1 00:00:11,089 --> 00:00:06,860 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:11,099 presents the von Karman lecture a series 3 00:00:16,220 --> 00:00:13,530 of talks by scientists and engineers who 4 00:00:18,610 --> 00:00:16,230 are exploring our planet our solar 5 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:18,620 system and all lies beyond 6 00:00:32,700 --> 00:00:30,390 hey everybody welcome to our monthly 7 00:00:34,950 --> 00:00:32,710 series of public talks and discussions 8 00:00:37,970 --> 00:00:34,960 from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:37,980 here in California I'm Preston dykes 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:40,930 well this month we are super excited 11 00:00:46,049 --> 00:00:43,090 because we are getting ready for an epic 12 00:00:49,410 --> 00:00:46,059 journey to the red planet so buckle up 13 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:49,420 because we're going to Mars now for this 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:51,970 show we have two speakers to share how 15 00:00:56,939 --> 00:00:54,370 they're helping to make NASA's next Mars 16 00:00:59,579 --> 00:00:56,949 rover mission a reality now if you're 17 00:01:01,950 --> 00:00:59,589 watching live on YouTube or Facebook you 18 00:01:03,719 --> 00:01:01,960 can submit questions via the chat and 19 00:01:07,020 --> 00:01:03,729 we'll work in some of those questions 20 00:01:08,969 --> 00:01:07,030 into the show as we go and so to help us 21 00:01:11,940 --> 00:01:08,979 with that I am really grateful to have 22 00:01:15,740 --> 00:01:11,950 my colleague from the NASA Mars public 23 00:01:19,230 --> 00:01:15,750 engagement team Sarah marcotte hey Sarah 24 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:19,240 hey there Preston so it's going to be my 25 00:01:23,039 --> 00:01:21,130 role to take those questions from 26 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:23,049 YouTube and Facebook so keep them coming 27 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:26,170 if you happen to lose the chat window 28 00:01:29,780 --> 00:01:28,450 just refresh your browser and it should 29 00:01:32,430 --> 00:01:29,790 appear again 30 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:32,440 all right thanks Sarah I'm glad to have 31 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:33,490 your help 32 00:01:37,860 --> 00:01:35,230 so a quick program note that we found 33 00:01:39,030 --> 00:01:37,870 just in the pre-show check out for Rav 34 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:39,040 that we're having a little trouble with 35 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:41,050 the internet connectivity for our first 36 00:01:44,610 --> 00:01:42,850 speaker so we'll we'll hope for the best 37 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:44,620 there and and and roll with that and we 38 00:01:48,660 --> 00:01:46,570 hope you'll just hang in with us hang in 39 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:48,670 there with us as we work through that 40 00:01:54,990 --> 00:01:51,010 but hopefully everything will be fine 41 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:55,000 well NASA's Mars 2020 mission is 42 00:02:00,660 --> 00:01:57,610 targeting a launch date of July 20th 43 00:02:03,510 --> 00:02:00,670 from Cape Canaveral in Florida and on 44 00:02:06,150 --> 00:02:03,520 board that Atlas five rocket will be the 45 00:02:09,180 --> 00:02:06,160 perseverance rover it's the latest in 46 00:02:11,550 --> 00:02:09,190 NASA's a line of robotic explorers to 47 00:02:13,830 --> 00:02:11,560 Rove the Red Planet extending our senses 48 00:02:17,699 --> 00:02:13,840 and our presence to the surface of Mars 49 00:02:20,070 --> 00:02:17,709 and so Sarah your team is working on a 50 00:02:21,780 --> 00:02:20,080 bunch of ways for people to follow along 51 00:02:24,930 --> 00:02:21,790 with the mission both in the run-up to 52 00:02:27,470 --> 00:02:24,940 launch and on the journey to Mars so 53 00:02:30,869 --> 00:02:27,480 tell us what you've been up to 54 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:30,879 sure so I wanted to tell everyone where 55 00:02:36,179 --> 00:02:33,730 our one-stop-shop for resources to watch 56 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:36,189 this launch will be it's our website 57 00:02:42,179 --> 00:02:39,760 which as Mars nasa.gov slash Mara 58 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:42,189 20:20 now that is where everything you 59 00:02:47,460 --> 00:02:44,890 need to watch this launch will be 60 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:47,470 located now on this website we have a 61 00:02:52,259 --> 00:02:50,170 page called our launch toolkit and it's 62 00:02:54,509 --> 00:02:52,269 just that it is a toolkit that gives you 63 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:54,519 all the tools you need to watch the 64 00:02:59,009 --> 00:02:56,650 launch whether you can actually join us 65 00:03:01,830 --> 00:02:59,019 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida or 66 00:03:04,949 --> 00:03:01,840 you'll be watching online like I will 67 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:04,959 now I do want to mention that in the 68 00:03:07,890 --> 00:03:06,250 next few weeks leading up to launch 69 00:03:10,380 --> 00:03:07,900 we're going to be releasing several new 70 00:03:12,899 --> 00:03:10,390 experiences so it's pretty important to 71 00:03:15,630 --> 00:03:12,909 check our social channels and to check 72 00:03:18,059 --> 00:03:15,640 the website again as we release things 73 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:18,069 in the weeks leading up to our July 20 74 00:03:24,180 --> 00:03:22,690 launch all right well thanks thanks a 75 00:03:26,099 --> 00:03:24,190 lot Sarah and sounds great 76 00:03:31,199 --> 00:03:26,109 so just remember to follow @nasa 77 00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:31,209 persevere on Twitter and Facebook so it 78 00:03:37,229 --> 00:03:34,120 is always an exciting time when we head 79 00:03:39,089 --> 00:03:37,239 off to Mars with a new mission and over 80 00:03:41,729 --> 00:03:39,099 the years we've built up some experience 81 00:03:42,390 --> 00:03:41,739 in landing and operating spacecraft on 82 00:03:46,470 --> 00:03:42,400 the Red Planet 83 00:03:49,830 --> 00:03:46,480 but it's really complicated really hard 84 00:03:53,580 --> 00:03:49,840 and it takes a lot of people to working 85 00:03:55,229 --> 00:03:53,590 together to make it happen so now in the 86 00:03:56,849 --> 00:03:55,239 run-up to launch we tend to place a lot 87 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:56,859 of focus on the engineering side of 88 00:03:59,640 --> 00:03:57,250 things 89 00:04:02,039 --> 00:03:59,650 for obvious reasons but of course 90 00:04:04,650 --> 00:04:02,049 there's also a large team of scientists 91 00:04:07,319 --> 00:04:04,660 involved from the beginning who really 92 00:04:09,809 --> 00:04:07,329 helped to shape what the mission becomes 93 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:09,819 everything from what science questions 94 00:04:14,939 --> 00:04:11,650 will the rover investigate to where 95 00:04:16,830 --> 00:04:14,949 should we land and so our first speaker 96 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:16,840 is one of those scientists on the Mars 97 00:04:21,659 --> 00:04:19,570 2020 mission dr. Brian E Horgan is a 98 00:04:23,790 --> 00:04:21,669 co-investigator on the rover's camera 99 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:23,800 team and a professor at Purdue 100 00:04:32,550 --> 00:04:30,849 University in Indiana so hey Brian hey 101 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:32,560 how's it going I'm so happy to be here 102 00:04:40,469 --> 00:04:36,610 and great thanks so much so now you're a 103 00:04:41,750 --> 00:04:40,479 planetary scientist right first of all 104 00:04:47,930 --> 00:04:41,760 what does that mean and how do you 105 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:51,390 so appliances basically any kind of 106 00:04:55,980 --> 00:04:53,110 science you can imagine everything 107 00:04:58,230 --> 00:04:55,990 from biology to chemistry to geology 108 00:05:00,150 --> 00:04:58,240 physics to study the planets in our 109 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:00,160 solar system to try to understand the 110 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:03,310 history everything from you know what 111 00:05:07,890 --> 00:05:06,370 kind did they ever support or really 112 00:05:10,830 --> 00:05:07,900 it's a pretty fun job as we get to do a 113 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:10,840 lot but yeah so what I do personally is 114 00:05:15,270 --> 00:05:13,090 I actually do planetary geology so I use 115 00:05:18,030 --> 00:05:15,280 mostly images and other data from 116 00:05:20,250 --> 00:05:18,040 satellites in orbit around planets as 117 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:20,260 well as Rovers on the ground to try to 118 00:05:25,530 --> 00:05:22,990 understand the past geology of planets 119 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:25,540 like Mars and the moon and also back 120 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:27,130 here on earth working in the field in 121 00:05:33,420 --> 00:05:31,210 the lab cool and how did you come to be 122 00:05:37,590 --> 00:05:33,430 part of the Mars 2020 mission you know 123 00:05:44,910 --> 00:05:37,600 how does one come to be a Mars rover 124 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:44,920 scientist well the way one says I'm 125 00:05:48,570 --> 00:05:46,810 going to send this Rover to Mars JPL is 126 00:05:50,310 --> 00:05:48,580 going to build it now we're going to 127 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:50,320 reach out to the science community to 128 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:52,090 compete for instruments they're going to 129 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:54,730 go on board and so back in 2014 I 130 00:05:59,370 --> 00:05:57,250 believe we had a competitive grant 131 00:06:01,050 --> 00:05:59,380 competition basically where we all all 132 00:06:02,820 --> 00:06:01,060 the scientists got together and you know 133 00:06:04,350 --> 00:06:02,830 split up into teams and developed 134 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:04,360 instruments that would help address the 135 00:06:07,740 --> 00:06:06,130 big science questions that we wanted to 136 00:06:09,330 --> 00:06:07,750 answer with this Rover proposed those 137 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:09,340 instruments and then NASA selected 138 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:10,330 they're really the ones I thought were 139 00:06:13,890 --> 00:06:12,130 the most would be the best for answering 140 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:13,900 those questions and so I was lucky 141 00:06:17,850 --> 00:06:15,610 enough to be on the camera team that was 142 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:17,860 proposed and we were selected and now 143 00:06:23,070 --> 00:06:19,210 we're going to Mars and we're really 144 00:06:25,170 --> 00:06:23,080 excited well tell us about the 145 00:06:27,030 --> 00:06:25,180 perseverance Rover I mean what are the 146 00:06:30,330 --> 00:06:27,040 key things that people need to know 147 00:06:33,260 --> 00:06:30,340 about this particular Rover so this 148 00:06:35,250 --> 00:06:33,270 Rover is what I like to call a robotic 149 00:06:37,830 --> 00:06:35,260 astrobiologists so this Rover the cold 150 00:06:40,470 --> 00:06:37,840 goal of the mission is to try to look 151 00:06:42,510 --> 00:06:40,480 for signs of ancient life on Mars now 152 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:42,520 that's a really big deal you might have 153 00:06:46,020 --> 00:06:44,170 heard a lot in the media about you know 154 00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:46,030 looking for water on Mars and finding 155 00:06:49,050 --> 00:06:47,710 water on Mars and that's what we've been 156 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:49,060 doing for a long time we've been trying 157 00:06:53,970 --> 00:06:51,370 to understand you know what was ancient 158 00:06:55,620 --> 00:06:53,980 Mars like was it ever earth-like so it's 159 00:06:57,930 --> 00:06:55,630 really been this big build-up all the 160 00:07:00,150 --> 00:06:57,940 way from the Pathfinder Rover back in 161 00:07:02,550 --> 00:07:00,160 the 90s to the Spirit and Opportunity 162 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:02,560 Rovers back in the early two-thousands 163 00:07:06,429 --> 00:07:04,930 those were sort of a robot geology 164 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:06,439 disent landed on Mars 165 00:07:13,089 --> 00:07:09,439 trying to look for signs of that ancient 166 00:07:15,249 --> 00:07:13,099 water Mars was Mars ever earth-like and 167 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:15,259 then I was followed up by the Curiosity 168 00:07:19,059 --> 00:07:17,090 rover which is still roaming Mars today 169 00:07:22,089 --> 00:07:19,069 Gale Crater which was trying to 170 00:07:24,070 --> 00:07:22,099 understand what their not more watery 171 00:07:26,260 --> 00:07:24,080 ancient