1 00:02:15,968 --> 00:02:21,007 [Uplifting music] 2 00:03:01,747 --> 00:03:04,984 - After traveling through space for more than six months 3 00:03:05,017 --> 00:03:07,987 and crossing 300 million miles 4 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:10,856 InSight has reached its destination, 5 00:03:10,889 --> 00:03:12,892 the red planet Mars, 6 00:03:12,925 --> 00:03:14,594 welcome to Mission Control 7 00:03:14,627 --> 00:03:17,964 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, I'm Gay Yee Hill. 8 00:03:17,997 --> 00:03:19,899 Less than an hour from now InSight 9 00:03:19,932 --> 00:03:21,567 will begin the most harrowing 10 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,637 six and a half minutes of the entire mission, 11 00:03:24,670 --> 00:03:25,571 EDL, 12 00:03:25,604 --> 00:03:27,773 entry, descent and landing, 13 00:03:27,806 --> 00:03:30,076 the team is as prepared as it can be, 14 00:03:30,109 --> 00:03:33,613 but who knows what Mars has in store today. 15 00:03:33,646 --> 00:03:34,981 The cruise mission support area 16 00:03:35,014 --> 00:03:38,551 is filled with engineers monitoring the situation, 17 00:03:38,584 --> 00:03:41,020 and for the first time during a Mars landing 18 00:03:41,053 --> 00:03:43,055 you can be in the room too, 19 00:03:43,088 --> 00:03:46,859 we have a 360 degree camera in this control room, 20 00:03:46,892 --> 00:03:48,728 allowing you to experience 21 00:03:48,761 --> 00:03:51,063 the landing right along with the team. 22 00:03:51,096 --> 00:03:52,565 There you see it, 23 00:03:52,598 --> 00:03:53,799 and to look up the link, 24 00:03:53,832 --> 00:03:56,802 just go to the InSight watch page 25 00:03:56,835 --> 00:03:58,705 you see there on the screen. 26 00:03:59,905 --> 00:04:02,842 And this mission has actually two control rooms, 27 00:04:02,875 --> 00:04:04,877 the second is that Lockheed Martin Space 28 00:04:04,910 --> 00:04:07,546 outside of Denver Colorado, 29 00:04:07,579 --> 00:04:10,850 engineers there are on console two. 30 00:04:10,883 --> 00:04:14,020 Plus people all over the world are tuning in 31 00:04:14,053 --> 00:04:17,056 at museums and libraries and other locations, 32 00:04:17,089 --> 00:04:21,060 including this one at the Pasadena Convention Center, 33 00:04:21,093 --> 00:04:24,130 and that's where friends and family are watching now, 34 00:04:25,864 --> 00:04:28,567 there will also be an opportunity to watch in New York City, 35 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:29,969 there they are cheering, 36 00:04:30,002 --> 00:04:32,872 there will also be an opportunity to watch in New York City 37 00:04:32,905 --> 00:04:36,042 when landing coverage gets displayed on the NASDAQ Tower, 38 00:04:36,075 --> 00:04:37,977 you see there in Times Square. 39 00:04:38,010 --> 00:04:39,979 And of course if you are watching 40 00:04:40,012 --> 00:04:42,715 please snap a picture and share it with us, 41 00:04:42,748 --> 00:04:45,518 using the hashtag Mars landing, 42 00:04:45,551 --> 00:04:46,719 we'd love to see it. 43 00:04:46,752 --> 00:04:47,953 Now I'd like to introduce you 44 00:04:47,986 --> 00:04:50,823 to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, 45 00:04:50,856 --> 00:04:51,991 thank you for coming. 46 00:04:52,024 --> 00:04:53,859 - Oh it's my honor, thank you for having me. 47 00:04:53,892 --> 00:04:54,760 - We are so excited to have you here. 48 00:04:54,793 --> 00:04:55,928 - Great to be here. 49 00:04:55,961 --> 00:04:56,829 - So this is your first Mars landing? 50 00:04:56,862 --> 00:04:58,731 - It is in this job, 51 00:04:59,732 --> 00:05:02,068 I have witnessed these I should 52 00:05:02,101 --> 00:05:04,737 say from the sidelines for many years, 53 00:05:04,770 --> 00:05:05,971 this is gonna be the eighth 54 00:05:06,004 --> 00:05:08,541 time we have a successful landing on Mars, 55 00:05:08,574 --> 00:05:09,675 everybody knock on wood. 56 00:05:09,708 --> 00:05:10,643 - That's right. 57 00:05:10,676 --> 00:05:11,811 - But this is the first time 58 00:05:11,844 --> 00:05:14,080 for me to participate as the administrator, 59 00:05:14,113 --> 00:05:14,980 so it's very exciting. 60 00:05:15,013 --> 00:05:16,682 - Excited, nervous? 61 00:05:16,715 --> 00:05:18,050 - Not nervous, excited. - Not nervous? 62 00:05:18,083 --> 00:05:19,719 - Look at the amazing people here, 63 00:05:19,752 --> 00:05:21,821 no way I could be nervous. 64 00:05:21,854 --> 00:05:25,658 - Alright, so we hope to have you back on set after landing 65 00:05:25,691 --> 00:05:28,527 and maybe take a couple of social media questions. 66 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:29,829 - Absolutely. 67 00:05:29,862 --> 00:05:32,064 - If you would like to ask the administrator a question, 68 00:05:32,097 --> 00:05:34,700 use the hashtag askNASA. 69 00:05:34,733 --> 00:05:38,537 And before you go you did ask about the lucky peanuts, 70 00:05:38,570 --> 00:05:42,608 so this is your bottle to take in there. 71 00:05:42,641 --> 00:05:43,743 - I will be happily munching on these. 72 00:05:43,776 --> 00:05:45,044 - Alright thanks for joining us. 73 00:05:45,077 --> 00:05:46,579 - Thank you. 74 00:05:46,612 --> 00:05:47,747 - Now let's give you some background, 75 00:05:47,780 --> 00:05:50,883 InSight is short for Interior Exploration 76 00:05:50,916 --> 00:05:55,755 using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport, 77 00:05:55,788 --> 00:05:57,857 it's different from other Mars missions 78 00:05:57,890 --> 00:05:59,925 which all studied the surface, 79 00:05:59,958 --> 00:06:01,627 InSight is the first mission 80 00:06:01,660 --> 00:06:04,797 to study the interior of the red planet. 81 00:06:06,598 --> 00:06:07,833 The basic idea of InSight 82 00:06:07,866 --> 00:06:11,837 is to map out the deep structure of March, 83 00:06:11,870 --> 00:06:13,672 we know a lot about the surface of Mars, 84 00:06:13,705 --> 00:06:15,674 we know a lot about its atmosphere, 85 00:06:15,707 --> 00:06:17,543 even about its ionosphere, 86 00:06:17,576 --> 00:06:18,677 but we don't know very much 87 00:06:18,710 --> 00:06:21,680 about what goes on a mile below the surface, 88 00:06:21,713 --> 00:06:23,783 much less 2000 miles below the surface down to the center, 89 00:06:23,816 --> 00:06:24,984 and this will be the first mission 90 00:06:25,017 --> 00:06:26,552 that is going to Mars specifically 91 00:06:26,585 --> 00:06:29,989 to investigate the deep inside of Mars. 92 00:06:30,022 --> 00:06:31,991 - We know that the Earth is habitable, 93 00:06:32,024 --> 00:06:33,926 we know that Mars is not, 94 00:06:33,959 --> 00:06:35,828 there might be something that we find out 95 00:06:35,861 --> 00:06:38,564 in terms of the structure of Mars 96 00:06:38,597 --> 00:06:40,032 versus the structure of Earth, 97 00:06:40,065 --> 00:06:43,068 that maybe can help us understand why that is. 98 00:06:43,101 --> 00:06:45,571 - InSight carries a seismometer which measures 99 00:06:45,604 --> 00:06:47,039 the seismic waves that have travel 100 00:06:47,072 --> 00:06:48,841 through Mars from Marsquakes, 101 00:06:48,874 --> 00:06:52,011 and maps out the deep interior structure of Mars, 102 00:06:52,044 --> 00:06:54,880 we're gonna also have a heat flow 103 00:06:54,913 --> 00:06:56,582 and physical properties probe, 104 00:06:56,615 --> 00:06:58,951 which will penetrate into the Mars surface about five meters 105 00:06:58,984 --> 00:07:02,688 or 16 feet to take the temperature on Mars. 106 00:07:02,721 --> 00:07:04,690 And it has a radio science experiment 107 00:07:04,723 --> 00:07:06,725 which uses the radio on the spacecraft 108 00:07:06,758 --> 00:07:11,030 to measure small variations in the wobble of Mars' poles 109 00:07:11,063 --> 00:07:12,932 to understand more about the structure 110 00:07:12,965 --> 00:07:14,934 and composition of the core. 111 00:07:18,570 --> 00:07:20,573 - InSight will be the first mission 112 00:07:20,606 --> 00:07:22,741 to pick instruments off the deck 113 00:07:22,774 --> 00:07:25,544 of the Lander and place them on the surface of Mars. 114 00:07:25,577 --> 00:07:26,645 I like to say that we are playing 115 00:07:26,678 --> 00:07:28,981 the claw game on Mars with no joystick. 116 00:07:30,649 --> 00:07:32,551 The seismometer needs to be installed in one place 117 00:07:32,584 --> 00:07:36,722 and not move in order to get the best seismic data. 118 00:07:36,755 --> 00:07:39,658 - [Bruce] We also have a wind and thermal shield 119 00:07:39,691 --> 00:07:41,093 that we place on top of that seismometer 120 00:07:41,126 --> 00:07:43,729 to protect it further from the environment. 121 00:07:44,796 --> 00:07:47,700 - [Jaime] For the heat flow probe, HPQ, 122 00:07:47,733 --> 00:07:49,635 it also needs to sit in one place, 123 00:07:49,668 --> 00:07:52,838 take a while to hammer itself down into the ground 124 00:07:52,871 --> 00:07:54,573 and acquire the demo measurements 125 00:07:54,606 --> 00:07:55,908 over a long period of time. 126 00:07:59,811 --> 00:08:01,080 - InSight is a mission to Mars, 127 00:08:01,113 --> 00:08:02,948 but it's much, much more than a Mars mission, 128 00:08:02,981 --> 00:08:04,950 in some sense it's like a time machine, 129 00:08:04,983 --> 00:08:07,052 it's measuring the structure of Mars 130 00:08:07,085 --> 00:08:09,955 that was put in place four and a half billion years ago, 131 00:08:09,988 --> 00:08:13,025 so we can go back and understand the processes 132 00:08:13,058 --> 00:08:14,860 that formed Mars just shortly 133 00:08:14,893 --> 00:08:17,830 after it was accreted from the solar nebula. 134 00:08:17,863 --> 00:08:20,533 By studying Mars we'll be able to learn more 135 00:08:20,566 --> 00:08:23,636 about Earth, Venus, Mercury, even the moon, 136 00:08:23,669 --> 00:08:25,938 even exoplanets around other stars. 137 00:08:28,073 --> 00:08:31,877 - Landing on Mars is always difficult, 138 00:08:31,910 --> 00:08:34,547 more than half the missions have failed, 139 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:36,048 our experts in this field 140 00:08:36,081 --> 00:08:39,885 our systems engineers for entry, descent and landing, 141 00:08:39,918 --> 00:08:41,620 they speak EDL. 142 00:08:41,653 --> 00:08:44,023 Let me introduce you to two in our control room, 143 00:08:44,056 --> 00:08:46,058 Christine Szalai, who will be making 144 00:08:46,091 --> 00:08:47,860 the mission callouts during landing, 145 00:08:47,893 --> 00:08:49,562 and Julie Wertz Chen, 146 00:08:49,595 --> 00:08:51,530 She is our color commentator 147 00:08:51,563 --> 00:08:54,033 who will help explain mission operations. 148 00:08:54,066 --> 00:08:55,868 Christine let's start with you, 149 00:08:55,901 --> 00:08:58,971 I understand that there was a funnel 150 00:08:59,004 --> 00:09:01,006 software update and adjustment, 151 00:09:01,039 --> 00:09:02,541 what does that mean? 152 00:09:02,574 --> 00:09:03,809 - That's right, 153 00:09:03,842 --> 00:09:06,078 yesterday we sent the last EDL software parameter 154 00:09:06,111 --> 00:09:08,847 update to the spacecraft's computer, 155 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:10,950 this update told the spacecraft exactly 156 00:09:10,983 --> 00:09:13,786 when it will hit the top of the atmosphere, 157 00:09:13,819 --> 00:09:17,923 and also fine tune things like when to deploy the parachute, 158 00:09:17,956 --> 00:09:19,925 this ADL software is very important, 159 00:09:19,958 --> 00:09:21,927 because InSight uses this software 160 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,098 to perform entry, descent and landing completely on its own, 161 00:09:26,131 --> 00:09:28,033 Mars is so far away from Earth 162 00:09:28,066 --> 00:09:29,802 that when a command is sent from Earth 163 00:09:29,835 --> 00:09:33,539 it takes about eight minutes for it to reach the spacecraft, 164 00:09:33,572 --> 00:09:34,840 entry, descent and landing from start 165 00:09:34,873 --> 00:09:37,676 to finish is less than eight minutes long, 166 00:09:37,709 --> 00:09:40,079 so InSight has to do this all by itself. 167 00:09:40,112 --> 00:09:42,915 - Alright, it's fate is sealed. 168 00:09:42,948 --> 00:09:44,917 Now I understand that the team is 169 00:09:44,950 --> 00:09:46,919 about to do a readiness poll, 170 00:09:46,952 --> 00:09:49,054 Julie can you fill us in on that? 171 00:09:49,087 --> 00:09:51,624 - Sure, so that's gonna be a poll, 172 00:09:51,657 --> 00:09:53,659 between our EDL communications engineer 173 00:09:53,692 --> 00:09:56,562 and several of the different orbiters 174 00:09:56,595 --> 00:09:57,963 and antennas we have here on Earth, 175 00:09:57,996 --> 00:10:00,599 so we have MarCO listening in on us, 176 00:10:00,632 --> 00:10:02,935 and MRO, which is Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 177 00:10:02,968 --> 00:10:05,971 will be listening to our data and recording it for us, 178 00:10:06,004 --> 00:10:08,040 and then the radio science engineers 179 00:10:08,073 --> 00:10:10,075 will be eavesdropping in on our signal 180 00:10:10,108 --> 00:10:11,877 from all the way back here on Earth, 181 00:10:11,910 --> 00:10:14,079 and Sandy, our EDL communications engineer 182 00:10:14,112 --> 00:10:15,648 we'll be checking in with them, 183 00:10:15,681 --> 00:10:17,049 making sure that they are all ready to go, 184 00:10:17,082 --> 00:10:20,519 ready to support us in just a little under 185 00:10:20,552 --> 00:10:21,921 an hour to land on Mars. 186 00:10:23,889 --> 00:10:25,924 - Alright so we're standing by for that, 187 00:10:25,957 --> 00:10:27,793 for that readiness poll. 188 00:10:27,826 --> 00:10:30,529 And I understand that the peanuts 189 00:10:30,562 --> 00:10:32,698 are going to be passed in there pretty soon? 190 00:10:32,731 --> 00:10:34,533 - I believe that's the idea yeah, 191 00:10:34,566 --> 00:10:36,869 we'll be passing around the peanuts very soon after that, 192 00:10:36,902 --> 00:10:38,537 for those of you who don't know, 193 00:10:38,570 --> 00:10:41,573 the JPL peanuts are a tradition, 194 00:10:41,606 --> 00:10:42,841 it gives us a little bit of extra 195 00:10:42,874 --> 00:10:45,044 luck on our critical events, 196 00:10:45,077 --> 00:10:47,079 so if anybody out there wants to join in on peanuts 197 00:10:47,112 --> 00:10:50,049 and give us some extra good luck peanuts vibe, 198 00:10:50,082 --> 00:10:51,583 we'd love to have it. 199 00:10:51,616 --> 00:10:53,852 - Well there's a story behind that, 200 00:10:53,885 --> 00:10:57,022 that way back when in the early days of JPL 201 00:10:57,055 --> 00:10:58,791 there were several missions, 202 00:10:58,824 --> 00:11:03,663 and there were six Ranger missions to the moon that failed, 203 00:11:04,563 --> 00:11:05,698 but then with Ranger seven-- 204 00:11:05,731 --> 00:11:06,865 - Ranger seven somebody-- 205 00:11:06,898 --> 00:11:08,934 - [Gay] Somebody passed around peanuts. 206 00:11:08,967 --> 00:11:10,069 - Yeah, and it worked, 207 00:11:10,102 --> 00:11:11,570 and you don't mess with what works, 208 00:11:11,603 --> 00:11:14,039 it's not a superstition, it's a tradition, 209 00:11:14,072 --> 00:11:17,743 and we just give yourselves that little bit of extra luck. 210 00:11:17,776 --> 00:11:19,678 - So if you have peanuts at home, 211 00:11:19,711 --> 00:11:20,646 please have some. 212 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:21,213 - [Julie] That's right. 213 00:11:21,246 --> 00:11:23,048 - Alright, thanks Julie. 214 00:11:23,081 --> 00:11:26,118 NASA has had seven successful Mars landings, 215 00:11:26,151 --> 00:11:30,789 but the EDL team never ever becomes overconfident, 216 00:11:30,822 --> 00:11:32,925 JPL chief engineer Rob Manning 217 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:35,661 says things have to work just right 218 00:11:35,694 --> 00:11:38,864 during six and a half critical minutes. 219 00:11:40,632 --> 00:11:43,569 [dramatic music] 220 00:11:43,602 --> 00:11:45,037 - Although we've done it before, 221 00:11:45,070 --> 00:11:46,872 landing on Mars is hard, 222 00:11:46,905 --> 00:11:48,908 and this mission is no different. 223 00:11:50,575 --> 00:11:51,844 The process to get from the top 224 00:11:51,877 --> 00:11:53,879 of the atmosphere of Mars to this surface, 225 00:11:53,912 --> 00:11:55,881 we call entry, descent and landing, 226 00:11:55,914 --> 00:11:57,616 or EDL, 227 00:11:57,649 --> 00:11:59,918 it takes thousands of steps to go 228 00:11:59,951 --> 00:12:02,020 from the top of the atmosphere to the surface, 229 00:12:02,053 --> 00:12:03,689 and each one of them has 230 00:12:03,722 --> 00:12:06,759 to work perfectly to be a successful mission. 231 00:12:07,692 --> 00:12:09,862 The process starts well above 232 00:12:09,895 --> 00:12:11,930 the top of the atmosphere of Mars, 233 00:12:11,963 --> 00:12:14,867 the cruise stage faces the sun, 234 00:12:14,900 --> 00:12:19,605 it also has its radio antenna which faces Earth, 235 00:12:19,638 --> 00:12:21,740 but now we don't need the cruise stage, 236 00:12:21,773 --> 00:12:23,675 its job is done. 237 00:12:23,708 --> 00:12:25,077 The next step just seven minutes 238 00:12:25,110 --> 00:12:27,813 before arriving to the top of the Mars atmosphere 239 00:12:27,846 --> 00:12:29,948 is to separate the cruise stage, 240 00:12:29,981 --> 00:12:32,985 before you hit the top of the atmosphere though, 241 00:12:33,018 --> 00:12:35,621 the space capsule has to orient itself 242 00:12:35,654 --> 00:12:39,792 so that the heat shield is precisely facing the atmosphere. 