099 00:55:54,183 --> 00:55:55,818 So again, thank you very much, 1100 00:55:55,851 --> 00:55:59,956 and this is (mumbling). (audience applauding) 1101 00:56:10,166 --> 00:56:14,237 So I guess we have a little time for easy questions. 1102 00:56:15,971 --> 00:56:18,241 So I think if anybody, you can either have to shout, 1103 00:56:18,274 --> 00:56:22,112 or there's a microphone in the middle there. 1104 00:56:31,287 --> 00:56:34,290 Go ahead, don't pay attention to the people who are leaving. 1105 00:56:34,323 --> 00:56:39,162 - You have a remarkable historical perspective over JPL 1106 00:56:39,195 --> 00:56:40,897 and all the work of the last few decades. 1107 00:56:40,930 --> 00:56:43,132 When you first arrived here, what would you say 1108 00:56:43,165 --> 00:56:45,968 was the spirit of JPL in terms of the engineering 1109 00:56:46,001 --> 00:56:48,137 and science that was happening, and how has it changed 1110 00:56:48,170 --> 00:56:49,238 over the years? 1111 00:56:49,271 --> 00:56:51,774 How has JPL changed versus when you started, 1112 00:56:51,807 --> 00:56:53,843 and as you leave today? 1113 00:56:53,876 --> 00:56:56,946 - That's a very interesting question. 1114 00:56:56,979 --> 00:56:58,781 I would say the spirit hasn't changed, 1115 00:56:58,814 --> 00:57:00,883 but the technology have changed a lot. 1116 00:57:00,916 --> 00:57:03,019 And the spirit, I mean you saw that picture 1117 00:57:03,052 --> 00:57:05,054 I showed you earlier about the guy looking, 1118 00:57:05,087 --> 00:57:07,290 I mean that was taken in the '50's I think. 1119 00:57:07,323 --> 00:57:12,094 And really the spirit here is, we are here to explore. 1120 00:57:12,127 --> 00:57:14,297 We look at what's almost impossible and then 1121 00:57:14,330 --> 00:57:16,032 we go and do it. 1122 00:57:16,065 --> 00:57:18,234 However, the technology have changed tremendously, 1123 00:57:18,267 --> 00:57:20,837 and I'm sure you know that, I mean you look at your cell, 1124 00:57:20,870 --> 00:57:23,139 probably your cellphone has a hell lot more power 1125 00:57:23,172 --> 00:57:26,175 than this whole spacecraft, the Voyageur here. 1126 00:57:26,208 --> 00:57:30,112 I remember I was giving some kids a tour here 1127 00:57:30,145 --> 00:57:32,281 a few years ago, and one of the kids he said, 1128 00:57:32,314 --> 00:57:36,018 "Oh what kind of, how do you record the data on that?" 1129 00:57:36,051 --> 00:57:38,821 "Well we have a tape," and I got this blank look, 1130 00:57:38,854 --> 00:57:40,022 "What's a tape?" 1131 00:57:40,055 --> 00:57:41,924 (audience laughing) Now you put it on a chip. 1132 00:57:41,957 --> 00:57:44,760 So really the technology has changed in amazing ways, 1133 00:57:44,793 --> 00:57:47,096 and I think it's going to continue to change, 1134 00:57:47,129 --> 00:57:48,931 the technology for instrument, 1135 00:57:48,964 --> 00:57:50,233 the technology of communication. 1136 00:57:50,266 --> 00:57:53,002 One example on future mission, we are looking 1137 00:57:53,035 --> 00:57:56,105 at having laser communication instead of these big 1138 00:57:56,138 --> 00:57:58,808 antennas that you see here, you basically will have 1139 00:57:58,841 --> 00:58:01,110 a lens which has a laser, and that will allow you 1140 00:58:01,143 --> 00:58:05,181 to get a lot more data than we do today. 1141 00:58:05,214 --> 00:58:07,216 I started in the radar field myself, 1142 00:58:07,249 --> 00:58:09,051 that's my technical background. 1143 00:58:09,084 --> 00:58:12,121 I would have never thought we can do what Mark 1144 00:58:12,154 --> 00:58:15,124 is doing now with this interferometry kind of thing. 1145 00:58:15,157 --> 00:58:18,227 So it's always, exploration, that's what exploration's 1146 00:58:18,260 --> 00:58:22,064 about, is you do things that have not been done before, 1147 00:58:22,097 --> 00:58:26,202 and what it requires, it requires people to be curious, 1148 00:58:26,235 --> 00:58:29,906 not to be afraid of doing something for the first time, 1149 00:58:29,939 --> 00:58:34,844 not to hesitate if even if you fail, not to be discouraged 1150 00:58:34,877 --> 00:58:37,847 from doing that, that's how you learn by some failure, 1151 00:58:37,880 --> 00:58:41,150 and on purpose I think you saw in that video that I showed, 1152 00:58:41,183 --> 00:58:45,187 there was one capsule which crashed on the surface, 1153 00:58:45,220 --> 00:58:47,123 and I do on purpose show it because 1154 00:58:47,156 --> 00:58:49,091 not everything works perfect. 1155 00:58:49,124 --> 00:58:50,826 Matter fact, if everything worked perfect, 1156 00:58:50,859 --> 00:58:52,795 maybe you're not trying hard enough. 