environments on Mars could have 172 00:07:29,379 --> 00:07:26,270 actually supported life if they were 173 00:07:31,629 --> 00:07:29,389 habitable environments now that we've 174 00:07:33,850 --> 00:07:31,639 done all of that you know the Rovers and 175 00:07:36,010 --> 00:07:33,860 we've also had satellites orbit around 176 00:07:38,679 --> 00:07:36,020 Mars trying to understand what the 177 00:07:40,209 --> 00:07:38,689 history was it you weren't even for a 178 00:07:42,820 --> 00:07:40,219 little green men running around we're 179 00:07:44,649 --> 00:07:42,830 looking for signs of ancient microbes 180 00:07:46,629 --> 00:07:44,659 that might have once lived on Mars and 181 00:07:48,580 --> 00:07:46,639 it turns out it's really really tough to 182 00:07:50,499 --> 00:07:48,590 find signs of microbial life in the 183 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:50,509 geologic record it's even hard here on 184 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:52,490 earth but we think we know enough now do 185 00:07:56,860 --> 00:07:54,650 we have a really great landing site that 186 00:07:59,170 --> 00:07:56,870 we can we can go to to look for these 187 00:08:01,329 --> 00:07:59,180 ancient signs of life if you bring up a 188 00:08:03,399 --> 00:08:01,339 graphic one you can see a shot of what 189 00:08:03,850 --> 00:08:03,409 Mars 2020 we think will look like on the 190 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:03,860 ground 191 00:08:09,459 --> 00:08:06,650 it's artist's rendition the rover 192 00:08:10,929 --> 00:08:09,469 investigating some rocks on Mars this is 193 00:08:12,459 --> 00:08:10,939 lower hope we're gonna be doing well 194 00:08:14,110 --> 00:08:12,469 hope we are roving around the site we'll 195 00:08:15,999 --> 00:08:14,120 talk about a little later Jezreel crater 196 00:08:17,559 --> 00:08:16,009 trying to understand the geologic 197 00:08:19,119 --> 00:08:17,569 history of the site as well as you know 198 00:08:24,450 --> 00:08:19,129 looking for these what we call bio 199 00:08:27,159 --> 00:08:24,460 signatures if you go to some graphic - 200 00:08:28,629 --> 00:08:27,169 so here's where the rover was until 201 00:08:30,670 --> 00:08:28,639 recently this is actually we call it a 202 00:08:32,769 --> 00:08:30,680 high bay at JPL it's where the rover was 203 00:08:34,659 --> 00:08:32,779 assembled and you can see this photo is 204 00:08:37,569 --> 00:08:34,669 actually of the rover taking its baby 205 00:08:39,130 --> 00:08:37,579 steps back in December of last year now 206 00:08:41,889 --> 00:08:39,140 it's been shipped off to the Cape and 207 00:08:43,860 --> 00:08:41,899 it's reading getting ready to get loaded 208 00:08:46,150 --> 00:08:43,870 onto the rocket which is really exciting 209 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:46,160 they go to graphic three you can see 210 00:08:49,389 --> 00:08:47,570 some of the really great instruments 211 00:08:51,100 --> 00:08:49,399 that are on board the rover because 212 00:08:54,069 --> 00:08:51,110 really you know the rover itself it's 213 00:08:55,329 --> 00:08:54,079 this amazing chassis as amazing robots 214 00:08:57,519 --> 00:08:55,339 going to do all this great work but it's 215 00:08:59,380 --> 00:08:57,529 this the instruments that really are 216 00:09:01,600 --> 00:08:59,390 what the river is about and this Rover 217 00:09:03,009 --> 00:09:01,610 really is an astrobiologist we have all 218 00:09:04,990 --> 00:09:03,019 kinds of amazing instruments on board 219 00:09:07,780 --> 00:09:05,000 that we're going to be doing things like 220 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:07,790 looking for traces of organics at the 221 00:09:12,530 --> 00:09:10,610 millimeter/submillimeter scale we're 222 00:09:15,019 --> 00:09:12,540 going to be looking for evidence 223 00:09:16,639 --> 00:09:15,029 you know textural bio signatures all 224 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:16,649 kinds of interesting things like that 225 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:18,570 with our really heavy-duty kind of 226 00:09:23,300 --> 00:09:21,810 microscopic payload a lot of microscopes 227 00:09:27,230 --> 00:09:23,310 you can see are actually out on the end 228 00:09:33,259 --> 00:09:27,240 of that seven long arm and just for 229 00:09:35,569 --> 00:09:33,269 reference that are on the end weighs 230 00:09:38,180 --> 00:09:35,579 about as much as a lawn mower and are 231 00:09:40,519 --> 00:09:38,190 able to place it with a millimeter 232 00:09:43,579 --> 00:09:40,529 precision which is really incredible but 233 00:09:45,319 --> 00:09:43,589 that's really the workhorse is the 234 00:09:48,019 --> 00:09:45,329 instruments out on the armature these 235 00:09:51,350 --> 00:09:48,029 amazing microscopic instrument second 236 00:09:54,110 --> 00:09:51,360 map organics and minerals and chemistry 237 00:09:59,300 --> 00:09:54,120 at this very fine scale to help us look 238 00:10:00,980 --> 00:09:59,310 for this Rover you can see just how 239 00:10:02,740 --> 00:10:00,990 similar they really are I mean they're 240 00:10:04,819 --> 00:10:02,750 very they basically have the same 241 00:10:06,290 --> 00:10:04,829 chassis they had the same kind of 242 00:10:08,509 --> 00:10:06,300 overall design but they are very 243 00:10:11,269 --> 00:10:08,519 different now the Curiosity rover is 244 00:10:12,889 --> 00:10:11,279 basically a roving geology laboratory it 245 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:12,899 has an incredible suite of instruments 246 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:14,490 and designed to look at the the 247 00:10:18,110 --> 00:10:16,170 chemistry of the rocks the mineralogy 248 00:10:19,460 --> 00:10:18,120 the rocks because that's where that the 249 00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:19,470 signs of that ancient Hannibal 250 00:10:23,449 --> 00:10:20,910 environment are trapped is within the 251 00:10:26,420 --> 00:10:23,459 kind of details of the things that make 252 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:26,430 up the rocks again with March my point 253 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:30,690 we're really looking for ancient biology 254 00:10:34,340 --> 00:10:32,730 so has a very different suite of 255 00:10:35,870 --> 00:10:34,350 instruments do they look really similar 256 00:10:39,889 --> 00:10:35,880 they're going to be doing really 257 00:10:43,129 --> 00:10:39,899 different things on the ground gotcha 258 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:43,139 well it is a remarkable looking piece of 259 00:10:48,740 --> 00:10:45,569 machinery I think it's a good time for 260 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:48,750 us to go to Sarah for our first question 261 00:10:55,340 --> 00:10:50,250 from the audience Sarah what do you got 262 00:10:57,920 --> 00:10:55,350 for Briony sure well I saw some 263 00:11:00,079 --> 00:10:57,930 questions come in and they were related 264 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:00,089 very nicely to what Briony was talking 265 00:11:06,019 --> 00:11:03,690 about so tan on Facebook asks how our 266 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:06,029 perseverance is duties so what is going 267 00:11:09,949 --> 00:11:08,130 to do on the surface of Mars different 268 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:09,959 from curiosity and you talked a little 269 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:11,730 bit about how the rover's look very 270 00:11:28,470 --> 00:11:14,130 similar but what are how are the tasks 271 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:30,790 that's a great question actually it's a 272 00:11:34,090 --> 00:11:32,569 great opportunity to talk about sample 273 00:11:35,290 --> 00:11:34,100 caching because that's one of the big 274 00:11:37,509 --> 00:11:35,300 things that this worker is going to do 275 00:11:40,059 --> 00:11:37,519 is not just you know do this complete 276 00:11:41,949 --> 00:11:40,069 science investigation on the ground with 277 00:11:44,410 --> 00:11:41,959 the rocks in there we're also going to 278 00:11:46,239 --> 00:11:44,420 be selecting samples that we're going to 279 00:11:47,710 --> 00:11:46,249 eventually bring back to earth and so 280 00:11:49,299 --> 00:11:47,720 the way that's gonna work we'll be 281 00:11:51,489 --> 00:11:49,309 selecting this kind of pencil-sized 282 00:11:54,730 --> 00:11:51,499 drill samples of rock that the rover 283 00:11:56,079 --> 00:11:54,740 will doing a lot of the kind of mineral 284 00:11:58,179 --> 00:11:56,089 Hema story and triangle rocks are made 285 00:11:59,799 --> 00:11:58,189 of but what's really exciting book 2020 286 00:12:01,929 --> 00:11:59,809 we're actually going to be sampling 287 00:12:03,519 --> 00:12:01,939 those rocks to bring back to earth to 288 00:12:04,689 --> 00:12:03,529 look at in our labs back here on earth 289 00:12:06,129 --> 00:12:04,699 and the reason we're doing that is 290 00:12:08,470 --> 00:12:06,139 because if we really want to know 291 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:08,480 whether or not there are signs of life 292 00:12:12,429 --> 00:12:10,610 trapped in those rocks we have to look 293 00:12:14,379 --> 00:12:12,439 at them with extremely you know just the 294 00:12:16,299 --> 00:12:14,389 best instrumentation possible with the 295 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:16,309 best you know electron microscopes and 296 00:12:18,939 --> 00:12:17,569 things that we have back here on earth 297 00:12:21,189 --> 00:12:18,949 to try to figure that out it's really 298 00:12:22,900 --> 00:12:21,199 hard to do that kind of work as well as 299 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:22,910 we would like to to confirm whether or 300 00:12:26,829 --> 00:12:24,410 not there was ever inch in life there on 301 00:12:27,939 --> 00:12:26,839 Mars with the rover and so that's the 302 00:12:30,489 --> 00:12:27,949 next step so we're going to be 303 00:12:32,379 --> 00:12:30,499 collecting those samples and then later 304 00:12:33,939 --> 00:12:32,389 there's going to be a series of missions 305 00:12:37,419 --> 00:12:33,949 that will help bring those samples back 306 00:12:39,970 --> 00:12:37,429 it's a pretty tough job not only you 307 00:12:41,860 --> 00:12:39,980 know so 2020 perseverance rover's going 308 00:12:43,629 --> 00:12:41,870 to be collecting the samples and you 309 00:12:45,850 --> 00:12:43,639 know documenting them and we'll help us 310 00:12:49,389 --> 00:12:45,860 decide which ones to bring back but then 311 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:49,399 we have to land another rover on the 312 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:51,170 ground that'll go get those samples 313 00:12:55,629 --> 00:12:54,050 it'll have to bring those samples back 314 00:12:58,389 --> 00:12:55,639 to a launch platform 315 00:13:00,730 --> 00:12:58,399 it'll have to load those samples into a 316 00:13:02,619 --> 00:13:00,740 rocket which will then lift off the 317 00:13:04,569 --> 00:13:02,629 launch platform blast into orbit 318 00:13:07,030 --> 00:13:04,579 rendezvous with the satellite that it 319 00:13:08,980 --> 00:13:07,040 will pick up the samples and eventually 320 00:13:10,749 --> 00:13:08,990 make it back there at the landowner so 321 00:13:12,610 --> 00:13:10,759 it's really really tough it's a lot of 322 00:13:14,889 --> 00:13:12,620 steps we have to go but we're starting 323 00:13:16,989 --> 00:13:14,899 to work on it NASA and the European 324 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:16,999 Space Agency have actually already 325 00:13:20,439 --> 00:13:18,470 started working on this and putting 326 00:13:21,999 --> 00:13:20,449 money toward this and developing joint 327 00:13:23,769 --> 00:13:22,009 that admissions it'll make this happen 328 00:13:25,199 --> 00:13:23,779 so we're really excited that you know 329 00:13:27,039 --> 00:13:25,209 not only are we doing this great 330 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:27,049 astrobiology on the ground with the 331 00:13:30,639 --> 00:13:28,970 rover we're also going to be helping 332 00:13:34,210 --> 00:13:30,649 bring back some of the most exciting 333 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:34,220 sample to ever return from space so 334 00:13:38,079 --> 00:13:36,290 Brian II you you've mentioned a word a 335 00:13:39,710 --> 00:13:38,089 couple of times that I wanted to ask you 336 00:13:41,929 --> 00:13:39,720 to delve into a little bit 337 00:13:45,319 --> 00:13:41,939 more deeply you mentioned bio signatures 338 00:13:48,470 --> 00:13:45,329 so what are bio signatures and how can 339 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:48,480 they help you understand today whether 340 00:13:58,850 --> 00:13:50,970 Mars had life three or four billion 341 00:14:00,319 --> 00:13:58,860 years ago that's a great question so if 342 00:14:01,610 --> 00:14:00,329 you go to graphic five we have some 343 00:14:03,619 --> 00:14:01,620 nicely what these things are 344 00:14:06,410 --> 00:14:03,629 so bio signatures are being a lot less 345 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:06,420 and it could be due to life and so 346 00:14:08,929 --> 00:14:07,470 there's a lot of different things that 347 00:14:10,910 --> 00:14:08,939 could be it could be things like you 348 00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:10,920 