243 00:12:40,826 --> 00:12:42,561 Now the fun begins, 244 00:12:42,594 --> 00:12:46,765 the vehicle is moving at nearly 13,000 miles an hour, 245 00:12:46,798 --> 00:12:48,100 but it's hitting the top of the atmosphere 246 00:12:48,133 --> 00:12:49,935 at a very shallow angle, 247 00:12:49,968 --> 00:12:51,537 12 degrees, 248 00:12:51,570 --> 00:12:52,771 any steeper, 249 00:12:52,804 --> 00:12:54,673 the vehicle will hit the thicker part of the atmosphere 250 00:12:54,706 --> 00:12:56,608 and will melt and burn out, 251 00:12:56,641 --> 00:12:57,876 any shallower, 252 00:12:57,909 --> 00:13:00,679 the vehicle will bounce off the atmosphere of Mars, 253 00:13:00,712 --> 00:13:02,080 at the very top the atmosphere 254 00:13:02,113 --> 00:13:05,651 it's about 70 miles above the surface of Mars, 255 00:13:05,684 --> 00:13:07,953 and the air is starting to get thicker and thicker, 256 00:13:07,986 --> 00:13:09,087 as it does that, 257 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:10,656 the temperature in the heat shield 258 00:13:10,689 --> 00:13:12,825 gets well over 1000 degrees centigrade, 259 00:13:12,858 --> 00:13:14,726 enough to melt steel, 260 00:13:14,759 --> 00:13:15,928 over the next two minutes, 261 00:13:15,961 --> 00:13:17,529 the vehicle decelerates 262 00:13:17,562 --> 00:13:19,998 at a backbreaking 12 Earth Gs, 263 00:13:20,031 --> 00:13:23,969 from 13,000 miles an hour to about 1000 miles an hour, 264 00:13:24,002 --> 00:13:26,972 at about 10 miles above the surface of Mars, 265 00:13:27,005 --> 00:13:29,775 a supersonic parachute is launched 266 00:13:29,808 --> 00:13:31,577 out of the back of the vehicle, 267 00:13:31,610 --> 00:13:33,879 15 seconds after the parachute inflates, 268 00:13:33,912 --> 00:13:35,781 it's time to get rid of the heat shield, 269 00:13:35,814 --> 00:13:39,551 six pyrotechnic devices fire simultaneously 270 00:13:39,584 --> 00:13:42,554 allowing the heat shield to fall and tumble away 271 00:13:42,587 --> 00:13:46,892 from the vehicle exposing the lander to the surface of Mars. 272 00:13:46,925 --> 00:13:48,594 10 seconds after the heat shield is dropped, 273 00:13:48,627 --> 00:13:51,029 three pyrotechnically deployed legs 274 00:13:51,062 --> 00:13:53,899 are released and locked for landing. 275 00:13:53,932 --> 00:13:57,069 About a minute later, the landing RADAR is turned on, 276 00:13:57,102 --> 00:14:00,072 sending pulses toward the surface of Mars, 277 00:14:00,105 --> 00:14:02,574 as the vehicle starts to try to measure 278 00:14:02,607 --> 00:14:04,576 how high it is above the surface, 279 00:14:04,609 --> 00:14:06,111 and how fast it's going. 280 00:14:06,144 --> 00:14:08,780 At about a mile above the surface of Mars, 281 00:14:08,813 --> 00:14:11,016 the lander falls away from the back shell 282 00:14:11,049 --> 00:14:12,851 and lights its engines. 283 00:14:12,884 --> 00:14:16,722 And very quickly the vehicle must rotate out of the way, 284 00:14:16,755 --> 00:14:17,956 so that the parachute 285 00:14:17,989 --> 00:14:20,726 and the back shield doesn't come down to hit it, 286 00:14:20,759 --> 00:14:22,728 the last thing that has to happen, 287 00:14:22,761 --> 00:14:24,897 is that in the moment of contact 288 00:14:24,930 --> 00:14:28,634 the engines have to shut down immediately, 289 00:14:28,667 --> 00:14:31,536 if they don't the vehicle will tip over. 290 00:14:31,569 --> 00:14:34,673 So with all the steps of entry, descent 291 00:14:34,706 --> 00:14:36,775 and landing happen perfectly 292 00:14:36,808 --> 00:14:39,578 and we are safely on the surface of Mars, 293 00:14:39,611 --> 00:14:42,781 we'll be ready to do some exciting new science. 294 00:14:49,020 --> 00:14:50,722 - Person later on in the program, 295 00:14:50,755 --> 00:14:52,858 meantime let me introduce you to someone 296 00:14:52,891 --> 00:14:55,861 who has been working on InSight for seven years, 297 00:14:55,894 --> 00:14:58,764 he's the project manager Tom Hoffman, 298 00:14:58,797 --> 00:15:01,633 seven years and today is the day. 299 00:15:01,666 --> 00:15:02,768 - That's right, seven years, 300 00:15:02,801 --> 00:15:05,070 but we're just a little over 40 minutes now 301 00:15:05,103 --> 00:15:06,972 and we're gonna be on the surface, it's gonna be awesome. 302 00:15:07,005 --> 00:15:08,641 - Really exciting stuff. 303 00:15:09,641 --> 00:15:11,543 So let's talk about InSight, 304 00:15:11,576 --> 00:15:13,679 it's using tried and true technology, 305 00:15:13,712 --> 00:15:14,980 based on the Phoenix, 306 00:15:15,013 --> 00:15:19,084 this time there's a bigger challenge with communication, 307 00:15:19,117 --> 00:15:20,852 normally we have an orbiter 308 00:15:20,885 --> 00:15:23,655 that can give us bent pipe communications, 309 00:15:23,688 --> 00:15:25,590 but it's different this time. 310 00:15:25,623 --> 00:15:26,692 - That's right, most 311 00:15:26,725 --> 00:15:27,559 of the time when we've landed recently, 312 00:15:27,592 --> 00:15:28,727 we've had Mars Odyssey 313 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:30,028 which can do bent pipe communications, 314 00:15:30,061 --> 00:15:32,931 and so we get real-time data as we go through EDL, 315 00:15:32,964 --> 00:15:34,066 and we've come to expect that 316 00:15:34,099 --> 00:15:36,902 and actually we really, really want that. 317 00:15:36,935 --> 00:15:38,870 In this case our primary technology, 318 00:15:38,903 --> 00:15:41,673 primary orbiter is Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 319 00:15:41,706 --> 00:15:43,675 and so what that's gonna be doing is actually 320 00:15:43,708 --> 00:15:45,110 will be listening to us on the UHF, 321 00:15:45,143 --> 00:15:47,746 if you go to the video you can see this, 322 00:15:47,779 --> 00:15:49,581 MRO will be listening to us 323 00:15:49,614 --> 00:15:51,550 and be getting all the primary data, 324 00:15:51,583 --> 00:15:52,985 and it will send it back to us, 325 00:15:53,018 --> 00:15:55,721 unfortunately only three hours after we land. 326 00:15:55,754 --> 00:15:57,556 - So it doesn't give us the bent pipe 327 00:15:57,589 --> 00:16:00,058 live information as it happens? 328 00:16:00,091 --> 00:16:01,727 - It doesn't, 329 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:02,961 we have a couple of other sources that we're looking at, 330 00:16:02,994 --> 00:16:05,030 we have at Green Bay Observatory in West Virginia, 331 00:16:05,063 --> 00:16:07,666 Max Planck Observatory in Effelsberg, Germany, 332 00:16:07,699 --> 00:16:09,067 which will be giving us UHF, 333 00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:11,903 but those only give us a couple of different points in time, 334 00:16:11,936 --> 00:16:13,972 and so we did something kind of cool this time, 335 00:16:14,005 --> 00:16:17,976 we brought along a couple of Cubesats called MarCO, 336 00:16:18,009 --> 00:16:20,612 so hopefully they're both working great today. 337 00:16:20,645 --> 00:16:21,747 - [Gay] Oh, fantastic. 338 00:16:21,780 --> 00:16:22,848 - So we're hoping they're gonna continue 339 00:16:22,881 --> 00:16:24,082 to work all the way through EDL, 340 00:16:24,115 --> 00:16:26,752 and they will be giving us real-time feed, 341 00:16:26,785 --> 00:16:30,522 so we can show how that works on the next video here. 342 00:16:30,555 --> 00:16:32,024 So you can see here's InSight 343 00:16:32,057 --> 00:16:34,960 with its cruise stage getting close to Mars, 344 00:16:34,993 --> 00:16:36,895 but we have two stalkers following us, 345 00:16:36,928 --> 00:16:38,597 they've been following us since we launched, 346 00:16:38,630 --> 00:16:40,732 they launched on the same launch vehicle as us, 347 00:16:40,765 --> 00:16:41,867 so you can see the green there 348 00:16:41,900 --> 00:16:44,002 is we're sending UHF signals to them, 349 00:16:44,035 --> 00:16:45,637 and then they turn that around and send 350 00:16:45,670 --> 00:16:47,539 a much stronger signal back to Earth, 351 00:16:47,572 --> 00:16:48,940 we can't communicate on UHF direct 352 00:16:48,973 --> 00:16:50,609 to Earth with this signal, 353 00:16:50,642 --> 00:16:51,977 that tells us what's going on in the spacecraft, 354 00:16:52,010 --> 00:16:53,678 but MarCO can, 355 00:16:53,711 --> 00:16:55,080 if it works for us all the way down to the surface 356 00:16:55,113 --> 00:16:57,616 we're gonna have some great information coming from MarCO. 357 00:16:57,649 --> 00:16:59,751 - So MarCO is basically trying to fill 358 00:16:59,784 --> 00:17:01,153 that gap that we would have had 359 00:17:01,186 --> 00:17:04,723 if we had live communication coming down to us. 360 00:17:04,756 --> 00:17:05,657 - Absolutely. 361 00:17:05,690 --> 00:17:06,825 - So if it does not work does 362 00:17:06,858 --> 00:17:09,628 it affect InSight's mission at all? 363 00:17:09,661 --> 00:17:10,762 - No not at all, 364 00:17:10,795 --> 00:17:12,898 we'll just be doing a little more nailbiting, 365 00:17:12,931 --> 00:17:15,567 but right now it looks like it's gonna be working, 366 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:17,069 but it doesn't impact InSight at all, 367 00:17:17,102 --> 00:17:18,937 and we have one final way that we're gonna 368 00:17:18,970 --> 00:17:21,673 know that we've got successfully to the ground, 369 00:17:21,706 --> 00:17:22,908 which is the spacecraft will phone home, 370 00:17:22,941 --> 00:17:24,009 once it gets down to the ground, 371 00:17:24,042 --> 00:17:26,078 it's gone seven months through cruise, 372 00:17:26,111 --> 00:17:27,646 seven and a half minutes of terror, 373 00:17:27,679 --> 00:17:29,047 and it's gonna call back and say 374 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,550 I'm on the surface I'm feeling pretty good, 375 00:17:31,583 --> 00:17:32,884 everything looks good so far. 376 00:17:32,917 --> 00:17:35,120 - And also to prep the audience, 377 00:17:35,153 --> 00:17:37,823 even after landing we're not out 378 00:17:37,856 --> 00:17:39,724 of the woods just yet, correct? 379 00:17:39,757 --> 00:17:40,859 - Not just yet, 380 00:17:40,892 --> 00:17:42,060 we have one more step that we have to do, 381 00:17:42,093 --> 00:17:44,529 we have to let the dust settle quite literally, 382 00:17:44,562 --> 00:17:46,565 we're gonna kick up a lot of dust when we land, 383 00:17:46,598 --> 00:17:47,799 we need to let that dust settle, 384 00:17:47,832 --> 00:17:49,935 before we unfurl our solar arrays, 385 00:17:49,968 --> 00:17:51,770 we're 100% solar powered, 386 00:17:51,803 --> 00:17:53,705 so it's very important that we get those out, 387 00:17:53,738 --> 00:17:54,973 unfortunately, 388 00:17:55,006 --> 00:17:58,043 both MRO and MarCO will be out of view, 389 00:17:58,076 --> 00:18:00,879 by the time that we have those completely unfurled, 390 00:18:00,912 --> 00:18:04,015 and so we're gonna have to wait five and a half hours 391 00:18:04,048 --> 00:18:05,784 until Odyssey comes by and tells 392 00:18:05,817 --> 00:18:08,019 us that yes indeed our solar arrays are out. 393 00:18:08,052 --> 00:18:09,888 So we'll definitely have a celebration 394 00:18:09,921 --> 00:18:11,556 when we get a successful landing, 395 00:18:11,589 --> 00:18:13,658 but we're gonna have to temper that just a little bit 396 00:18:13,691 --> 00:18:15,560 and wait about five and a half hours 397 00:18:15,593 --> 00:18:17,829 to know absolutely for sure we're in good shape. 398 00:18:17,862 --> 00:18:20,966 - So we have immediate knowledge if we have MarCOs, 399 00:18:20,999 --> 00:18:24,569 so just to run it through once again, 400 00:18:24,602 --> 00:18:26,571 what's gonna happen with EDL, 401 00:18:26,604 --> 00:18:28,974 we have the video of the show, 402 00:18:29,007 --> 00:18:31,610 how exactly is this all gonna play out 403 00:18:31,643 --> 00:18:33,745 in six and a half minutes, we can roll the video. 404 00:18:33,778 --> 00:18:35,013 - Okay, 405 00:18:35,046 --> 00:18:36,948 you can see here we are attached to the cruise stage, 406 00:18:36,981 --> 00:18:38,116 we drop that off, 407 00:18:38,149 --> 00:18:39,951 say thank you for the ride to Mars, 408 00:18:39,984 --> 00:18:41,653 it burns up in the atmosphere, 409 00:18:41,686 --> 00:18:44,623 you can see it gets very hot on our heat shield, 410 00:18:44,656 --> 00:18:45,857 we're getting up in some places 411 00:18:45,890 --> 00:18:49,027 maybe 3000 degrees Fahrenheit as we go through this, 412 00:18:49,060 --> 00:18:51,062 we're on the heat shield for about four minutes, 413 00:18:51,095 --> 00:18:53,565 that dissipates about 90 percent of the energy 414 00:18:53,598 --> 00:18:55,767 that we need to dissipate before we get to the surface, 415 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:57,569 then we pop our parachute, 416 00:18:57,602 --> 00:18:58,870 we're going about 850 miles 417 00:18:58,903 --> 00:19:00,839 an hour when we pop the parachute, 418 00:19:00,872 --> 00:19:02,607 we're on that for about two minutes, 419 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,643 then we'll drop off the heat shield, 420 00:19:04,676 --> 00:19:06,678 we'll start acquiring the ground with our RADAR, 421 00:19:06,711 --> 00:19:09,047 very much like an F-16 fighter jet RADAR, 422 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:10,949 the legs will pop out, 423 00:19:10,982 --> 00:19:11,950 we'll start descending, 424 00:19:11,983 --> 00:19:13,652 we drop for just a second 425 00:19:13,685 --> 00:19:16,054 which is very terrifying for me our descent thrusters, 426 00:19:16,087 --> 00:19:17,656 we have 12 of them, 427 00:19:17,689 --> 00:19:18,924 they are 16 pound thrusters, 428 00:19:18,957 --> 00:19:20,992 start thrusting and dropping us to the ground, 429 00:19:21,025 --> 00:19:24,029 and slowly slowly we drop down, 430 00:19:24,062 --> 00:19:25,697 going only five miles an hour, 431 00:19:25,730 --> 00:19:27,532 so when that six and a half minutes of terror, 432 00:19:27,565 --> 00:19:28,800 which is a little less then seven minutes 433 00:19:28,833 --> 00:19:30,635 so that's great for me, 434 00:19:30,668 --> 00:19:32,537 we go from 12,300 miles 435 00:19:32,570 --> 00:19:35,707 an hour 75 miles above the surface of Mars, 436 00:19:35,740 --> 00:19:36,875 we get to the surface 437 00:19:36,908 --> 00:19:38,043 we're at five and a half miles an hour. 438 00:19:38,076 --> 00:19:39,544 - That's amazing, 439 00:19:39,577 --> 00:19:40,679 that's absolutely amazing, 440 00:19:40,712 --> 00:19:41,913 well before you go Tom, 441 00:19:41,946 --> 00:19:44,082 there was a couple of pictures we wanted to show you, 442 00:19:44,115 --> 00:19:47,652 we have watch parties taking place all over the country, 443 00:19:47,685 --> 00:19:49,087 and let's see if we can put one 444 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:50,855 of these watch parties up for you 445 00:19:50,888 --> 00:19:53,825 to see this is from Ohio, 446 00:19:53,858 --> 00:19:56,661 this is a person who has a watch party, 447 00:19:56,694 --> 00:19:58,663 it looks like in a classroom. 448 00:19:58,696 --> 00:19:59,965 - [Tom] That is so awesome. 449 00:19:59,998 --> 00:20:01,733 - [Gay] Isn't that great that folks are watching with us? 450 00:20:01,766 --> 00:20:02,867 - Yeah I know, 451 00:20:02,900 --> 00:20:04,603 people all across the globe are watching this, 452 00:20:04,636 --> 00:20:05,870 and we really want to put a good show on for them today. 453 00:20:05,903 --> 00:20:08,940 - Alright I'll let you back in the room, 454 00:20:08,973 --> 00:20:10,542 - I gotta get back in there. - I know you're excited. 455 00:20:10,575 --> 00:20:12,077 Alright take care, thanks for joining us. 456 00:20:12,110 --> 00:20:13,845 - Thank you. 457 00:20:13,878 --> 00:20:16,715 [dramatic music] 458 00:20:42,874 --> 00:20:46,845 - Okay let's introduce you to the people who built InSight, 459 00:20:46,878 --> 00:20:49,581 Lockheed Martin Space outside of Denver, 460 00:20:49,614 --> 00:20:52,717 these are the folks who built Viking in 1976, 461 00:20:52,750 --> 00:20:55,120 and Mars Phoenix in 2008, 462 00:20:55,153 --> 00:20:56,955 the operations team is there, 463 00:20:56,988 --> 00:21:01,626 and Lockheed InSight EDL manager Tim Linn is standing by, 464 00:21:01,659 --> 00:21:02,961 Tim, what's going on in there? 