1157 00:58:52,828 --> 00:58:55,998 So, that's how you learn, and we have learned 1158 00:58:56,031 --> 00:58:58,834 a lot if you go through the history of JPL 1159 00:58:58,867 --> 00:59:02,038 in the early days, I think when we landed on the moon 1160 00:59:02,071 --> 00:59:05,207 we had six failure before we had one success. 1161 00:59:05,240 --> 00:59:09,912 And average people would have given up after six failures. 1162 00:59:09,945 --> 00:59:13,215 But we didn't give up, or our predecessors didn't give up, 1163 00:59:13,248 --> 00:59:15,851 and you see what we are doing today, 1164 00:59:15,884 --> 00:59:17,820 so really the work has changed a lot, 1165 00:59:17,853 --> 00:59:19,255 and I'd love to come 50 years from now 1166 00:59:19,288 --> 00:59:23,125 and see what people here will be doing. 1167 00:59:23,158 --> 00:59:25,061 - Do you think that has, 1168 00:59:25,094 --> 00:59:27,163 back then it seemed like there was a real national purpose, 1169 00:59:27,196 --> 00:59:29,198 there was such a priority placed on the space program, 1170 00:59:29,231 --> 00:59:32,101 especially with regard to competing with the Soviet Union, 1171 00:59:32,134 --> 00:59:33,836 we don't really have that much today, 1172 00:59:33,869 --> 00:59:35,137 how do you maintain that sense of national purpose 1173 00:59:35,170 --> 00:59:38,007 when there's not so much a sense of competition 1174 00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:40,309 between nations, but-- - Sense of what? 1175 00:59:40,342 --> 00:59:42,211 - Oh, a competition, we don't have the same competition 1176 00:59:42,244 --> 00:59:44,914 as much between nations as we did during the Cold War. 1177 00:59:44,947 --> 00:59:48,017 How do you sustain the investment required for 1178 00:59:48,050 --> 00:59:49,852 missions going forward. - Well I mean, 1179 00:59:49,885 --> 00:59:53,856 in a sense scientists tend to collaborate a lot, 1180 00:59:53,889 --> 00:59:55,992 even that there is competition, but competition is done 1181 00:59:56,025 --> 00:59:58,160 in a constructive way, because at the end 1182 00:59:58,193 --> 01:00:00,262 there are smart people everywhere. 1183 01:00:00,295 --> 01:00:03,833 You learn from each other, you learn from competition 1184 01:00:03,866 --> 01:00:06,068 and doing that, but being competition nationally 1185 01:00:06,101 --> 01:00:09,905 or internationally, and you learn from collaboration. 1186 01:00:09,938 --> 01:00:13,009 I come up with an idea, and if I talk with you about it, 1187 01:00:13,042 --> 01:00:15,277 you come up with a little bit better idea, you talk with me 1188 01:00:15,310 --> 01:00:18,114 I come up, somebody else comes with a better idea. 1189 01:00:18,147 --> 01:00:21,117 So the whole area in the scientific world you find 1190 01:00:21,150 --> 01:00:24,186 that it's not like in the industrial world where I want 1191 01:00:24,219 --> 01:00:26,822 to beat the other person, it's really 1192 01:00:26,855 --> 01:00:28,190 building together in the world. 1193 01:00:28,223 --> 01:00:29,191 Now, every once in a while 1194 01:00:29,224 --> 01:00:31,861 politics intervenes a little bit, 1195 01:00:31,894 --> 01:00:33,195 but that's the world we live in. 1196 01:00:33,228 --> 01:00:36,832 But, almost every mission you saw here we had 1197 01:00:36,865 --> 01:00:40,102 international collaboration, and vice versa. 1198 01:00:40,135 --> 01:00:42,938 There are also we fly on other, we put instrument 1199 01:00:42,971 --> 01:00:46,008 on other people, spacecraft. 1200 01:00:46,041 --> 01:00:48,811 - [Woman] Thank you very much. 1201 01:00:50,012 --> 01:00:52,882 - Some of the folks who didn't give up when Ranger 1202 01:00:52,915 --> 01:00:54,850 didn't work still come around occasionally, 1203 01:00:54,883 --> 01:00:56,752 I'm thinkin' of John Cassani in particular, 1204 01:00:56,785 --> 01:01:01,190 he still visits us, he's one of the Ranger senior engineers. 1205 01:01:01,223 --> 01:01:03,926 I'd like to reinforce what you said, I've been coming here 1206 01:01:03,959 --> 01:01:05,961 for even longer than you've been coming here, 1207 01:01:05,994 --> 01:01:07,096 and I come and sit down 1208 01:01:07,129 --> 01:01:08,230 at my desk every day-- - You are older than me? 1209 01:01:08,263 --> 01:01:11,067 - Yeah, I've been, on Bastille Day 1210 01:01:11,100 --> 01:01:13,903 is my 50th service anniversary. 1211 01:01:15,037 --> 01:01:16,972 I go to my desk every day and I say, 1212 01:01:17,005 --> 01:01:19,208 "They're payin' me to do this?" 1213 01:01:19,241 --> 01:01:21,143 I'm not an employee! 1214 01:01:21,176 --> 01:01:25,081 But now I have a kind of a narrow arcane question. 1215 01:01:25,114 --> 01:01:29,185 The crane for Curiosity flew away and crash landed 1216 01:01:30,119 --> 01:01:32,888 far enough away for safety. 