know chemical signatures isotopes or a 349 00:14:14,540 --> 00:14:12,750 really common one you know life gets 350 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:14,550 them there and really messes with their 351 00:14:17,809 --> 00:14:15,930 the different kinds of chemicals that 352 00:14:20,150 --> 00:14:17,819 are left behind it could be you know 353 00:14:21,860 --> 00:14:20,160 nice really obvious things like in that 354 00:14:24,139 --> 00:14:21,870 middle left that's what we call a 355 00:14:26,449 --> 00:14:24,149 stromatolite that's a nice textural bio 356 00:14:28,340 --> 00:14:26,459 signature that was created by microbial 357 00:14:30,499 --> 00:14:28,350 mats on the shores of an ancient lake 358 00:14:31,910 --> 00:14:30,509 that kind of helps cement these minerals 359 00:14:33,379 --> 00:14:31,920 together and create this really kind of 360 00:14:35,420 --> 00:14:33,389 it looks it looks a lie right this kind 361 00:14:37,069 --> 00:14:35,430 of life light texture it could be a lot 362 00:14:38,629 --> 00:14:37,079 of different things micro fossils are a 363 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:38,639 great example even things like a 364 00:14:42,470 --> 00:14:40,410 dinosaur bone is technically a bio 365 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:42,480 signature so but the difference is you 366 00:14:45,559 --> 00:14:44,250 know we wouldn't find a dinosaur bone on 367 00:14:48,350 --> 00:14:45,569 Mars but of course we're really looking 368 00:14:49,939 --> 00:14:48,360 for are these microbial bio signatures 369 00:14:51,199 --> 00:14:49,949 and so that's why even though you know 370 00:14:54,019 --> 00:14:51,209 we're going to do as much as we can to 371 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:54,029 characterize organics and textures and 372 00:14:57,019 --> 00:14:55,290 all of these things that we think could 373 00:14:58,910 --> 00:14:57,029 help us indicate where bio signatures 374 00:15:00,590 --> 00:14:58,920 could be on Mars ultimately we'll have 375 00:15:02,269 --> 00:15:00,600 to bring these samples back to earth to 376 00:15:04,699 --> 00:15:02,279 confirm whether or not that's true so 377 00:15:06,019 --> 00:15:04,709 even if we find say that amazing rock on 378 00:15:07,329 --> 00:15:06,029 the left of the stromatolite which we 379 00:15:09,799 --> 00:15:07,339 hope we might find in our landing site 380 00:15:11,059 --> 00:15:09,809 that would be great we still have to 381 00:15:12,559 --> 00:15:11,069 bring it back to earth to confirm 382 00:15:18,199 --> 00:15:12,569 whether or not that was actually created 383 00:15:21,079 --> 00:15:18,209 by microbes Wow and before we go too 384 00:15:23,329 --> 00:15:21,089 much farther Sarah I wanted to ask you 385 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:23,339 you to mention this that perseverance 386 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:28,410 has a helicopter too right yes it does 387 00:15:33,769 --> 00:15:31,290 indeedy it's got a helicopter riding on 388 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:33,779 the belly of the perseverance Rover the 389 00:15:40,369 --> 00:15:37,050 helicopters name is ingenuity and in the 390 00:15:42,799 --> 00:15:40,379 first few weeks or months of the surface 391 00:15:45,340 --> 00:15:42,809 operations of perseverance so we're 392 00:15:48,439 --> 00:15:45,350 talking sometime in the spring of 2021 393 00:15:51,410 --> 00:15:48,449 that helicopter ingenuity may 394 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:51,420 demonstrate the first powered flight on 395 00:15:55,759 --> 00:15:52,050 another 396 00:15:58,490 --> 00:15:55,769 in it how cool is that that is super 397 00:15:59,600 --> 00:15:58,500 cool and and so I wanted to mention the 398 00:16:01,250 --> 00:15:59,610 helicopter because I think a lot of 399 00:16:03,740 --> 00:16:01,260 people are becoming aware that there's a 400 00:16:05,540 --> 00:16:03,750 there's the helicopter on this thick 401 00:16:07,310 --> 00:16:05,550 going with this thing but Brian II does 402 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:07,320 that play into the science of the 403 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:10,410 mission we're opening yeah I mean so the 404 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:11,970 helicopter it's technically it's a 405 00:16:16,370 --> 00:16:14,490 technology demonstration so you know the 406 00:16:17,690 --> 00:16:16,380 basic thing has to do is show that we 407 00:16:19,430 --> 00:16:17,700 like serious said that we can have we 408 00:16:21,290 --> 00:16:19,440 can actually operate powered flight on 409 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:21,300 Mars we can operate a helicopter on Mars 410 00:16:25,579 --> 00:16:23,130 so we're hoping you know the helicopter 411 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:25,589 has cameras on board and we're really 412 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:27,930 hoping you know what this helicopter 413 00:16:32,750 --> 00:16:30,810 future missions like this will do this 414 00:16:34,850 --> 00:16:32,760 help kind of bridge the gap between our 415 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:34,860 really incredible images we have from 416 00:16:38,509 --> 00:16:37,050 satellites and orbit what we see it can 417 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:38,519 see from the rover on the ground you 418 00:16:42,019 --> 00:16:40,290 know just like drones here on earth kind 419 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:42,029 of help you get context where you are 420 00:16:46,130 --> 00:16:44,130 you're great for mapping or great for 421 00:16:47,630 --> 00:16:46,140 doing geology and science too we're 422 00:16:49,970 --> 00:16:47,640 hoping the drone but the helicopter 423 00:16:51,199 --> 00:16:49,980 ingenuity will help us with that in our 424 00:16:52,940 --> 00:16:51,209 landing site will help us kind of 425 00:16:55,579 --> 00:16:52,950 understand context where the rover is 426 00:16:57,319 --> 00:16:55,589 help us make really cool 3d maps of 427 00:17:00,350 --> 00:16:57,329 where we are all kinds of great look 428 00:17:01,790 --> 00:17:00,360 done well you you may you gave me a 429 00:17:04,909 --> 00:17:01,800 perfect bridge to my next question 430 00:17:07,669 --> 00:17:04,919 because you work on the team that is 431 00:17:10,460 --> 00:17:07,679 going to take all the incredible images 432 00:17:12,559 --> 00:17:10,470 of Mars with perseverance so tell us 433 00:17:15,669 --> 00:17:12,569 about the cameras uh how will they be 434 00:17:18,620 --> 00:17:15,679 similar to or different from curiosity 435 00:17:21,199 --> 00:17:18,630 yeah so I'm on the mass candy team that 436 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:21,209 stands for mast camera zoom so we had 437 00:17:25,309 --> 00:17:23,850 mass cams on curiosity and you know they 438 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:25,319 worked really well it's really you know 439 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:27,089 almost all the really beautiful color 440 00:17:30,890 --> 00:17:29,370 and big mosaics and things that you see 441 00:17:33,890 --> 00:17:30,900 from the Curiosity rover those are 442 00:17:35,930 --> 00:17:33,900 almost all taken by the mass cam cameras 443 00:17:38,419 --> 00:17:35,940 so we're gonna stand something fairly 444 00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:38,429 similar to Mars mask and Z is pretty 445 00:17:43,610 --> 00:17:40,860 similar to mass cam except for we have 446 00:17:45,770 --> 00:17:43,620 better zoom capabilities with mass cam 447 00:17:47,419 --> 00:17:45,780 we actually had the eyes were so I stuck 448 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:47,429 sumed in one with stucco zoomed out on 449 00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:49,530 purpose to make you think simple we have 450 00:17:52,490 --> 00:17:51,390 the ability to zoom them independently 451 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:52,500 now which is going to be really great 452 00:17:57,470 --> 00:17:54,450 we're gonna have a beautiful 453 00:17:59,840 --> 00:17:57,480 you know 3d mosaics we can make with the 454 00:18:01,669 --> 00:17:59,850 two eyes we're going to be able to no 455 00:18:03,290 --> 00:18:01,679 but I actually work on is mineralogy we 456 00:18:05,210 --> 00:18:03,300 can actually do some really simple 457 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:05,220 spectroscopy looking at the wavelength 458 00:18:08,060 --> 00:18:05,610 that 459 00:18:10,190 --> 00:18:08,070 of light coming off of rocks to help 460 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:10,200 identify their mineral fingerprints 461 00:18:13,489 --> 00:18:11,610 we're going to be able to do that look 462 00:18:15,499 --> 00:18:13,499 at the beautiful colors and all of that 463 00:18:21,950 --> 00:18:15,509 with these cameras it really kind of the 464 00:18:25,220 --> 00:18:21,960 geology workhorses of the mission really 465 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:25,230 nice graphic oh yeah sorry we have a 466 00:18:28,639 --> 00:18:26,610 great if you go to graphic seven you can 467 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:28,649 actually see the mastcam the high bay 468 00:18:32,570 --> 00:18:30,570 JPL so there you can see this is the 469 00:18:34,489 --> 00:18:32,580 head of person go the big kind of goal 470 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:34,499 at the top that's actually a port for a 471 00:18:38,899 --> 00:18:36,690 laser that's for the the super cam a 472 00:18:40,669 --> 00:18:38,909 laser instrument which does Raman 473 00:18:42,649 --> 00:18:40,679 spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown 474 00:18:43,879 --> 00:18:42,659 spectroscopy so basically zapping the 475 00:18:45,859 --> 00:18:43,889 rocks to see what they're made of and 476 00:18:47,690 --> 00:18:45,869 then below that the two big rectangles 477 00:18:49,460 --> 00:18:47,700 that that's the mask and Aziz the two 478 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:49,470 eyes and the reason we have two is so we 479 00:18:52,849 --> 00:18:51,450 can actually do stereo imaging just like 480 00:18:54,649 --> 00:18:52,859 you know you have depth perception with 481 00:18:56,659 --> 00:18:54,659 your eyes because you have to the mask 482 00:18:58,099 --> 00:18:56,669 and aziz are able to give us depth 483 00:19:01,430 --> 00:18:58,109 perception with the rovers we can 484 00:19:03,499 --> 00:19:01,440 actually make things like 3d maps very 485 00:19:05,269 --> 00:19:03,509 cool well I think it's time to go back 486 00:19:09,529 --> 00:19:05,279 to Sarah for another question from our 487 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:09,539 live audience Sarah what do you got sure 488 00:19:16,220 --> 00:19:12,450 so Doug Oh on YouTube is wondering about 489 00:19:19,669 --> 00:19:16,230 how do you prevent biological pollution 490 00:19:21,379 --> 00:19:19,679 or maybe doggo means contamination from 491 00:19:23,389 --> 00:19:21,389 the rover on Mars 492 00:19:26,269 --> 00:19:23,399 I hear there's some sort of field called 493 00:19:29,869 --> 00:19:26,279 planetary protection can you speak about 494 00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:29,879 that at all yeah so planetary protection 495 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:31,470 is something NASA takes very seriously 496 00:19:35,419 --> 00:19:33,210 so what does that mean well music want 497 00:19:37,580 --> 00:19:35,429 to protect all of the planets I mean to 498 00:19:39,499 --> 00:19:37,590 both Earth and Mars from each other and 499 00:19:41,389 --> 00:19:39,509 so that means we want to make sure that 500 00:19:43,249 --> 00:19:41,399 we don't bring anything dangerous back 501 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:43,259 here to earth so you know when we bring 502 00:19:46,519 --> 00:19:45,210 samples back even from places like the 503 00:19:48,619 --> 00:19:46,529 moon or you don't expect there to be 504 00:19:50,330 --> 00:19:48,629 much life or comets we make sure 505 00:19:52,789 --> 00:19:50,340 everything is quarantined that it's you 506 00:19:54,049 --> 00:19:52,799 know if we can sterilize it so you bring 507 00:19:55,430 --> 00:19:54,059 things moving these samples back from 508 00:19:56,749 --> 00:19:55,440 Mars and one of the first thing you have 509 00:19:58,700 --> 00:19:56,759 to do is make sure that they're not 510 00:20:00,049 --> 00:19:58,710 inhabited with modern life and that 511 00:20:01,580 --> 00:20:00,059 obviously would be interesting for 512 00:20:03,590 --> 00:20:01,590 science but also really important for 513 00:20:04,789 --> 00:20:03,600 making sure we protect our planet but it 514 00:20:06,859 --> 00:20:04,799 goes the other way too we want to make 515 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:06,869 sure we protect Mars from all of the 516 00:20:11,029 --> 00:20:09,210 bugs you know microbes in the center are 517 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:11,039 crawling around on earth and so one of 518 00:20:14,869 --> 00:20:12,450 the things we try to do is make sure the 519 00:20:16,879 --> 00:20:14,879 rover itself is not quite sterile 520 00:20:17,450 --> 00:20:16,889 basically but as clean as we can get it 521 00:20:19,130 --> 00:20:17,460 while