465 00:21:05,596 --> 00:21:06,130 - The team is getting really excited, 466 00:21:06,163 --> 00:21:07,666 we are just about ready, 467 00:21:07,699 --> 00:21:10,001 we're about half an hour from entry, 468 00:21:10,034 --> 00:21:12,037 and the start of entry, descent and landing, 469 00:21:12,070 --> 00:21:14,639 so the team is really excited and focused, 470 00:21:14,672 --> 00:21:16,941 but also very excited about the upcoming 471 00:21:16,974 --> 00:21:18,643 successful entry descent 472 00:21:18,676 --> 00:21:19,944 and landing we're getting close to. 473 00:21:19,977 --> 00:21:21,946 - We talked about the fact that InSight 474 00:21:21,979 --> 00:21:24,749 is based on tried and true technology, 475 00:21:24,782 --> 00:21:26,551 it's based on Phoenix, 476 00:21:26,584 --> 00:21:29,921 but you've had to make a couple of changes for InSight, 477 00:21:29,954 --> 00:21:30,856 what were they? 478 00:21:32,557 --> 00:21:33,992 - Yeah, so obviously as you said, 479 00:21:34,025 --> 00:21:35,560 we leveraged Phoenix a lot, 480 00:21:35,593 --> 00:21:36,861 there was a lot of great things 481 00:21:36,894 --> 00:21:38,630 that we were able to take from the Phoenix mission, 482 00:21:38,663 --> 00:21:40,832 but InSight is a unique mission, 483 00:21:40,865 --> 00:21:43,101 it's landing towards the equator of Mars, 484 00:21:43,134 --> 00:21:45,537 and a number of things are different, 485 00:21:45,570 --> 00:21:47,739 where we're landing, 486 00:21:47,772 --> 00:21:50,975 we are about one and a half kilometers higher in altitude, 487 00:21:51,008 --> 00:21:53,044 in addition, so what that required us to do 488 00:21:53,077 --> 00:21:55,747 it's come in a little bit more shallow, 489 00:21:55,780 --> 00:21:59,884 in addition we are a little bit heavier than Phoenix was, 490 00:21:59,917 --> 00:22:01,686 so we've had to increase some of the strength 491 00:22:01,719 --> 00:22:02,987 of some of the lander itself, 492 00:22:03,020 --> 00:22:04,856 so the parachute, we had to increase the strength, 493 00:22:04,889 --> 00:22:07,592 we have to deploy the parachute a little bit higher 494 00:22:07,625 --> 00:22:10,061 because of some of the differences in our entry timeline, 495 00:22:10,094 --> 00:22:11,763 and because of when we're landing, 496 00:22:11,796 --> 00:22:13,932 we're landing towards the end of dust season, 497 00:22:13,965 --> 00:22:15,066 so we've also actually increased 498 00:22:15,099 --> 00:22:16,768 the thickness of the heat shield, 499 00:22:16,801 --> 00:22:18,770 so we are about a quarter inch thicker on our heat shield 500 00:22:18,803 --> 00:22:21,773 to accommodate that potential sandblasting we could see 501 00:22:21,806 --> 00:22:23,742 when we actually do our entry, descent and landing. 502 00:22:23,775 --> 00:22:24,876 So a number of things we've changed, 503 00:22:24,909 --> 00:22:26,578 but we obviously leveraged 504 00:22:26,611 --> 00:22:29,114 a lot from the very successful Phoenix mission as well. 505 00:22:29,147 --> 00:22:32,717 - That's fantastic so you are able to customize it, 506 00:22:32,750 --> 00:22:34,819 because there were some concerns earlier 507 00:22:34,852 --> 00:22:37,522 on that there was a dust storm taking place, 508 00:22:37,555 --> 00:22:39,558 it was dust storm season. 509 00:22:40,792 --> 00:22:41,960 - That's right, 510 00:22:41,993 --> 00:22:44,062 in fact we've had a lot of great support 511 00:22:44,095 --> 00:22:45,764 from our orbiting assets, 512 00:22:45,797 --> 00:22:46,998 MRO and Odyssey, 513 00:22:47,031 --> 00:22:49,067 a couple of spacecraft that we've partnered 514 00:22:49,100 --> 00:22:51,569 with JPL and were built here at Lockheed Martin, 515 00:22:51,602 --> 00:22:53,605 they have actually provided a lot of great insight 516 00:22:53,638 --> 00:22:56,541 into the weather on Mars, 517 00:22:56,574 --> 00:22:58,576 the dust storms that are potentially happening on Mars, 518 00:22:58,609 --> 00:23:00,011 and as of today, 519 00:23:00,044 --> 00:23:01,579 and actually the last couple 520 00:23:01,612 --> 00:23:03,782 of weeks it's been great on the surface of Mars, 521 00:23:03,815 --> 00:23:05,884 we are anticipating a very nominal, 522 00:23:05,917 --> 00:23:08,920 very seasonal weather in terms of both density, 523 00:23:08,953 --> 00:23:10,722 atmosphere as well as temperature, 524 00:23:10,755 --> 00:23:13,024 and dust storms appear to be very benign, 525 00:23:13,057 --> 00:23:14,893 so we're very optimistic it's gonna 526 00:23:14,926 --> 00:23:17,061 be a great day for landing on the surface of Mars. 527 00:23:17,094 --> 00:23:18,997 - Alright that's great news, 528 00:23:19,030 --> 00:23:20,532 thanks Tim, 529 00:23:20,565 --> 00:23:21,933 and I know your team is getting excited 530 00:23:21,966 --> 00:23:24,602 over there just as much as we are. 531 00:23:24,635 --> 00:23:26,938 Take care. - Absolutely, thanks a lot. 532 00:23:26,971 --> 00:23:29,741 - The time now is 11:21, 533 00:23:29,774 --> 00:23:31,709 it's about 20 minutes, 534 00:23:31,742 --> 00:23:34,679 the tension is building in both control rooms, 535 00:23:34,712 --> 00:23:38,016 it's about 20 minutes before cruise stage separation, 536 00:23:38,049 --> 00:23:39,751 it's not too far off, 537 00:23:39,784 --> 00:23:41,920 cruise stage separation is expected 538 00:23:41,953 --> 00:23:44,055 at about 40 minutes past the hour, 539 00:23:44,088 --> 00:23:47,058 so we are indeed getting close. 540 00:23:47,091 --> 00:23:50,028 So where is InSight going to Mars? 541 00:23:50,061 --> 00:23:53,531 It's a place called Elysium Planitia, 542 00:23:53,564 --> 00:23:54,899 Planitia is Latin for flat, 543 00:23:54,932 --> 00:23:58,970 Elysium is ancient Greek for afterlife paradise, 544 00:23:59,003 --> 00:24:00,939 it's located near the equator, 545 00:24:00,972 --> 00:24:02,774 north of Gale Crater, 546 00:24:02,807 --> 00:24:05,743 not too far from Curiosity Rover, 547 00:24:05,776 --> 00:24:09,547 the team calls it the biggest parking lot on Mars, 548 00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:11,583 it's a place that's safe, 549 00:24:11,616 --> 00:24:14,752 got plenty of sunshine that will power solar instruments 550 00:24:14,785 --> 00:24:17,923 to study the interior of Mars. 551 00:24:19,690 --> 00:24:21,759 [light music] 552 00:24:21,792 --> 00:24:23,695 - [Narrator] What's inside Mars? 553 00:24:23,728 --> 00:24:25,663 We know a lot about what's inside the Earth, 554 00:24:25,696 --> 00:24:29,968 but at Mars we've only just scratched the surface, 555 00:24:30,001 --> 00:24:33,738 to learn how Mars formed we have to study its deep interior, 556 00:24:33,771 --> 00:24:37,075 NASA's InSight Lander was designed to do just that, 557 00:24:37,108 --> 00:24:39,043 by taking the planet's vital signs, 558 00:24:39,076 --> 00:24:42,881 listening to its pulse for seismic activity, 559 00:24:42,914 --> 00:24:44,849 including any Marsquakes, 560 00:24:44,882 --> 00:24:46,851 taking its temperature 561 00:24:46,884 --> 00:24:49,588 to see how much heat is flowing out from deep inside, 562 00:24:50,688 --> 00:24:52,724 and checking its reflexes to see how much 563 00:24:52,757 --> 00:24:54,960 the planet wobbles as it whips around the sun. 564 00:24:56,561 --> 00:24:57,662 These all provide clues to 565 00:24:57,695 --> 00:24:59,598 what the planet is really like inside. 566 00:25:00,598 --> 00:25:02,634 So what's inside Mars? 567 00:25:02,667 --> 00:25:04,836 InSight can help us find out by giving Mars 568 00:25:04,869 --> 00:25:06,638 its first thorough checkup since 569 00:25:06,671 --> 00:25:09,674 it formed four and a half billion years ago, 570 00:25:09,707 --> 00:25:10,808 the more we learn, 571 00:25:10,841 --> 00:25:12,977 the better we understand all the rocky planets, 572 00:25:13,010 --> 00:25:14,880 and the history of our solar system. 573 00:25:19,016 --> 00:25:20,852 - Joining us now is Bruce Banerdt, 574 00:25:20,885 --> 00:25:23,855 the principal investigator of Mars InSight, 575 00:25:23,888 --> 00:25:26,524 InSight is a mission to Mars, 576 00:25:26,557 --> 00:25:28,626 but we keep hearing again and again 577 00:25:28,659 --> 00:25:30,662 it's more than a mission to Mars. 578 00:25:30,695 --> 00:25:31,963 - That's right Gay, 579 00:25:31,996 --> 00:25:35,533 I mean we are going to Mars to study the Martian interior 580 00:25:35,566 --> 00:25:37,635 and to map out the divisions inside Mars, 581 00:25:37,668 --> 00:25:39,671 but we want to use that information 582 00:25:39,704 --> 00:25:42,040 to understand more about the solar system 583 00:25:42,073 --> 00:25:45,577 as a whole and how rocky planets form. 584 00:25:45,610 --> 00:25:46,544 - And rocky planets, 585 00:25:46,577 --> 00:25:48,046 we have an image to show folks, 586 00:25:48,079 --> 00:25:52,584 so we're talking about Earth, the Moon, Mars. 587 00:25:52,617 --> 00:25:54,786 - Mercury, Venus, the planets 588 00:25:54,819 --> 00:25:57,055 of the inner solar system that are made mostly of rocks, 589 00:25:57,088 --> 00:25:59,924 and they all share the same basic structure 590 00:25:59,957 --> 00:26:01,893 with a dense iron core, 591 00:26:01,926 --> 00:26:03,861 a rocky mantle, 592 00:26:03,894 --> 00:26:07,565 and then a crust of lighter silicate rocks, 593 00:26:07,598 --> 00:26:12,070 but the very details of the thicknesses of those layers, 594 00:26:12,103 --> 00:26:15,974 the sizes and the compositions, 595 00:26:16,007 --> 00:26:18,876 give us a lot of clues as to how those planets formed, 596 00:26:18,909 --> 00:26:20,878 and why they went down very different paths 597 00:26:20,911 --> 00:26:23,815 into the different planets we see today. 598 00:26:23,848 --> 00:26:24,949 - So explain to me, 599 00:26:24,982 --> 00:26:27,018 we are going to have a lander, 600 00:26:27,051 --> 00:26:28,553 you're gonna be on the surface, 601 00:26:28,586 --> 00:26:32,757 how will you be able to study the interior? 602 00:26:32,790 --> 00:26:35,727 - We use what are called geophysical instruments, 603 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:36,861 they use the principles of physics 604 00:26:36,894 --> 00:26:38,563 to actually see through the rocks, 605 00:26:38,596 --> 00:26:40,031 we are using seismic waves, 606 00:26:40,064 --> 00:26:43,635 the same way you might use a flashbulb 607 00:26:43,668 --> 00:26:45,903 to take pictures of something, 608 00:26:45,936 --> 00:26:47,872 we are using Marsquakes, 609 00:26:47,905 --> 00:26:51,643 which send out vibrational waves through the planet, 610 00:26:51,676 --> 00:26:52,744 and as they go through 611 00:26:52,777 --> 00:26:54,646 the planet they reflect off boundaries, 612 00:26:54,679 --> 00:26:55,780 they get bent, 613 00:26:55,813 --> 00:26:57,115 they change their velocity, 614 00:26:57,148 --> 00:27:01,886 and it changes the wiggles that you see on a seismograph, 615 00:27:01,919 --> 00:27:03,988 when we go through the planet 616 00:27:04,021 --> 00:27:06,758 you can see that here it hits the various boundaries, 617 00:27:06,791 --> 00:27:08,559 and those waves are reflected, 618 00:27:08,592 --> 00:27:09,727 sometimes they're bent, 619 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,996 it becomes a pretty complicated pattern, 620 00:27:12,029 --> 00:27:14,565 but scientifically we have learned over 621 00:27:14,598 --> 00:27:18,036 the last hundred years how to interpret the code 622 00:27:18,069 --> 00:27:21,572 of the signals that comes back up to the surface, 623 00:27:21,605 --> 00:27:24,942 in the seismometers that pick up that signal 624 00:27:24,975 --> 00:27:27,779 and then turn it into data that we can use on Earth, 625 00:27:27,812 --> 00:27:30,581 to understand what the 3D structure is of the planet. 626 00:27:30,614 --> 00:27:33,651 - So normally you use three seismometers, 627 00:27:33,684 --> 00:27:35,687 in this case you're bringing size, 628 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:36,654 that's one, 629 00:27:36,687 --> 00:27:38,156 how are you going to be able 630 00:27:40,624 --> 00:27:41,726 to get that information using one? 631 00:27:41,759 --> 00:27:42,960 - Well we had to get kind of clever, 632 00:27:42,993 --> 00:27:44,996 because all the Earth usually 633 00:27:45,029 --> 00:27:46,531 you have plenty of seismometers, 634 00:27:46,564 --> 00:27:47,965 you can use multiple seismometers 635 00:27:47,998 --> 00:27:51,035 to triangulate in on where the Earthquake is, 636 00:27:51,068 --> 00:27:53,938 on Mars we're gonna do something a little bit different, 637 00:27:53,971 --> 00:27:56,941 we're gonna use not only the P and the S waves 638 00:27:56,974 --> 00:27:58,076 that you may have heard about, 639 00:27:58,109 --> 00:27:59,644 but we are using the surface waves, 640 00:27:59,677 --> 00:28:01,612 and here you can see the surface waves 641 00:28:01,645 --> 00:28:04,048 moving out from a Marsquake, 642 00:28:04,081 --> 00:28:06,117 and as it passes over the InSight Lander 643 00:28:06,150 --> 00:28:07,919 you can see the seismograph 644 00:28:07,952 --> 00:28:10,788 up there in the upper left-hand corner 645 00:28:10,821 --> 00:28:11,956 where you have the wiggles, 646 00:28:11,989 --> 00:28:14,659 now those waves keep on going around the planet, 647 00:28:14,692 --> 00:28:17,028 and because Mars is not so large, 648 00:28:17,061 --> 00:28:20,765 they still have a fair amount of amplitude, 649 00:28:20,798 --> 00:28:23,968 they haven't gotten completely damped out, 650 00:28:24,001 --> 00:28:26,537 by the time it's gone all the way around the planet, 651 00:28:26,570 --> 00:28:28,973 passes over the spacecraft again, 652 00:28:29,006 --> 00:28:31,809 and finally even the way they went the other way 653 00:28:31,842 --> 00:28:35,580 around the planet comes across and hits us yet a third time, 654 00:28:35,613 --> 00:28:37,582 and so we have extra information 655 00:28:37,615 --> 00:28:40,051 over the P and the S wave, 656 00:28:40,084 --> 00:28:41,753 we have these surface wave arrivals 657 00:28:41,786 --> 00:28:46,023 that we can use to pinpoint the distance from the Marsquake 658 00:28:46,056 --> 00:28:47,692 to our lander, 659 00:28:47,725 --> 00:28:49,727 and then we use something called polarization analysis, 660 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,863 to figure out which direction the waves are coming from, 661 00:28:51,896 --> 00:28:53,564 and by doing that, 662 00:28:53,597 --> 00:28:54,832 we can do the same thing 663 00:28:54,865 --> 00:28:56,067 that we can do with three stations on the Earth, 664 00:28:56,100 --> 00:28:57,802 just using the P and the S waves. 665 00:28:57,835 --> 00:29:00,638 - And very quickly, there is still another instrument 666 00:29:00,671 --> 00:29:03,708 built by DLR that's also being carried up by InSight, 667 00:29:03,741 --> 00:29:05,610 can you talk a little bit about that? 668 00:29:05,643 --> 00:29:06,744 - Yeah that's our heat flow probe, 669 00:29:06,777 --> 00:29:08,746 and it's a pretty cool instrument 670 00:29:08,779 --> 00:29:11,682 that uses a mechanical mole we call it, 671 00:29:11,715 --> 00:29:13,951 to burrow its way down into the surface, 672 00:29:13,984 --> 00:29:16,988 it has a motor that winds up a hammer 673 00:29:17,021 --> 00:29:19,991 and knocks itself down just a few millimeters at a time, 674 00:29:20,024 --> 00:29:24,028 but we do that 20 or 30,000 hammer strokes 675 00:29:24,061 --> 00:29:25,663 and it gets it down, 676 00:29:25,696 --> 00:29:28,599 we hope to get down to be about 16 feet below the surface, 677 00:29:28,632 --> 00:29:29,901 and once we get down there, 678 00:29:29,934 --> 00:29:32,537 we're actually measuring the heat coming out of the planet, 679 00:29:32,570 --> 00:29:34,539 by measuring the temperature along 680 00:29:34,572 --> 00:29:36,808 the cable as it comes up to the surface, 681 00:29:36,841 --> 00:29:41,546 and looking at how that temperature increases as we go down, 682 00:29:41,579 --> 00:29:43,714 and extrapolate that deep into the planet 683 00:29:43,747 --> 00:29:46,551 to understand how much energy there is inside the planet 684 00:29:46,584 --> 00:29:50,655 to drive the geology and to drive volcanism, Marsquakes, 685 00:29:50,688 --> 00:29:51,889 all kinds of activity. 686 00:29:51,922 --> 00:29:53,724 - It's amazing how much you'll be able 687 00:29:53,757 --> 00:29:56,027 to learn from the surface about the interior. 688 00:29:56,060 --> 00:29:58,563 - I think it is amazing, 689 00:29:58,596 --> 00:29:59,964 it's been something that I've 690 00:29:59,997 --> 00:30:02,567 been working on for my whole professional career, 691 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,670 and I find it fascinating. 692 00:30:05,703 --> 00:30:07,638 - Alright we'll talk about that, 693 00:30:07,671 --> 00:30:09,040 thanks Bruce. 694 00:30:09,073 --> 00:30:11,576 Bruce first thought of the mission like this as he mentions 695 00:30:11,609 --> 00:30:15,112 40 years ago when he was a graduate student, 696 00:30:15,145 --> 00:30:18,583 the rest of the team hasn't waited quite that long, 697 00:30:18,616 --> 00:30:20,952 but this is a big moment for them too, 698 00:30:20,985 --> 00:30:22,920 recently we sat down with a few of the members 699 00:30:22,953 --> 00:30:25,923 and asked them what is it going to be like 700 00:30:25,956 --> 00:30:27,759 as we get close to landing. 701 00:30:29,126 --> 00:30:31,529 [dramatic music] 702 00:30:31,562 --> 00:30:32,864 - It's a very difficult thing to do, 703 00:30:32,897 --> 00:30:34,966 and everything has to go perfectly, 704 00:30:34,999 --> 00:30:37,568 as humans we've sent 17 different missions 705 00:30:37,601 --> 00:30:40,705 to the surface of Mars and 10 of them have crashed. 706 00:30:40,738 --> 00:30:43,574 Before we can land on Mars we have to get to Mars. 707 00:30:43,607 --> 00:30:44,876 How do we get to Mars? 708 00:30:44,909 --> 00:30:46,944 - The main responsibility of the navigation team 709 00:30:46,977 --> 00:30:48,946 is to ensure that the spacecraft is delivered 710 00:30:48,979 --> 00:30:51,048 to the right point on the Martian atmosphere. 711 00:30:51,081 --> 00:30:54,552 The target location is about 12 kilometers in size, 712 00:30:54,585 --> 00:30:56,120 our accuracy is comparable to shooting 713 00:30:56,153 --> 00:30:59,056 a basketball from Staple Center in downtown LA, 714 00:30:59,089 --> 00:31:00,558 and hitting nothing but net 715 00:31:00,591 --> 00:31:02,026 in a basketball hoop in New York City, 716 00:31:02,059 --> 00:31:03,694 that is moving at a speed 717 00:31:03,727 --> 00:31:06,664 of about two feet per second and is spinning about its axis. 718 00:31:06,697 --> 00:31:09,000 - The landing site we have an ellipse that is pretty big, 719 00:31:09,033 --> 00:31:10,635 it's about 60 miles long, 720 00:31:10,668 --> 00:31:12,103 We could land anywhere in that ellipse, 721 00:31:12,136 --> 00:31:14,639 there's a chance that we could land right on a rock, 722 00:31:14,672 --> 00:31:16,107 and we don't have any control over that, 723 00:31:16,140 --> 00:31:17,808 so that's what makes me nervous. 