1 00:00:03,590 --> 00:00:01,990 nasa's jet propulsion laboratory 2 00:00:06,309 --> 00:00:03,600 presents 3 00:00:08,310 --> 00:00:06,319 the von carmen lecture a series of talks 4 00:00:11,589 --> 00:00:08,320 by scientists and engineers who are 5 00:00:18,950 --> 00:00:11,599 exploring our planet our solar system 6 00:00:24,630 --> 00:00:21,349 hello and welcome to another edition of 7 00:00:26,230 --> 00:00:24,640 the 2022 von carmen talks i am nikki 8 00:00:28,550 --> 00:00:26,240 weirich from jpl's office of 9 00:00:30,710 --> 00:00:28,560 communications and education and i will 10 00:00:34,389 --> 00:00:30,720 be your host for our topic this evening 11 00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:34,399 curiosity a decade on mars 12 00:00:40,709 --> 00:00:36,880 curiosity successfully landed on the 13 00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:40,719 surface of mars august 5th of 2012. 14 00:00:46,709 --> 00:00:43,360 in the past decade curiosity also known 15 00:00:49,750 --> 00:00:46,719 as the mars science laboratory or msl 16 00:00:52,709 --> 00:00:49,760 has exceeded expectations completed some 17 00:00:54,069 --> 00:00:52,719 amazing science and has so much more to 18 00:00:56,310 --> 00:00:54,079 give 19 00:00:58,869 --> 00:00:56,320 joining us as co-hosts this evening is 20 00:01:01,750 --> 00:00:58,879 sarah marcotte sarah brings over two 21 00:01:03,750 --> 00:01:01,760 decades of experience inspiring learning 22 00:01:06,070 --> 00:01:03,760 in out-of-school environments 23 00:01:08,550 --> 00:01:06,080 currently a public engagement specialist 24 00:01:11,109 --> 00:01:08,560 for jpl she works to connect learners of 25 00:01:14,710 --> 00:01:11,119 all ages to current scientific research 26 00:01:17,670 --> 00:01:14,720 in person and online through events 27 00:01:18,789 --> 00:01:17,680 exhibits and virtual experiences hiya 28 00:01:20,230 --> 00:01:18,799 sarah 29 00:01:21,990 --> 00:01:20,240 hey there 30 00:01:23,670 --> 00:01:22,000 great to be here tonight nikki 31 00:01:25,270 --> 00:01:23,680 oh we are so happy you are here now 32 00:01:26,789 --> 00:01:25,280 you've got some resources to share with 33 00:01:28,310 --> 00:01:26,799 us as well tonight so i'm going to throw 34 00:01:30,149 --> 00:01:28,320 it over to you to share some of those 35 00:01:32,550 --> 00:01:30,159 resources 36 00:01:34,789 --> 00:01:32,560 that sounds great so i am so happy to be 37 00:01:36,149 --> 00:01:34,799 here tonight this mission was the first 38 00:01:37,749 --> 00:01:36,159 one that i 39 00:01:40,550 --> 00:01:37,759 worked on as a public engagement 40 00:01:42,789 --> 00:01:40,560 specialist here at jpl so 41 00:01:45,590 --> 00:01:42,799 it was my first introduction to 42 00:01:48,469 --> 00:01:45,600 um what happens on mars and the biggest 43 00:01:51,749 --> 00:01:48,479 most capable rover that we send to mars 44 00:01:54,870 --> 00:01:51,759 so it has a place near and dear in my 45 00:01:56,550 --> 00:01:54,880 heart now i want to let people know how 46 00:01:58,069 --> 00:01:56,560 they can follow along with the mission 47 00:01:59,749 --> 00:01:58,079 of course you've tuned in tonight to 48 00:02:02,069 --> 00:01:59,759 hear from two very important mission 49 00:02:04,550 --> 00:02:02,079 team members however there are times 50 00:02:07,109 --> 00:02:04,560 when you're at home and you want to um 51 00:02:10,309 --> 00:02:07,119 see what is happening with the rover so 52 00:02:11,750 --> 00:02:10,319 i would like to see the rover website um 53 00:02:12,869 --> 00:02:11,760 if we can 54 00:02:15,110 --> 00:02:12,879 pull up a 55 00:02:16,630 --> 00:02:15,120 i want to tell you about the url first 56 00:02:18,630 --> 00:02:16,640 so the 57 00:02:22,150 --> 00:02:18,640 mars.nasa.gov 58 00:02:23,589 --> 00:02:22,160 slash msl for mars science laboratory 59 00:02:25,110 --> 00:02:23,599 that is your home page that's where 60 00:02:27,190 --> 00:02:25,120 you're going to get all the good stuff 61 00:02:29,430 --> 00:02:27,200 now when i'm on that site i learn about 62 00:02:31,509 --> 00:02:29,440 the rover i see what's happening there's 63 00:02:33,190 --> 00:02:31,519 a blog so you can keep up to date with 64 00:02:35,990 --> 00:02:33,200 the science but one of my favorite 65 00:02:39,670 --> 00:02:36,000 things on this website is the location 66 00:02:42,550 --> 00:02:39,680 map so this shows where curiosity is in 67 00:02:45,509 --> 00:02:42,560 gale crater and has been for the over 3 68 00:02:48,470 --> 00:02:45,519 000 sauls or martian days that curiosity 69 00:02:50,150 --> 00:02:48,480 has been exploring gale crater so every 70 00:02:52,390 --> 00:02:50,160 time the rover drives this map is 71 00:02:54,309 --> 00:02:52,400 updated with the location 72 00:02:57,110 --> 00:02:54,319 now there's another thing neat thing 73 00:02:59,270 --> 00:02:57,120 that ties into this location map so on 74 00:03:01,270 --> 00:02:59,280 the next graphic you're going to see 75 00:03:04,470 --> 00:03:01,280 actually it's cute little video 76 00:03:08,309 --> 00:03:04,480 