1217 01:01:32,921 --> 01:01:35,891 If the crane for the next lander is actually 1218 01:01:35,924 --> 01:01:38,094 landed carefully, with some instruments on it, 1219 01:01:38,127 --> 01:01:42,231 we can brag that we have put two different instrument 1220 01:01:42,264 --> 01:01:46,168 platforms on a planet with one launch. 1221 01:01:46,201 --> 01:01:48,971 - Bob, that's an interesting idea what you are saying, 1222 01:01:49,004 --> 01:01:51,807 we need people to come up with idea like this, 1223 01:01:51,840 --> 01:01:53,809 so in a sense here, if you know on the next one, 1224 01:01:53,842 --> 01:01:56,178 it has the helicopter, so in a sense you are putting 1225 01:01:56,211 --> 01:02:00,983 a solid surface platform and a flying platform on it, 1226 01:02:01,016 --> 01:02:02,752 and you can put a third one. 1227 01:02:02,785 --> 01:02:04,220 I'm not anymore the director, you might want to 1228 01:02:04,253 --> 01:02:07,156 go talk with Mike Watkins about doing that, 1229 01:02:07,189 --> 01:02:11,260 but on a more serious note based on what you say, 1230 01:02:11,293 --> 01:02:12,995 that's how people come up with it, 1231 01:02:13,028 --> 01:02:14,997 we need people to come always with what seem 1232 01:02:15,030 --> 01:02:16,298 to be crazy idea. 1233 01:02:16,331 --> 01:02:19,001 I mean, my philosophy was when somebody tell me 1234 01:02:19,034 --> 01:02:21,103 this is a crazy idea, say, "Wow, that's cool, 1235 01:02:21,136 --> 01:02:23,172 "let's go and figure out how do we do it." 1236 01:02:23,205 --> 01:02:26,108 Because that's how you explore, and it's not unique 1237 01:02:26,141 --> 01:02:29,979 only about JPL, all explorers in history, 1238 01:02:30,012 --> 01:02:33,849 that's how they explore is by really pushing the limit, 1239 01:02:33,882 --> 01:02:36,886 trying new ideas, trying new ways of doing things. 1240 01:02:36,919 --> 01:02:39,155 Failing every once in a while, learning from it, 1241 01:02:39,188 --> 01:02:41,124 and then trying again. 1242 01:02:42,257 --> 01:02:46,128 So keep on coming with the new ideas. 1243 01:02:46,161 --> 01:02:48,197 - Thank you very much for the interesting presentation. 1244 01:02:48,230 --> 01:02:50,900 My question, are two questions okay? 1245 01:02:50,933 --> 01:02:53,102 - [Charles] That's fine, say them at the same time, 1246 01:02:53,135 --> 01:02:54,904 then I think it's only one. 1247 01:02:54,937 --> 01:02:57,940 - One question is what are your thoughts on planetary 1248 01:02:57,973 --> 01:03:00,910 protection, is it something helpful, to what extreme 1249 01:03:00,943 --> 01:03:03,779 is it helpful and when does it become not helpful, 1250 01:03:03,812 --> 01:03:06,849 and how would that interact with the future 1251 01:03:06,882 --> 01:03:09,084 of human exploration of Mars for example. 1252 01:03:09,117 --> 01:03:10,820 - You know, I think that's a very good question. 1253 01:03:10,853 --> 01:03:13,055 That's a debate we have done many times. 1254 01:03:13,088 --> 01:03:16,158 Clearly if you are going to search for life, 1255 01:03:16,191 --> 01:03:19,929 you want to make sure you are not taking life with you. 1256 01:03:19,962 --> 01:03:23,833 And also, depending what life you find, you want to make 1257 01:03:23,866 --> 01:03:27,069 sure you don't bring something you don't like back to Earth. 1258 01:03:27,102 --> 01:03:30,005 So there are all kinds of protocols about cleaning 1259 01:03:30,038 --> 01:03:34,276 spacecraft, particularly when you have organic (mumbling). 1260 01:03:34,309 --> 01:03:38,214 On Mars 2020, there's a major effort of how to clean 1261 01:03:38,247 --> 01:03:41,817 the spacecraft, and we have done that on previous missions, 1262 01:03:41,850 --> 01:03:46,755 and that's exactly why on Cassini we are going to crash it 1263 01:03:46,788 --> 01:03:48,224 in the atmosphere and actually burn it, 1264 01:03:48,257 --> 01:03:51,060 I shouldn't say crash it, burn it in the atmosphere 1265 01:03:51,093 --> 01:03:54,063 because we did not clean it, we were not planning for it 1266 01:03:54,096 --> 01:03:57,032 to survive for so long on the way back. 1267 01:03:57,065 --> 01:03:58,467 So we talked to planetary protection, 1268 01:03:58,500 --> 01:04:00,169 now having said that, 1269 01:04:00,202 --> 01:04:02,104 there is a big dilemma of what we are going to do 1270 01:04:02,137 --> 01:04:05,207 when we send a human because you cannot take the human 1271 01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:07,243 and put them in an oven and heat them 1272 01:04:07,276 --> 01:04:09,311 to a thousand degrees to do that, 1273 01:04:09,344 --> 01:04:11,914 or use chemical to clean them. 1274 01:04:11,947 --> 01:04:13,916 So it is a dilemma on doing that, 1275 01:04:13,949 --> 01:04:16,252 so sooner or later we have to accept 1276 01:04:16,285 --> 01:04:20,189 that we might take some of our life with us 1277 01:04:20,222 --> 01:04:24,827 to other planets, so that is a very legitimate 1278 01:04:24,860 --> 01:04:27,096 debate to talk about. 