724 00:31:17,841 --> 00:31:20,578 - We have tested the RADAR by flying it on a helicopter, 725 00:31:20,611 --> 00:31:22,079 we've tested pieces of the heat shield 726 00:31:22,112 --> 00:31:24,081 by putting them in an arc jet facility, 727 00:31:24,114 --> 00:31:26,851 we have tested the parachute by testing it in a wind tunnel, 728 00:31:26,884 --> 00:31:28,085 and putting that all together 729 00:31:28,118 --> 00:31:30,588 in a very tightly controlled sequence 730 00:31:30,621 --> 00:31:31,923 where every single thing has to go right, 731 00:31:31,956 --> 00:31:33,658 we have never tested that, 732 00:31:33,691 --> 00:31:34,625 and the first time it's gonna happen 733 00:31:34,658 --> 00:31:36,728 is once you deliver us to Mars. 734 00:31:42,599 --> 00:31:46,671 - It is about 11:29 AM Pacific, 735 00:31:46,704 --> 00:31:49,974 and you're watching live coverage of the InSight landing 736 00:31:50,007 --> 00:31:52,076 from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 737 00:31:52,109 --> 00:31:54,845 in Pasadena, California. 738 00:31:54,878 --> 00:31:57,848 We are about a half hour away from landing, 739 00:31:57,881 --> 00:32:01,519 and people all over the world are watching, 740 00:32:01,552 --> 00:32:04,755 take a look at a map that we have for you, 741 00:32:04,788 --> 00:32:05,990 we can show you right now, 742 00:32:06,023 --> 00:32:08,526 this is a watch in person map 743 00:32:08,559 --> 00:32:11,896 where people have watch parties all over the world, 744 00:32:11,929 --> 00:32:13,764 all over the United States, 745 00:32:13,797 --> 00:32:15,833 in Paris, in Berlin, 746 00:32:15,866 --> 00:32:18,970 even off the coast of Madagascar, 747 00:32:19,003 --> 00:32:22,940 and folks in the Big Apple will also be watching today, 748 00:32:22,973 --> 00:32:27,078 the NASDAQ Tower will switch over to landing coverage 749 00:32:27,111 --> 00:32:29,547 for about an hour, 750 00:32:29,580 --> 00:32:32,683 that means people in Times Square can watch too, 751 00:32:32,716 --> 00:32:34,785 and later today, NASA will have 752 00:32:34,818 --> 00:32:37,588 the honor of ringing the closing bell, 753 00:32:37,621 --> 00:32:40,524 and that will be a little over an hour from now. 754 00:32:40,557 --> 00:32:41,926 And if you are watching, 755 00:32:41,959 --> 00:32:43,995 take a picture and send it to us, 756 00:32:44,028 --> 00:32:46,797 using hashtag Marslanding, 757 00:32:46,830 --> 00:32:48,866 here is one I believe it is 758 00:32:48,899 --> 00:32:52,570 from the California Science Center in Los Angeles, 759 00:32:52,603 --> 00:32:57,608 and I am told Eric Garcetti will be visiting later today. 760 00:32:58,709 --> 00:33:00,745 Things are getting more active for the team now, 761 00:33:00,778 --> 00:33:03,114 let's check back in with Julie Wertz Chen 762 00:33:03,147 --> 00:33:05,850 in the control room, what's going on Julie? 763 00:33:07,117 --> 00:33:10,688 - Yeah so we have heard from MRO a couple of times, 764 00:33:10,721 --> 00:33:12,556 that's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 765 00:33:12,589 --> 00:33:13,524 they are doing their slew, 766 00:33:13,557 --> 00:33:14,558 they are ready to support us, 767 00:33:14,591 --> 00:33:15,526 they are doing great, 768 00:33:15,559 --> 00:33:17,695 and we heard from both MarCO's, 769 00:33:17,728 --> 00:33:18,929 MarCO A and B that they're out there, 770 00:33:18,962 --> 00:33:20,831 they've got telemetry lock 771 00:33:20,864 --> 00:33:22,867 with them from the ground stations here, 772 00:33:22,900 --> 00:33:24,635 so they are doing great, 773 00:33:24,668 --> 00:33:27,772 and everybody is ready to go, so we're pretty excited. 774 00:33:27,805 --> 00:33:28,906 - Fantastic, 775 00:33:28,939 --> 00:33:31,642 we will check back in with Julie in a moment, 776 00:33:31,675 --> 00:33:34,545 meantime this is a good time to tell you a little bit more 777 00:33:34,578 --> 00:33:37,014 about that technology experiment we've been talking about, 778 00:33:37,047 --> 00:33:37,982 MarCO, 779 00:33:38,015 --> 00:33:39,617 as we mentioned earlier, 780 00:33:39,650 --> 00:33:41,852 InSight does not have an orbiter 781 00:33:41,885 --> 00:33:45,589 in position to send EDL data back live, 782 00:33:45,622 --> 00:33:47,892 so the Cubesats hope to fill that gap, 783 00:33:47,925 --> 00:33:49,627 here's how they'll work. 784 00:33:50,861 --> 00:33:52,830 - [Narrator] Communicating between Mars and Earth requires 785 00:33:52,863 --> 00:33:54,799 a complicated choreography, 786 00:33:54,832 --> 00:33:58,002 with everything in the right place at the right time. 787 00:33:58,035 --> 00:34:00,571 Sometimes hours can pass before information 788 00:34:00,604 --> 00:34:02,706 is related from one planet to another, 789 00:34:02,739 --> 00:34:05,076 that's why when NASA's Mars InSight Lander launches 790 00:34:05,109 --> 00:34:06,877 this year the rocket will carry 791 00:34:06,910 --> 00:34:10,548 two tiny satellites for a technology test of their own. 792 00:34:10,581 --> 00:34:11,949 Meet Mars Cube One, 793 00:34:11,982 --> 00:34:15,953 MarCO, NASA's first Cubesat mission to deep space, 794 00:34:15,986 --> 00:34:17,788 these briefcase-sized satellites 795 00:34:17,821 --> 00:34:19,957 will travel separately from the InSight Lander 796 00:34:19,990 --> 00:34:22,827 while they test out new miniaturized technologies, 797 00:34:22,860 --> 00:34:23,994 and if they make it to Mars 798 00:34:24,027 --> 00:34:25,663 they could relate information back 799 00:34:25,696 --> 00:34:28,599 to Earth about InSight's descent and touchdown, 800 00:34:28,632 --> 00:34:30,868 and do it in mere minutes. 801 00:34:30,901 --> 00:34:33,003 Although this fast communication isn't crucial 802 00:34:33,036 --> 00:34:34,939 to the success of the InSight Lander, 803 00:34:34,972 --> 00:34:36,841 this Cubesat test could change 804 00:34:36,874 --> 00:34:39,577 the way future spacecraft phone home. 805 00:34:42,946 --> 00:34:44,849 - Alright let's check back with Julie 806 00:34:44,882 --> 00:34:46,984 to see if the MarCOs are indeed ready 807 00:34:47,017 --> 00:34:49,887 to support and listen for InSight, 808 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:51,055 Julie what do you know? 809 00:34:52,623 --> 00:34:54,725 - So they are ready to go, 810 00:34:54,758 --> 00:34:56,894 I haven't heard about their slew coming up yet, 811 00:34:56,927 --> 00:34:58,863 but they are ready to go, 812 00:34:58,896 --> 00:35:00,531 we have heard from them, they are both healthy, 813 00:35:00,564 --> 00:35:01,499 and they're both doing great, 814 00:35:01,532 --> 00:35:03,534 which is just wonderful news. 815 00:35:03,567 --> 00:35:05,669 So I think they should be doing a slew, 816 00:35:05,702 --> 00:35:07,004 actually I think they should 817 00:35:07,037 --> 00:35:08,572 be doing a slew in just a minute. 818 00:35:08,605 --> 00:35:10,108 - [Gay] We'll stand by and listen then. 819 00:35:50,981 --> 00:35:54,886 [men mumbling off-microphone] 820 00:36:44,067 --> 00:36:45,569 - [Woman] All stations and systems, 821 00:36:45,602 --> 00:36:47,004 we can confirm we are entry -20 minutes, 822 00:36:47,037 --> 00:36:49,807 EDL nav two has been initiated, 823 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:51,776 the star tracker has been powered off. 824 00:37:06,857 --> 00:37:09,793 - The nav two software has been initiated, 825 00:37:09,826 --> 00:37:13,063 so when we're in cruise we use a star tracker, 826 00:37:13,096 --> 00:37:17,101 in a similar manner to how sailors navigated years ago, 827 00:37:17,134 --> 00:37:18,669 we look at the stars 828 00:37:18,702 --> 00:37:19,870 and get our relative position from them, 829 00:37:19,903 --> 00:37:21,805 we use a star tracker for that, 830 00:37:21,838 --> 00:37:24,008 and now that we are close enough to Mars, 831 00:37:24,041 --> 00:37:24,975 we don't need that anymore, 832 00:37:25,008 --> 00:37:26,877 so we're gonna transition 833 00:37:26,910 --> 00:37:29,046 to what's called Nav two software, 834 00:37:29,079 --> 00:37:32,616 and that let's us basically just use velocity 835 00:37:32,649 --> 00:37:33,784 and acceleration from this point on, 836 00:37:33,817 --> 00:37:35,886 so we don't need the star tracker any more. 837 00:37:39,790 --> 00:37:43,027 - [Man] MarCO clarify, slew to inertia or start a bent pipe. 838 00:37:44,661 --> 00:37:46,998 - [Man] Slew to appropriate altitude for bent pipe, 839 00:37:48,098 --> 00:37:49,600 bent pipe mode will be entered shortly. 840 00:37:49,633 --> 00:37:50,801 - [Man] Okay thank you very much. 841 00:37:52,803 --> 00:37:55,072 - And that was obviously confirmation of the slew for MarCO, 842 00:37:55,105 --> 00:37:56,740 so that's great news. 843 00:37:56,773 --> 00:37:58,609 - [Gay] Fantastic. 844 00:38:01,945 --> 00:38:03,914 - So as I was saying before, 845 00:38:03,947 --> 00:38:07,718 the Nav two software will propagate from here on out, 846 00:38:07,751 --> 00:38:08,919 and we'll use velocity and acceleration, 847 00:38:08,952 --> 00:38:10,688 so we've powered off our star tracker, 848 00:38:10,721 --> 00:38:11,789 and we are on our Nav two software 849 00:38:11,822 --> 00:38:13,791 and everything is looking great. 850 00:38:13,824 --> 00:38:15,826 - Okay thanks Julie. 851 00:38:17,761 --> 00:38:19,830 Alright the cruise stage separation 852 00:38:19,863 --> 00:38:21,999 is just about four minutes away, 853 00:38:22,032 --> 00:38:24,568 and Rob Manning joins us now, 854 00:38:24,601 --> 00:38:27,571 Rob is the chief engineer here at JPL, 855 00:38:27,604 --> 00:38:30,741 and an absolute veteran of Mars landings. 856 00:38:30,774 --> 00:38:33,544 We are going to play a little video for you right now, 857 00:38:33,577 --> 00:38:34,678 you haven't seen it yet, 858 00:38:34,711 --> 00:38:35,713 but we'll roll it. 859 00:38:38,782 --> 00:38:39,850 Let's go ahead. 860 00:38:39,883 --> 00:38:40,984 This is-- 861 00:38:41,017 --> 00:38:41,952 - [Man] Lander acceleration live, 862 00:38:41,985 --> 00:38:43,587 14 reports carrier lock at-- 863 00:38:43,620 --> 00:38:46,590 - [Gay] There you are, you were the phase lead. 864 00:38:48,024 --> 00:38:50,060 You were sitting up from [laughs]. 865 00:38:50,093 --> 00:38:52,863 [crowd cheers] 866 00:38:53,897 --> 00:38:54,799 - [Rob] Yeah, 867 00:38:57,567 --> 00:38:59,536 that's what I look like when it's successful. 868 00:38:59,569 --> 00:39:01,105 - [Gay] Yes. 869 00:39:03,573 --> 00:39:04,675 - I'd hate to see what I would have 870 00:39:04,708 --> 00:39:06,844 looked like if I wasn't successful. 871 00:39:06,877 --> 00:39:08,078 - But talk about that, 872 00:39:08,111 --> 00:39:10,013 what is EDL like, 873 00:39:10,046 --> 00:39:11,882 why is it so hard? 874 00:39:11,915 --> 00:39:15,753 - Well its many years of work by many many people 875 00:39:15,786 --> 00:39:18,122 who struggle to put all the pieces together, 876 00:39:18,155 --> 00:39:21,058 and particularly because we can't really test 877 00:39:21,091 --> 00:39:23,994 entry, descent and landing on this planet, 878 00:39:24,027 --> 00:39:26,029 it's much more complicated, 879 00:39:26,062 --> 00:39:28,065 Mars has a lower atmosphere, 880 00:39:28,098 --> 00:39:29,066 thinner atmosphere, 881 00:39:29,099 --> 00:39:30,734 less gravity, 882 00:39:30,767 --> 00:39:31,869 you just can't put the pieces, 883 00:39:31,902 --> 00:39:34,838 so imagine you had a big Broadway production, 884 00:39:34,871 --> 00:39:36,039 but you couldn't really 885 00:39:36,072 --> 00:39:39,643 do the show until all the audience shows up, 886 00:39:39,676 --> 00:39:41,078 so that's what it feels like, 887 00:39:41,111 --> 00:39:44,748 so you never really know if you've really done it right. 888 00:39:44,781 --> 00:39:47,851 - Well we've done it seven times, 889 00:39:47,884 --> 00:39:52,089 can we say piece of cake, we know what we're doing? 890 00:39:52,122 --> 00:39:53,791 - No I don't think so, 891 00:39:53,824 --> 00:39:55,592 we get better at it, 892 00:39:55,625 --> 00:39:56,827 and there's no doubt we have learned, 893 00:39:56,860 --> 00:39:59,797 we've learned from both successes and our own failures, 894 00:39:59,830 --> 00:40:01,665 including failures of other 895 00:40:01,698 --> 00:40:03,534 missions outside of this country, 896 00:40:03,567 --> 00:40:05,969 so those pieces come together in our minds eye, 897 00:40:06,002 --> 00:40:08,739 and we try to put what we learned together, 898 00:40:08,772 --> 00:40:11,642 and just do the best we can, 899 00:40:11,675 --> 00:40:14,077 and if we don't succeed, 900 00:40:14,110 --> 00:40:15,746 we will learn, 901 00:40:15,779 --> 00:40:17,781 because we are collecting data on the way down, 902 00:40:17,814 --> 00:40:20,083 if something bad happens today, 903 00:40:20,116 --> 00:40:21,785 we'll be able to take what we learned, 904 00:40:21,818 --> 00:40:23,854 even though we may fall on the ground 905 00:40:23,887 --> 00:40:25,856 after being kicked off the horse 906 00:40:25,889 --> 00:40:27,758 we'll get back up, brush ourselves off, 907 00:40:27,791 --> 00:40:28,826 figure out what we did wrong, 908 00:40:28,859 --> 00:40:30,561 and get back on the horse. 909 00:40:30,594 --> 00:40:32,729 - Well there's a lot of uncertainty, 910 00:40:32,762 --> 00:40:36,066 just very quickly give some possible scenarios 911 00:40:36,099 --> 00:40:38,869 of what could happen during EDL today, 912 00:40:38,902 --> 00:40:41,038 especially during communications? 913 00:40:41,071 --> 00:40:44,007 - Well the great news about having communications, 914 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,677 almost anything could go wrong, 915 00:40:46,710 --> 00:40:48,745 there's a very good chance we can figure it out, 916 00:40:48,778 --> 00:40:51,114 but things like the parachute has to go right, 917 00:40:51,147 --> 00:40:52,683 you don't open parachutes 918 00:40:52,716 --> 00:40:55,752 on Earth going Mach one and a half, 919 00:40:55,785 --> 00:40:57,588 one and a half times the speed of sound, 920 00:40:57,621 --> 00:40:58,722 you just don't do that, 921 00:40:58,755 --> 00:40:59,823 you don't need to on this planet, 922 00:40:59,856 --> 00:41:01,024 but we have to because if we waited 923 00:41:01,057 --> 00:41:02,793 any longer we'd be on the ground. 924 00:41:02,826 --> 00:41:05,963 A very complicated RADAR system has to work 925 00:41:05,996 --> 00:41:07,831 from outer space all the way 926 00:41:07,864 --> 00:41:10,567 to the ground and look for the ground, 927 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:12,569 what if it locked up on the heat shield, 928 00:41:12,602 --> 00:41:14,538 well we've tried to avoid that problem, 929 00:41:14,571 --> 00:41:16,540 we fixed that problem we think 930 00:41:16,573 --> 00:41:17,975 to prevent that from happening, 931 00:41:18,008 --> 00:41:19,643 but what if we got it wrong, 932 00:41:19,676 --> 00:41:21,044 things like that can happen, 933 00:41:21,077 --> 00:41:24,681 and our vehicle could have things bad happen, 934 00:41:24,714 --> 00:41:27,051 but we have worked hard to prevent them. 935 00:41:28,084 --> 00:41:29,753 - So we're getting close, 936 00:41:29,786 --> 00:41:30,854 we're gonna go to the control 937 00:41:30,887 --> 00:41:32,823 room for cruise stage separation Rob. 938 00:41:32,856 --> 00:41:33,757 - Okay. 939 00:41:40,664 --> 00:41:41,899 I need to take off. 940 00:41:43,934 --> 00:41:45,736 Yes, yes. 941 00:42:19,736 --> 00:42:20,738 - [Man] InSight systems, EDL COMM. 942 00:42:22,038 --> 00:42:23,740 - [Woman] Go-ahead? 943 00:42:23,773 --> 00:42:25,042 - [Man] At this time MRO 944 00:42:25,075 --> 00:42:27,945 will have loaded their electro sequences, 945 00:42:27,978 --> 00:42:31,882 and MarCO is expecting carrier lock any time, 946 00:42:31,915 --> 00:42:34,018 MarCO B has recorded they're in bent pipe, 947 00:42:35,118 --> 00:42:36,053 still waiting on A. 948 00:42:37,721 --> 00:42:39,023 - [Woman] Copy that, thank you. 949 00:42:49,599 --> 00:42:50,767 - [Man] Radio Science report, 950 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:52,703 UHF carrier detected. 951 00:42:53,937 --> 00:42:57,007 - [Man] EDL COMM, MarCO Alpha is an bent pipe mode, 952 00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:59,610 MarCO bravo has locked on the carrier. 953 00:43:00,710 --> 00:43:02,513 MarCO Alpha has also locked on carrier. 954 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:06,717 [people applaud] 955 00:43:09,819 --> 00:43:10,988 - [Man] Systems based on InSight court, 956 00:43:11,021 --> 00:43:14,091 as expected the DSN has LS inside x-band. 957 00:43:15,725 --> 00:43:16,827 - Copy that, thank you. 958 00:43:44,020 --> 00:43:45,789 All station InSight systems on InSight core, 959 00:43:45,822 --> 00:43:48,058 DSN has lost the X-band signal from InSight, 960 00:43:48,091 --> 00:43:51,695 indicated at expected cruise stage separation. 961 00:43:53,797 --> 00:43:55,866 Standing by for UHF signal acquisition 962 00:43:55,899 --> 00:43:57,801 via MarCO radio science. 