this is called explore with curiosity 77 00:03:10,790 --> 00:03:08,319 now this is real data so both of these 78 00:03:12,630 --> 00:03:10,800 experiences are using real data from the 79 00:03:14,550 --> 00:03:12,640 rover so when people 80 00:03:16,949 --> 00:03:14,560 drive the rover and it gets updated on 81 00:03:20,070 --> 00:03:16,959 that map and the cameras take pictures 82 00:03:22,949 --> 00:03:20,080 it comes into both of these experiences 83 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:22,959 so you can see a cgi version of the 84 00:03:26,470 --> 00:03:23,920 rover 85 00:03:28,070 --> 00:03:26,480 in gale crater that's all real data and 86 00:03:30,470 --> 00:03:28,080 then on the left hand side look there 87 00:03:32,470 --> 00:03:30,480 all these pictures that the cameras took 88 00:03:34,550 --> 00:03:32,480 on any particular day 89 00:03:36,789 --> 00:03:34,560 so i love those two things because i can 90 00:03:39,350 --> 00:03:36,799 always see where the rover is in gale 91 00:03:41,430 --> 00:03:39,360 crater as it's ascending up the side of 92 00:03:42,949 --> 00:03:41,440 a mountain and then i like to see all 93 00:03:45,509 --> 00:03:42,959 the different cameras in the pictures 94 00:03:48,470 --> 00:03:45,519 that they took so those are two great 95 00:03:50,550 --> 00:03:48,480 resources to follow along and it's all 96 00:03:53,110 --> 00:03:50,560 using real data and it hits the website 97 00:03:55,190 --> 00:03:53,120 the minute that the rover does anything 98 00:03:56,869 --> 00:03:55,200 so that's what i wanted to share and 99 00:03:57,910 --> 00:03:56,879 then of course i will be taking 100 00:04:00,550 --> 00:03:57,920 questions 101 00:04:02,550 --> 00:04:00,560 both of both of our speakers and after 102 00:04:06,390 --> 00:04:02,560 our speakers finish tonight so have your 103 00:04:08,229 --> 00:04:06,400 questions ready and the social channels 104 00:04:09,830 --> 00:04:08,239 thank you sarah uh those are some great 105 00:04:11,350 --> 00:04:09,840 resources and i'm glad we have you with 106 00:04:13,589 --> 00:04:11,360 us especially because of your personal 107 00:04:14,869 --> 00:04:13,599 connection to curiosity uh sarah and i 108 00:04:16,789 --> 00:04:14,879 want to remind you that this is your 109 00:04:19,189 --> 00:04:16,799 space program so please do get involved 110 00:04:21,270 --> 00:04:19,199 in the chat on the social media sites 111 00:04:23,830 --> 00:04:21,280 and as always if we do run into any 112 00:04:25,590 --> 00:04:23,840 technical difficulties or small failures 113 00:04:27,189 --> 00:04:25,600 we ask for your patience tonight and 114 00:04:30,390 --> 00:04:27,199 please stick with us we will get them 115 00:04:32,550 --> 00:04:30,400 sorted out as soon as we possibly can 116 00:04:35,030 --> 00:04:32,560 now on to our first speaker of the 117 00:04:37,749 --> 00:04:35,040 evening dr ashwin vasavada is a 118 00:04:40,230 --> 00:04:37,759 planetary scientist at jpl and the 119 00:04:43,270 --> 00:04:40,240 project scientist for nasa's curiosity 120 00:04:45,710 --> 00:04:43,280 rover that began development in 2003 and 121 00:04:47,270 --> 00:04:45,720 successfully reached mars in august of 122 00:04:49,590 --> 00:04:47,280 2012. 123 00:04:51,990 --> 00:04:49,600 he now leads the international team of 124 00:04:53,670 --> 00:04:52,000 scientists as they explore gale crater 125 00:04:55,350 --> 00:04:53,680 on the martian surface 126 00:04:57,909 --> 00:04:55,360 he also has participated in the 127 00:05:00,790 --> 00:04:57,919 operation and analysis of data from 128 00:05:03,189 --> 00:05:00,800 several other nasa spacecraft missions 129 00:05:05,270 --> 00:05:03,199 including the galileo mission to jupiter 130 00:05:07,670 --> 00:05:05,280 the cassini mission to saturn and the 131 00:05:09,670 --> 00:05:07,680 lunar reconnaissance orbiter he holds a 132 00:05:12,629 --> 00:05:09,680 bachelor of science in geophysics and 133 00:05:14,469 --> 00:05:12,639 space physics from ucla and a phd in 134 00:05:16,390 --> 00:05:14,479 planetary science from caltech we are 135 00:05:19,029 --> 00:05:16,400 honored to have you with us this evening 136 00:05:21,110 --> 00:05:19,039 hello ashwin 137 00:05:22,629 --> 00:05:21,120 hello no great to be here i can't wait 138 00:05:25,430 --> 00:05:22,639 to talk about everything we've done in 139 00:05:27,590 --> 00:05:25,440 10 years oh yeah i mean 10 years have 140 00:05:29,590 --> 00:05:27,600 flown by i'm sure but i want to start 141 00:05:31,430 --> 00:05:29,600 off with how you actually got to where 142 00:05:33,430 --> 00:05:31,440 you are so how did you get to where you 143 00:05:34,870 --> 00:05:33,440 are today 144 00:05:37,029 --> 00:05:34,880 you know as you heard a little bit in 145 00:05:39,029 --> 00:05:37,039 the introduction you just gave 146 00:05:41,029 --> 00:05:39,039 i went all over the solar system to get 147 00:05:43,430 --> 00:05:41,039 to where i am today on mars 148 00:05:46,550 --> 00:05:43,440 uh it all i think for me really started 149 00:05:48,469 --> 00:05:46,560 when i