1279 01:04:27,129 --> 01:04:28,964 - And the other question is-- - Oh I thought these were 1280 01:04:28,997 --> 01:04:32,201 your two questions. (audience laughing) 1281 01:04:32,234 --> 01:04:34,203 - And the other question is what are your thoughts 1282 01:04:34,236 --> 01:04:35,871 on new space companies 1283 01:04:35,904 --> 01:04:38,941 participating in future exploration? 1284 01:04:38,974 --> 01:04:40,175 So-- - You mean like 1285 01:04:40,208 --> 01:04:42,044 commercial companies-- - Exactly, so like SpaceX 1286 01:04:42,077 --> 01:04:44,113 talking about colonization of Mars, 1287 01:04:44,146 --> 01:04:46,782 Blue Origin participating in that. 1288 01:04:46,815 --> 01:04:48,150 - No I think also that's a very good question, 1289 01:04:48,183 --> 01:04:50,152 and it's very important topic. 1290 01:04:50,185 --> 01:04:53,956 Basically at NASA, the role of NASA is to basically 1291 01:04:53,989 --> 01:04:56,125 push the frontier and do things for the first time, 1292 01:04:56,158 --> 01:04:58,093 and that's what JPL does, and that's 1293 01:04:58,126 --> 01:05:00,062 what the government should be doing. 1294 01:05:00,095 --> 01:05:02,131 Once you develop that technology and you develop 1295 01:05:02,164 --> 01:05:04,967 that capability, then I think it's the right thing 1296 01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:07,303 to turn it over to the commercial sector and have 1297 01:05:07,336 --> 01:05:10,839 the commercial sector make a business out of it. 1298 01:05:10,872 --> 01:05:13,075 So, many of the commercial company now 1299 01:05:13,108 --> 01:05:16,145 who are building rocket, basically they are capitalizing 1300 01:05:16,178 --> 01:05:19,214 on the technology and the investment that NASA has done 1301 01:05:19,247 --> 01:05:21,216 over the last 50 years. 1302 01:05:21,249 --> 01:05:23,953 You know we are called the Jet Propulsion Lab, 1303 01:05:23,986 --> 01:05:25,254 we don't do any propulsion. 1304 01:05:25,287 --> 01:05:28,924 We did that in the '50's and the '60's, and developed that 1305 01:05:28,957 --> 01:05:31,160 capability and then turned it over to industry. 1306 01:05:31,193 --> 01:05:33,963 Now we are getting companies want to go 1307 01:05:33,996 --> 01:05:36,832 and do tourism around Earth, that's great. 1308 01:05:36,865 --> 01:05:38,033 The technology have been developed, 1309 01:05:38,066 --> 01:05:40,002 the capability have been developed. 1310 01:05:40,035 --> 01:05:42,237 Some day in the future, the capability of having 1311 01:05:42,270 --> 01:05:46,141 commercial companies send humans to Mars, but I think still, 1312 01:05:46,174 --> 01:05:49,111 the government has a role to do things for the first time, 1313 01:05:49,144 --> 01:05:52,948 because you require a major amount of investment to do that, 1314 01:05:52,981 --> 01:05:55,184 that normal companies will not do. 1315 01:05:55,217 --> 01:05:58,120 You know, you have stocks, I'm not sure you have stocks, 1316 01:05:58,153 --> 01:06:01,190 I'm sure your parents have stocks in a number of companies, 1317 01:06:01,223 --> 01:06:04,259 and they want to make sure they make a profit for them 1318 01:06:04,292 --> 01:06:06,028 that's what our system is here, 1319 01:06:06,061 --> 01:06:07,930 so that's where the government could invest 1320 01:06:07,963 --> 01:06:11,133 and take the high risk activity and develop the technology, 1321 01:06:11,166 --> 01:06:13,869 then turn it to the commercial sector. 1322 01:06:13,902 --> 01:06:15,838 So I think you're going to see the future within 1323 01:06:15,871 --> 01:06:19,274 the next decade, more and more commercial companies, 1324 01:06:19,307 --> 01:06:22,311 actually not only launching but actually possibly 1325 01:06:22,344 --> 01:06:27,049 conducting business if you want, or doing mining, 1326 01:06:27,082 --> 01:06:30,019 or doing monitoring in space, and that's great, 1327 01:06:30,052 --> 01:06:31,954 that's what we should be doing. 1328 01:06:31,987 --> 01:06:34,256 - Thank you very much. - Sure. 1329 01:06:36,825 --> 01:06:39,128 - Hi, very nice presentation. 1330 01:06:39,161 --> 01:06:43,165 In regard to the Stardust NExT mission, 1331 01:06:43,198 --> 01:06:46,969 is it possible to decontaminate an isotope? 1332 01:06:48,170 --> 01:06:52,074 - To decontaminate what? - Decontaminate an isotope. 1333 01:06:53,241 --> 01:06:54,810 - What do you mean, I'm not sure what you mean 1334 01:06:54,843 --> 01:06:57,013 by decontaminate an isotope? 1335 01:06:58,046 --> 01:07:01,750 - Okay, let me explain a bit further. 