963 00:44:05,108 --> 00:44:06,977 We are about five minutes from entry, 964 00:44:07,010 --> 00:44:08,879 and have confirmation we have lost 965 00:44:08,912 --> 00:44:11,782 the X-band signal from InSight, 966 00:44:11,815 --> 00:44:13,984 this was expected because we have transitioned 967 00:44:14,017 --> 00:44:15,952 from the antenna on the cruise stage 968 00:44:15,985 --> 00:44:19,123 to the UHF antenna aboard the spacecraft. 969 00:44:20,657 --> 00:44:22,793 Ground stations have detected UHF signal 970 00:44:22,826 --> 00:44:25,062 and MarCO has locked on the signal, 971 00:44:25,095 --> 00:44:26,763 this confirms that InSight 972 00:44:26,796 --> 00:44:29,800 is transmitting UHF signals as expected. 973 00:44:30,867 --> 00:44:33,003 InSight telemetry through the MarCO relay 974 00:44:33,036 --> 00:44:36,607 is not expected till about two minutes before entry. 975 00:44:43,580 --> 00:44:45,082 - [Gay] So Rob that was exactly what we were hoping here, 976 00:44:45,115 --> 00:44:47,050 that the MarCOs are-- 977 00:44:47,083 --> 00:44:50,587 - The vehicle has also performed the turn to entry maneuver, 978 00:44:50,620 --> 00:44:53,590 the vehicle is turning away from the sun pointing altitude, 979 00:44:53,623 --> 00:44:56,794 and oriented itself to enter the Martian atmosphere. 980 00:44:57,694 --> 00:44:59,063 - This is a big first step, 981 00:45:00,563 --> 00:45:03,600 just getting the cruise stage separated, 982 00:45:03,633 --> 00:45:07,571 After the vehicle turns itself to the right orientation, 983 00:45:07,604 --> 00:45:10,540 The cruise stage is now going to get further 984 00:45:10,573 --> 00:45:11,975 and further away till it's about three 985 00:45:12,008 --> 00:45:14,778 or four football fields away and will burn 986 00:45:14,811 --> 00:45:17,714 up in parallel as the vehicle enters Mars. 987 00:45:17,747 --> 00:45:19,916 - And Christine mentioned turn to entry, 988 00:45:19,949 --> 00:45:21,651 what does that mean? 989 00:45:21,684 --> 00:45:22,819 - Well it's because the cruise stage 990 00:45:22,852 --> 00:45:24,821 has to be pushed off to one side like this, 991 00:45:24,854 --> 00:45:28,625 the rest of the vehicle has to turn to face the atmosphere, 992 00:45:28,658 --> 00:45:32,062 and to be dead nuts on as it hits the top of the atmosphere. 993 00:45:32,095 --> 00:45:33,997 - [Gay] So this is taking all the heat 994 00:45:34,030 --> 00:45:35,565 coming into the atmosphere? 995 00:45:35,598 --> 00:45:36,733 - Exactly, 996 00:45:36,766 --> 00:45:37,768 it'll both provide a source for drag, 997 00:45:37,801 --> 00:45:39,035 but also thermal protection, 998 00:45:39,068 --> 00:45:42,539 because it gets over 1500 degrees Celsius 999 00:45:42,572 --> 00:45:44,674 on this heat shield, 1000 00:45:44,707 --> 00:45:45,976 very, very hot, 1001 00:45:46,009 --> 00:45:47,744 but on the inside of the heat shield, 1002 00:45:47,777 --> 00:45:52,048 it's maybe only a few degrees above room temperature, 1003 00:45:52,081 --> 00:45:53,984 so it's a wonderful protector device 1004 00:45:54,017 --> 00:45:55,852 to keep our lander safe. 1005 00:45:55,885 --> 00:45:59,656 - Alright so the next thing were standing by for is, 1006 00:45:59,689 --> 00:46:00,924 - Is entry. - Entry. 1007 00:46:00,957 --> 00:46:02,626 - Getting to the top of the atmosphere 1008 00:46:02,659 --> 00:46:03,960 and gradually slowing down, 1009 00:46:03,993 --> 00:46:06,630 Right now the vehicle is just now beginning, 1010 00:46:06,663 --> 00:46:09,599 very soon will be beginning to feel 1011 00:46:09,632 --> 00:46:11,001 the atmosphere touching it, 1012 00:46:11,034 --> 00:46:13,537 actually entry is above the atmosphere slightly, 1013 00:46:13,570 --> 00:46:16,873 so it's really not till half a minute or so 1014 00:46:16,906 --> 00:46:20,043 after entry before we really start detecting the fact 1015 00:46:20,076 --> 00:46:22,546 that that atmosphere is slowing us down. 1016 00:46:22,579 --> 00:46:23,880 - Alright, we'll be standing by. 1017 00:46:23,913 --> 00:46:25,015 - Yes, exciting. 1018 00:47:20,703 --> 00:47:25,108 - [Gay] Rob, now entry is scheduled for 11:47, 1019 00:47:25,141 --> 00:47:26,743 the cruise stage set 1020 00:47:26,776 --> 00:47:29,045 and the entry times are locked in correct? 1021 00:47:29,078 --> 00:47:30,580 - [Rob] They are, 1022 00:47:30,613 --> 00:47:32,716 they are locked in when we selected the target 1023 00:47:32,749 --> 00:47:34,584 and aimed the vehicle very precisely, 1024 00:47:34,617 --> 00:47:37,087 that allows us to know exactly when we hit the entry point, 1025 00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:41,057 which is 35 to 55 kilometers from the center of Mars. 1026 00:47:41,090 --> 00:47:43,026 - [Gay] So we know those times are locked in, 1027 00:47:43,059 --> 00:47:46,663 but what about all the other events that take place-- 1028 00:47:46,696 --> 00:47:48,031 - [Man] Radio Science reports dropping 1029 00:47:48,064 --> 00:47:50,600 carrier power as expected. 1030 00:47:50,633 --> 00:47:52,936 - [Man] MarCO A and MarCO B have telemetry. 1031 00:47:52,969 --> 00:47:55,806 [people applaud] 1032 00:47:59,709 --> 00:48:01,478 - [Gay] Just heard, both MarCO's have telemetry. 1033 00:48:01,511 --> 00:48:02,879 - [Rob] They are doing their job, 1034 00:48:02,912 --> 00:48:06,549 these small Cubesats are relaying ones and zeros 1035 00:48:06,582 --> 00:48:09,085 with a few seconds lag From 1036 00:48:09,118 --> 00:48:12,589 the vehicle up to these two vehicles, 1037 00:48:12,622 --> 00:48:14,591 and they forward them back to Earth 1038 00:48:14,624 --> 00:48:17,761 to the deep space network using X-band antennas, 1039 00:48:17,794 --> 00:48:20,096 - And keep in mind this was all an experiment, 1040 00:48:20,129 --> 00:48:22,699 we weren't sure that this was going to work, 1041 00:48:22,732 --> 00:48:25,068 but we had this need that we didn't 1042 00:48:25,101 --> 00:48:28,538 have live communication in this particular mission. 1043 00:48:28,571 --> 00:48:30,073 - Well we don't really need communications, 1044 00:48:30,106 --> 00:48:31,841 we don't need their information, 1045 00:48:31,874 --> 00:48:33,543 except if something went wrong, 1046 00:48:33,576 --> 00:48:35,645 we would very much like to get the data right now, 1047 00:48:35,678 --> 00:48:36,980 we have other spacecraft. 1048 00:48:37,013 --> 00:48:38,114 - [Christine] We are now receiving InSight 1049 00:48:38,147 --> 00:48:40,050 telemetry via the MarCO really. 1050 00:48:40,083 --> 00:48:41,885 [people applaud] 1051 00:48:41,918 --> 00:48:45,956 - Ah, it's flowing into it, fabulous. 1052 00:48:45,989 --> 00:48:47,891 That means the team now can watch 1053 00:48:47,924 --> 00:48:50,694 the data flowing onto their screens as if 1054 00:48:50,727 --> 00:48:52,629 they're communicating directly with the vehicle. 1055 00:48:52,662 --> 00:48:54,564 - This data will provide detailed information 1056 00:48:54,597 --> 00:48:56,800 about the state of the spacecraft throughout EDL. 1057 00:49:02,705 --> 00:49:04,708 - [Gay] We were on pins and needles waiting for that, 1058 00:49:04,741 --> 00:49:07,644 because we weren't really sure. 1059 00:49:07,677 --> 00:49:09,112 - [Rob] This is wonderful news, 1060 00:49:09,145 --> 00:49:12,983 if this continues working all the way 1061 00:49:13,016 --> 00:49:14,784 to the ground and beyond, 1062 00:49:14,817 --> 00:49:18,088 we might even see a first picture from the surface of Mars. 1063 00:49:18,121 --> 00:49:19,656 - [Gay] Wouldn't that be great? 1064 00:49:19,689 --> 00:49:20,890 - [Rob] Very soon. 1065 00:49:20,923 --> 00:49:22,726 - [Christine] Atmospheric entry on my mark, 1066 00:49:24,827 --> 00:49:27,164 three, two, one, mark. 1067 00:49:29,565 --> 00:49:30,734 - [Gay] Here we go. 1068 00:49:30,767 --> 00:49:32,535 - [Rob] So in a few seconds 1069 00:49:32,568 --> 00:49:34,838 the vehicle will start sensing the atmosphere, 1070 00:49:34,871 --> 00:49:37,974 22 kilometers from the center of Mars, 1071 00:49:38,007 --> 00:49:40,076 and it's gonna start to slow down very 1072 00:49:40,109 --> 00:49:41,711 very slowly at first, 1073 00:49:41,744 --> 00:49:43,947 but then faster and faster and faster, 1074 00:49:43,980 --> 00:49:46,983 till it reaches about seven Gs, 1075 00:49:47,016 --> 00:49:48,585 I made that mistake on the video, 1076 00:49:48,618 --> 00:49:49,986 it's actually seven Gs not 12, 1077 00:49:50,019 --> 00:49:54,825 but it will still very, very quickly slow down, 1078 00:49:57,026 --> 00:49:57,961 from 15-- 1079 00:49:57,994 --> 00:49:59,629 - In approximately one minute, 1080 00:49:59,662 --> 00:50:02,832 InSight is expected to reach its maximum heating rate, 1081 00:50:02,865 --> 00:50:06,569 plasma blackout is possible during peak heating, 1082 00:50:06,602 --> 00:50:09,939 and could cause a temporary drop out of telemetry, 1083 00:50:09,972 --> 00:50:12,943 this could last for as long as two minutes. 1084 00:50:14,911 --> 00:50:16,046 - [Rob] The gas that comes 1085 00:50:16,079 --> 00:50:18,848 off the heat shield as it's slowing down, 1086 00:50:18,881 --> 00:50:20,784 it looks like a meteor if you're on Mars 1087 00:50:20,817 --> 00:50:22,552 watching the streak go by, 1088 00:50:22,585 --> 00:50:24,821 that brightness of gas does interfere 1089 00:50:24,854 --> 00:50:26,023 with the radio reception, 1090 00:50:27,123 --> 00:50:28,758 so it's possible that MarCO will lose 1091 00:50:28,791 --> 00:50:32,062 that signal while going through this very hot entry. 1092 00:50:32,095 --> 00:50:33,930 - [Gay] But not to be alarmed. 1093 00:50:33,963 --> 00:50:34,931 - [Rob] Not to be alarmed, 1094 00:50:34,964 --> 00:50:36,066 it's part of the design, 1095 00:50:36,099 --> 00:50:37,834 we completely expect it. 1096 00:50:37,867 --> 00:50:39,869 - [Man] Radio science reports 1097 00:50:39,902 --> 00:50:41,971 plasma blackouts as expected. 1098 00:50:42,004 --> 00:50:43,974 - [Rob] Okay, oh wow. 1099 00:50:49,979 --> 00:50:51,748 - Ground stations have reported plasma blackout, 1100 00:50:51,781 --> 00:50:54,584 still receiving InSight telemetry via MarCO. 1101 00:50:55,985 --> 00:50:58,121 - [Man] MarCO Alpha has carrier interruption. 1102 00:51:01,524 --> 00:51:04,161 - InSight should now be experiencing the peak heating rate, 1103 00:51:05,661 --> 00:51:07,530 portions of the heat shield may reach 1104 00:51:07,563 --> 00:51:10,033 nearly 3000 degrees Fahrenheit as it protects 1105 00:51:10,066 --> 00:51:12,636 the lander from the heating environment. 1106 00:51:17,106 --> 00:51:18,075 - [Rob] That's hot. 1107 00:51:19,976 --> 00:51:21,678 - [Man] MarCO Bravo has carrier interruption, 1108 00:51:21,711 --> 00:51:22,679 but still in lock. 1109 00:51:47,870 --> 00:51:50,940 - InSight has passed through peak deceleration, 1110 00:51:50,973 --> 00:51:53,977 telemetry shows the spacecraft at about 8 Gs. 1111 00:51:54,010 --> 00:51:56,546 - [Man] MarCO Alpha and MarCO Bravo maintain lock. 1112 00:51:56,579 --> 00:51:59,015 - [Man] Radio science reports carrier detected. 1113 00:52:03,819 --> 00:52:06,156 - [Gay] Several different communications coming in. 1114 00:52:07,590 --> 00:52:08,858 - InSight is now traveling at a velocity 1115 00:52:08,891 --> 00:52:10,927 of 2000 meters per second. 1116 00:52:14,764 --> 00:52:15,899 - [Rob] It seems to have passed this very critical 1117 00:52:15,932 --> 00:52:18,668 point of peak heating and peak deceleration. 1118 00:52:22,972 --> 00:52:25,075 The next big step is parachute inflation. 1119 00:52:26,609 --> 00:52:28,611 - [Gay] You can see that on our timeline 1120 00:52:28,644 --> 00:52:29,880 on the bottom of the screen, 1121 00:52:31,581 --> 00:52:33,983 the next event is parachute deploy. 1122 00:52:34,016 --> 00:52:35,018 - InSight is now traveling 1123 00:52:35,051 --> 00:52:37,053 at 1000 meters per second. 1124 00:52:38,688 --> 00:52:40,990 Once InSight slows to about 400 meters per second 1125 00:52:41,023 --> 00:52:45,795 it will deploy its 12 meter diameter supersonic parachute, 1126 00:52:45,828 --> 00:52:48,765 the parachute will deploy nominally at about Mach 1.7. 1127 00:52:54,604 --> 00:52:57,073 Standing by for parachute deploy. 1128 00:53:15,992 --> 00:53:18,962 - [Man] Radio science reports sudden change in Doppler. 1129 00:53:20,796 --> 00:53:22,098 - [Christine] Ground stations are observing signals 1130 00:53:22,131 --> 00:53:23,967 consistent with parachute deploy. 1131 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:25,935 [people applaud] 1132 00:53:25,968 --> 00:53:27,036 - [Man] MarCO Alpha and MarCO Bravo 1133 00:53:27,069 --> 00:53:28,605 maintain locked status. 1134 00:53:31,807 --> 00:53:33,743 - [Christine] Telemetry shows parachute deployment, 1135 00:53:33,776 --> 00:53:35,111 RADAR powered on. 1136 00:53:36,646 --> 00:53:39,082 [people applaud] 1137 00:53:41,117 --> 00:53:42,886 Heat shield separation commanded. 1138 00:53:53,763 --> 00:53:55,765 - [Rob] This is really good news so far. 1139 00:53:56,699 --> 00:53:57,601 - [Gay] It's fantastic. 1140 00:53:59,568 --> 00:54:00,904 - [Rob] I'm on pins and needles. 1141 00:54:04,907 --> 00:54:06,576 - We have RADAR activation 1142 00:54:06,609 --> 00:54:09,078 where the RADAR is beginning to search for the ground, 1143 00:54:09,111 --> 00:54:11,748 once the RADAR locks on the ground, 1144 00:54:11,781 --> 00:54:13,750 and InSight is about one kilometer above the surface, 1145 00:54:13,783 --> 00:54:15,985 the lander will separate from the back shell 1146 00:54:16,018 --> 00:54:19,956 and begin terminal descent using its 12 descent engines. 1147 00:54:47,750 --> 00:54:50,086 Altitude convergence, the RADAR has locked on the ground. 1148 00:54:50,119 --> 00:54:52,956 [people applaud] 1149 00:54:55,057 --> 00:54:57,093 Standing by for the lander separation. 1150 00:54:57,126 --> 00:54:58,795 - [Man] Carrier interruption 1151 00:54:58,828 --> 00:54:59,929 on MarCO Alpha and MarCO Bravo. 1152 00:55:03,966 --> 00:55:05,935 - [Christine] Lander separation commanded, 1153 00:55:05,968 --> 00:55:07,771 altitude 600 meters. 1154 00:55:08,871 --> 00:55:12,575 Gravity turn, altitude 400 meters. 1155 00:55:12,608 --> 00:55:13,810 - [Rob] We're getting there. 1156 00:55:13,843 --> 00:55:15,011 - 300 meters. 1157 00:55:18,881 --> 00:55:19,983 200 meters. 1158 00:55:22,017 --> 00:55:23,786 80 meters. 1159 00:55:23,819 --> 00:55:25,622 60 meters. 1160 00:55:27,089 --> 00:55:29,892 50 meters, constant velocity, 1161 00:55:29,925 --> 00:55:31,127 37 meters, 1162 00:55:32,094 --> 00:55:33,896 30 meters, 1163 00:55:33,929 --> 00:55:34,964 20 meters, 1164 00:55:35,965 --> 00:55:36,866 17 meters, 1165 00:55:36,899 --> 00:55:38,134 standing by for touchdown. 1166 00:55:52,615 --> 00:55:54,050 Touchdown confirmed. 1167 00:55:54,083 --> 00:55:57,821 [people cheer and applaud] 1168 00:56:16,605 --> 00:56:18,675 - [Gay] That's fantastic. 1169 00:56:21,076 --> 00:56:22,044 - [Rob] This never gets old. 1170 00:56:22,077 --> 00:56:24,147 - [Gay] No it doesn't Rob, 1171 00:56:27,016 --> 00:56:29,052 the control room just erupted. 1172 00:56:32,588 --> 00:56:33,689 - [Rob] Fabulous, fabulous. 1173 00:56:33,722 --> 00:56:35,625 - [Gay] Command of the MarCO team there. 1174 00:56:36,725 --> 00:56:38,694 - [Rob] The MarCO team did great, 1175 00:56:38,727 --> 00:56:40,897 Ted Reising, one of the key designers of Lockheed. 1176 00:56:43,065 --> 00:56:44,634 Sandy Krasner, 1177 00:56:44,667 --> 00:56:45,702 they are a great team. 1178 00:56:51,006 --> 00:56:52,842 This is really fabulous. 1179 00:56:52,875 --> 00:56:53,977 - [Gay] Fantastic news. 1180 00:57:00,049 --> 00:57:03,953 - [Rob] [laughs] Thank you. 1181 00:57:03,986 --> 00:57:06,623 - [Gay] Lots of fist pumping going on in there. 1182 00:57:08,023 --> 00:57:09,692 What a relief, 1183 00:57:09,725 --> 00:57:13,730 we have cut over to the camera over in Times Square, 1184 00:57:14,830 --> 00:57:16,900 people are weathering the rain to see this. 1185 00:57:34,617 --> 00:57:35,785 [people cheering] 1186 00:57:35,818 --> 00:57:37,987 - [Rob] They can't help it. 1187 00:57:58,707 --> 00:57:59,775 This is the hardest part, 1188 00:57:59,808 --> 00:58:00,943 getting to the surface and landing, 1189 00:58:00,976 --> 00:58:03,680 this thing has a lot more to do though, 1190 00:58:05,114 --> 00:58:07,817 there's a lot more to go on both today 1191 00:58:07,850 --> 00:58:11,787 and the days that follow before the science can begin, 1192 00:58:11,820 --> 00:58:14,991 but just getting a vehicle from Earth 1193 00:58:15,024 --> 00:58:17,794 to the surface of Mars is no mean feat. 1194 00:58:18,894 --> 00:58:20,129 - [Gay] And Rob, could you talk about that, 1195 00:58:20,162 --> 00:58:23,833 just the mere accomplishment here that we're seeing. 1196 00:58:23,866 --> 00:58:26,602 - You have to understand, 1197 00:58:26,635 --> 00:58:29,972 this vehicle is very complicated, 1198 00:58:30,005 --> 00:58:31,941 it uses 12 engines, 1199 00:58:31,974 --> 00:58:34,977 each of those engines are pulsed 10 times a second, 1200 00:58:35,010 --> 00:58:37,980 producing these little tiny impulses, 1201 00:58:38,013 --> 00:58:40,049 almost like little bullets that keep 1202 00:58:40,082 --> 00:58:42,818 the vehicle going at a constant velocity 1203 00:58:42,851 --> 00:58:44,754 as it approaches the ground, 1204 00:58:44,787 --> 00:58:47,557 and still going over five miles an hour, 1205 00:58:47,590 --> 00:58:49,692 so those legs feel a fair amount of crush, 1206 00:58:49,725 --> 00:58:51,561 we still don't know the state of the vehicle right now, 1207 00:58:51,594 --> 00:58:53,596 we need to look to make sure there are no rocks nearby, 1208 00:58:53,629 --> 00:58:57,066 the solar panels in about five 1209 00:58:57,099 --> 00:59:00,736 to 10 minutes will begin to open up, 1210 00:59:00,769 --> 00:59:02,004 they're waiting for the dust to settle, 1211 00:59:02,037 --> 00:59:05,675 because there is certainly a lot of dust being lifted 1212 00:59:05,708 --> 00:59:07,577 in the air around the vehicle right now, 1213 00:59:07,610 --> 00:59:09,645 which is now just settling. 