not 522 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:19,140 managing the instruments all of every 523 00:20:23,419 --> 00:20:21,090 single piece of hardware on the rover is 524 00:20:24,769 --> 00:20:23,429 carefully cleaned and documented you 525 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:24,779 know as it's taken apart and put back 526 00:20:29,029 --> 00:20:26,970 together so that we don't we try to 527 00:20:31,580 --> 00:20:29,039 bring as few bugs with us as possible to 528 00:20:32,570 --> 00:20:31,590 Mars partly to protect an ecosystem we 529 00:20:34,460 --> 00:20:32,580 want to make sure we don't you know 530 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:34,470 overpower anything that's living there 531 00:20:37,730 --> 00:20:35,850 today because we don't know right there 532 00:20:40,130 --> 00:20:37,740 might be little bugs living it either in 533 00:20:41,510 --> 00:20:40,140 the subsurface or you know near the 534 00:20:43,940 --> 00:20:41,520 polar caps or something like that on 535 00:20:45,919 --> 00:20:43,950 Mars we're not sure but also so that you 536 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:45,929 know if we go there and we see signs of 537 00:20:49,549 --> 00:20:48,210 life we can tell that for sure it's not 538 00:20:52,010 --> 00:20:49,559 from Earth right that we know it's 539 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:52,020 actually native Martian life if we go 540 00:20:55,159 --> 00:20:53,850 and contaminate the whole planet you 541 00:20:56,419 --> 00:20:55,169 know there's some ethics questions there 542 00:20:58,340 --> 00:20:56,429 but also it just makes it a lot harder 543 00:21:00,110 --> 00:20:58,350 for us to tell what's going on so that's 544 00:21:01,460 --> 00:21:00,120 actual office that exists at NASA we 545 00:21:03,740 --> 00:21:01,470 have an officer of planetary protection 546 00:21:07,070 --> 00:21:03,750 and they try to make sure that we do the 547 00:21:08,510 --> 00:21:07,080 right thing yet another cool job title 548 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:08,520 at NASA planetary protection officer 549 00:21:13,130 --> 00:21:11,010 among many cool job titles Mars rover 550 00:21:16,730 --> 00:21:13,140 scientist is super cool 551 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:16,740 so great question thank you you were 552 00:21:21,590 --> 00:21:19,770 involved though Briony in the selection 553 00:21:23,060 --> 00:21:21,600 of the landing site as one of the 554 00:21:25,700 --> 00:21:23,070 science team members of jezero crater 555 00:21:29,330 --> 00:21:25,710 tell us about that process what was that 556 00:21:31,549 --> 00:21:29,340 like yeah so why do you so do you take 557 00:21:33,620 --> 00:21:31,559 the one place on Mars that you're going 558 00:21:35,570 --> 00:21:33,630 to collect maybe the only samples you 559 00:21:36,799 --> 00:21:35,580 ever get back from the planet it's a 560 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:36,809 tough question right if you had to pick 561 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:39,210 one place on earth to pick you know a 562 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:40,770 bunch of rock samples to tell you about 563 00:21:44,090 --> 00:21:42,690 the entire geologic history of the earth 564 00:21:46,310 --> 00:21:44,100 where would you go well that's really 565 00:21:47,510 --> 00:21:46,320 hard so this is a hard question so you 566 00:21:49,070 --> 00:21:47,520 know NASA likes to be as open as 567 00:21:51,260 --> 00:21:49,080 possible so the way this was done was 568 00:21:53,510 --> 00:21:51,270 that NASA play an open call to the whole 569 00:21:55,220 --> 00:21:53,520 science community and really anybody to 570 00:21:57,260 --> 00:21:55,230 propose landing sites and we started out 571 00:21:59,180 --> 00:21:57,270 with I think 60 different landing sites 572 00:22:01,220 --> 00:21:59,190 proposed on Mars for this mission and 573 00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:01,230 gradually over hearing about five years 574 00:22:05,299 --> 00:22:03,270 and big community meetings we got 575 00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:05,309 together and argued about it gradually 576 00:22:08,810 --> 00:22:07,110 narrowed it down to just a just three 577 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:08,820 sites and eventually down to jezero 578 00:22:13,279 --> 00:22:11,730 crater so the how do you choose a 579 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:13,289 landing site like that well for one 580 00:22:16,850 --> 00:22:15,210 thing this is an astrobiology mission we 581 00:22:19,430 --> 00:22:16,860 want to try to go somewhere that has a 582 00:22:21,649 --> 00:22:19,440 good chance of preserving those ancient 583 00:22:22,970 --> 00:22:21,659 microbial bio signatures there's a 584 00:22:25,190 --> 00:22:22,980 couple different places you could go to 585 00:22:30,350 --> 00:22:25,200 do that but we decided to go ancient 586 00:22:31,110 --> 00:22:30,360 lake on Mars cool all right well I mean 587 00:22:33,660 --> 00:22:31,120 it's 588 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:33,670 60 down to one it must have been kind of 589 00:22:40,590 --> 00:22:37,330 a kind of our choice what I wanted to 590 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:40,600 ask you in addition to just about some 591 00:22:43,170 --> 00:22:42,010 of the other things that you've done as 592 00:22:45,810 --> 00:22:43,180 a member of the science team and kind of 593 00:22:47,310 --> 00:22:45,820 making this mission what it is in 594 00:22:48,450 --> 00:22:47,320 addition to the landing site what are 595 00:22:50,790 --> 00:22:48,460 some of the other things that you and 596 00:22:55,830 --> 00:22:50,800 the other science team members have had 597 00:22:57,210 --> 00:22:55,840 to work on together along the way yeah 598 00:22:58,740 --> 00:22:57,220 so there's a couple of things I mean 599 00:23:00,330 --> 00:22:58,750 first off we're still working on the 600 00:23:01,530 --> 00:23:00,340 landing site so I'm a little more detail 601 00:23:03,330 --> 00:23:01,540 what we're actually going to see crater 602 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:03,340 if you'd like to hear that and to bring 603 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:06,250 out Big Eight you'll see a topographic 604 00:23:11,820 --> 00:23:09,490 map of jezero crater and so jezero here 605 00:23:13,980 --> 00:23:11,830 you can see so in these this topographic 606 00:23:15,990 --> 00:23:13,990 map blue is low and yellow is high and 607 00:23:17,550 --> 00:23:16,000 so you can see the crater itself without 608 00:23:18,930 --> 00:23:17,560 all that blue indicating the floor of 609 00:23:21,420 --> 00:23:18,940 the crater and the rim surrounding it 610 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:21,430 and what's really unique about des Rose 611 00:23:25,620 --> 00:23:23,890 you can see on the left this channel 612 00:23:27,570 --> 00:23:25,630 leaping into the crater and another one 613 00:23:29,610 --> 00:23:27,580 getting out on the upper right and those 614 00:23:31,620 --> 00:23:29,620 are actually the ancient rivers that are 615 00:23:33,210 --> 00:23:31,630 have been carved into the bedrock in 616 00:23:36,030 --> 00:23:33,220 through the rim into the rim and 617 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:36,040 actually created in jezero crater so if 618 00:23:42,750 --> 00:23:40,090 you go to the next graphic 9 let's do a 619 00:23:44,730 --> 00:23:42,760 nice map of the crater so what we're 620 00:23:47,820 --> 00:23:44,740 looking at here so the gray the 621 00:23:49,530 --> 00:23:47,830 grayscale background that's just a black 622 00:23:51,180 --> 00:23:49,540 and white imagery from our satellites in 623 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:51,190 orbit and the colors that are on top of 624 00:23:55,020 --> 00:23:53,290 that are colors from one of our 625 00:23:57,090 --> 00:23:55,030 spectrometers in orbit the cruising 626 00:23:58,380 --> 00:23:57,100 imaging spectrometer and the colors are 627 00:24:00,450 --> 00:23:58,390 telling us about different the 628 00:24:03,390 --> 00:24:00,460 composition of sand so if for example 629 00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:03,400 here Green is indicating carbonate rocks 630 00:24:07,350 --> 00:24:05,110 with carbonate minerals and red is 631 00:24:08,490 --> 00:24:07,360 telling us about olivine minerals so all 632 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:08,500 of you is one of the most common 633 00:24:13,380 --> 00:24:10,810 minerals in basalts and basaltic lava 634 00:24:15,270 --> 00:24:13,390 whereas carbonate is a mineral that 635 00:24:16,980 --> 00:24:15,280 forms due to interview with waters you 636 00:24:18,810 --> 00:24:16,990 can already kind of get a sense of why 637 00:24:20,310 --> 00:24:18,820 we're excited about this location the 638 00:24:22,410 --> 00:24:20,320 bullish thing in this image is this 639 00:24:24,810 --> 00:24:22,420 giant sort of fan-shaped feature that's 640 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:24,820 actually an ancient River Delta on Mars 641 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:27,130 this is a place where that river that's 642 00:24:30,990 --> 00:24:28,810 coming in from the upper-left floated 643 00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:31,000 into the crater I created a lake and 644 00:24:34,170 --> 00:24:32,260 then dumped all the sediment was 645 00:24:35,670 --> 00:24:34,180 carrying out into this big River Delta 646 00:24:37,890 --> 00:24:35,680 just like the mouth of the Mississippi 647 00:24:39,330 --> 00:24:37,900 River somewhere like that on earth we 648 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:39,340 get these big Delta's forming where 649 00:24:42,930 --> 00:24:41,170 rivers flow into lakes that's what we're 650 00:24:43,630 --> 00:24:42,940 seeing here and so you can actually see 651 00:24:45,820 --> 00:24:43,640 the landing site 652 00:24:47,500 --> 00:24:45,830 the actual landing ellipse itself on top 653 00:24:49,810 --> 00:24:47,510 of that and so hopefully somewhere in 654 00:24:52,690 --> 00:24:49,820 the middle of that circle either on the 655 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:52,700 Delta or just right next to it so this 656 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:54,410 landing today it's exciting because we 657 00:24:58,140 --> 00:24:56,210 have you know really clear evidence of 658 00:25:00,670 --> 00:24:58,150 this ancient lake exist that we had 659 00:25:02,650 --> 00:25:00,680 persistent liquid water for a long 660 00:25:04,630 --> 00:25:02,660 enough time to create this ancient Delta 661 00:25:06,460 --> 00:25:04,640 to have water flow into the crater 662 00:25:07,990 --> 00:25:06,470 creating a lake and then overflow out 663 00:25:11,020 --> 00:25:08,000 the other side to create that outflow 664 00:25:12,940 --> 00:25:11,030 channel we saw and not only that we see 665 00:25:15,610 --> 00:25:12,950 lots of cool mineral mineralogical 666 00:25:17,350 --> 00:25:15,620 evidence for water here too so those 667 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:17,360 those green rocks you can see in this 668 00:25:21,850 --> 00:25:19,250 color image those are the carbonates so 669 00:25:23,260 --> 00:25:21,860 carbonates form in water and in this 670 00:25:24,490 --> 00:25:23,270 case we think that some of the 671 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:24,500 carbonates here in particularly that 672 00:25:29,170 --> 00:25:26,930 kind of green ring behind the Delta 673 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:29,180 might have actually formed at the shores 674 00:25:33,370 --> 00:25:31,250 of this ancient lake and that's really 675 00:25:34,660 --> 00:25:33,380 exciting because that's exactly the kind 676 00:25:37,750 --> 00:25:34,670 of place you would go to look for 677 00:25:39,580 --> 00:25:37,760 microbial bio signatures and a lake on 678 00:25:42,220 --> 00:25:39,590 earth in fact there are plenty of places 679 00:25:43,870 --> 00:25:42,230 where in this kind of Lake that's making 680 00:25:45,940 --> 00:25:43,880 carbonate kind of we imagine kind of 681 00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:45,950 white carbonates and on the edge of the 682 00:25:50,050 --> 00:25:48,830 lake we see microbial mats growing all 683 00:25:52,390 --> 00:25:50,060 along the lake shore creating 684 00:25:54,850 --> 00:25:52,400 stromatolites like we saw in the bio 685 00:25:56,710 --> 00:25:54,860 signatures graphic sort of these rocks 686 00:25:58,870 --> 00:25:56,720 that are created from layers and layers 687 00:26:00,910 --> 00:25:58,880 and layers of microbes trapping the 688 00:26:02,230 --> 00:26:00,920 minerals in this case carbonates that's 689 00:26:04,420 --> 00:26:02,240 how we're hoping we're going to find 690 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:04,430 we're hoping that we'll be able to study 691 00:26:08,110 --> 00:26:06,170 the the carbonates that are perhaps 692 00:26:09,790 --> 00:26:08,120 formed on the shore of an ancient lake 693 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:09,800 we're hoping we'll be able to study the 694 00:26:13,810 --> 00:26:11,930 muds at the bottom of this ancient Delta 695 00:26:15,250 --> 00:26:13,820 the muds at the bottom of the ancient 696 