1336 01:07:01,783 --> 01:07:05,087 There was a Stardust NExT mission-- 1337 01:07:05,120 --> 01:07:07,156 - Oh I see. - To a comet, 1338 01:07:07,189 --> 01:07:10,226 and we tapped the nucleus of a comet, 1339 01:07:11,927 --> 01:07:15,197 whereby we got some amino acids that were taken 1340 01:07:17,866 --> 01:07:21,971 and tested in a laboratory, brought down as organic matter, 1341 01:07:23,338 --> 01:07:26,976 and it turned out that it was carbon-1, 1342 01:07:28,143 --> 01:07:32,281 carbon-1 being six protons and six neutrons, 1343 01:07:32,314 --> 01:07:36,218 and Earthly bound, maybe we got it off of the grid, 1344 01:07:36,251 --> 01:07:40,256 maybe it was from some other source, but there was also 1345 01:07:42,124 --> 01:07:46,195 a compound that was six protons and seven neutrons 1346 01:07:49,030 --> 01:07:53,135 that was very heavy that couldn't be terrestrial. 1347 01:07:53,168 --> 01:07:55,871 - I don't think I know how to answer your question, 1348 01:07:55,904 --> 01:07:58,040 even that I was the director of JPL, 1349 01:07:58,073 --> 01:07:59,208 I don't know everything. 1350 01:07:59,241 --> 01:08:02,010 So, I really don't know. 1351 01:08:02,043 --> 01:08:03,212 I mean I have to be candid with you, 1352 01:08:03,245 --> 01:08:05,280 I really don't know how to answer your question. 1353 01:08:05,313 --> 01:08:07,116 - Okay. - Sorry about that. 1354 01:08:07,149 --> 01:08:09,151 - But, thank you any way. - I know I'm almost perfect, 1355 01:08:09,184 --> 01:08:13,255 but not completely perfect. (audience laughing) 1356 01:08:15,957 --> 01:08:18,827 - I understand that if you wanna see the corona of the sun, 1357 01:08:18,860 --> 01:08:22,097 you use a coronograph, which is simply a disc that appears 1358 01:08:22,130 --> 01:08:26,101 to block the image of the sun from your perspective, 1359 01:08:26,134 --> 01:08:30,272 but with the star shield, all the stars other than the sun 1360 01:08:30,305 --> 01:08:33,008 are far enough away that they're simply a point source, 1361 01:08:33,041 --> 01:08:36,912 there's no discernible disc because they're so far away, 1362 01:08:36,945 --> 01:08:39,982 so how do you decide on the size of the star shield, 1363 01:08:40,015 --> 01:08:41,984 and how far away you view from it, 1364 01:08:42,017 --> 01:08:43,952 and why the pointy leaflets? 1365 01:08:43,985 --> 01:08:46,188 - Yeah, I think people can figure out 1366 01:08:46,221 --> 01:08:50,058 there is a relationship between the size of the star shade, 1367 01:08:50,091 --> 01:08:54,129 and the distance from your telescope to do that, 1368 01:08:54,162 --> 01:08:55,764 and there are two techniques. 1369 01:08:55,797 --> 01:08:59,001 I mean one technique is, inside the telescope 1370 01:08:59,034 --> 01:09:01,136 to put the coronograph, that mean you put the camera 1371 01:09:01,169 --> 01:09:04,873 and put a little dot in it which will block the light 1372 01:09:04,906 --> 01:09:08,911 of the star, but it turn out by putting a star shade 1373 01:09:08,944 --> 01:09:12,247 a significant distance away from you, you will be able 1374 01:09:12,280 --> 01:09:16,285 to see even closer to the star, so you can do the geometry 1375 01:09:16,318 --> 01:09:20,255 between them, so this star shade, from memory now 1376 01:09:20,288 --> 01:09:24,259 I can tell you, is many hundreds of meters in size, 1377 01:09:24,292 --> 01:09:26,228 the one I showed you in here, 1378 01:09:26,261 --> 01:09:29,064 and it will be many tens of thousands of kilometers 1379 01:09:29,097 --> 01:09:31,967 away from the telescope, 1380 01:09:32,000 --> 01:09:33,902 and the challenge as you could imagine, I'm sure 1381 01:09:33,935 --> 01:09:37,206 you can quickly think about it, is how do you line them up. 1382 01:09:37,239 --> 01:09:41,043 So your telescope cannot jitter very much, 1383 01:09:41,076 --> 01:09:45,247 and then your star shade has to be lined up very accurately. 1384 01:09:45,280 --> 01:09:47,216 But we think we can develop that technology, 1385 01:09:47,249 --> 01:09:49,918 I think with that, it is within our capability 1386 01:09:49,951 --> 01:09:51,086 of actually doing that. 1387 01:09:51,119 --> 01:09:53,155 And then when you move the telescope to look 1388 01:09:53,188 --> 01:09:56,191 at another star, the star shade has to move 1389 01:09:56,224 --> 01:10:00,128 and then line up relative to that star. 1390 01:10:00,161 --> 01:10:01,230 So that's how these things work. 1391 01:10:01,263 --> 01:10:03,165 - Why the pointy ends to the leaflets 1392 01:10:03,198 --> 01:10:06,068 that we saw in the design that was showing? 