was um a kid and i had a book 150 00:05:50,629 --> 00:05:48,479 that was that had a bunch of pictures 151 00:05:53,029 --> 00:05:50,639 about um spacecraft missions that had 152 00:05:55,270 --> 00:05:53,039 gone to mars and jupiter before and the 153 00:05:57,350 --> 00:05:55,280 picture that really caught me when i was 154 00:05:59,670 --> 00:05:57,360 little was one from the viking lander on 155 00:06:01,909 --> 00:05:59,680 mars where a camera was just looking out 156 00:06:03,430 --> 00:06:01,919 over this vast landscape and it just 157 00:06:04,710 --> 00:06:03,440 blew my mind as a kid that there's an 158 00:06:06,790 --> 00:06:04,720 entire other 159 00:06:09,590 --> 00:06:06,800 world out there a whole planet that you 160 00:06:11,590 --> 00:06:09,600 could explore you know with robots 161 00:06:13,110 --> 00:06:11,600 and that's what i wanted to do from that 162 00:06:15,110 --> 00:06:13,120 point onward and i didn't really know 163 00:06:17,350 --> 00:06:15,120 how to get there i majored in aerospace 164 00:06:19,430 --> 00:06:17,360 engineering when i got to ucla and 165 00:06:21,909 --> 00:06:19,440 figured out that actually i'm more 166 00:06:23,590 --> 00:06:21,919 interested in science than engineering 167 00:06:25,990 --> 00:06:23,600 like understanding 168 00:06:27,430 --> 00:06:26,000 how things work and not necessarily 169 00:06:29,909 --> 00:06:27,440 building the things 170 00:06:31,909 --> 00:06:29,919 to put it kind of in a simple way but 171 00:06:33,110 --> 00:06:31,919 so then i switched to physics and i 172 00:06:35,270 --> 00:06:33,120 still didn't really know how to get 173 00:06:36,950 --> 00:06:35,280 there but i found a faculty member 174 00:06:38,950 --> 00:06:36,960 professor who was working on jpl 175 00:06:41,110 --> 00:06:38,960 missions and that's how i learned how 176 00:06:43,029 --> 00:06:41,120 how to actually get there so i went to 177 00:06:45,270 --> 00:06:43,039 grad school to work on a spacecraft 178 00:06:46,790 --> 00:06:45,280 called mars observer and that's when i 179 00:06:48,629 --> 00:06:46,800 learned my first lesson that you know 180 00:06:51,029 --> 00:06:48,639 planetary science is doesn't have 181 00:06:52,469 --> 00:06:51,039 guarantees it's difficult and what we do 182 00:06:53,990 --> 00:06:52,479 is very challenging and there's a lot of 183 00:06:57,189 --> 00:06:54,000 risks and things don't always go your 184 00:06:59,350 --> 00:06:57,199 way and uh as i was actually driving my 185 00:07:01,029 --> 00:06:59,360 car to go to caltech for my first day of 186 00:07:04,070 --> 00:07:01,039 grad school i heard that the mission was 187 00:07:06,309 --> 00:07:04,080 lost and i then worked on galileo on 188 00:07:09,110 --> 00:07:06,319 jupiter for a few years came back to 189 00:07:11,990 --> 00:07:09,120 mars on another spacecraft that also 190 00:07:14,070 --> 00:07:12,000 failed to reach mars tough game 191 00:07:16,629 --> 00:07:14,080 and worked on cassini for a few years on 192 00:07:18,070 --> 00:07:16,639 saturn and then finally i got this 193 00:07:20,629 --> 00:07:18,080 wonderful opportunity to work on 194 00:07:21,909 --> 00:07:20,639 curiosity which has made up more than 195 00:07:26,230 --> 00:07:21,919 enough for 196 00:07:28,070 --> 00:07:26,240 uh the the disappointments i had earlier 197 00:07:29,909 --> 00:07:28,080 well i'm certainly glad that it has made 198 00:07:31,510 --> 00:07:29,919 up for the disappointments of earlier 199 00:07:33,110 --> 00:07:31,520 you've been on this mission for a while 200 00:07:35,350 --> 00:07:33,120 i mean you really know the story of this 201 00:07:37,830 --> 00:07:35,360 so tell us what were we intending to 202 00:07:39,990 --> 00:07:37,840 find with curiosity 203 00:07:42,550 --> 00:07:40,000 sure you know and because this is the 204 00:07:44,469 --> 00:07:42,560 anniversary uh celebration i'm just 205 00:07:47,110 --> 00:07:44,479 gonna kind of go all the way back 206 00:07:49,350 --> 00:07:47,120 and talk about why nasa 207 00:07:51,510 --> 00:07:49,360 wanted to fly the curiosity mission in 208 00:07:53,110 --> 00:07:51,520 the first place and we were charged with 209 00:07:55,589 --> 00:07:53,120 answering this question you know was 210 00:07:57,029 --> 00:07:55,599 mars ever habitable you see this picture 211 00:07:59,029 --> 00:07:57,039 of mars 212 00:08:02,070 --> 00:07:59,039 today this is what it looks like it has 213 00:08:04,710 --> 00:08:02,080 a little wispy water ice clouds it has 214 00:08:06,309 --> 00:08:04,720 polar caps that are made of water ice 215 00:08:07,990 --> 00:08:06,319 but the one thing you see when you kind 216 00:08:10,469 --> 00:08:08,000 of compare in your mind how earth looks 217 00:08:12,790 --> 00:08:10,479 versus mars is there's no liquid water 218 00:08:14,469 --> 00:08:12,800 there's no oceans there's no lakes but 219 00:08:17,029 --> 00:08:14,479 we have evidence that in the past there 220 00:08:19,670 --> 00:08:17,039 was so we think in the distant past on 221 00:08:22,550 --> 00:08:19,680 mars it may have been a much more 222 00:08:24,869 --> 00:08:22,560 friendly place to possible life 223 00:08:26,629 --> 00:08:24,879 so in the next graphic let's talk about 224 00:08:28,869 --> 00:08:26,639 what it actually means to study 225 00:08:31,589 --> 00:08:28,879 habitability um so we're looking for 226 00:08:33,670 --> 00:08:31,599 three things and we needed to figure out 227 00:08:36,469 --> 00:08:33,680 how to answer uh how to how to explore 228 00:08:38,070 --> 00:08:36,479 for these three things um on mars we 229 00:08:40,550 --> 00:08:38,080 wanted to look for persistent liquid 230 00:08:42,550 --> 00:08:40,560 water wanted to see if mars ever had 231 00:08:45,430 --> 00:08:42,560 water that lasted not just for a day or 232 00:08:47,430 --> 00:08:45,440 a year but millions or tens of millions 233 00:08:49,670 --> 00:08:47,440 of years long enough that life could 234 00:08:51,110 --> 00:08:49,680 actually make use of it and and the slow 235 00:08:53,110 --> 00:08:51,120 processes like 236 00:08:55,110 --> 00:08:53,120 life originating and evolving could make 237 00:08:58,070 --> 00:08:55,120 use of that water we also wanted to look 238 00:09:00,070 --> 00:08:58,080 for the key chemical ingredients of life 239 00:09:03,030 --> 00:09:00,080 life doesn't only need water of course 240 00:09:04,710 --> 00:09:03,040 it needs organic carbon it needs other 241 00:09:07,350 --> 00:09:04,720 things like nitrogen and sulfur and 242 00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:07,360 oxygen and phosphorus all the all the 243 00:09:11,670 --> 00:09:09,760 various elements that make up the 244 00:09:13,269 --> 00:09:11,680 biological machinery within us we want 245 00:09:15,269 --> 00:09:13,279 to look if those raw materials were 246 00:09:17,190 --> 00:09:15,279 there on mars and finally we want to 247 00:09:19,590 --> 00:09:17,200 look for sources of energy that could 248 00:09:21,110 --> 00:09:19,600 power metabolism that could power life 249 00:09:23,430 --> 00:09:21,120 uh there's some light of course like 250 00:09:24,790 --> 00:09:23,440 there is on earth but you can dig down 251 00:09:27,670 --> 00:09:24,800 on earth and find 252 00:09:29,990 --> 00:09:27,680 places where life has managed to use the 253 00:09:31,590 --> 00:09:30,000 chemical energy within the the rocks and 254 00:09:33,829 --> 00:09:31,600 soils themselves 255 00:09:36,470 --> 00:09:33,839 to power itself and so we could look for 256 00:09:37,990 --> 00:09:36,480 those sorts of things on mars as well 257 00:09:41,110 --> 00:09:38,000 on the next one 258 00:09:42,710 --> 00:09:41,120 we needed to find a place to go to ask 259 00:09:44,710 --> 00:09:42,720 to ask these questions and search for 260 00:09:47,590 --> 00:09:44,720 those things so we spent about five 261 00:09:49,590 --> 00:09:47,600 years looking for a kind of the perfect 262 00:09:51,829 --> 00:09:49,600 site where we could study habitability 263 00:09:53,030 --> 00:09:51,839 and have a chance of looking for those 264 00:09:55,590 --> 00:09:53,040 key 265 00:09:57,190 --> 00:09:55,600 requirements for habitable conditions 266 00:09:59,350 --> 00:09:57,200 and we found this very special place 267 00:10:02,389 --> 00:09:59,360 called gale crater it's a crater that's 268 00:10:04,069 --> 00:10:02,399 100 miles across but the very unique 269 00:10:06,550 --> 00:10:04,079 thing about this crater it has a big 270 00:10:08,630 --> 00:10:06,560 mountain of rock in the middle of it and 271 00:10:10,470 --> 00:10:08,640 that mountain isn't 272 00:10:12,550 --> 00:10:10,480 a mountain that was pushed up by plate 273 00:10:14,389 --> 00:10:12,560 tectonics it's not a volcano it's a 274 00:10:17,670 --> 00:10:14,399 mountain of sedimentary rock meaning 275 00:10:19,990 --> 00:10:17,680 that over time wind and water brought in 276 00:10:22,150 --> 00:10:20,000 sediments and slowly built up the floor 277 00:10:23,750 --> 00:10:22,160 of the crater which was then eroded into 278 00:10:25,910 --> 00:10:23,760 the shape of a mountain what's 279 00:10:27,750 --> 00:10:25,920 significant about that is that that slow 280 00:10:29,670 --> 00:10:27,760 action of sediment going in the crater 281 00:10:32,150 --> 00:10:29,680 by either wind or water 282 00:10:33,750 --> 00:10:32,160 created a mountain that is composed of 283 00:10:35,269 --> 00:10:33,760 many different layers that built up 284 00:10:37,990 --> 00:10:35,279 slowly over time 285 00:10:40,069 --> 00:10:38,000 and therefore are now a record of what 286 00:10:42,550 --> 00:10:40,079 the environmental conditions were like 287 00:10:44,389 --> 00:10:42,560 as each layer was laid down 288 00:10:45,829 --> 00:10:44,399 and even more exciting even before we 289 00:10:48,550 --> 00:10:45,839 landed we could see from orbit that 290 00:10:50,230 --> 00:10:48,560 those layers were not all the same 291 00:10:52,870 --> 00:10:50,240 some had evidence of minerals that 292 00:10:54,310 --> 00:10:52,880 formed when water was present some had 293 00:10:56,310 --> 00:10:54,320 textures that were quite different from 294 00:10:58,389 --> 00:10:56,320 the others so we knew that