00:26:17,170 --> 00:26:15,260 delts are also great for trapping 697 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:17,180 organics and other bio signatures and so 698 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:19,550 between the minerals in the Delta and 699 00:26:22,810 --> 00:26:20,930 the whole kind of geology of this site 700 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:22,820 we think it's one of the best places on 701 00:26:27,190 --> 00:26:24,890 Mars to go look for microbial bio 702 00:26:29,470 --> 00:26:27,200 signatures so you can there's a lot of 703 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:29,480 work on the team yeah to try to 704 00:26:33,790 --> 00:26:31,610 understand how we're going to explore 705 00:26:36,340 --> 00:26:33,800 this site so you bring up graphic 11 you 706 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:36,350 can see one idea that we're about a year 707 00:26:40,570 --> 00:26:38,330 ago for what a traverse through this 708 00:26:41,860 --> 00:26:40,580 landing site might look like so of 709 00:26:44,260 --> 00:26:41,870 course we don't know where we're gonna 710 00:26:45,730 --> 00:26:44,270 land so we have kind of two ideas if we 711 00:26:47,290 --> 00:26:45,740 land on the left side or the right side 712 00:26:48,550 --> 00:26:47,300 of the crater what are some of the cool 713 00:26:50,470 --> 00:26:48,560 places we're going to be able to go 714 00:26:53,770 --> 00:26:50,480 explore and in particular get samples 715 00:26:56,029 --> 00:26:53,780 from for eventual Mars sample return so 716 00:26:57,470 --> 00:26:56,039 we're hoping to explore the Delta 717 00:26:59,539 --> 00:26:57,480 sort of all the different parts of 718 00:27:02,149 --> 00:26:59,549 adults that we see evidence for river 719 00:27:04,100 --> 00:27:02,159 channels and you know muds and all kinds 720 00:27:06,470 --> 00:27:04,110 of different environments that used to 721 00:27:08,330 --> 00:27:06,480 exist along this ancient lake make sure 722 00:27:10,279 --> 00:27:08,340 then eventually up into the crater rim 723 00:27:12,860 --> 00:27:10,289 as well or we see science for ancient 724 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:12,870 hydrothermal systems that could have 725 00:27:17,180 --> 00:27:15,210 also helped preserve signs of life and 726 00:27:19,789 --> 00:27:17,190 those sort of warm habitable 727 00:27:22,370 --> 00:27:19,799 environments the other cool thing we've 728 00:27:24,259 --> 00:27:22,380 been doing on the team is trying to 729 00:27:25,909 --> 00:27:24,269 learn how to do operations with this 730 00:27:28,190 --> 00:27:25,919 Rover so how do we actually run the 731 00:27:30,230 --> 00:27:28,200 rover everyday as a team so if you go to 732 00:27:33,139 --> 00:27:30,240 slide I go to a graphic 12 you can see 733 00:27:36,169 --> 00:27:33,149 an example of a simulated rover mission 734 00:27:38,060 --> 00:27:36,179 out in the desert of Utah so one of the 735 00:27:39,820 --> 00:27:38,070 ways that we sort of practice running a 736 00:27:42,019 --> 00:27:39,830 rover is we actually create a fake 737 00:27:45,230 --> 00:27:42,029 people and instruments that run around 738 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:45,240 in the desert and take data for us and 739 00:27:49,370 --> 00:27:47,010 they send it back to the team who treats 740 00:27:52,519 --> 00:27:49,380 it like data from Mars and puts together 741 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:52,529 plan science plans engineering plans for 742 00:27:56,330 --> 00:27:54,090 investigating this site and looking 743 00:27:58,490 --> 00:27:56,340 forward bio signatures at you know what 744 00:28:00,560 --> 00:27:58,500 we call a Mars analog site on earth so a 745 00:28:02,930 --> 00:28:00,570 site that has characteristics that are 746 00:28:05,539 --> 00:28:02,940 similar to Mars in some way this was 747 00:28:07,100 --> 00:28:05,549 also an ancient ancient Lake muds 748 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:07,110 ancient Lake deposits that were looking 749 00:28:12,710 --> 00:28:10,010 at here in this image that we were 750 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:12,720 pretending to explore with our people 751 00:28:19,850 --> 00:28:17,610 powered Rover very cool I mean you guys 752 00:28:21,740 --> 00:28:19,860 and so clearly there's a group building 753 00:28:24,230 --> 00:28:21,750 the rover but there's a group of big 754 00:28:26,750 --> 00:28:24,240 people figuring out what to do with it 755 00:28:28,879 --> 00:28:26,760 and what what where to send it and how 756 00:28:32,450 --> 00:28:28,889 to operate it so that's a it's a really 757 00:28:34,820 --> 00:28:32,460 exciting time and I think that's about 758 00:28:37,669 --> 00:28:34,830 all the time we have for talking with 759 00:28:39,590 --> 00:28:37,679 you right now Briony but we really want 760 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:39,600 to wish you and your scientistic 761 00:28:43,970 --> 00:28:41,250 colleagues on the mission the best for 762 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:43,980 launch landing and roving on mars and 763 00:28:52,850 --> 00:28:50,210 thanks for being here with us all right 764 00:28:54,110 --> 00:28:52,860 all right so and I think there's a 765 00:28:56,389 --> 00:28:54,120 little bit of a lag thank you to 766 00:28:58,940 --> 00:28:56,399 everybody for for hanging in there with 767 00:29:00,649 --> 00:28:58,950 us but I was you know connection stayed 768 00:29:02,539 --> 00:29:00,659 right right with us so we got to hear 769 00:29:07,129 --> 00:29:02,549 from her the whole time so hey that's a 770 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:07,139 win well so earlier I mentioned the 771 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:08,570 engineering side of 772 00:29:15,399 --> 00:29:11,690 making a Mars rover which involves a lot 773 00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:15,409 of testing and before we meet our second 774 00:29:22,330 --> 00:29:18,830 speaker we have a short video that shows 775 00:29:23,940 --> 00:29:22,340 a behind-the-scenes peek at the building 776 00:29:27,370 --> 00:29:23,950 and testing of the Mars 2020 Rover 777 00:29:56,910 --> 00:29:27,380 perseverance take a look 778 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:52,950 [Music] 779 00:30:57,909 --> 00:30:55,720 one of the things I loved about that 780 00:31:00,280 --> 00:30:57,919 video is that you get a real sense of 781 00:31:03,220 --> 00:31:00,290 the human scale of the mission not and 782 00:31:04,780 --> 00:31:03,230 not only the physical size of the rover 783 00:31:07,030 --> 00:31:04,790 which is it's a big piece of machinery 784 00:31:09,909 --> 00:31:07,040 but a feel for all the hard-working 785 00:31:13,390 --> 00:31:09,919 humans who are behind the effort to put 786 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:13,400 it on Mars and as part of that effort we 787 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:15,530 have these very special places at NASA 788 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:19,490 JPL that we call test beds and our next 789 00:31:23,140 --> 00:31:21,410 speaker is one of the humans who's 790 00:31:24,610 --> 00:31:23,150 helping to get perseverance ready for 791 00:31:26,140 --> 00:31:24,620 its mission and a couple of these test 792 00:31:28,900 --> 00:31:26,150 beds are his responsibility 793 00:31:31,270 --> 00:31:28,910 so our mentor ian is a mechanical 794 00:31:33,460 --> 00:31:31,280 engineer at JPL and he serves as the 795 00:31:37,390 --> 00:31:33,470 lead for what we call the system testbed 796 00:31:40,570 --> 00:31:37,400 for the Mars 2020 mission hey Armand hi 797 00:31:44,409 --> 00:31:40,580 Preston well tell us about your job at 798 00:31:47,350 --> 00:31:44,419 JPL what do you do yeah so I'm the 799 00:31:49,990 --> 00:31:47,360 testbed lead for the Mars 2020 system 800 00:31:51,940 --> 00:31:50,000 testbed and that's a very special place 801 00:31:54,430 --> 00:31:51,950 where we get to test everything from 802 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:54,440 low-level ones and zeros moving around 803 00:31:58,840 --> 00:31:56,210 on our computer all the way up to really 804 00:32:00,850 --> 00:31:58,850 complicated behaviors like is the rover 805 00:32:03,610 --> 00:32:00,860 able to intelligently navigate on the 806 00:32:08,140 --> 00:32:03,620 surface of Mars or are we going to be 807 00:32:10,690 --> 00:32:08,150 able to land on the surface and and 808 00:32:13,090 --> 00:32:10,700 everything in between so it's a really 809 00:32:18,130 --> 00:32:13,100 special lab with a lot of exciting 810 00:32:20,740 --> 00:32:18,140 hardware and and testing that we do to 811 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:20,750 cover all the different gamut of things 812 00:32:22,860 --> 00:32:22,130 we need to prove to be able to pull off 813 00:32:26,260 --> 00:32:22,870 a mission like this 814 00:32:28,390 --> 00:32:26,270 yeah it's incredibly just a mind-numbing 815 00:32:31,570 --> 00:32:28,400 League mind-bendingly I should say 816 00:32:33,430 --> 00:32:31,580 complex stuff but you are not a rover 817 00:32:36,310 --> 00:32:33,440 newbie you worked on curiosity as well 818 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:36,320 right well maybe you still do that's 819 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:38,570 right no I did I worked on the curiosity 820 00:32:42,730 --> 00:32:40,490 mission first I was working as a 821 00:32:45,370 --> 00:32:42,740 mechanical engineer working on the 822 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:45,380 actuators that drive the wheels and the 823 00:32:49,830 --> 00:32:47,210 robotic arm and all those things and 824 00:32:53,470 --> 00:32:49,840 then I worked in the testbed on the 825 00:32:55,270 --> 00:32:53,480 entry descent landing system and and now 826 00:32:58,030 --> 00:32:55,280 I'm running the lab where we're doing 827 00:32:58,840 --> 00:32:58,040 most of that testing all right well I 828 00:33:00,880 --> 00:32:58,850 asked assume 829 00:33:03,550 --> 00:33:00,890 our question to Briony earlier but I 830 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:03,560 want to ask you as well how does one get 831 00:33:08,230 --> 00:33:05,810 to be an engineer who tests robots that 832 00:33:11,950 --> 00:33:08,240 fly to Mars how do you come to have this 833 00:33:14,290 --> 00:33:11,960 kind of job so I'm a mechanical engineer 834 00:33:16,150 --> 00:33:14,300 and also I have a degree in mechanical 835 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:16,160 engineering and aerospace engineering 836 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:18,530 and I've loved robots in space ever 837 00:33:23,140 --> 00:33:21,650 since I was a little kid and I knew from 838 00:33:24,670 --> 00:33:23,150 very early on that I wanted to do 839 00:33:26,620 --> 00:33:24,680 something with both of those there 840 00:33:28,950 --> 00:33:26,630 aren't that many jobs where you get to 841 00:33:32,170 --> 00:33:28,960 do that and so JPL was kind of a natural 842 00:33:33,970 --> 00:33:32,180 fit for me when I was in school I worked 843 00:33:36,090 --> 00:33:33,980 on these little things called cubes hats 844 00:33:38,470 --> 00:33:36,100 which were two tiny little satellites 845 00:33:40,650 --> 00:33:38,480 and I made a lot of connections that way 846 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:40,660 and I did an internship here at NASA JPL 847 00:33:50,140 --> 00:33:43,970 fell in love and after I graduated I I 848 00:33:52,510 --> 00:33:50,150 applied now what is a testbed what do we 849 00:33:55,510 --> 00:33:52,520 mean by that at JPL specifically and 850 00:33:56,860 --> 00:33:55,520 what are they used for so test beds are 851 00:33:58,990 --> 00:33:56,870 really common in the engineering field 852 00:34:00,430 --> 00:33:59,000 what it means is it's a place where you 853 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:00,440 can test something that you're building 854 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:04,610 and these go anywhere from really low 855 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:07,370 level things like computers or motors 856 00:34:10,930 --> 00:34:09,410 all the way up to what we call the 857 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:10,940 system test beds which is a pretty 858 00:34:16,420 --> 00:34:13,370 unique thing that we do at JPL where we 859 00:34:19,420 --> 00:34:16,430 have basically all of the hardware all 860 00:34:21,220 --> 00:34:19,430 of the equipment and and all the parts 861 00:34:23,980 --> 00:34:21,230 that would go into the rover and the 862 00:34:27,550 --> 00:34:23,990 spacecraft all connected together and we 863 00:34:30,550 --> 00:34:27,560 test them all as one one venue one test 864 00:34:31,780 --> 00:34:30,560 fit and so we can do things where we 865 00:34:34,330 --> 00:34:31,790 have things that interact together 866 00:34:35,770 --> 00:34:34,340 there's about 50 computers on the 867 00:34:36,940 --> 00:34:35,780 perserverance rover they all have to 868 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:36,950 talk to each other they all have to 869 00:34:41,110 --> 00:34:39,170 communicate that's really complicated 870 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:41,120 and takes a lot of work to prove that 871 00:34:45,730 --> 