1393 01:10:06,101 --> 01:10:08,070 - So the pointed what? - Well, the star shade 1394 01:10:08,103 --> 01:10:12,007 you showed, it looked like it had pointy ends. 1395 01:10:12,040 --> 01:10:14,276 It wasn't circular, it was-- - Oh I see, 1396 01:10:14,309 --> 01:10:16,144 that is was not a circle? - It was circle, but then 1397 01:10:16,177 --> 01:10:19,047 it had pointy ends. - Well it turn out, 1398 01:10:19,080 --> 01:10:22,818 if you really do the math and so on, 1399 01:10:22,851 --> 01:10:26,154 that pattern is a perfect pattern to counterbalance 1400 01:10:26,187 --> 01:10:28,890 the diffraction that you will get in the telescope. 1401 01:10:28,923 --> 01:10:30,993 I asked the same question when I first saw it, I said, 1402 01:10:31,026 --> 01:10:34,029 "Gee that looks bizarre, why isn't it a perfect circle?" 1403 01:10:34,062 --> 01:10:36,798 It turn out that when you do the calculation, 1404 01:10:36,831 --> 01:10:39,101 and I don't have the time to go through it here, 1405 01:10:39,134 --> 01:10:41,870 and I don't think you'd be interested, it turn out 1406 01:10:41,903 --> 01:10:45,073 that this pattern is the best pattern to actually block 1407 01:10:45,106 --> 01:10:47,075 the light from the star and see very faint 1408 01:10:47,108 --> 01:10:49,011 object next to it. 1409 01:10:49,044 --> 01:10:51,179 - Okay, thank you. - Okay. 1410 01:10:51,212 --> 01:10:54,082 Oh see, I think there are other, because this thing is being 1411 01:10:54,115 --> 01:10:58,220 I guess transmitted and there are a couple of questions. 1412 01:11:01,189 --> 01:11:03,992 Okay one question is from Crystal Ball, 1413 01:11:04,025 --> 01:11:07,963 which is what is your vision of the space industry future, 1414 01:11:07,996 --> 01:11:11,199 and that's kind of the same question that somebody ask here, 1415 01:11:11,232 --> 01:11:13,235 and again I think there will be great opportunity 1416 01:11:13,268 --> 01:11:15,304 in the space business. 1417 01:11:15,337 --> 01:11:19,308 Now, people tend to underestimate the complexity 1418 01:11:19,341 --> 01:11:21,076 when people say, "Oh we are going to send 1419 01:11:21,109 --> 01:11:25,147 "a thousand inhabitant to Mars in the next 10 years." 1420 01:11:25,180 --> 01:11:28,050 I think is going to take us a little bit longer than that. 1421 01:11:28,083 --> 01:11:31,186 But I personally do believe that within the next 10, 1422 01:11:31,219 --> 01:11:33,955 15 years, maybe 15 years, we actually will be sending 1423 01:11:33,988 --> 01:11:37,092 humans to Mars, and that will open the frontier 1424 01:11:37,125 --> 01:11:39,895 for possible industrial activity. 1425 01:11:39,928 --> 01:11:43,198 I could imagine doing mining of asteroids. 1426 01:11:43,231 --> 01:11:45,867 So I think there is an opportunity, but it's not 1427 01:11:45,900 --> 01:11:50,772 a short term, it's not something which will happen tomorrow. 1428 01:11:50,805 --> 01:11:53,775 However, what will happen and what is happening now is all 1429 01:11:53,808 --> 01:11:57,112 the telecommunication industry, all the monitoring industry, 1430 01:11:57,145 --> 01:12:00,849 I'm sure all of you use Google, people don't think about it 1431 01:12:00,882 --> 01:12:03,085 twice that actually those pictures have actually go 1432 01:12:03,118 --> 01:12:05,220 from a map to a picture, actually that was 1433 01:12:05,253 --> 01:12:07,856 taken from orbiting satellite. 1434 01:12:07,889 --> 01:12:10,892 Many of you when you watch the news you see 3D images 1435 01:12:10,925 --> 01:12:13,962 of Los Angeles, and you see clouds coming over it, 1436 01:12:13,995 --> 01:12:16,865 people don't remember that that was taken from space, 1437 01:12:16,898 --> 01:12:19,167 it was one of the missions that Joby was involved in, 1438 01:12:19,200 --> 01:12:21,903 and a number of us who were involved in it. 1439 01:12:21,936 --> 01:12:24,973 You use your GPS, every time I look at my iPhone 1440 01:12:25,006 --> 01:12:27,275 and I'm lost, I try to find where I am. 1441 01:12:27,308 --> 01:12:29,911 People don't remember that that's coming from satellite. 1442 01:12:29,944 --> 01:12:33,115 So already, the space industry is in many areas, 1443 01:12:33,148 --> 01:12:36,852 we have a major space industry going on. 1444 01:12:36,885 --> 01:12:39,221 And then June ask, what are your thoughts of the amateur 1445 01:12:39,254 --> 01:12:42,924 astronomer contribution to the Juno mission, are there plans 1446 01:12:42,957 --> 01:12:45,394 for continuing community involvement 1447 01:12:45,427 --> 01:12:46,995 with future missions? 1448 01:12:47,028 --> 01:12:50,899 Yes, I think amateur astronomers could play a major role 1449 01:12:50,932 --> 01:12:53,168 in all the mission, because we get tremendous amount 1450 01:12:53,201 --> 01:12:56,071 of data, and as I showed you the picture earlier, 1451 01:12:56,104 --> 01:12:59,775 you have millions of stars in the sky, and even if you 1452 01:12:59,808 --> 01:13:02,010 get the smartest and the best scientist, 1453 01:13:02,043 --> 01:13:04,946 there is not enough of them to actually be able to look 1454 01:13:04,979 --> 01:13:08,049 at all the data, to actually examine all the phenomena. 