there was a 295 00:11:00,310 --> 00:10:58,399 geological record there to explore that 296 00:11:01,910 --> 00:11:00,320 would tell us how the environment was 297 00:11:04,150 --> 00:11:01,920 changing over time 298 00:11:06,230 --> 00:11:04,160 and so by going through those layers 299 00:11:08,870 --> 00:11:06,240 layer by layer we could kind of read the 300 00:11:10,870 --> 00:11:08,880 history of mars and figure out if any of 301 00:11:13,829 --> 00:11:10,880 those time periods had all those 302 00:11:16,870 --> 00:11:13,839 elements needed for habitability 303 00:11:19,190 --> 00:11:16,880 so then of course we needed um 304 00:11:20,710 --> 00:11:19,200 to figure out uh well actually there's 305 00:11:24,069 --> 00:11:20,720 one more very special thing about guild 306 00:11:28,550 --> 00:11:27,350 mars was once we think much more 307 00:11:30,870 --> 00:11:28,560 of a 308 00:11:33,590 --> 00:11:30,880 earth-like planet you could say it was 309 00:11:35,670 --> 00:11:33,600 uh had a lot more water and maybe was 310 00:11:39,030 --> 00:11:35,680 even warmer and then of course change to 311 00:11:39,829 --> 00:11:39,040 the dry cold desert planet is today 312 00:11:41,750 --> 00:11:39,839 and 313 00:11:43,590 --> 00:11:41,760 maybe the first billion years or so of 314 00:11:45,750 --> 00:11:43,600 mars history was when it had all this 315 00:11:47,430 --> 00:11:45,760 liquid water we think and then the last 316 00:11:49,190 --> 00:11:47,440 few billion years have been this cold 317 00:11:51,670 --> 00:11:49,200 dry desert that probably wasn't too 318 00:11:53,750 --> 00:11:51,680 friendly for life but a dramatic change 319 00:11:56,230 --> 00:11:53,760 happened sometime around three billion 320 00:11:58,710 --> 00:11:56,240 years ago and that's exactly when those 321 00:12:00,629 --> 00:11:58,720 rocks were laid down in gale crater so 322 00:12:02,069 --> 00:12:00,639 not only does it have this uh great 323 00:12:04,550 --> 00:12:02,079 history for us to explore but that 324 00:12:06,790 --> 00:12:04,560 history is from a very dramatically 325 00:12:07,750 --> 00:12:06,800 changing time in mars 326 00:12:10,389 --> 00:12:07,760 history 327 00:12:12,150 --> 00:12:10,399 and so then we needed to figure out how 328 00:12:14,230 --> 00:12:12,160 to actually study that and to equip a 329 00:12:15,990 --> 00:12:14,240 rover to make these um 330 00:12:17,430 --> 00:12:16,000 investigations about habitability so on 331 00:12:19,990 --> 00:12:17,440 the next graphic 332 00:12:22,069 --> 00:12:20,000 uh you can see that we have um a car 333 00:12:24,230 --> 00:12:22,079 sized rover so one thing we figured out 334 00:12:26,310 --> 00:12:24,240 is that in order to climb this mountain 335 00:12:27,829 --> 00:12:26,320 explore layer by layer we needed to move 336 00:12:29,269 --> 00:12:27,839 we couldn't just land in one place we 337 00:12:31,750 --> 00:12:29,279 wanted to be able to look at all those 338 00:12:33,990 --> 00:12:31,760 different layers and ask it every moment 339 00:12:35,350 --> 00:12:34,000 in mars history was this a time that was 340 00:12:36,870 --> 00:12:35,360 friendly for life 341 00:12:38,629 --> 00:12:36,880 you know potential life 342 00:12:39,750 --> 00:12:38,639 so we have a rover that could drive and 343 00:12:42,069 --> 00:12:39,760 we have 10 344 00:12:44,230 --> 00:12:42,079 scientific instruments to help answer 345 00:12:45,910 --> 00:12:44,240 the questions that we're asking but very 346 00:12:47,829 --> 00:12:45,920 importantly we have a drill so we can 347 00:12:48,629 --> 00:12:47,839 drill into rocks that make up mount 348 00:12:50,870 --> 00:12:48,639 sharp 349 00:12:52,550 --> 00:12:50,880 deliver that powder to laboratories on 350 00:12:54,949 --> 00:12:52,560 board the rover that could tell us in 351 00:12:57,030 --> 00:12:54,959 detail what minerals are there and what 352 00:12:59,190 --> 00:12:57,040 chemicals are there so we can understand 353 00:13:00,470 --> 00:12:59,200 whether there's organic carbon and what 354 00:13:03,350 --> 00:13:00,480 the minerals tell us about the 355 00:13:04,389 --> 00:13:03,360 environment that was once there 356 00:13:06,870 --> 00:13:04,399 so 357 00:13:09,670 --> 00:13:06,880 we are now all set to go and this has 358 00:13:11,910 --> 00:13:09,680 kind of set the stage uh for um for what 359 00:13:13,509 --> 00:13:11,920 we've done over the past 10 years 360 00:13:15,190 --> 00:13:13,519 yeah so tell us about that i mean it 361 00:13:17,269 --> 00:13:15,200 sounds like you had some very lofty 362 00:13:19,269 --> 00:13:17,279 goals and ambitions and that's wonderful 363 00:13:21,030 --> 00:13:19,279 but what did we actually find in the 364 00:13:22,550 --> 00:13:21,040 last 10 years 365 00:13:24,710 --> 00:13:22,560 yeah you know so 366 00:13:26,710 --> 00:13:24,720 it's it's been i think exceeded our 367 00:13:28,949 --> 00:13:26,720 expectations in every way and and that's 368 00:13:31,030 --> 00:13:28,959 just been wonderful so let's get into 369 00:13:32,629 --> 00:13:31,040 that on the next slide you know we've 370 00:13:34,230 --> 00:13:32,639 now landed 371 00:13:36,310 --> 00:13:34,240 and this is the view we had from our 372 00:13:38,790 --> 00:13:36,320 landing site we had this gorgeous 373 00:13:41,030 --> 00:13:38,800 uh panorama that we took shortly after 374 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:41,040 landing of mount sharp in the distance 375 00:13:45,269 --> 00:13:43,040 but what was amazing about this is how 376 00:13:47,189 --> 00:13:45,279 far away mount sharp was it looked so 377 00:13:49,269 --> 00:13:47,199 daunting at the time to think that we've 378 00:13:51,430 --> 00:13:49,279 landed you know one person used to say 379 00:13:53,110 --> 00:13:51,440 that we were in the parking lot next to 380 00:13:54,870 --> 00:13:53,120 disneyland looking at disneyland you 381 00:13:56,550 --> 00:13:54,880 know from the parking lot and we still 382 00:13:58,790 --> 00:13:56,560 had to get there and we knew it would 383 00:14:00,710 --> 00:13:58,800 probably take over a year to drive there 384 00:14:02,629 --> 00:14:00,720 so it was pretty daunting but where that 385 00:14:04,310 --> 00:14:02,639 arrow is pointing is exactly where those 386 00:14:05,990 --> 00:14:04,320 very interesting layers were exposed on 387 00:14:07,910 --> 00:14:06,000 the side of mount sharp and we wanted to 388 00:14:09,269 --> 00:14:07,920 get there over time 389 00:14:11,910 --> 00:14:09,279 and if you go to the next graphic we're 390 00:14:14,150 --> 00:14:11,920 kind of zooming in on that area and even 391 00:14:15,430 --> 00:14:14,160 with our telephoto lens it's still so 392 00:14:16,710 --> 00:14:15,440 small 393 00:14:18,710 --> 00:14:16,720 but 394 00:14:21,110 --> 00:14:18,720 on the next graphic you can see that in 395 00:14:22,790 --> 00:14:21,120 10 years we've made a lot of progress 396 00:14:24,470 --> 00:14:22,800 we took about two years to drive to the 397 00:14:26,069 --> 00:14:24,480 mountain partly because what we saw on 398 00:14:28,470 --> 00:14:26,079 the plains was more interesting than we 399 00:14:30,230 --> 00:14:28,480 expected and then we spent about eight 400 00:14:33,829 --> 00:14:30,240 years climbing through the layers of 401 00:14:35,670 --> 00:14:33,839 lower mount sharp uh very systematically 402 00:14:37,430 --> 00:14:35,680 investigating layer by layer and looking 403 00:14:38,870 --> 00:14:37,440 for those ancient habitable environments 404 00:14:41,269 --> 00:14:38,880 at every step and currently we're about 405 00:14:42,629 --> 00:14:41,279 where that star is and we're at a very 406 00:14:44,550 --> 00:14:42,639 interesting site which we'll talk about 407 00:14:47,030 --> 00:14:44,560 later right where 408 00:14:49,030 --> 00:14:47,040 the mineralogy and the textures on mount 409 00:14:50,230 --> 00:14:49,040 sharp change very 410 00:14:51,750 --> 00:14:50,240 dramatically 411 00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:51,760 and we think we're right at the point 412 00:14:54,949 --> 00:14:53,120 where there's a 413 00:14:56,790 --> 00:14:54,959 big change in mars ancient climate that 414 00:14:59,590 --> 00:14:56,800 occurred 415 00:15:01,189 --> 00:14:59,600 so um let's talk about a little bit more 416 00:15:02,790 --> 00:15:01,199 specifically about what we found and you 417 00:15:05,110 --> 00:15:02,800 know when we landed we first drove 418 00:15:07,189 --> 00:15:05,120 across the plains and on the next slide 419 00:15:09,910 --> 00:15:07,199 you can see that um 420 00:15:13,110 --> 00:15:09,920 we uh one of our early discoveries which 421 00:15:14,310 --> 00:15:13,120 was super exciting and very kind of um 422 00:15:16,389 --> 00:15:14,320 something you could just appreciate 423 00:15:18,150 --> 00:15:16,399 almost just by seeing it you know we we 424 00:15:20,069 --> 00:15:18,160 came across a whole bunch of rounded 425 00:15:21,990 --> 00:15:20,079 pebbles littering the landscape and 426 00:15:23,750 --> 00:15:22,000 nature doesn't make round pebbles too 427 00:15:25,829 --> 00:15:23,760 easily 428 00:15:28,150 --> 00:15:25,839 round you know rocks are jagged they're 429 00:15:30,230 --> 00:15:28,160 angular and one way that you can make 430 00:15:33,110 --> 00:15:30,240 rounded pebbles is that uh they're 431 00:15:34,629 --> 00:15:33,120 carried along in a flowing stream and 432 00:15:37,829 --> 00:15:34,639 the rocks kind of grind against each 433 00:15:40,389 --> 00:15:37,839 other and over many many miles of travel 434 00:15:42,949 --> 00:15:40,399 you end up with these rounded rocks in 435 00:15:44,389 --> 00:15:42,959 fact you know i uh i once went to a home 436 00:15:45,670 --> 00:15:44,399 improvement store and wanted to get some 437 00:15:47,670 --> 00:15:45,680 rounded pebbles for my garden and 438 00:15:49,189 --> 00:15:47,680 they're labeled you know river rocks and 439 00:15:50,230 --> 00:15:49,199 so we all kind of understand what this 440 00:15:52,389 --> 00:15:50,240 means and 441 00:15:53,990 --> 00:15:52,399 uh and to see those with our own eyes 442 00:15:56,389 --> 00:15:54,000 you know with the rover's eyes just made 443 00:15:58,710 --> 