1214 00:59:09,678 --> 00:59:10,980 - [Gay] So we're standing by, 1215 00:59:12,081 --> 00:59:14,850 after touchdown it waits a couple 1216 00:59:14,883 --> 00:59:17,587 of minutes to give us an X-band beep, 1217 00:59:18,821 --> 00:59:20,823 so we are standing by for that, 1218 00:59:20,856 --> 00:59:22,858 it's a communication that comes directly 1219 00:59:22,891 --> 00:59:24,594 to Earth from InSight. 1220 00:59:24,627 --> 00:59:25,795 - [Rob] Yes, 1221 00:59:25,828 --> 00:59:28,998 and it goes to the Deep Space Network, 1222 00:59:29,031 --> 00:59:30,967 there's also something that might be happening now, 1223 00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:32,635 if we are very lucky, 1224 00:59:32,668 --> 00:59:34,904 InSight might be able to relay an image 1225 00:59:34,937 --> 00:59:37,540 or a partial image taken just 1226 00:59:37,573 --> 00:59:40,076 a couple of minutes after landing, 1227 00:59:40,109 --> 00:59:43,579 so I'm standing by hoping to see that, 1228 00:59:43,612 --> 00:59:44,847 but if that doesn't happen, 1229 00:59:44,880 --> 00:59:48,117 we'll certainly get more images later in our Odyssey pass 1230 00:59:48,150 --> 00:59:49,652 in about five hours. 1231 00:59:49,685 --> 00:59:52,054 - [Gay] We see Bruce Banerdt waiting for it, 1232 00:59:52,087 --> 00:59:54,557 I don't know if they see it yet. 1233 00:59:54,590 --> 00:59:55,691 - [Rob] They are waiting, 1234 00:59:55,724 --> 00:59:57,960 that's Justin Mackie and Bruce Banerdt 1235 00:59:57,993 --> 01:00:01,664 looking carefully at the cameras to see what they might see. 1236 01:00:01,697 --> 01:00:04,533 They're waiting for the image to come back. 1237 01:00:04,566 --> 01:00:07,903 - [Gay] So this is the first image from InSight itself, 1238 01:00:07,936 --> 01:00:11,907 InSight is taking a picture with one of its two cameras, 1239 01:00:11,940 --> 01:00:15,778 it's probably a view of what is directly 1240 01:00:15,811 --> 01:00:18,881 in front of the spacecraft, 1241 01:00:18,914 --> 01:00:20,583 right in front of the lander, 1242 01:00:20,616 --> 01:00:23,986 this is a camera that it will be using to figure out 1243 01:00:24,019 --> 01:00:25,821 is this a good space, 1244 01:00:25,854 --> 01:00:28,658 is it a good place to put down our instruments, 1245 01:00:28,691 --> 01:00:31,093 so it is going to take an image 1246 01:00:31,126 --> 01:00:33,996 and then send that image to the MarCOs, 1247 01:00:34,029 --> 01:00:37,600 the MarCOs in turn will relay it back to Earth. 1248 01:00:37,633 --> 01:00:38,934 - [Rob] That's great, they got it. 1249 01:00:38,967 --> 01:00:41,037 [people cheer and applaud] 1250 01:00:41,070 --> 01:00:43,873 This is great, let's see what they've got. 1251 01:00:43,906 --> 01:00:45,741 There it is. 1252 01:00:45,774 --> 01:00:47,944 - [Gay] There's the picture. 1253 01:00:55,084 --> 01:00:57,853 - [Rob] That's a good site, 1254 01:00:57,886 --> 01:00:58,954 that's not far from where 1255 01:00:58,987 --> 01:01:00,022 they'll be able to deploy the instruments, 1256 01:01:00,055 --> 01:01:01,057 so it's great, 1257 01:01:01,090 --> 01:01:02,825 I don't see a lot of-- 1258 01:01:02,858 --> 01:01:04,860 - [Gay] Let's explain that image, 1259 01:01:04,893 --> 01:01:08,631 now this image has a dust cover on top of it. 1260 01:01:08,664 --> 01:01:10,032 - [Man] EDL COMM, we have lost the signal from MarCO. 1261 01:01:10,065 --> 01:01:12,868 - [Rob] You can see potentially a lot of-- 1262 01:01:12,901 --> 01:01:16,572 - [Man] Radio signs reports loss for UHF. 1263 01:01:19,575 --> 01:01:20,976 - [Rob] So we don't know what I'm looking at. 1264 01:01:21,009 --> 01:01:22,812 - Thank you everybody on EDL COMM. 1265 01:01:25,614 --> 01:01:26,582 - [Man] Trusty job MarCO. 1266 01:01:26,615 --> 01:01:27,750 - [Rob] Yay, MarCO. 1267 01:01:27,783 --> 01:01:30,620 [people applaud] 1268 01:01:35,624 --> 01:01:36,826 Congratulations. 1269 01:01:39,795 --> 01:01:41,097 But there it is, 1270 01:01:41,130 --> 01:01:42,631 you can see a better view, 1271 01:01:42,664 --> 01:01:43,566 you can see that really is debris, 1272 01:01:43,599 --> 01:01:44,667 there is the horizon back there, 1273 01:01:44,700 --> 01:01:46,102 the bluish sky, 1274 01:01:47,770 --> 01:01:49,939 that's part of the lander deck on the front left, 1275 01:01:49,972 --> 01:01:51,107 I can't make out, 1276 01:01:51,140 --> 01:01:52,074 but it looks like there's not a lot 1277 01:01:52,107 --> 01:01:53,642 of rocks in the field of view, 1278 01:01:53,675 --> 01:01:55,611 but those dots you see there are very likely 1279 01:01:55,644 --> 01:01:59,849 to be dust particles on the dust cover, 1280 01:01:59,882 --> 01:02:01,617 which will be removed. 1281 01:02:01,650 --> 01:02:04,553 - [Gay] And will get another shot later on. 1282 01:02:04,586 --> 01:02:05,855 - [Rob] Yes. 1283 01:02:05,888 --> 01:02:08,825 And a better clearer view after the dust cover is removed, 1284 01:02:12,594 --> 01:02:16,766 Cubesats relay communications job is done, 1285 01:02:16,799 --> 01:02:18,033 they're now flying on, 1286 01:02:18,066 --> 01:02:20,770 they're now taking pictures back toward Mars, 1287 01:02:20,803 --> 01:02:23,873 hopefully MRO which flew overhead 1288 01:02:23,906 --> 01:02:27,042 might have been lucky enough to capture the descent 1289 01:02:27,075 --> 01:02:30,546 of this InSight Lander under its parachute, 1290 01:02:30,579 --> 01:02:33,549 while this was going on, 1291 01:02:33,582 --> 01:02:35,651 MRO was flying overhead recording the data, 1292 01:02:35,684 --> 01:02:39,088 and also monitoring the transactions, 1293 01:02:39,121 --> 01:02:41,690 and recording every bit of signal it could, 1294 01:02:41,723 --> 01:02:43,659 but it also had the ability to take a picture, 1295 01:02:43,692 --> 01:02:45,961 maybe like we did with Phoenix 1296 01:02:45,994 --> 01:02:48,798 and later for Curiosity Rover, 1297 01:02:48,831 --> 01:02:50,966 we might be able to see the parachute inflated. 1298 01:02:50,999 --> 01:02:52,535 - [Gay] That would be fantastic, 1299 01:02:52,568 --> 01:02:55,671 we are standing by now for that X-band beep, 1300 01:02:56,905 --> 01:03:00,877 InSight phoning home saying I'm here, and I'm okay. 1301 01:03:03,512 --> 01:03:06,082 [crowd murmuring] 1302 01:03:39,882 --> 01:03:40,749 - [Man] Systems on InSight core, 1303 01:03:40,782 --> 01:03:42,018 the DSM and X-band. 1304 01:03:46,021 --> 01:03:48,891 - [Man] Radio science reports X-band carrier detected. 1305 01:03:49,925 --> 01:03:52,828 [people cheer and applaud] 1306 01:03:52,861 --> 01:03:56,866 [man mumbles off microphone] 1307 01:03:56,899 --> 01:03:58,634 - [Man] Four and a half minutes 1308 01:03:58,667 --> 01:04:00,002 with InSight in nominal mode. 1309 01:04:00,035 --> 01:04:01,804 - [Woman] Copy that, thank you. 1310 01:04:03,805 --> 01:04:05,074 - [Rob] Flawless, 1311 01:04:05,107 --> 01:04:05,975 - [Gay] Perfect, 1312 01:04:06,008 --> 01:04:06,976 - [Rob] Flawless, 1313 01:04:07,009 --> 01:04:08,844 - [Gay] We've got the beep, 1314 01:04:08,877 --> 01:04:13,048 this was a perfect case scenario in my book. 1315 01:04:13,081 --> 01:04:14,984 - [Rob] This is what we really hoped 1316 01:04:15,017 --> 01:04:16,986 and imagined in our minds eye, 1317 01:04:17,019 --> 01:04:19,788 we spent a lot of time visualizing 1318 01:04:19,821 --> 01:04:21,624 all these bad things can happen, 1319 01:04:21,657 --> 01:04:23,726 but sometimes things work out in your favor. 1320 01:04:23,759 --> 01:04:24,827 And we'll look very carefully at the data 1321 01:04:24,860 --> 01:04:28,063 and see how well it went, 1322 01:04:28,096 --> 01:04:29,865 but it certainly looked like it was 1323 01:04:29,898 --> 01:04:31,901 a very successful and perfect landing, 1324 01:04:31,934 --> 01:04:35,137 we'll have to see as we get more data how well things go, 1325 01:04:36,805 --> 01:04:40,976 as the vehicle proceeds the solar panels will be deployed, 1326 01:04:41,009 --> 01:04:42,711 hopefully were not on a tilt, 1327 01:04:42,744 --> 01:04:44,980 it doesn't look like we are from the image, 1328 01:04:45,013 --> 01:04:48,584 but the solar panels will be deployed safely we hope, 1329 01:04:48,617 --> 01:04:50,786 and we'll get confirmation of that 1330 01:04:50,819 --> 01:04:53,589 around five o'clock local time 1331 01:04:53,622 --> 01:04:56,859 here in about four and a half to five hours from now. 1332 01:04:56,892 --> 01:04:59,662 - [Gay] And this is such a difficult feat, 1333 01:04:59,695 --> 01:05:02,498 in that because of the one-way lag time, 1334 01:05:02,531 --> 01:05:04,967 there is no way that any of these engineers 1335 01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:08,537 could possibly control the vehicle, 1336 01:05:08,570 --> 01:05:12,074 it all has to be done in commands and software. 1337 01:05:12,107 --> 01:05:13,642 - [Rob] Yes, 1338 01:05:13,675 --> 01:05:15,744 we have to train it to do this work on its own. 1339 01:05:15,777 --> 01:05:20,549 - [Man] Radio science reports nominal carrier 1340 01:05:20,582 --> 01:05:23,886 30 seconds past the first acquisition, 1341 01:05:24,987 --> 01:05:26,889 so we are nominal on the surface. 1342 01:05:28,790 --> 01:05:30,592 - [Rob] So the vehicle is completely nominal, 1343 01:05:30,625 --> 01:05:31,794 reported nominal, 1344 01:05:31,827 --> 01:05:32,995 it's happy, 1345 01:05:33,028 --> 01:05:34,863 the lander is not complaining, 1346 01:05:34,896 --> 01:05:38,934 we had a way to tell us if it was unhappy, 1347 01:05:38,967 --> 01:05:39,935 and it wasn't, 1348 01:05:39,968 --> 01:05:41,603 it's not unhappy, 1349 01:05:41,636 --> 01:05:43,772 it's in normal mode, 1350 01:05:43,805 --> 01:05:46,575 and so it's gonna chug along for the rest 1351 01:05:46,608 --> 01:05:49,812 of the afternoon on Mars and finish the activities. 1352 01:05:50,912 --> 01:05:52,548 - [Gay] Alright well Rob I know you're anxious 1353 01:05:52,581 --> 01:05:55,551 to get in and congratulate the crew, 1354 01:05:55,584 --> 01:05:58,620 thank you so much for sitting here and helping us out. 1355 01:05:58,653 --> 01:06:00,556 - It was my pleasure. - And explaining EDL. 1356 01:06:00,589 --> 01:06:01,257 - Thank you. 1357 01:06:01,290 --> 01:06:02,558 - Alright, well I'll let you go, 1358 01:06:02,591 --> 01:06:04,560 and go congratulate your friend's. 1359 01:06:04,593 --> 01:06:06,729 - Thank you. - Alright, take care. 1360 01:06:37,993 --> 01:06:41,597 - [Man] EDL COMM on InSight ops recording 1361 01:06:41,630 --> 01:06:44,000 completed at 20:04:34. 1362 01:08:01,076 --> 01:08:02,678 - Alright, 1363 01:08:02,711 --> 01:08:04,980 as we had promised we said we bring back the administrator 1364 01:08:05,013 --> 01:08:07,850 to get your take on what was it like 1365 01:08:07,883 --> 01:08:08,984 to be in that control room, 1366 01:08:09,017 --> 01:08:09,985 Jim, what was it like? 1367 01:08:10,018 --> 01:08:11,086 - Well I'll tell you, 1368 01:08:11,119 --> 01:08:12,788 it was intense, 1369 01:08:12,821 --> 01:08:14,957 and you could feel the emotion, 1370 01:08:14,990 --> 01:08:17,960 it was very, very quiet when it was time to be quiet, 1371 01:08:17,993 --> 01:08:21,663 and of course very celebratory with every little 1372 01:08:21,696 --> 01:08:23,799 new piece of information that was received, 1373 01:08:23,832 --> 01:08:25,934 it's very different being here 1374 01:08:25,967 --> 01:08:27,903 than watching it on TV by far, 1375 01:08:27,936 --> 01:08:31,707 I can tell you that for sure now that I've experienced both, 1376 01:08:31,740 --> 01:08:32,775 and then of course, 1377 01:08:34,075 --> 01:08:35,978 what's amazing is as soon as it was over, 1378 01:08:36,011 --> 01:08:37,746 I got a call on my cell phone, 1379 01:08:37,779 --> 01:08:40,616 and the phone number with all zeros, 1380 01:08:40,649 --> 01:08:42,618 and whenever I get a phone call that's all zeros 1381 01:08:42,651 --> 01:08:43,986 it's got to be somebody important, 1382 01:08:44,019 --> 01:08:44,953 I answered it, 1383 01:08:44,986 --> 01:08:46,788 and it was the vice president, 1384 01:08:46,821 --> 01:08:48,090 he watched the whole thing, 1385 01:08:48,123 --> 01:08:50,792 he is absolutely ecstatic about our program, 1386 01:08:50,825 --> 01:08:52,794 as you are aware, he's the chairman 1387 01:08:52,827 --> 01:08:54,763 of the National Space Council, 1388 01:08:54,796 --> 01:08:59,001 and he's been of course a keen advocate for what we do, 1389 01:08:59,034 --> 01:09:02,905 and to have him call within seconds of mission success, 1390 01:09:02,938 --> 01:09:03,872 is tremendous, 1391 01:09:03,905 --> 01:09:05,741 and just so everybody knows, 1392 01:09:05,774 --> 01:09:07,776 he wants me to say congratulations 1393 01:09:07,809 --> 01:09:08,911 to everybody here at NASA, 1394 01:09:08,944 --> 01:09:10,579 and all of our international partners, 1395 01:09:10,612 --> 01:09:14,550 and everybody who has contributed to this mission, 1396 01:09:14,583 --> 01:09:16,051 what an amazing day for NASA. 1397 01:09:16,084 --> 01:09:18,754 - It is an amazing accomplishment, 1398 01:09:18,787 --> 01:09:22,591 in that this is something that is happening millions 1399 01:09:22,624 --> 01:09:24,927 and millions and millions of miles away, 1400 01:09:24,960 --> 01:09:26,895 and these people are able to do it. 1401 01:09:26,928 --> 01:09:27,830 - Incredible, 1402 01:09:28,830 --> 01:09:30,032 and what's fascinating is, 1403 01:09:30,065 --> 01:09:31,667 the whole time I'm watching it I'm thinking, 1404 01:09:31,700 --> 01:09:33,635 every milestone is something 1405 01:09:33,668 --> 01:09:35,003 that happened eight minutes ago, 1406 01:09:35,036 --> 01:09:36,838 because that's the timelag to get 1407 01:09:36,871 --> 01:09:38,607 a signal from Mars to Earth, 1408 01:09:41,810 --> 01:09:43,579 so it's exciting, 1409 01:09:43,612 --> 01:09:45,013 but then you have to step back and realize 1410 01:09:45,046 --> 01:09:47,716 that this has already occurred in history, 1411 01:09:47,749 --> 01:09:49,952 so it's an unique experience, 1412 01:09:49,985 --> 01:09:54,790 incredible, just the enthusiasm here is incredible. 1413 01:09:54,823 --> 01:09:56,858 - So what's for the future, 1414 01:09:56,891 --> 01:09:58,627 looking ahead, 2020? 1415 01:09:58,660 --> 01:10:00,596 - Well let's get through December, 1416 01:10:00,629 --> 01:10:02,698 so for the rest, 1417 01:10:02,731 --> 01:10:04,733 we think about happening next, 1418 01:10:04,766 --> 01:10:07,636 December 3rd, we're lunching another American astronaut 1419 01:10:08,837 --> 01:10:09,972 to the International Space Station, 1420 01:10:10,005 --> 01:10:11,540 so that's gonna be a big achievement, 1421 01:10:11,573 --> 01:10:12,975 and it's gonna be on a Russian Soyuz rocket, 1422 01:10:13,008 --> 01:10:15,777 the last time we launched a human was not successful. 1423 01:10:15,810 --> 01:10:16,678 - [Gay] That was scary. 1424 01:10:16,711 --> 01:10:17,846 - It was scary, 1425 01:10:17,879 --> 01:10:19,648 but we figured out what the problem is, 1426 01:10:19,681 --> 01:10:21,550 we're moving forward, 1427 01:10:21,583 --> 01:10:22,884 and now we've got that underway on December 3rd. 1428 01:10:22,917 --> 01:10:24,019 Going forward from there, 1429 01:10:24,052 --> 01:10:25,787 we're gonna get the first science data back 1430 01:10:25,820 --> 01:10:28,757 from the Parker Solar Probe on December 7th, 1431 01:10:28,790 --> 01:10:30,058 so that's not too far away either, 1432 01:10:30,091 --> 01:10:33,629 and then we've got Osiris Rex, 1433 01:10:33,662 --> 01:10:34,963 that will be in orbit around 1434 01:10:34,996 --> 01:10:37,065 Benu shortly after Christmas, 1435 01:10:37,098 --> 01:10:39,701 so no shortage of exciting things. 1436 01:10:39,734 --> 01:10:42,104 And then on January 1st, 1437 01:10:42,137 --> 01:10:44,606 we're gonna to fly the New Horizons mission, 1438 01:10:44,639 --> 01:10:45,974 which for people who are not aware, 1439 01:10:46,007 --> 01:10:48,944 that's the mission that went to Pluto back in 2014, 1440 01:10:48,977 --> 01:10:53,983 give us stunning images and data and science on Pluto, 1441 01:10:55,083 --> 01:10:57,586 and now that mission is still going strong, 1442 01:10:57,619 --> 01:11:00,555 it's in what we call the Kuiper Belt now, 1443 01:11:00,588 --> 01:11:03,025 which is an asteroid belt well beyond Pluto, 1444 01:11:03,058 --> 01:11:05,594 and it's gonna be taking images of Ultima Thule, 1445 01:11:05,627 --> 01:11:09,965 which is an object in the Khyber belt 1446 01:11:09,998 --> 01:11:13,068 which we have never been able to go out there 1447 01:11:13,101 --> 01:11:15,737 and take images of anything at close range before, 1448 01:11:15,770 --> 01:11:16,872 and now we're doing it, 1449 01:11:16,905 --> 01:11:18,573 so you ask what's happening next. 1450 01:11:18,606 --> 01:11:19,842 - I'm sorry I asked. 