1455 01:13:08,082 --> 01:13:11,086 So I think having amateur astronomer is a great thing 1456 01:13:11,119 --> 01:13:13,822 to continue, and I hope JPL, I mean I'm not 1457 01:13:13,855 --> 01:13:16,057 controlling it anymore, but I hope that that will 1458 01:13:16,090 --> 01:13:18,994 continue in our future mission. 1459 01:13:19,027 --> 01:13:23,098 And the last one from Param, what opportunities does JPL 1460 01:13:24,999 --> 01:13:28,170 have for quantum physicists and astrophysicists? 1461 01:13:28,203 --> 01:13:32,174 Clearly we have a lot of opportunity for astrophysicist, 1462 01:13:32,207 --> 01:13:34,242 Quantum physicist too, because people ask me, 1463 01:13:34,275 --> 01:13:37,212 "What should I study to be able to work at JPL?" 1464 01:13:37,245 --> 01:13:40,182 And I tell them, "We hire people from every background." 1465 01:13:40,215 --> 01:13:44,052 Every technical discipline, every scientific discipline, 1466 01:13:44,085 --> 01:13:47,989 as I told you earlier, we have six artist who work at JPL. 1467 01:13:48,022 --> 01:13:51,827 People from business background, outreach, communication, 1468 01:13:51,860 --> 01:13:55,096 education, from all the disciplines that you need that, 1469 01:13:55,129 --> 01:13:57,833 because you can never tell where the next discovery 1470 01:13:57,866 --> 01:14:01,002 will happen, so it could be somebody a quantum physicist 1471 01:14:01,035 --> 01:14:02,938 and they come and they come with idea 1472 01:14:02,971 --> 01:14:04,940 about quantum computing, 1473 01:14:04,973 --> 01:14:08,210 putting a new version of computers in our spacecraft 1474 01:14:08,243 --> 01:14:10,946 versus the computers we use today. 1475 01:14:10,979 --> 01:14:13,915 So clearly I usually tell people, don't try to be 1476 01:14:13,948 --> 01:14:17,853 too specific on what you study, as long as you are in 1477 01:14:17,886 --> 01:14:21,189 a technical discipline, almost any technical discipline, 1478 01:14:21,222 --> 01:14:24,893 you will have opportunity to work at place like JPL. 1479 01:14:24,926 --> 01:14:27,262 So I see we have two more, so I'll take two more questions, 1480 01:14:27,295 --> 01:14:30,198 and I let people go and I'll stick around in case 1481 01:14:30,231 --> 01:14:33,301 people want to ask more questions. 1482 01:14:33,334 --> 01:14:36,204 - Well it's been an honor to hear you talk. 1483 01:14:36,237 --> 01:14:38,840 I have a question about kind of the development 1484 01:14:38,873 --> 01:14:42,978 of the space industry, in sort of like a holistic way, 1485 01:14:43,011 --> 01:14:47,048 so with technology, you know, it tends to, 1486 01:14:47,081 --> 01:14:49,217 development of technology tends to grow exponentially, 1487 01:14:49,250 --> 01:14:52,120 like it grows on itself with stuff like Moore's Law, 1488 01:14:52,153 --> 01:14:55,891 especially in computing, whereas the space industry 1489 01:14:55,924 --> 01:14:57,993 isn't just a technological beast, it's political 1490 01:14:58,026 --> 01:15:02,063 and it's tied to money, so when you were director, 1491 01:15:02,096 --> 01:15:06,167 did you see a pattern of things tending to speed up 1492 01:15:06,200 --> 01:15:08,904 exponentially, or does it kind of like bounce around, 1493 01:15:08,937 --> 01:15:11,873 depending on the political climate, or some mixture? 1494 01:15:11,906 --> 01:15:13,141 - Now when you say there is not enough money, 1495 01:15:13,174 --> 01:15:15,877 I mean what do you mean, what did you mean by that? 1496 01:15:15,910 --> 01:15:19,982 You mean the funding to play things like what we do here? 1497 01:15:21,849 --> 01:15:24,152 Well I'm not sure I can answer your question exactly, 1498 01:15:24,185 --> 01:15:26,855 but let me give you perspective from my experience 1499 01:15:26,888 --> 01:15:29,090 as the director here. 1500 01:15:29,123 --> 01:15:32,227 People are very fascinated with exploration, 1501 01:15:32,260 --> 01:15:34,930 even in Washington, might be hard to believe, 1502 01:15:34,963 --> 01:15:36,798 but that's true, 1503 01:15:36,831 --> 01:15:39,935 and I know it's being recorded and transmitted. 1504 01:15:39,968 --> 01:15:43,138 But I found that in general, people believe 1505 01:15:43,171 --> 01:15:47,008 that technology really is a great investment for our 1506 01:15:47,041 --> 01:15:50,178 country, almost no matter what technology you do. 1507 01:15:50,211 --> 01:15:52,948 Almost never did I get a question when I used to go 1508 01:15:52,981 --> 01:15:55,216 and talk with congressmen and senator, or people saying, 1509 01:15:55,249 --> 01:15:57,886 "Why should I give you the money, what are you going 1510 01:15:57,919 --> 01:15:59,220 "to do for me tomorrow?" 