00:34:42,530 all of that is going to work properly 872 00:34:49,410 --> 00:34:45,740 and so those are the types of things 873 00:34:52,180 --> 00:34:49,420 that we do in these system test beds 874 00:34:55,510 --> 00:34:52,190 okay that's it sounds like a very busy 875 00:34:56,710 --> 00:34:55,520 place why don't we go to Sara for our 876 00:35:00,760 --> 00:34:56,720 first question from our live audience 877 00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:00,770 for you Sara what he got for Arman sure 878 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:02,990 well I'm so glad that you asked Arman 879 00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:06,170 how it is that he became a mechanical 880 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:07,730 engineer at JPL because we had a 881 00:35:11,250 --> 00:35:09,250 question related to that 882 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:11,260 on Facebook wanted to know if 883 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:13,930 entry-level mechanical engineers are 884 00:35:17,790 --> 00:35:15,850 able to work on some some of these 885 00:35:20,490 --> 00:35:17,800 missions and I think I can answer that 886 00:35:22,980 --> 00:35:20,500 yes entry-level people can work do this 887 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:22,990 important work and also lots of interns 888 00:35:26,780 --> 00:35:25,450 and JPL interns have had significant 889 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:26,790 roles on our missions 890 00:35:32,910 --> 00:35:29,530 however the question I do want to ask 891 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:32,920 Arman is from Rocky on YouTube he's 892 00:35:37,530 --> 00:35:35,050 wondering about the wheels how the 893 00:35:40,770 --> 00:35:37,540 wheels of perseverance were redesigned 894 00:35:42,660 --> 00:35:40,780 and how will these wheels resist some of 895 00:35:46,610 --> 00:35:42,670 the wear and tear issues that the 896 00:35:50,190 --> 00:35:46,620 Curiosity rover face in Gale Crater 897 00:35:51,810 --> 00:35:50,200 that's a great question so one of the 898 00:35:54,180 --> 00:35:51,820 test beds is something we call the 899 00:35:57,990 --> 00:35:54,190 vehicle system test bed and that's where 900 00:35:59,640 --> 00:35:58,000 we assembled basically as Preston likes 901 00:36:03,150 --> 00:35:59,650 to call it a stunt double of the real 902 00:36:04,830 --> 00:36:03,160 Rover and it is a complete Rover 903 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:04,840 basically exactly what we're going to be 904 00:36:08,550 --> 00:36:06,730 flying but it's something that stays 905 00:36:10,890 --> 00:36:08,560 here on earth and we can test with it 906 00:36:12,750 --> 00:36:10,900 and one of the one of the places we do 907 00:36:15,420 --> 00:36:12,760 this testing is called the Mars yard if 908 00:36:19,500 --> 00:36:15,430 you bring up graphic 22 you can see a 909 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:19,510 picture of that this is basically a big 910 00:36:25,230 --> 00:36:22,330 lot we have on the JPL campus it's like 911 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:25,240 a playground for Mars rovers we have all 912 00:36:29,580 --> 00:36:26,770 sorts of dirt that we can push around 913 00:36:30,990 --> 00:36:29,590 with tractors make Hills and of 914 00:36:33,210 --> 00:36:31,000 different grades and different materials 915 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:33,220 we have rocks that we can place as 916 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:36,010 obstacles and and for the rover to 917 00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:38,050 navigate around and we do a lot of our 918 00:36:42,540 --> 00:36:40,510 testing here and one of the things we 919 00:36:44,430 --> 00:36:42,550 found with the Curiosity rover is the 920 00:36:47,210 --> 00:36:44,440 wheels are designed to be really 921 00:36:50,250 --> 00:36:47,220 lightweight and strong but we definitely 922 00:36:52,290 --> 00:36:50,260 underestimated the sharpness and the 923 00:36:54,510 --> 00:36:52,300 hardness of the rocks on the surface at 924 00:36:56,190 --> 00:36:54,520 some spots and so we started getting 925 00:36:58,380 --> 00:36:56,200 holes in these rocks like Swiss cheese 926 00:37:00,180 --> 00:36:58,390 after a while and you know curiosity's 927 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:00,190 been on Mars for a long time now and so 928 00:37:04,050 --> 00:37:01,930 the wheels still work they work great 929 00:37:06,330 --> 00:37:04,060 but but they are starting to get worn 930 00:37:07,820 --> 00:37:06,340 out so there was a big redesign effort 931 00:37:11,970 --> 00:37:07,830 that was done for the perseverance 932 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:11,980 mission and and one of the things we 933 00:37:15,930 --> 00:37:14,170 used other than trying a bunch of 934 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:15,940 different tread patterns and thicknesses 935 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:19,690 and materials we pull up picture 17 we 936 00:37:23,820 --> 00:37:22,090 have this rover that's also 937 00:37:26,100 --> 00:37:23,830 test but not assistant testbed but this 938 00:37:29,190 --> 00:37:26,110 one's called the Scarecrow and what this 939 00:37:31,110 --> 00:37:29,200 is used for is practicing driving around 940 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:31,120 including understanding the wear on the 941 00:37:34,830 --> 00:37:33,250 wheels and the reason it looks like this 942 00:37:37,650 --> 00:37:34,840 and the reason we call it the Scarecrow 943 00:37:41,220 --> 00:37:37,660 is because it has no brain but it is not 944 00:37:43,530 --> 00:37:41,230 the complicated vstb that I'm talking 945 00:37:47,070 --> 00:37:43,540 about that we're currently building it's 946 00:37:49,790 --> 00:37:47,080 a much simpler Rover but it behaves like 947 00:37:52,170 --> 00:37:49,800 what the real Rover will on Mars so 948 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:52,180 gravity is different on earth versus on 949 00:37:55,710 --> 00:37:54,010 Mars it's about three eighths of what it 950 00:37:59,700 --> 00:37:55,720 is on earth everything is much lighter 951 00:38:01,830 --> 00:37:59,710 there so if we drove around our V STD on 952 00:38:03,750 --> 00:38:01,840 in this Mars yard it's not really gonna 953 00:38:07,230 --> 00:38:03,760 perform the same way as the real Rover 954 00:38:09,420 --> 00:38:07,240 will this is much lighter the mobility 955 00:38:11,610 --> 00:38:09,430 system is stiffer and overbuilt so it 956 00:38:13,620 --> 00:38:11,620 acts a lot more like the real Rover 957 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:13,630 below Mars and so this is some of the 958 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:16,330 testing that we've done to end up with 959 00:38:21,540 --> 00:38:18,010 the the wheel design that we have for 960 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:21,550 this mission I've been here four years 961 00:38:24,750 --> 00:38:23,530 and I still think it's super cool that 962 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:24,760 we have a place called the Mars yard 963 00:38:31,050 --> 00:38:28,330 this just is so neat and just to clarify 964 00:38:33,770 --> 00:38:31,060 I think you said it but vstb answer it's 965 00:38:38,190 --> 00:38:33,780 a vehicle system testbed that's right 966 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:38,200 okay so that's that's one important 967 00:38:42,330 --> 00:38:40,450 testbed but there are several others at 968 00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:42,340 NASA JPL for the work that you're 969 00:38:47,910 --> 00:38:45,250 involved in right that's correct we have 970 00:38:50,490 --> 00:38:47,920 a couple other test beds that we use for 971 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:50,500 all of the other type of testing so 972 00:38:54,900 --> 00:38:52,930 whereas the vehicle system test that 973 00:38:57,800 --> 00:38:54,910 focuses on things like driving and 974 00:39:00,570 --> 00:38:57,810 eventually on drilling core samples and 975 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:00,580 all of those types of surface related 976 00:39:05,190 --> 00:39:03,250 things testing out instruments we have 977 00:39:07,020 --> 00:39:05,200 another test testbed called the mission 978 00:39:09,390 --> 00:39:07,030 system testbed that's much more focused 979 00:39:13,020 --> 00:39:09,400 on getting to Mars so we have all of the 980 00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:13,030 hardware from the computers to the power 981 00:39:18,060 --> 00:39:15,670 assemblies and the sensors that we're 982 00:39:20,930 --> 00:39:18,070 going to use to navigate to Mars and 983 00:39:24,030 --> 00:39:20,940 then pull off the landing on Mars and 984 00:39:25,410 --> 00:39:24,040 the interesting thing there is we in 985 00:39:27,660 --> 00:39:25,420 addition to having all of that hardware 986 00:39:30,510 --> 00:39:27,670 we also have all of these what we call 987 00:39:32,690 --> 00:39:30,520 simulation support equipment so that 988 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:32,700 hardware which is all sitting on a bench 989 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:35,890 is not very useful if you're 990 00:39:39,660 --> 00:39:37,930 star scanners pointed at a wall and her 991 00:39:41,250 --> 00:39:39,670 cameras are pointed at a wall and you 992 00:39:42,900 --> 00:39:41,260 know you're not you're measuring the 993 00:39:44,430 --> 00:39:42,910 gravity of Earth instead of what you're 994 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:44,440 measuring as you're entering the 995 00:39:49,470 --> 00:39:46,450 atmosphere so we have all of these 996 00:39:51,779 --> 00:39:49,480 simulations running that pretend to be 997 00:39:53,309 --> 00:39:51,789 those environments and all of those 998 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:53,319 simulations are connected to the 999 00:39:57,420 --> 00:39:55,930 hardware so we can do things like do 1000 00:39:59,789 --> 00:39:57,430 trial runs of entry descent landing 1001 00:40:01,289 --> 00:39:59,799 where we have a gravity model and an 1002 00:40:02,910 --> 00:40:01,299 atmosphere model and all these things 1003 00:40:04,620 --> 00:40:02,920 that are keeping track of the 1004 00:40:06,539 --> 00:40:04,630 theoretical position of this spacecraft 1005 00:40:08,460 --> 00:40:06,549 as it's coming into the atmosphere and 1006 00:40:10,349 --> 00:40:08,470 then feeding that information back into 1007 00:40:12,630 --> 00:40:10,359 the sensors so the star scanner will 1008 00:40:14,220 --> 00:40:12,640 actually see the stars that we think it 1009 00:40:17,099 --> 00:40:14,230 will see when it's on its way there or 1010 00:40:19,170 --> 00:40:17,109 the landing radar will actually get 1011 00:40:20,700 --> 00:40:19,180 radio waves as if it's seeing the 1012 00:40:23,099 --> 00:40:20,710 surface of Mars but really is just 1013 00:40:25,140 --> 00:40:23,109 coming out of a rack of computers and so 1014 00:40:27,870 --> 00:40:25,150 not only can we test the computers that 1015 00:40:29,730 --> 00:40:27,880 are enabling all this to happen but 1016 00:40:32,250 --> 00:40:29,740 we're also testing those computers 1017 00:40:34,950 --> 00:40:32,260 talking to the sensors that are going to 1018 00:40:36,539 --> 00:40:34,960 be enabling this mission and so that's 1019 00:40:39,089 --> 00:40:36,549 what makes these system test beds very 1020 00:40:41,220 --> 00:40:39,099 special is that we have everything there 1021 00:40:44,279 --> 00:40:41,230 and we have all of these simulations 1022 00:40:45,779 --> 00:40:44,289 that let us make the hardware pretend 1023 00:40:48,509 --> 00:40:45,789 like it's any at any point in the 1024 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:48,519 mission and we do hundreds and thousands 1025 00:40:52,410 --> 00:40:49,930 of different tests and different 1026 00:40:54,029 --> 00:40:52,420 varieties of iterations of those tests 1027 00:40:57,990 --> 00:40:54,039 to make sure we understand how it's 1028 00:40:59,609 --> 00:40:58,000 going to behave and can I just poke at 1029 00:41:02,130 --> 00:40:59,619 that a little bit more I thought it was 1030 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:02,140 when we first talked about your work a 1031 00:41:07,259 --> 00:41:05,170 few weeks ago I thought it's fascinating 1032 00:41:09,569 --> 00:41:07,269 that you're able to use use these 1033 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:09,579 systems as sort of like flight 1034 00:41:14,430 --> 00:41:12,490 simulators Mars rover addition for the 1035 00:41:16,980 --> 00:41:14,440 team as well right you can do 1036 00:41:19,859 --> 00:41:16,990 simulations for your your team and the 1037 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:19,869 the operations folks and how they're 1038 00:41:24,839 --> 00:41:22,450 going to how they're going to operate 1039 00:41:27,329 --> 00:41:24,849 the mission but you can also do 1040 00:41:29,759 --> 00:41:27,339 simulations for them to kind of run run 1041 00:41:30,630 --> 00:41:29,769 the team through their paces right sure 1042 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:30,640 absolutely 1043 00:41:35,670 --> 00:41:33,490 as we heard in bryony's section there's 