1451 01:11:21,009 --> 01:11:23,745 - We have right now at NASA, 1452 01:11:23,778 --> 01:11:25,814 there is more underway, 1453 01:11:25,847 --> 01:11:29,785 probably than I don't know how many years past, 1454 01:11:29,818 --> 01:11:30,752 but it's like there's a drought, 1455 01:11:30,785 --> 01:11:31,787 and then all of a sudden there's 1456 01:11:31,820 --> 01:11:32,954 all of these activities all at once, 1457 01:11:32,987 --> 01:11:34,089 so we're busy, 1458 01:11:34,122 --> 01:11:35,991 we're gonna be working through the holiday, 1459 01:11:36,024 --> 01:11:38,694 but a lot of amazing discoveries to be made, 1460 01:11:38,727 --> 01:11:39,695 and we're looking forward to it. 1461 01:11:39,728 --> 01:11:40,962 - It's so funny, 1462 01:11:40,995 --> 01:11:43,999 because our ask NASA question you basically answered, 1463 01:11:45,066 --> 01:11:46,868 is does the success of NASA InSight influence 1464 01:11:46,901 --> 01:11:51,740 the timeline for future manned lunar or Mars missions? 1465 01:11:52,974 --> 01:11:54,910 - Well certainly everything we learn about Mars 1466 01:11:54,943 --> 01:11:57,045 at this point is gonna help us understand 1467 01:11:57,078 --> 01:11:59,648 how to do in situ resource utilization, 1468 01:11:59,681 --> 01:12:01,917 so InSight could actually provide 1469 01:12:01,950 --> 01:12:03,618 some really good information about whether 1470 01:12:03,651 --> 01:12:05,721 or not there is liquid water on Mars, 1471 01:12:05,754 --> 01:12:08,757 and maybe even where it is and how to get to it, 1472 01:12:08,790 --> 01:12:11,560 we strongly believe that there's liquid water 1473 01:12:11,593 --> 01:12:13,128 10 kilometers under the surface of Mars, 1474 01:12:13,161 --> 01:12:16,665 so the key is, 1475 01:12:16,698 --> 01:12:17,933 the answer is yes, 1476 01:12:17,966 --> 01:12:19,701 the more we learn the more we're able to achieve, 1477 01:12:19,734 --> 01:12:21,737 so to get to Mars yes. 1478 01:12:21,770 --> 01:12:23,672 But the lunar missions, 1479 01:12:23,705 --> 01:12:25,707 the president's space first policy directive, 1480 01:12:25,740 --> 01:12:26,775 is to go to the moon, 1481 01:12:27,909 --> 01:12:28,777 to go sustainably with international 1482 01:12:28,810 --> 01:12:29,911 and commercial partners, 1483 01:12:29,944 --> 01:12:31,079 so when we say sustainably, 1484 01:12:31,112 --> 01:12:33,048 that means we're gonna have reusability 1485 01:12:33,081 --> 01:12:34,750 built into the system, 1486 01:12:34,783 --> 01:12:37,886 and we're gonna test and prove technologies at the moon, 1487 01:12:37,919 --> 01:12:40,856 which ultimately we can replicate at Mars, 1488 01:12:40,889 --> 01:12:42,624 so we're gonna retire at risk, 1489 01:12:42,657 --> 01:12:44,593 prove human physiology at the moon, 1490 01:12:44,626 --> 01:12:46,061 which is only a three day journey, 1491 01:12:46,094 --> 01:12:48,063 which means if something goes wrong, 1492 01:12:48,096 --> 01:12:49,064 you can get home safely, 1493 01:12:49,097 --> 01:12:51,600 we saw that with Apollo 13, 1494 01:12:51,633 --> 01:12:54,069 but we need to use the moon as a proving ground 1495 01:12:54,102 --> 01:12:55,837 to accelerate our path to Mars, 1496 01:12:55,870 --> 01:12:56,905 in the meantime, 1497 01:12:56,938 --> 01:12:58,073 we're doing missions like InSight 1498 01:12:58,106 --> 01:13:00,108 to learn as much about Mars as possible, 1499 01:13:00,141 --> 01:13:01,576 InSight is gonna help us 1500 01:13:01,609 --> 01:13:03,879 understand asteroid impacts as well, 1501 01:13:03,912 --> 01:13:05,981 because it's got a seismometer, 1502 01:13:06,014 --> 01:13:07,749 which is gonna help us know 1503 01:13:07,782 --> 01:13:09,851 how often is Mars getting impacted with asteroids, 1504 01:13:09,884 --> 01:13:11,753 and if we're gonna send humans there, 1505 01:13:11,786 --> 01:13:13,054 it would be important to know, 1506 01:13:13,087 --> 01:13:16,792 if those humans are gonna experience asteroid impacts. 1507 01:13:16,825 --> 01:13:17,959 - And that's pretty much our goal, 1508 01:13:17,992 --> 01:13:19,694 is always learned from our missions 1509 01:13:19,727 --> 01:13:21,563 and build upon those missions. 1510 01:13:21,596 --> 01:13:22,697 - One after another, 1511 01:13:22,730 --> 01:13:24,800 and NASA has a long history of doing amazing 1512 01:13:24,833 --> 01:13:27,536 work in building on its past successes, 1513 01:13:27,569 --> 01:13:28,870 and in fact its past failures. 1514 01:13:28,903 --> 01:13:30,005 - That's true. 1515 01:13:30,905 --> 01:13:32,040 - I'll tell you, 1516 01:13:32,073 --> 01:13:33,842 what an amazing time to be at the helm 1517 01:13:33,875 --> 01:13:36,678 of this extraordinary agency. 1518 01:13:36,711 --> 01:13:38,647 - Well we are so glad that you 1519 01:13:38,680 --> 01:13:40,549 are here to share it with us, 1520 01:13:40,582 --> 01:13:41,683 thanks for joining us. 1521 01:13:41,716 --> 01:13:42,851 - Well Gay, it's been a true pleasure. 1522 01:13:42,884 --> 01:13:44,653 - And I'm sure you need to go in there 1523 01:13:44,686 --> 01:13:45,954 and celebrate with those folks, 1524 01:13:45,987 --> 01:13:47,656 but thank you for stepping out for us. 1525 01:13:47,689 --> 01:13:48,924 - Absolutely, thank you so much. 1526 01:13:48,957 --> 01:13:50,025 - Alright, take care. 1527 01:13:50,058 --> 01:13:52,661 Now Mars exploration is cool stuff, 1528 01:13:52,694 --> 01:13:55,630 but if you're not convinced just yet, 1529 01:13:55,663 --> 01:13:58,900 just talk to the InSight scientists and engineers, 1530 01:13:58,933 --> 01:14:01,069 no one conveys the excitement more 1531 01:14:01,102 --> 01:14:03,905 than the people who actually work on the mission, 1532 01:14:03,938 --> 01:14:07,642 so earlier this year the outreach team filled up a van 1533 01:14:07,675 --> 01:14:10,579 and went to 15 Californian cities, 1534 01:14:10,612 --> 01:14:12,981 they called it the InSight Roadshow. 1535 01:14:14,082 --> 01:14:17,085 [upbeat music] 1536 01:14:17,118 --> 01:14:20,121 - So we are here in San Francisco at the Exploratorium, 1537 01:14:20,154 --> 01:14:23,592 and this is part of InSight's roadshow, 1538 01:14:23,625 --> 01:14:25,794 since it's the first inter-planetary mission 1539 01:14:25,827 --> 01:14:27,963 we've ever launched from California, 1540 01:14:27,996 --> 01:14:31,032 we're actually doing a lot of public engagement activities 1541 01:14:31,065 --> 01:14:32,767 along California. 1542 01:14:32,800 --> 01:14:34,536 - We're just talking to the public, 1543 01:14:34,569 --> 01:14:36,671 and talking to them about InSight and getting them excited, 1544 01:14:36,704 --> 01:14:38,874 and sharing information that they probably 1545 01:14:38,907 --> 01:14:41,643 wouldn't get just from the website. 1546 01:14:41,676 --> 01:14:43,845 - We have Mars globes and technical kits, 1547 01:14:43,878 --> 01:14:46,715 we have replicas of the actual launch vehicle 1548 01:14:46,748 --> 01:14:48,950 that's gonna be taking InSight to Mars, 1549 01:14:48,983 --> 01:14:51,720 we have a selfie station with fun props, 1550 01:14:51,753 --> 01:14:53,021 people can take pictures. 1551 01:14:53,054 --> 01:14:56,591 Children really, really like Mars. 1552 01:14:56,624 --> 01:14:57,792 - We have a jump station, 1553 01:14:57,825 --> 01:15:00,562 where we invite kids to come in and jump, 1554 01:15:00,595 --> 01:15:02,497 we have a little seismometer on the floor, 1555 01:15:02,530 --> 01:15:03,932 which measures ground motion, 1556 01:15:03,965 --> 01:15:06,735 so if students can come and jump next to it, 1557 01:15:06,768 --> 01:15:09,070 they can actually see their own recording on the screen, 1558 01:15:09,103 --> 01:15:11,573 and they can make their own quake. 1559 01:15:11,606 --> 01:15:13,041 - I've had people come to me and say this 1560 01:15:13,074 --> 01:15:15,944 is the most I've ever understood about a space mission, 1561 01:15:15,977 --> 01:15:17,946 I'm so happy I came, 1562 01:15:17,979 --> 01:15:20,081 because now I understand what you're doing, 1563 01:15:20,114 --> 01:15:21,716 I understand why it's important, 1564 01:15:21,749 --> 01:15:22,851 and I'm really excited. 1565 01:15:22,884 --> 01:15:24,753 - You kind of imagine how it looks, 1566 01:15:24,786 --> 01:15:27,556 but seeing it in person actually puts it in perspective. 1567 01:15:27,589 --> 01:15:30,559 She was able to explain a lot of what happens, 1568 01:15:30,592 --> 01:15:32,761 the cameras, what goes into the ground, 1569 01:15:32,794 --> 01:15:34,563 it's a great exhibit you know, 1570 01:15:34,596 --> 01:15:36,698 both for myself, and also for kids 1571 01:15:36,731 --> 01:15:39,001 that want to learn about Mars. 1572 01:15:42,971 --> 01:15:44,739 - Okay, we want you to meet 1573 01:15:44,772 --> 01:15:47,609 another Mars veteran here at JPL, 1574 01:15:47,642 --> 01:15:49,678 hardware director Mike Hawkins. 1575 01:15:49,711 --> 01:15:52,614 You are a mission manager for curiosity. 1576 01:15:52,647 --> 01:15:53,915 - Absolutely, 1577 01:15:53,948 --> 01:15:55,083 I think this is the fifth Mars mission I've worked on, 1578 01:15:55,116 --> 01:15:56,585 the fifth Mars lander, 1579 01:15:57,819 --> 01:15:59,721 so maybe we are getting the hang of it finally. 1580 01:15:59,754 --> 01:16:01,756 - Does it ever get better, 1581 01:16:01,789 --> 01:16:02,991 does it get old, 1582 01:16:03,024 --> 01:16:04,960 is it always the same? 1583 01:16:04,993 --> 01:16:06,094 - No it doesn't, 1584 01:16:06,127 --> 01:16:07,562 I think we are just as nervous every time, 1585 01:16:07,595 --> 01:16:08,697 the whole landing sequence, 1586 01:16:08,730 --> 01:16:10,699 it's just such a crazy time, 1587 01:16:10,732 --> 01:16:11,866 and we can't do anything, 1588 01:16:11,899 --> 01:16:12,934 it's this feeling of helplessness 1589 01:16:12,967 --> 01:16:14,536 because the spacecraft is on its own, 1590 01:16:14,569 --> 01:16:17,072 and everything we could do we did a day ago, 1591 01:16:17,105 --> 01:16:20,675 and so I think you always have that nervousness, 1592 01:16:20,708 --> 01:16:21,977 but we have confidence in the team, 1593 01:16:22,010 --> 01:16:23,845 we have confidence in the engineers and scientists 1594 01:16:23,878 --> 01:16:25,880 that they did everything that they could do, 1595 01:16:25,913 --> 01:16:28,883 and you have to put it in their hands. 1596 01:16:28,916 --> 01:16:30,819 - And it's our eighth successful landing, 1597 01:16:30,852 --> 01:16:32,654 so we learn from this, 1598 01:16:32,687 --> 01:16:34,656 we learn a little more and we do 1599 01:16:34,689 --> 01:16:36,958 it better the next time pretty much. 1600 01:16:36,991 --> 01:16:37,859 - Absolutely, 1601 01:16:37,892 --> 01:16:38,793 we have had one failure, 1602 01:16:38,826 --> 01:16:40,595 we learn from the failures too, 1603 01:16:40,628 --> 01:16:43,798 we learned from all the failures from all the missions, 1604 01:16:43,831 --> 01:16:46,101 even if they are not JPL missions or NASA missions, 1605 01:16:46,134 --> 01:16:47,669 each one of them tells you a little something, 1606 01:16:47,702 --> 01:16:48,970 an extra test you should do, 1607 01:16:49,003 --> 01:16:51,006 an extra thing you should guard against 1608 01:16:51,039 --> 01:16:53,108 in the Mars atmosphere or on touchdown, 1609 01:16:53,141 --> 01:16:54,776 and so we have learned from all of these, 1610 01:16:54,809 --> 01:16:58,079 and luckily we have recently been very successful. 1611 01:16:58,112 --> 01:16:59,781 - And we're always trying something new, 1612 01:16:59,814 --> 01:17:01,516 we're always trying to learn something new, 1613 01:17:01,549 --> 01:17:02,884 we had a situation this time, 1614 01:17:02,917 --> 01:17:04,786 Odyssey couldn't be in place 1615 01:17:04,819 --> 01:17:07,689 to give us bent pipe communications, 1616 01:17:07,722 --> 01:17:10,058 and so MarCO came about. 1617 01:17:10,091 --> 01:17:11,926 - MarCO is just a incredible success story, 1618 01:17:11,959 --> 01:17:14,763 as you said we couldn't have Mars Odyssey 1619 01:17:14,796 --> 01:17:15,997 do the real-time bent pipe 1620 01:17:16,030 --> 01:17:17,799 for the EDL events, 1621 01:17:18,866 --> 01:17:20,068 we would have had to wait a couple of hours, 1622 01:17:20,101 --> 01:17:22,771 and get the replay from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 1623 01:17:22,804 --> 01:17:24,539 so we embarked on this crazy idea 1624 01:17:24,572 --> 01:17:26,675 to build these two little Cubesats, 1625 01:17:26,708 --> 01:17:27,876 and Cubesats or something 1626 01:17:27,909 --> 01:17:29,844 that high school kids can build these days, 1627 01:17:29,877 --> 01:17:31,846 they go up and go around the Earth, 1628 01:17:31,879 --> 01:17:34,849 these are the first interplanetary Cubesats, 1629 01:17:34,882 --> 01:17:35,984 first time we've ever sent Cubesats 1630 01:17:36,017 --> 01:17:37,852 outside the Earth's orbit, 1631 01:17:37,885 --> 01:17:39,788 and their sole purpose was to do the relay, 1632 01:17:39,821 --> 01:17:43,591 so they had this very cool expand planar flat antenna there, 1633 01:17:43,624 --> 01:17:47,796 and they relayed the UHF signals in real time for us, 1634 01:17:47,829 --> 01:17:49,798 and it was just amazing, 1635 01:17:49,831 --> 01:17:51,099 it was built by a lot of early career folks 1636 01:17:51,132 --> 01:17:53,001 here at JPL with a little bit of adult supervision, 1637 01:17:53,034 --> 01:17:56,071 but no the engineers just did a fantastic job on MarCO, 1638 01:17:56,104 --> 01:17:58,873 they exceeded all of our wildest expectations, 1639 01:17:58,906 --> 01:18:00,542 they worked perfectly, 1640 01:18:00,575 --> 01:18:01,976 we built two because we thought maybe one will get there, 1641 01:18:02,009 --> 01:18:02,877 they both got there, 1642 01:18:02,910 --> 01:18:04,579 they both worked, 1643 01:18:04,612 --> 01:18:06,681 it's just a great tribute to the whole MarCO team, 1644 01:18:06,714 --> 01:18:08,550 you saw them in there, 1645 01:18:08,583 --> 01:18:09,584 they had the special black shirts, 1646 01:18:09,617 --> 01:18:10,752 just a fantastic thing, 1647 01:18:10,785 --> 01:18:12,687 and not only did it work for this mission, 1648 01:18:12,720 --> 01:18:14,556 but I think it opens up the door 1649 01:18:14,589 --> 01:18:16,658 for more small missions like that, 1650 01:18:16,691 --> 01:18:17,792 we could actually put cameras 1651 01:18:17,825 --> 01:18:18,893 on them and other instruments on them, 1652 01:18:18,926 --> 01:18:20,662 they're much less expensive, 1653 01:18:20,695 --> 01:18:22,697 so there's I think a whole new door, 1654 01:18:22,730 --> 01:18:23,832 we just opened a door to 1655 01:18:23,865 --> 01:18:25,567 a whole new class of planetary science, 1656 01:18:25,600 --> 01:18:26,234 thanks to the MarCOs. 1657 01:18:26,268 --> 01:18:27,802 - And the Cubesats they were 1658 01:18:27,835 --> 01:18:30,939 just made with off-the-shelf parts. 1659 01:18:30,972 --> 01:18:33,007 - Some combination of off-the-shelf parts, 1660 01:18:33,040 --> 01:18:34,542 and some new stuff that we did, 1661 01:18:34,575 --> 01:18:35,944 we had to build the special radio of course 1662 01:18:35,977 --> 01:18:37,779 because it has to talk to the deep space network, 1663 01:18:37,812 --> 01:18:40,014 The antennas are a little bit new technology, 1664 01:18:40,047 --> 01:18:42,050 but a lot of the stuff is pretty standard stuff 1665 01:18:42,083 --> 01:18:44,853 that you could replicate at much lower cost. 1666 01:18:44,886 --> 01:18:46,988 - So what do you think in terms of the future 1667 01:18:47,021 --> 01:18:50,859 that other missions will be carrying their own relays 1668 01:18:50,892 --> 01:18:54,095 and not having to depend on a bent pipe from an orbiter? 1669 01:18:54,128 --> 01:18:55,797 - They might carry relays, 1670 01:18:55,830 --> 01:18:58,133 they might actually carry scientific instrumentation, 1671 01:18:58,166 --> 01:18:59,834 they can do more than just do relay, 1672 01:18:59,867 --> 01:19:00,969 they can actually take pictures, 1673 01:19:01,002 --> 01:19:02,971 they could do spectrometry, 1674 01:19:03,004 --> 01:19:04,506 they could do lots of other stuff 1675 01:19:04,539 --> 01:19:07,742 that we would like to do with orbiters, 1676 01:19:07,775 --> 01:19:09,577 so there's a chance we could send them to Venus, 1677 01:19:09,610 --> 01:19:10,678 we could send them to asteroids, 1678 01:19:10,711 --> 01:19:12,080 we could send them to Mars, 1679 01:19:12,113 --> 01:19:13,615 there's lots of stuff that we could do 1680 01:19:13,648 --> 01:19:15,083 and I think we're just learning the capability 1681 01:19:15,116 --> 01:19:16,851 of what we could miniaturize 1682 01:19:16,884 --> 01:19:18,620 and what we could put on these Cubesats. 1683 01:19:18,653 --> 01:19:21,890 But this is a great first effort. 1684 01:19:21,923 --> 01:19:23,591 - Absolutely, 1685 01:19:23,624 --> 01:19:25,660 well we have one question for you, 1686 01:19:25,693 --> 01:19:29,798 it's a social media question from George Kay, aged nine 1687 01:19:29,831 --> 01:19:31,065 from the UK, 1688 01:19:31,098 --> 01:19:33,001 how long did it take to plan 1689 01:19:33,034 --> 01:19:35,804 and build this mission, InSight? 1690 01:19:35,837 --> 01:19:36,771 - Well that's a great question, 1691 01:19:36,804 --> 01:19:37,972 so I have two answers to that, 1692 01:19:38,005 --> 01:19:39,641 InSight itself, 1693 01:19:39,674 --> 01:19:41,609 typically our missions take, 1694 01:19:41,642 --> 01:19:43,912 from the time we start the mission to the time we launch it, 1695 01:19:43,945 --> 01:19:45,947 it's about four to five years, 1696 01:19:45,980 --> 01:19:47,982 in the case of InSight two things happened. 