1511 01:15:59,253 --> 01:16:01,990 They always think about that in the long term, 1512 01:16:02,023 --> 01:16:04,125 by investing in technology and education, 1513 01:16:04,158 --> 01:16:06,995 there will be a benefit from it. 1514 01:16:07,028 --> 01:16:09,097 And I always give them one simple example, 1515 01:16:09,130 --> 01:16:10,932 I'm sure you all have an iPhone. 1516 01:16:10,965 --> 01:16:14,869 And you have a camera in your iPhone, and I tell people, 1517 01:16:14,902 --> 01:16:16,972 "Do you realize that the focal plane in that camera 1518 01:16:17,005 --> 01:16:20,208 "was developed at JPL for our telescope?" 1519 01:16:20,241 --> 01:16:23,278 We had no idea that it could be used in a iPhone, 1520 01:16:23,311 --> 01:16:25,914 but then entrepreneurs took that technology 1521 01:16:25,947 --> 01:16:28,950 and developed it, and made a whole business out of it. 1522 01:16:28,983 --> 01:16:31,252 So, basically there is a strong belief, 1523 01:16:31,285 --> 01:16:33,288 and I think that's great in our country, 1524 01:16:33,321 --> 01:16:37,125 there is a belief that by investing in technology, 1525 01:16:37,158 --> 01:16:38,927 you will get benefit from it. 1526 01:16:38,960 --> 01:16:42,097 It might not be tomorrow, it will be maybe 40 years 1527 01:16:42,130 --> 01:16:43,898 from now, five years from now. 1528 01:16:43,931 --> 01:16:46,768 When I was your age, we used to send memos, 1529 01:16:46,801 --> 01:16:49,871 we had no idea about email and all of this thing, 1530 01:16:49,904 --> 01:16:51,106 we didn't have any of that stuff. 1531 01:16:51,139 --> 01:16:53,808 I still have, when I cleaned my office, I still have 1532 01:16:53,841 --> 01:16:56,044 stacks of memos that we used to send 1533 01:16:56,077 --> 01:16:57,879 around and communicate. 1534 01:16:57,912 --> 01:17:00,882 But somebody invested in that technology and now you use 1535 01:17:00,915 --> 01:17:04,052 the internet, you can't even think of sending 1536 01:17:04,085 --> 01:17:06,121 a memo these days. 1537 01:17:06,154 --> 01:17:08,123 So, I don't know if I answered your question, 1538 01:17:08,156 --> 01:17:11,826 but I think from what I grabbed from what you intended. 1539 01:17:11,859 --> 01:17:13,061 - Thanks so much. 1540 01:17:14,862 --> 01:17:17,298 - Okay we'll do one more and then. 1541 01:17:17,331 --> 01:17:20,835 - Stephen Hawkings said that-- - Can you turn down the mike? 1542 01:17:20,868 --> 01:17:21,936 Yeah, sorry, yeah. 1543 01:17:21,969 --> 01:17:23,038 - Like this? 1544 01:17:23,071 --> 01:17:25,206 Okay, Stephen Hawkings made some comment 1545 01:17:25,239 --> 01:17:29,344 about some prediction that for humankind to survive, 1546 01:17:31,012 --> 01:17:33,982 we would need to colonize somewhere. 1547 01:17:34,015 --> 01:17:36,151 I'd like your opinion about that please. 1548 01:17:36,184 --> 01:17:37,819 - Okay, I think I'm not going to debate 1549 01:17:37,852 --> 01:17:38,987 with Hawkings, I mean, 1550 01:17:39,020 --> 01:17:41,022 he's pretty smart guy. (audience laughing) 1551 01:17:41,055 --> 01:17:44,225 But I think before we start thinking about finding 1552 01:17:44,258 --> 01:17:47,128 another place to go, we ought to be thinking 1553 01:17:47,161 --> 01:17:50,031 about how we protect our planet. 1554 01:17:50,064 --> 01:17:53,768 Because I think, I'm a strong believer that we are 1555 01:17:53,801 --> 01:17:57,038 smart species, and sooner or later we are going to realize 1556 01:17:57,071 --> 01:18:00,075 that we might be doing damage to our planet, 1557 01:18:00,108 --> 01:18:02,811 and I'm optimistic that actually we'll say look, 1558 01:18:02,844 --> 01:18:06,114 we really need to do a better job at managing our planet 1559 01:18:06,147 --> 01:18:09,250 and have more peaceful relationship, 1560 01:18:09,283 --> 01:18:11,019 care about our environment, 1561 01:18:11,052 --> 01:18:13,855 I mean it might sound strange considering what happened 1562 01:18:13,888 --> 01:18:16,257 this morning, but I think that at the end, 1563 01:18:16,290 --> 01:18:19,260 I have a strong confidence, I'm an optimist, 1564 01:18:19,293 --> 01:18:22,263 so I have confidence that our species will realize 1565 01:18:22,296 --> 01:18:25,200 that we better do better job at protecting our planet 1566 01:18:25,233 --> 01:18:26,901 and keep it a good place. 1567 01:18:26,934 --> 01:18:29,137 Now, that doesn't mean we shouldn't explore 1568 01:18:29,170 --> 01:18:32,907 and go to other places, but it doesn't have to be 1569 01:18:32,940 --> 01:18:34,175 because we are worried that we are going to 1570 01:18:34,208 --> 01:18:36,978 blow ourself up here, or blow our planet. 1571 01:18:37,011 --> 01:18:41,083 So I think I put more priority on protecting our own planet. 1572 01:18:42,150 --> 01:18:43,885 Okay, thank you very much, and thank you