1044 00:41:37,769 --> 00:41:35,680 a lot of planning that happens to get 1045 00:41:39,930 --> 00:41:37,779 the team ready for these missions there 1046 00:41:42,420 --> 00:41:39,940 it's just a really complicated machine 1047 00:41:43,799 --> 00:41:42,430 and learning how to operate it and and 1048 00:41:45,509 --> 00:41:43,809 planning out what it's going to do today 1049 00:41:47,670 --> 00:41:45,519 day to day it's very complicated 1050 00:41:48,420 --> 00:41:47,680 so one of the things we do with these 1051 00:41:52,050 --> 00:41:48,430 test beds 1052 00:41:53,820 --> 00:41:52,060 is we have the operations team that's in 1053 00:41:55,350 --> 00:41:53,830 the building they're gonna be in when 1054 00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:55,360 they're running the mission 1055 00:42:00,060 --> 00:41:57,130 like for example launch we're preparing 1056 00:42:03,810 --> 00:42:00,070 for coming up soon and landing and other 1057 00:42:06,060 --> 00:42:03,820 key activities and we use the test beds 1058 00:42:09,150 --> 00:42:06,070 to simulate the real spacecraft so that 1059 00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:09,160 testbed the the ops team is flying that 1060 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:10,750 testbed instead of the real thing 1061 00:42:14,220 --> 00:42:12,490 from their point of view it looks very 1062 00:42:16,230 --> 00:42:14,230 similar in fact in some ways it looks 1063 00:42:18,570 --> 00:42:16,240 identical and so we can do things like 1064 00:42:20,700 --> 00:42:18,580 practice their decision making ability 1065 00:42:22,050 --> 00:42:20,710 we can do things like practice timing of 1066 00:42:23,820 --> 00:42:22,060 different events that are going to 1067 00:42:26,310 --> 00:42:23,830 happen sending commands and getting 1068 00:42:28,980 --> 00:42:26,320 telemetry back and and we even do off 1069 00:42:30,570 --> 00:42:28,990 nominal operational readiness test where 1070 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:30,580 we have a whole team that's just 1071 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:32,410 creating problems for the ops team to 1072 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:34,450 solve they don't know what they are and 1073 00:42:37,740 --> 00:42:36,370 we have to make it seem like something 1074 00:42:40,710 --> 00:42:37,750 went wrong and they have to figure out 1075 00:42:45,180 --> 00:42:40,720 how to how to fix it so so it's a very 1076 00:42:47,310 --> 00:42:45,190 valuable resource for us very cool so 1077 00:42:49,350 --> 00:42:47,320 Sara I think we have another question 1078 00:42:51,470 --> 00:42:49,360 from our live audience forearm and why 1079 00:42:55,470 --> 00:42:51,480 don't you go ahead 1080 00:42:58,170 --> 00:42:55,480 sure Manesh on YouTube is wondering what 1081 00:43:00,450 --> 00:42:58,180 the biggest challenges are to designing 1082 00:43:03,060 --> 00:43:00,460 a vehicle that can function on a foreign 1083 00:43:04,950 --> 00:43:03,070 planet so maybe you can speak to the 1084 00:43:09,630 --> 00:43:04,960 conditions on Mars that these Rovers 1085 00:43:12,660 --> 00:43:09,640 have to face sure there are a lot of 1086 00:43:14,340 --> 00:43:12,670 different challenges and every planet in 1087 00:43:16,650 --> 00:43:14,350 the solar system has its own unique set 1088 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:16,660 of challenges so what what I'm saying 1089 00:43:20,460 --> 00:43:19,090 will apply to Mars but you know there's 1090 00:43:22,020 --> 00:43:20,470 a whole other set of challenges for 1091 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:22,030 other missions that are going to moons 1092 00:43:26,700 --> 00:43:23,890 of Jupiter and other places in the solar 1093 00:43:29,310 --> 00:43:26,710 system but one of the things some things 1094 00:43:31,590 --> 00:43:29,320 are universal obviously you don't have 1095 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:31,600 air and even on the surface of Mars we 1096 00:43:35,700 --> 00:43:34,210 only have an atmosphere that's 1% as 1097 00:43:37,980 --> 00:43:35,710 thick as what we have on earth so 1098 00:43:39,630 --> 00:43:37,990 there's almost no air you don't really 1099 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:39,640 think about it but air moves a lot of 1100 00:43:43,890 --> 00:43:41,770 heat and so getting heat out of your 1101 00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:43,900 electronics and out of your computers 1102 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:46,690 can be trickier so we have pumps that 1103 00:43:51,660 --> 00:43:48,490 actually pump fluid through the rover to 1104 00:43:54,510 --> 00:43:51,670 cool it down and things like that also 1105 00:43:57,660 --> 00:43:54,520 the dust on Mars is very fine 1106 00:44:01,020 --> 00:43:57,670 it gets in everything and so all our 1107 00:44:01,590 --> 00:44:01,030 gear boxes and and motors and all those 1108 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:01,600 things that 1109 00:44:05,610 --> 00:44:02,890 need to move and do all these 1110 00:44:07,500 --> 00:44:05,620 complicated activities need to be 1111 00:44:10,140 --> 00:44:07,510 designed to be able to withstand that 1112 00:44:11,670 --> 00:44:10,150 and along with that temperature Mars 1113 00:44:15,510 --> 00:44:11,680 gets really really cold and really 1114 00:44:18,510 --> 00:44:15,520 really hot - none of us would survive 1115 00:44:20,070 --> 00:44:18,520 even a minute on the surface so we have 1116 00:44:22,830 --> 00:44:20,080 to design all of this hardware to be 1117 00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:22,840 able to work things like lubricants like 1118 00:44:27,330 --> 00:44:24,690 the oil you put in your car would freeze 1119 00:44:29,550 --> 00:44:27,340 at night on Mars and so we have to 1120 00:44:32,100 --> 00:44:29,560 develop special lubricants to use in the 1121 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:32,110 gearboxes so there's all these unique 1122 00:44:36,030 --> 00:44:34,090 challenges radiation another one of them 1123 00:44:38,790 --> 00:44:36,040 your cell phone would last maybe a day 1124 00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:38,800 up there we have to design all these 1125 00:44:43,110 --> 00:44:41,410 computers to withstand radiation so 1126 00:44:45,390 --> 00:44:43,120 there are a lot of unique challenges to 1127 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:45,400 designing something that works in space 1128 00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:47,170 or works on another planet but I think 1129 00:44:54,660 --> 00:44:48,730 that's one of the funnest parts of being 1130 00:44:56,610 --> 00:44:54,670 an engineer working in this field and 1131 00:44:59,940 --> 00:44:56,620 Sarah you had another follow-up question 1132 00:45:01,530 --> 00:44:59,950 to go with that you know well it wasn't 1133 00:45:03,420 --> 00:45:01,540 exactly a follow-up question but it's a 1134 00:45:05,070 --> 00:45:03,430 question I've heard a lot before and I 1135 00:45:07,980 --> 00:45:05,080 thought perhaps Armen could answer it 1136 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:07,990 it's a common one so it's high flyer and 1137 00:45:12,060 --> 00:45:10,090 YouTube is wondering how fast the 1138 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:12,070 perseverance Wilbur will be able to move 1139 00:45:18,930 --> 00:45:16,930 on Mars so that's a really good question 1140 00:45:21,060 --> 00:45:18,940 and if you when things get back to 1141 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:21,070 normal if you come and visit JPL on one 1142 00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:22,810 of the tours you'll see you might see 1143 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:24,970 this rover driving around into Mars yard 1144 00:45:30,750 --> 00:45:27,970 our test rover and as you notice in some 1145 00:45:34,050 --> 00:45:30,760 of these videos everything is sped up so 1146 00:45:36,930 --> 00:45:34,060 everything is done really slowly I think 1147 00:45:39,060 --> 00:45:36,940 on Mars Science Lab I'm reaching back so 1148 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:39,070 if I get this wrong don't hold it 1149 00:45:43,350 --> 00:45:40,810 against me but I think we were driving 1150 00:45:45,720 --> 00:45:43,360 about a hundred feet or so a day and I 1151 00:45:47,190 --> 00:45:45,730 think we're expecting to double that it 1152 00:45:50,820 --> 00:45:47,200 doesn't seem like a lot but you have to 1153 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:50,830 factor in that the rover has to do all 1154 00:45:57,320 --> 00:45:53,410 this autonomously meaning we have no 1155 00:45:59,850 --> 00:45:57,330 intervention it takes it can take 1156 00:46:01,650 --> 00:45:59,860 between 14 minutes to half an hour just 1157 00:46:03,690 --> 00:46:01,660 to get a signal to Mars and then the 1158 00:46:05,070 --> 00:46:03,700 same amount of time to come back so we 1159 00:46:07,140 --> 00:46:05,080 can't drive this thing like a 1160 00:46:09,150 --> 00:46:07,150 remote-control car it has to take 1161 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:09,160 pictures of its surroundings it has to 1162 00:46:13,140 --> 00:46:11,410 process those images and create 3d maps 1163 00:46:15,029 --> 00:46:13,150 of where all the hazards are 1164 00:46:16,859 --> 00:46:15,039 all the rocks all the cliffs all of that 1165 00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:16,869 stuff it has to decide what the best 1166 00:46:22,289 --> 00:46:20,170 path forward is and then it has to drive 1167 00:46:26,279 --> 00:46:22,299 and stop and do that all over again so 1168 00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:26,289 to improve the driving performance one 1169 00:46:30,029 --> 00:46:27,730 of the things we did was add a whole 1170 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:30,039 nother computer which is called the 1171 00:46:34,380 --> 00:46:31,930 vision compute element it's basically a 1172 00:46:37,109 --> 00:46:34,390 really powerful graphics card it's going 1173 00:46:38,609 --> 00:46:37,119 to process those images for us and we'll 1174 00:46:41,670 --> 00:46:38,619 be able to drive much much faster than 1175 00:46:46,849 --> 00:46:41,680 or cover much more distance than we did 1176 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:46,859 on the curiosity mission you know 1177 00:46:56,250 --> 00:46:52,450 getting speeding not likely not by our 1178 00:46:58,440 --> 00:46:56,260 standards but you know we don't we don't 1179 00:47:00,059 --> 00:46:58,450 have to do things quickly either we 1180 00:47:03,170 --> 00:47:00,069 don't really get a chance to go and fix 1181 00:47:05,940 --> 00:47:03,180 stuff if we get it wrong so we get to 1182 00:47:08,339 --> 00:47:05,950 command this thing once a day usually 1183 00:47:10,500 --> 00:47:08,349 and we get telemetry back once a day and 1184 00:47:14,039 --> 00:47:10,510 so we have plenty of time to do things 1185 00:47:15,599 --> 00:47:14,049 nice and slow patience is a virtue all 1186 00:47:20,549 --> 00:47:15,609 right let's not get any speeding tickets 1187 00:47:22,589 --> 00:47:20,559 on Mars so Arman you also told me about 1188 00:47:25,710 --> 00:47:22,599 a thing that you guys do called 1189 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:25,720 shadowing supporting the operations team 1190 00:47:31,789 --> 00:47:27,930 right can you tell us what that is 1191 00:47:34,410 --> 00:47:31,799 sure shadowing what we refer to as 1192 00:47:37,019 --> 00:47:34,420 mirroring or following along with what 1193 00:47:38,730 --> 00:47:37,029 the real spacecraft is doing we're 1194 00:47:40,500 --> 00:47:38,740 getting ready to do that for launch in a 1195 00:47:44,190 --> 00:47:40,510 few weeks here in about a month here and 1196 00:47:46,710 --> 00:47:44,200 and so the idea there is that the 1197 00:47:48,269 --> 00:47:46,720 twofold one we all want any surprises 1198 00:47:50,220 --> 00:47:48,279 with any commands we send to the 1199 00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:50,230 spacecraft we want to know that whatever 1200 00:47:55,079 --> 00:47:53,410 we send we've tried out in these test 1201 00:47:56,819 --> 00:47:55,089 beds and we know how the system is going 1202 00:47:59,940 --> 00:47:56,829 to behave and that everything's going to 1203 00:48:01,680 --> 00:47:59,950 work the way we expect so in one sense 1204 00:48:02,849 --> 00:48:01,690 we'll send commands here before we send 1205 00:48:04,410 --> 00:48:02,859 them in real-life make sure they're 1206 00:48:07,410 --> 00:48:04,420 doing what we what we think they should 1207 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:07,420 and then the other hand we want to be 1208 00:48:13,140 --> 00:48:10,210 ready to debug any problems that might 1209 00:48:15,930 --> 00:48:13,150 come up let's say we get up in space and 1210 00:48:18,059 --> 00:48:15,940 we don't see any stars or we aren't in 1211 00:48:19,769 --> 00:48:18,069 the right orientation exactly or 1212 00:48:22,829 --> 00:48:19,779 something is not working right or a 1213 00:48:25,140 --> 00:48:22,839 computer resets we don't want to spend 1214 00:48:26,850 --> 00:48:25,150 hours getting the testbed set up to be 1215 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:26,860 able to debug that problem 1216 00:48:31,260 --> 00:48:29,530 so we're following along in lockstep 1217 00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:31,270 with the real mission and as soon as 1218 00:48:34,890 --> 00:48:32,650 something happens we have a team ready 1219 00:48:38,790 --> 00:48:34,900 to go that can just jump in and start 1220 00:48:41,190 --> 00:48:38,800 working those anomalies I thought that 1221 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:41,200 was a particularly neat capability that 1222 00:48:45,750 --> 00:48:42,610 you you don't you don't want to waste 1223 00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:45,760 the time spinning up to get ready to to 1224 00:48:51,150 --> 00:48:48,210 figure out what to do you're ready to go 1225 00:48:53,220 --> 00:48:51,160 can you talk a little bit about some of 1226 00:48:55,290 --> 00:48:53,230 the activities that that you and your 1227 00:48:57,720 --> 00:48:55,300 team have done in in preparation for 1228 00:48:59,250 --> 00:48:57,730 Mars 2020 you talked about some of the 1229 00:49:01,440 --> 00:48:59,260 capabilities in these different test 1230 00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:01,450 beds but but so many specific things 1231 00:49:04,770 --> 00:49:03,370 that you guys have have done while 1232 00:49:08,850 --> 00:49:04,780 you're preparing for the mission or 1233 00:49:10,980 --> 00:49:08,860 testing it out yeah I think the two big 1234 00:49:12,690 --> 00:49:10,990 ones right now or we're building the the 1235 00:49:14,940 --> 00:49:12,700 vehicle system testbed that I talked 1236 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:14,950 about so that's going to be the stunt 1237 00:49:19,230 --> 00:49:16,690 double of the rover and we're having 1238 00:49:21,870 --> 00:49:19,240 that come online later this year that's 1239 00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:21,880 a huge effort obviously it's in many 1240 00:49:25,590 --> 00:49:23,890 ways just as complicated as a real Rover 1241 00:49:27,180 --> 00:49:25,600 we don't have to take the same 1242 00:49:29,910 --> 00:49:27,190 cleanliness precautions and things like 1243 00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:29,920 that but it's still complicated and then 1244 00:49:35,490 --> 00:49:32,410 the operational readiness test I talked 1245 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:35,500 about the anomalous one where we were 1246 00:49:39,570 --> 00:49:37,210 throwing problems at the operations team 1247 00:49:42,090 --> 00:49:39,580 that was a big milestone to show that 1248 00:49:44,240 --> 00:49:42,100 our infrastructure and our team and our 1249 00:49:46,890 --> 00:49:44,250 management is all ready to react and and 1250 00:49:50,970 --> 00:49:46,900 take on any challenges that we might we 1251 00:49:52,970 --> 00:49:50,980 might be faced with I have no doubt that 1252 00:49:55,350 --> 00:49:52,980 you guys will be will be ready to go 1253 00:49:57,960 --> 00:49:55,360 Sarah we have time for a couple more 1254 00:50:02,550 --> 00:49:57,970 audience questions what do you got from 1255 00:50:06,270 --> 00:50:02,560 from Facebook and YouTube for us sure 1256 00:50:10,110 --> 00:50:06,280 let's see we have this one from ask NASA 1257 00:50:12,150 --> 00:50:10,120 I think this is Astro Boy who is 1258 00:50:15,330 --> 00:50:12,160 wondering how long this Mars mission 1259 00:50:17,910 --> 00:50:15,340 will last does it last until the rover 1260 00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:17,920 collects all its samples and the data or 1261 00:50:24,530 --> 00:50:18,970 does it keep going 1262 00:50:29,700 --> 00:50:28,170 like so we like to keep our robberies 1263 00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:29,710 going as long as possible you know the 1264 00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:31,330 opportunity Rover was supposed to last 1265 00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:33,490 90 days ended up lasting more than 11 1266 00:50:38,910 --> 00:50:36,490 years because of the amazing engineer 1267 00:50:39,980 --> 00:50:38,920 engineering work done at JPL so this 1268 00:50:41,660 --> 00:50:39,990 Rover 1269 00:50:43,430 --> 00:50:41,670 you know actually both the Curiosity 1270 00:50:45,349 --> 00:50:43,440 rover and the perseverance rover do you 1271 00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:45,359 have sort of a limited life because they 1272 00:50:50,710 --> 00:50:47,970 are actually nuclear-powered they run 1273 00:50:52,970 --> 00:50:50,720 using a radio thermal generator an RTG 1274 00:50:55,099 --> 00:50:52,980 basically with the radioactive decay of 1275 00:50:56,900 --> 00:50:55,109 reactive materials on the inside that 1276 00:50:59,180 --> 00:50:56,910 drives a heat engine which drives 1277 00:51:01,789 --> 00:50:59,190 electricity for the for the Rovers and 1278 00:51:03,769 --> 00:51:01,799 you know those materials decay over time 1279 00:51:06,559 --> 00:51:03,779 so eventually you actually do run out of 1280 00:51:08,240 --> 00:51:06,569 energy for the Curiosity rover or we're 1281 00:51:09,980 --> 00:51:08,250 hoping it'll keep going for at least 1282 00:51:11,509 --> 00:51:09,990 another three or four years and we're 1283 00:51:13,670 --> 00:51:11,519 hoping perseverance will last just as 1284 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:13,680 long so we're hoping we'll get you know 1285 00:51:18,109 --> 00:51:16,410 we have to last a Mars year but we're 1286 00:51:19,700 --> 00:51:18,119 hoping we'll get a lot more of that from 1287 00:51:21,799 --> 00:51:19,710 the rover we're actually hoping we'll 1288 00:51:23,870 --> 00:51:21,809 get to drive out of jezero crater on to 1289 00:51:25,970 --> 00:51:23,880 the surrounding areas around which 1290 00:51:31,759 --> 00:51:25,980 there's lots of even even better geology 1291 00:51:33,890 --> 00:51:31,769 beyond the crater itself yeah we're not 1292 00:51:36,349 --> 00:51:33,900 gonna pull the plug on this thing so as 1293 00:51:42,410 --> 00:51:36,359 long as it's working we plan to keep 1294 00:51:46,279 --> 00:51:42,420 driving it alright Sarah you got another 1295 00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:46,289 question for up for for Armen didn't I 1296 00:51:51,230 --> 00:51:47,450 do I do 1297 00:51:53,509 --> 00:51:51,240 Ben you mean on Facebook is asking so 1298 00:51:56,870 --> 00:51:53,519 which systems on the rover have 1299 00:51:59,019 --> 00:51:56,880 redundancy to improve reliability sounds 1300 00:52:02,720 --> 00:51:59,029 like kind of a good engineering question 1301 00:52:03,980 --> 00:52:02,730 that is a great question and if anyone's 1302 00:52:06,319 --> 00:52:03,990 wondering what we're done in C means it 1303 00:52:10,190 --> 00:52:06,329 just means backups we have backups for 1304 00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:10,200 almost everything so we have yep we have 1305 00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:13,170 backup plans and backup hardware we have 1306 00:52:18,740 --> 00:52:16,410 two computers on on the rover 1307 00:52:21,380 --> 00:52:18,750 they both are equally capable of doing 1308 00:52:24,140 --> 00:52:21,390 the job we only need one so if we ever 1309 00:52:26,650 --> 00:52:24,150 have a problem we can swap that we also 1310 00:52:29,269 --> 00:52:26,660 have backups for a lot of the power 1311 00:52:30,950 --> 00:52:29,279 hardware that will turn devices on and 1312 00:52:32,569 --> 00:52:30,960 off and collect all sorts of information 1313 00:52:34,249 --> 00:52:32,579 about the health of the rover like 1314 00:52:35,450 --> 00:52:34,259 temperatures and voltages and things 1315 00:52:38,990 --> 00:52:35,460 like that 1316 00:52:40,910 --> 00:52:39,000 we have backups of some sensors like we 1317 00:52:43,759 --> 00:52:40,920 have an inertial measurement unit that 1318 00:52:47,269 --> 00:52:43,769 can measure the like the compass in your 1319 00:52:49,309 --> 00:52:47,279 iPhone or smartphone and measure the 1320 00:52:52,249 --> 00:52:49,319 orientation of the rover and so we have 1321 00:52:53,050 --> 00:52:52,259 two of those and a lot of the 1322 00:52:55,030 --> 00:52:53,060 instruments have 1323 00:52:57,190 --> 00:52:55,040 an A and a beast died so we can talk to 1324 00:52:59,260 --> 00:52:57,200 them from either computer so there's 1325 00:53:02,380 --> 00:52:59,270 there's a lot of redundancy all over the 1326 00:53:05,410 --> 00:53:02,390 system and and that's part of why these 1327 00:53:07,600 --> 00:53:05,420 test campaigns are so thorough and takes 1328 00:53:09,610 --> 00:53:07,610 so much time and effort because all that 1329 00:53:11,260 --> 00:53:09,620 redundancy is complicated and and the 1330 00:53:14,950 --> 00:53:11,270 interactions are complicated and we test 1331 00:53:17,680 --> 00:53:14,960 all of it yeah our Armen I want to jump 1332 00:53:19,780 --> 00:53:17,690 in and kind of wrap up with you by 1333 00:53:23,170 --> 00:53:19,790 asking something I kind of missed or 1334 00:53:25,570 --> 00:53:23,180 earlier in our talk was that the testing 1335 00:53:27,520 --> 00:53:25,580 is a really important part of our 1336 00:53:29,650 --> 00:53:27,530 culture at NASA JPL it's something that 1337 00:53:32,470 --> 00:53:29,660 we do we believe very strongly in 1338 00:53:34,180 --> 00:53:32,480 testing testing testing why is it so 1339 00:53:35,380 --> 00:53:34,190 important and why is it such a big part 1340 00:53:40,930 --> 00:53:35,390 of our work 1341 00:53:42,790 --> 00:53:40,940 I think testing is really important for 1342 00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:42,800 the aerospace field in general 1343 00:53:47,770 --> 00:53:44,450 especially anything leaving this planet 1344 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:47,780 because it's not like other devices that 1345 00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:50,210 are engineered to work here you can't go 1346 00:53:54,760 --> 00:53:53,090 and fix something if it breaks you can't 1347 00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:54,770 go and improve something if you didn't 1348 00:53:58,750 --> 00:53:56,810 design it well enough we have to plan 1349 00:54:00,700 --> 00:53:58,760 for every contingency we spend a lot of 1350 00:54:02,770 --> 00:54:00,710 time understanding the environment that 1351 00:54:05,530 --> 00:54:02,780 this Rover has to operate in and 1352 00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:05,540 spacecraft has to operate in and we do 1353 00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:08,090 our best to design something that will 1354 00:54:12,070 --> 00:54:10,490 will work in that environment but you 1355 00:54:13,990 --> 00:54:12,080 don't really know until you test it and 1356 00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:14,000 the level of testing that we go through 1357 00:54:18,550 --> 00:54:16,250 I think is extraordinary and I think 1358 00:54:20,770 --> 00:54:18,560 that's a big reason why why we've been 1359 00:54:22,660 --> 00:54:20,780 as successful as we have been because 1360 00:54:24,580 --> 00:54:22,670 everything gets tested like I said from 1361 00:54:26,380 --> 00:54:24,590 the lowest level down to like the parts 1362 00:54:28,150 --> 00:54:26,390 the microchips on the board's all the 1363 00:54:30,450 --> 00:54:28,160 way up to the entire rover and the 1364 00:54:32,830 --> 00:54:30,460 spacecraft all as one assembly so 1365 00:54:36,460 --> 00:54:32,840 testing is a huge part of the culture at 1366 00:54:37,570 --> 00:54:36,470 JPL and NASA alright yeah it's it's 1367 00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:37,580 definitely something that's that's a 1368 00:54:43,900 --> 00:54:40,690 very important to the way we do our work 1369 00:54:46,240 --> 00:54:43,910 well that is about all the time we have 1370 00:54:48,340 --> 00:54:46,250 to talk with you Armin thank you so much 1371 00:54:51,510 --> 00:54:48,350 for joining us and really good luck to 1372 00:54:54,310 --> 00:54:51,520 you and the team thank you 1373 00:54:56,950 --> 00:54:54,320 alright well again we want to thank 1374 00:55:00,010 --> 00:54:56,960 Briony Horgan and Armin Torian for being 1375 00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:00,020 with us we'll all be watching with a lot 1376 00:55:05,380 --> 00:55:02,330 of excitement when that rocket lifts off 1377 00:55:08,050 --> 00:55:05,390 month and thank you to Sarah market for 1378 00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:08,060 sharing our audience questions and of 1379 00:55:12,280 --> 00:55:09,650 course thank you all of you for watching 1380 00:55:14,860 --> 00:55:12,290 and submitting those questions glad we 1381 00:55:17,170 --> 00:55:14,870 could get to some of those now again if 1382 00:55:19,450 --> 00:55:17,180 you are looking for resources from NASA 1383 00:55:23,110 --> 00:55:19,460 regarding the Mars 2020 mission you can 1384 00:55:26,380 --> 00:55:23,120 go to Mars nasa.gov slash Mars 2020 and 1385 00:55:29,410 --> 00:55:26,390 follow at NASA persevere on Facebook and 1386 00:55:31,330 --> 00:55:29,420 Twitter that's all for this month but we 1387 00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:31,340 hope you'll join us next month as we 1388 00:55:38,710 --> 00:55:36,050 pivot our focus to Venus will ask is it 1389 00:55:41,740 --> 00:55:38,720 Earth's evil twin or maybe just under 1390 00:55:45,430 --> 00:55:41,750 misunderstood you'll have to tune in to