1697 01:19:48,015 --> 01:19:50,552 One to our advantage and one not to our advantage. 1698 01:19:50,585 --> 01:19:51,653 The first is we had a lot 1699 01:19:51,686 --> 01:19:54,122 of heritage from a mission called Phoenix. 1700 01:19:54,155 --> 01:19:56,891 So a lot of the design work had already been done, 1701 01:19:56,924 --> 01:19:58,760 because it was done for this mission Phoenix, 1702 01:19:58,793 --> 01:20:00,929 and even before that for Mars Polar Lander, 1703 01:20:00,962 --> 01:20:04,065 so a lot of the basic design we inherited for this mission. 1704 01:20:04,098 --> 01:20:06,901 On the other hand we had a little bit of bad luck 1705 01:20:06,934 --> 01:20:08,069 In that the instruments, 1706 01:20:08,102 --> 01:20:10,972 the seismometer is so unbelievably precise, 1707 01:20:11,005 --> 01:20:12,974 it's so incredibly accurate and hard to build 1708 01:20:13,007 --> 01:20:14,943 that we couldn't quite get it ready, 1709 01:20:14,976 --> 01:20:16,778 so we're doing that in partnership with the French 1710 01:20:16,811 --> 01:20:19,047 and a lot of other countries in Europe, 1711 01:20:19,080 --> 01:20:22,984 including the UK and Switzerland and other folks, 1712 01:20:23,017 --> 01:20:25,587 we couldn't quite get that ready to go for launch, 1713 01:20:25,620 --> 01:20:27,088 so we had to actually wait two years, 1714 01:20:27,121 --> 01:20:28,990 it took an extra two years then because of that, 1715 01:20:29,023 --> 01:20:30,625 so Mars and the Earth are only lined 1716 01:20:30,658 --> 01:20:32,560 up to launch about every 26 months, 1717 01:20:32,593 --> 01:20:34,095 so we had to wait another 26 months, 1718 01:20:34,128 --> 01:20:36,831 so that took us a little bit longer. 1719 01:20:36,864 --> 01:20:38,132 - Well speaking of the internationals 1720 01:20:38,165 --> 01:20:40,668 that's a perfect segue for where we're going next, 1721 01:20:40,701 --> 01:20:41,936 throughout this program we've been trying 1722 01:20:41,969 --> 01:20:45,073 to introduce you to the people behind the scenes, 1723 01:20:45,106 --> 01:20:46,774 and for the InSight mission 1724 01:20:46,807 --> 01:20:49,811 it requires that we go beyond our borders, 1725 01:20:49,844 --> 01:20:52,847 this is truly an international mission, 1726 01:20:52,880 --> 01:20:56,050 let me introduce you to Dominico Giardini, 1727 01:20:56,083 --> 01:20:58,052 a Swiss Italian scientist 1728 01:20:58,085 --> 01:21:01,523 who studies Earthquakes and Marsquakes. 1729 01:22:02,049 --> 01:22:03,885 - And that partnership goes 1730 01:22:03,918 --> 01:22:06,788 far beyond individual scientists, 1731 01:22:06,821 --> 01:22:08,556 take a look at this, 1732 01:22:08,589 --> 01:22:10,658 it is a picture of the calibration 1733 01:22:10,691 --> 01:22:13,628 tool on the deck of the InSight Lander, 1734 01:22:13,661 --> 01:22:16,864 it's what the team uses to calibrate the cameras on Mars, 1735 01:22:16,897 --> 01:22:19,067 and notice the flags and logos, 1736 01:22:19,100 --> 01:22:22,670 its recognition of our international partnerships 1737 01:22:22,703 --> 01:22:26,941 with the French Government Space Agency CNES, 1738 01:22:26,974 --> 01:22:30,044 and also the German Aerospace Center DLR, 1739 01:22:30,077 --> 01:22:32,580 and it is my pleasure to welcome 1740 01:22:32,613 --> 01:22:35,116 site project manager Philippe Laudet 1741 01:22:35,149 --> 01:22:36,818 from CNES, 1742 01:22:36,851 --> 01:22:41,022 and executive board member Hans Dittus from DLR. 1743 01:22:41,989 --> 01:22:44,759 So I can't imagine a better day, 1744 01:22:44,792 --> 01:22:47,095 what was your reaction. 1745 01:22:47,128 --> 01:22:48,997 - A really great day, yeah. 1746 01:22:49,030 --> 01:22:50,732 - So I am very enthusiastic, 1747 01:22:50,765 --> 01:22:53,134 I am very grateful for all the people on the mission, 1748 01:22:53,167 --> 01:22:56,637 also my folk who are going to the team, 1749 01:22:56,670 --> 01:22:58,807 the CNES team and the science team [mumbles], 1750 01:23:00,641 --> 01:23:03,978 now we have a barebones picture of the ground, 1751 01:23:04,011 --> 01:23:07,682 and now the work to deploy the seismometer is beginning, 1752 01:23:07,715 --> 01:23:10,551 so a new adventure in the best conditions, 1753 01:23:10,584 --> 01:23:11,586 thank you for that. 1754 01:23:11,619 --> 01:23:12,954 - Definitely a new adventure. 1755 01:23:12,987 --> 01:23:15,556 Hans Dittus, what you're feeling, 1756 01:23:15,589 --> 01:23:18,793 the HP cube is on that deck, 1757 01:23:18,826 --> 01:23:20,628 it will be ready to go. 1758 01:23:20,661 --> 01:23:22,063 - Yes, now it's our job now, 1759 01:23:22,096 --> 01:23:23,798 but first the fall I'd like 1760 01:23:23,831 --> 01:23:26,667 to congratulate our partners here in the US, 1761 01:23:26,700 --> 01:23:29,003 and this was a great day and a great job they did, 1762 01:23:29,036 --> 01:23:30,671 it's not easy to land on Mars, 1763 01:23:30,704 --> 01:23:31,672 that's what we know, 1764 01:23:31,705 --> 01:23:33,541 and it's a dream for me as well, 1765 01:23:33,574 --> 01:23:36,611 because the first time that we land on Mars 1766 01:23:36,644 --> 01:23:39,847 with an instrument, at least as I has experienced it, 1767 01:23:39,880 --> 01:23:41,649 so it's a great day, 1768 01:23:41,682 --> 01:23:44,052 and it's really exciting so far, 1769 01:23:44,085 --> 01:23:46,721 now the job starts for us. 1770 01:23:46,754 --> 01:23:48,056 - Philippe you had once said, 1771 01:23:48,089 --> 01:23:50,691 you are a musician as well, 1772 01:23:50,724 --> 01:23:51,993 he plays jazz, 1773 01:23:52,026 --> 01:23:55,763 you see exploration and music very similar, 1774 01:23:55,796 --> 01:23:57,065 how's that? 1775 01:23:57,098 --> 01:23:58,666 - Yes they are very similar, 1776 01:23:58,699 --> 01:23:59,834 because human management 1777 01:23:59,867 --> 01:24:02,703 of all that activity is exactly the same, 1778 01:24:02,736 --> 01:24:04,806 the technique it's different, 1779 01:24:04,839 --> 01:24:07,775 you have a seismometer or you have an orchestra, 1780 01:24:07,808 --> 01:24:09,710 but the raw theme to find 1781 01:24:09,743 --> 01:24:12,647 the best talents and things like that are the same, 1782 01:24:12,680 --> 01:24:13,948 and to deliver on time, 1783 01:24:13,981 --> 01:24:15,083 to be ready, 1784 01:24:15,116 --> 01:24:17,018 and to have the best performances, 1785 01:24:17,051 --> 01:24:18,653 everything is similar. 1786 01:24:18,686 --> 01:24:20,922 - And we should let people know 1787 01:24:20,955 --> 01:24:24,092 that we won't be able to collect science right away, 1788 01:24:24,125 --> 01:24:25,660 is that correct? 1789 01:24:25,693 --> 01:24:26,828 - Yeah. 1790 01:24:26,861 --> 01:24:27,862 - We will be will be collecting science, 1791 01:24:27,895 --> 01:24:29,664 what several months from now? 1792 01:24:30,898 --> 01:24:34,602 - The deployment is going to take about two or three months, 1793 01:24:34,635 --> 01:24:37,538 of course we will have some data during the deployments, 1794 01:24:37,571 --> 01:24:39,740 but the best data to make the best science 1795 01:24:39,773 --> 01:24:43,644 will be about the beginning of March. 1796 01:24:43,677 --> 01:24:44,712 - Alright so-- 1797 01:24:45,679 --> 01:24:46,547 - So we prepared now. 1798 01:24:46,580 --> 01:24:47,582 - We prepare are now. 1799 01:24:47,615 --> 01:24:49,016 - Yeah now it's the time, 1800 01:24:49,049 --> 01:24:52,687 but it was a great job so far also for our team, 1801 01:24:52,720 --> 01:24:53,588 and our teams, 1802 01:24:53,621 --> 01:24:54,689 all the teams, 1803 01:24:54,722 --> 01:24:56,090 and as you said it needs a lot of people 1804 01:24:56,123 --> 01:24:59,994 to bring it up to Mars and make a successful mission. 1805 01:25:01,061 --> 01:25:01,996 - Well I have to say congratulations. 1806 01:25:02,029 --> 01:25:03,631 - Thank you. - Thank you. 1807 01:25:03,664 --> 01:25:05,566 - Thank you for joining us. 1808 01:25:05,599 --> 01:25:06,901 Well here's another profile now, 1809 01:25:06,934 --> 01:25:09,003 Meet Ravi Prakash, 1810 01:25:09,036 --> 01:25:12,974 it's his job to keep InSight healthy on Mars. 1811 01:25:13,941 --> 01:25:16,844 - We get to explore the universe 1812 01:25:16,877 --> 01:25:18,779 and see things that no one has ever seen before, 1813 01:25:18,812 --> 01:25:20,748 my name is Ravi Prakash, 1814 01:25:20,781 --> 01:25:22,617 and my job is to keep InSight healthy when it's on Mars. 1815 01:25:22,650 --> 01:25:25,586 InSight is the first spacecraft that is going to go to Mars, 1816 01:25:25,619 --> 01:25:28,056 and try to understand how rocky planets have formed. 1817 01:25:29,890 --> 01:25:33,060 A healthy InSight spacecraft is healthy batteries, 1818 01:25:33,093 --> 01:25:34,762 we have heaters all over our spacecraft 1819 01:25:34,795 --> 01:25:35,997 that keep our spacecraft warm enough 1820 01:25:36,030 --> 01:25:37,966 so that it operates the way it should. 1821 01:25:40,134 --> 01:25:41,802 We look at these things as well 1822 01:25:41,835 --> 01:25:43,771 as many other parts of our spacecraft on a daily basis 1823 01:25:43,804 --> 01:25:45,740 to make sure we have a successful mission. 1824 01:25:45,773 --> 01:25:47,675 There are thousands of people working on InSight, 1825 01:25:47,708 --> 01:25:48,976 so the systems engineers responsible 1826 01:25:49,009 --> 01:25:50,678 for understanding how changing one part 1827 01:25:50,711 --> 01:25:52,580 of the spacecraft ripples through the entire system, 1828 01:25:52,613 --> 01:25:54,615 and how that affects all the other parts of the spacecraft. 1829 01:25:54,648 --> 01:25:56,717 I actually worked at JPL for eight years, 1830 01:25:56,750 --> 01:25:57,985 and then left for about three years 1831 01:25:58,018 --> 01:25:59,587 to work for a non-profit, 1832 01:25:59,620 --> 01:26:00,888 where I used my engineering and design skills 1833 01:26:00,921 --> 01:26:03,491 that I learned at NASA to help people in poverty. 1834 01:26:03,524 --> 01:26:04,792 I realize that the stuff we 1835 01:26:04,825 --> 01:26:06,861 do here impacts billions of people around the world, 1836 01:26:06,894 --> 01:26:07,795 every single person, 1837 01:26:07,828 --> 01:26:08,896 whether they realize it 1838 01:26:08,929 --> 01:26:10,998 or not has been impacted by NASA technology. 1839 01:26:11,031 --> 01:26:13,034 We are the next generation of explorers. 1840 01:26:14,101 --> 01:26:17,538 - Alright let's meet Ravi Prakash in person. 1841 01:26:17,571 --> 01:26:22,577 Ravi is in our sandbox at JPL In Situ Instrument Laboratory, 1842 01:26:23,811 --> 01:26:27,048 and wait a minute Ravi, where did that beard come from? 1843 01:26:27,081 --> 01:26:30,117 - Hi Gay, there were about 10 of us that decided 1844 01:26:30,150 --> 01:26:32,687 on the day we launched to Mars that we we're gonna shave 1845 01:26:32,720 --> 01:26:33,788 and then not shave again 1846 01:26:33,821 --> 01:26:35,856 for seven months until we land on Mars, 1847 01:26:35,889 --> 01:26:37,858 so I am extra-excited that we landed, 1848 01:26:37,891 --> 01:26:39,860 not only because we have a mission on the surface of Mars, 1849 01:26:39,893 --> 01:26:41,028 but I have two little girls 1850 01:26:41,061 --> 01:26:42,730 at home who love to pull my beard, 1851 01:26:42,763 --> 01:26:44,599 so I can finally put an end to that. 1852 01:26:44,632 --> 01:26:46,567 - Alright so Ravi help us out, 1853 01:26:46,600 --> 01:26:47,702 what happens next, 1854 01:26:47,735 --> 01:26:49,937 now clearly InSight is not out 1855 01:26:49,970 --> 01:26:51,872 of the woods just yet, correct? 1856 01:26:51,905 --> 01:26:53,107 - Yeah right, 1857 01:26:53,140 --> 01:26:54,809 so we have some very important steps ahead of us, 1858 01:26:54,842 --> 01:26:56,611 the first is that we have to deploy our solar arrays, 1859 01:26:56,644 --> 01:26:58,913 this is what the spacecraft is doing right now, 1860 01:26:58,946 --> 01:27:00,581 it's deploying these two solar arrays 1861 01:27:00,614 --> 01:27:02,516 so we get energy from the sun, 1862 01:27:02,549 --> 01:27:03,484 this is one of the most important things 1863 01:27:03,517 --> 01:27:05,019 that we have to do right now. 1864 01:27:05,052 --> 01:27:07,088 After that, we're gonna do a serious of checkups 1865 01:27:07,121 --> 01:27:08,823 on our spacecraft to make sure that everything survived 1866 01:27:08,856 --> 01:27:12,560 this harrowing entry, descent and landing onto Mars, 1867 01:27:12,593 --> 01:27:13,928 and then once that's complete after 1868 01:27:13,961 --> 01:27:15,563 the next few days will start deploying 1869 01:27:15,596 --> 01:27:17,064 our instruments onto the surface of Mars. 1870 01:27:17,097 --> 01:27:18,899 - So what exactly is involved 1871 01:27:18,932 --> 01:27:21,669 with the instrument deployment? 1872 01:27:21,702 --> 01:27:23,004 - So this is the first time we're using 1873 01:27:23,037 --> 01:27:26,907 a robotic arm to put instruments on the surface of Mars. 1874 01:27:26,940 --> 01:27:30,044 This is a process that will put our seismometer on Mars 1875 01:27:30,077 --> 01:27:31,746 as well as the heat flow probe, 1876 01:27:31,779 --> 01:27:33,714 and it ends up taking about three months, 1877 01:27:33,747 --> 01:27:35,683 which sounds like a really long time, 1878 01:27:35,716 --> 01:27:38,586 but this is because we have to be very careful 1879 01:27:38,619 --> 01:27:40,755 and make sure everything happens just the way it needs to, 1880 01:27:40,788 --> 01:27:41,856 unlike Earth we can't send 1881 01:27:41,889 --> 01:27:43,658 a technician if something goes wrong, 1882 01:27:43,691 --> 01:27:45,926 and so we just want to get it right the first time. 1883 01:27:45,959 --> 01:27:48,029 - Alright, and in our interview 1884 01:27:48,062 --> 01:27:50,131 we just heard that we may be looking 1885 01:27:50,164 --> 01:27:53,701 at not until March before we get science. 1886 01:27:53,734 --> 01:27:55,803 - That's right, we get some amount of science immediately 1887 01:27:55,836 --> 01:27:57,071 as far as the environment of Mars, 1888 01:27:57,104 --> 01:27:59,774 we get wind data, temperature data, 1889 01:27:59,807 --> 01:28:01,042 magnetometer data, 1890 01:28:01,075 --> 01:28:03,477 but then once we start getting seismic data, 1891 01:28:03,510 --> 01:28:05,846 that will be in the March timeframe. 1892 01:28:05,879 --> 01:28:09,850 - And can you explain to me Ravi, the ISL, 1893 01:28:09,883 --> 01:28:10,985 the testbed that you're at, 1894 01:28:11,018 --> 01:28:12,687 what do you do there? 1895 01:28:12,720 --> 01:28:14,655 - So this is a Martian sandbox, 1896 01:28:14,688 --> 01:28:15,856 for the past two years we've had 1897 01:28:15,889 --> 01:28:17,091 a great team that's been testing 1898 01:28:17,124 --> 01:28:18,793 deploying our instruments 1899 01:28:18,826 --> 01:28:21,095 on a variety of different slopes and rocks, 1900 01:28:21,128 --> 01:28:22,963 now that we actually are on Mars, 1901 01:28:22,996 --> 01:28:24,565 we're gonna transform this area 1902 01:28:24,598 --> 01:28:26,600 to look exactly like the place we landed, 1903 01:28:26,633 --> 01:28:27,768 and test out deploying our instruments 1904 01:28:27,801 --> 01:28:30,671 one more time before we do it on the real thing. 1905 01:28:30,704 --> 01:28:33,607 - Alright thanks Ravi, congratulations. 1906 01:28:33,640 --> 01:28:34,575 - Thanks so much. 1907 01:28:34,608 --> 01:28:36,544 - Now that InSight is on Mars, 1908 01:28:36,577 --> 01:28:37,678 it means some changes, 1909 01:28:37,711 --> 01:28:40,114 InSight is no longer cruising to Mars, 1910 01:28:40,147 --> 01:28:44,685 so the team no longer needs the cruise mission support area, 1911 01:28:44,718 --> 01:28:47,822 in a little while the team will handover operations 1912 01:28:47,855 --> 01:28:51,959 to a new group sitting in another JPL control room, 1913 01:28:53,060 --> 01:28:55,062 this is the Surface Mission Support Area. 1914 01:28:55,095 --> 01:28:57,131 It's in another building here at JPL, 1915 01:28:57,164 --> 01:28:58,833 this is where the team will 1916 01:28:58,866 --> 01:29:02,002 be operating InSight from here on. 1917 01:29:02,035 --> 01:29:04,638 So the handover is the final step, 1918 01:29:04,671 --> 01:29:07,942 and that will take place at about one o'clock our time, 1919 01:29:07,975 --> 01:29:09,877 that's about a half hour away, 1920 01:29:09,910 --> 01:29:12,079 for us it's time to say goodbye, 1921 01:29:12,112 --> 01:29:14,882 our congratulations to the InSight team, 1922 01:29:14,915 --> 01:29:17,785 and special thanks to our EDL system engineers, 1923 01:29:17,818 --> 01:29:20,654 Christine Szalai and Julie Wertz Chen, 1924 01:29:20,687 --> 01:29:23,657 stand by for a news briefing on NASA TV 1925 01:29:23,690 --> 01:29:26,060 at two PM Pacific, five PM Eastern, 1926 01:29:26,093 --> 01:29:27,962 and for those of you who want 1927 01:29:27,995 --> 01:29:31,098 the latest information on InSight and Mars, 1928 01:29:31,131 --> 01:29:35,069 go to Mars.NASA.gov/InSight, 1929 01:29:35,102 --> 01:29:37,972 and NASA.gov/Mars, 1930 01:29:38,005 --> 01:29:41,876 and thank you all who shared pictures on social media, 1931 01:29:41,909 --> 01:29:45,679 it was wonderful to share this historic event with you, 1932 01:29:45,712 --> 01:29:48,649 we have some pictures for you that we'll leave you with, 1933 01:29:48,682 --> 01:29:49,717 enjoy,