00:15:56,399 a big impression because you can look at 444 00:16:00,629 --> 00:15:58,720 pictures of mars surface from space and 445 00:16:02,470 --> 00:16:00,639 see that there might be river channels 446 00:16:04,150 --> 00:16:02,480 but to come across a bunch of rounded 447 00:16:06,310 --> 00:16:04,160 pebbles that that 448 00:16:07,670 --> 00:16:06,320 were rounded in flowing water 449 00:16:09,269 --> 00:16:07,680 was amazing 450 00:16:11,990 --> 00:16:09,279 on the next graphic 451 00:16:13,110 --> 00:16:12,000 uh we then continued further towards the 452 00:16:15,509 --> 00:16:13,120 center of the crater and where the 453 00:16:18,230 --> 00:16:15,519 mountain is today and we found evidence 454 00:16:20,710 --> 00:16:18,240 of where those streams once flowed into 455 00:16:22,629 --> 00:16:20,720 standing bodies of water so if you kind 456 00:16:24,069 --> 00:16:22,639 of roll back history three billion years 457 00:16:25,749 --> 00:16:24,079 the crater would have been empty there 458 00:16:27,749 --> 00:16:25,759 wouldn't have been a mountain yet but 459 00:16:29,829 --> 00:16:27,759 water was flowing in carrying sediment 460 00:16:31,350 --> 00:16:29,839 that built up the mountain and these 461 00:16:34,310 --> 00:16:31,360 layers that you see in this picture are 462 00:16:37,189 --> 00:16:34,320 where the streams entered standing 463 00:16:38,949 --> 00:16:37,199 bodies of water and made little deltas 464 00:16:40,310 --> 00:16:38,959 so in the next one 465 00:16:42,310 --> 00:16:40,320 is when we got all the way to where the 466 00:16:44,069 --> 00:16:42,320 mountain is and you know we've seen now 467 00:16:46,230 --> 00:16:44,079 the stream we've seen the delta where 468 00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:46,240 the stream meets the lake and now we're 469 00:16:50,230 --> 00:16:48,560 in the lake where the lake was itself 470 00:16:52,389 --> 00:16:50,240 and we saw that the bottom of mount 471 00:16:55,030 --> 00:16:52,399 sharp was composed of very flat 472 00:16:56,870 --> 00:16:55,040 millimeter scale layers of basically 473 00:16:59,749 --> 00:16:56,880 what used to be mud at the bottom of 474 00:17:01,189 --> 00:16:59,759 ancient lakes that's now turned into mud 475 00:17:02,550 --> 00:17:01,199 stone 476 00:17:04,789 --> 00:17:02,560 and we didn't just find this at the 477 00:17:06,549 --> 00:17:04,799 bottom of mount sharp we found it 478 00:17:08,309 --> 00:17:06,559 for meters and meters and meters and 479 00:17:09,990 --> 00:17:08,319 hundreds of meters above the bottom of 480 00:17:11,750 --> 00:17:10,000 mount sharp meaning that the lakes 481 00:17:13,350 --> 00:17:11,760 persisted for quite 482 00:17:14,470 --> 00:17:13,360 a long time 483 00:17:16,630 --> 00:17:14,480 and of course 484 00:17:19,189 --> 00:17:16,640 as we drove up mount sharp we took out 485 00:17:21,270 --> 00:17:19,199 our drill at every opportunity we could 486 00:17:23,750 --> 00:17:21,280 and sampled the rocks and and did those 487 00:17:25,429 --> 00:17:23,760 detailed investigations of habitability 488 00:17:28,069 --> 00:17:25,439 so in the next slide you can see that 489 00:17:29,270 --> 00:17:28,079 we've now drilled 35 holes with the 490 00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:29,280 mission 491 00:17:33,430 --> 00:17:31,360 and they're not all the same even from 492 00:17:36,230 --> 00:17:33,440 this picture you can see that the uh the 493 00:17:38,630 --> 00:17:36,240 colors are just amazing and some rocks 494 00:17:40,390 --> 00:17:38,640 uh for example you can see 495 00:17:42,310 --> 00:17:40,400 are redder than others and the material 496 00:17:44,230 --> 00:17:42,320 inside the rocks is brighter meaning 497 00:17:45,510 --> 00:17:44,240 that things are more oxidized the iron 498 00:17:47,590 --> 00:17:45,520 in the rock has turned into kind of a 499 00:17:49,110 --> 00:17:47,600 reddish color and other rocks are very 500 00:17:51,110 --> 00:17:49,120 gray inside 501 00:17:53,029 --> 00:17:51,120 meaning that the oxidation that turned 502 00:17:55,669 --> 00:17:53,039 mars into the red planet didn't 503 00:17:57,350 --> 00:17:55,679 penetrate deeply into the rocks which is 504 00:17:59,110 --> 00:17:57,360 actually a good thing for finding 505 00:18:01,110 --> 00:17:59,120 evidence of ancient life because 506 00:18:04,230 --> 00:18:01,120 oxidation can destroy that evidence over 507 00:18:05,590 --> 00:18:04,240 time in some cases so you know 35 holes 508 00:18:07,590 --> 00:18:05,600 we've learned a lot we've seen a lot of 509 00:18:09,750 --> 00:18:07,600 different things and the next one is 510 00:18:11,430 --> 00:18:09,760 kind of a summary coming back to our 511 00:18:12,950 --> 00:18:11,440 questions about what makes a habitable 512 00:18:15,909 --> 00:18:12,960 environment 513 00:18:18,070 --> 00:18:15,919 curiosity has found a lot of evidence 514 00:18:19,669 --> 00:18:18,080 that of water in the ancient past that 515 00:18:21,270 --> 00:18:19,679 was suitable for life 516 00:18:23,350 --> 00:18:21,280 and what i mean by that is we found 517 00:18:26,310 --> 00:18:23,360 evidence that the water in these lakes 518 00:18:28,549 --> 00:18:26,320 in ancient mars was not um 519 00:18:31,510 --> 00:18:28,559 too acidic for to support life it was 520 00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:31,520 not too salty to support life it was uh 521 00:18:35,510 --> 00:18:33,760 just the kind of water that life would 522 00:18:37,830 --> 00:18:35,520 need uh to flourish 523 00:18:38,870 --> 00:18:37,840 and we've also seen that in these same 524 00:18:41,029 --> 00:18:38,880 lakes 525 00:18:43,110 --> 00:18:41,039 there was organic molecules organic 526 00:18:44,870 --> 00:18:43,120 carbon and some of the other chemical 527 00:18:47,270 --> 00:18:44,880 elements that life needs in fact all of 528 00:18:48,950 --> 00:18:47,280 the main ones that life would need and 529 00:18:50,950 --> 00:18:48,960 and even evidence for nutrients that 530 00:18:53,270 --> 00:18:50,960 were in those likes as well 531 00:18:55,270 --> 00:18:53,280 and then we found different minerals 532 00:18:57,590 --> 00:18:55,280 that that when paired together could 533 00:18:59,350 --> 00:18:57,600 provide those chemical sources of energy 534 00:19:00,630 --> 00:18:59,360 for certain types of microbes to use 535 00:19:03,110 --> 00:19:00,640 underground 536 00:19:05,590 --> 00:19:03,120 so um you know really we've checked all 537 00:19:07,110 --> 00:19:05,600 the boxes in all these uh in many of 538 00:19:08,230 --> 00:19:07,120 these different drill holes especially 539 00:19:10,870 --> 00:19:08,240 the ones that come from these 540 00:19:12,870 --> 00:19:10,880 environments where lakes once were we 541 00:19:14,870 --> 00:19:12,880 found really abundant evidence for 542 00:19:17,270 --> 00:19:14,880 habitable environments 543 00:19:18,390 --> 00:19:17,280 so in the next one 544 00:19:19,750 --> 00:19:18,400 uh 545 00:19:20,950 --> 00:19:19,760 you know honestly i throw this picture 546 00:19:23,029 --> 00:19:20,960 into my talks just because it's one of 547 00:19:25,510 --> 00:19:23,039 my favorite ones in the mission but 548 00:19:26,710 --> 00:19:25,520 what what it does show though is 549 00:19:29,029 --> 00:19:26,720 um 550 00:19:30,630 --> 00:19:29,039 that lakes didn't last forever and so 551 00:19:33,350 --> 00:19:30,640 what you're looking at here are the lake 552 00:19:34,390 --> 00:19:33,360 sediments in the foreground and some 553 00:19:36,789 --> 00:19:34,400 really 554 00:19:39,430 --> 00:19:36,799 amazing buttes and mesas on the two 555 00:19:41,110 --> 00:19:39,440 sides and what's on the top of these uh 556 00:19:43,430 --> 00:19:41,120 mesas are 557 00:19:47,110 --> 00:19:43,440 sandstones that formed when the lakes 558 00:19:49,590 --> 00:19:47,120 were gone and dry sand dunes uh covered 559 00:19:51,669 --> 00:19:49,600 the entire area and then those those 560 00:19:53,430 --> 00:19:51,679 sand dunes turned into rocks so what do 561 00:19:56,150 --> 00:19:53,440 you what you would have seen then is 562 00:19:57,830 --> 00:19:56,160 those uh those dark mesa tops connecting 563 00:20:00,470 --> 00:19:57,840 with each other and forming a continuous 564 00:20:02,549 --> 00:20:00,480 layer but since then billion you know a 565 00:20:06,070 --> 00:20:02,559 couple more billion years has gone by 566 00:20:08,149 --> 00:20:06,080 and wind has eroded that sand layer away 567 00:20:10,549 --> 00:20:08,159 to where now there's just these buttes 568 00:20:12,230 --> 00:20:10,559 and mesas left over 569 00:20:14,070 --> 00:20:12,240 but on the next one 570 00:20:15,029 --> 00:20:14,080 you'll see one of my other 571 00:20:16,390 --> 00:20:15,039 favorite 572 00:20:17,830 --> 00:20:16,400 discoveries of the mission one of the 573 00:20:18,710 --> 00:20:17,840 other most important discoveries of the 574 00:20:21,430 --> 00:20:18,720 mission 575 00:20:23,350 --> 00:20:21,440 is that habitability wasn't just present 576 00:20:24,470 --> 00:20:23,360 you know at the surface where the lakes 577 00:20:25,830 --> 00:20:24,480 were 578 00:20:28,310 --> 00:20:25,840 but was 579 00:20:30,710 --> 00:20:28,320 present underground as well 580 00:20:32,149 --> 00:20:30,720 and this is really meaningful i mean uh 581 00:20:33,669 --> 00:20:32,159 because 582 00:20:34,630 --> 00:20:33,679 underneath everything we see at the 583 00:20:35,430 --> 00:20:34,640 surface 584 00:20:37,590 --> 00:20:35,440 uh 585 00:20:39,029 --> 00:20:37,600 the rocks were 586 00:20:41,270 --> 00:20:39,039 were forming and then they were 587 00:20:43,270 --> 00:20:41,280 fracturing as they were being buried and 588 00:20:45,590 --> 00:20:43,280 then groundwater flowed through those 589 00:20:47,590 --> 00:20:45,600 fractures and precipitated minerals 590 00:20:49,350 --> 00:20:47,600 along the walls of those fractures and 591 00:20:50,950 --> 00:20:49,360 what you're seeing in this picture 592 00:20:52,710 --> 00:20:50,960 is now that 593 00:20:54,470 --> 00:20:52,720 some of those that rock has been eroded 594 00:20:56,950 --> 00:20:54,480 that softer rock has been eroded away 595 00:20:58,630 --> 00:20:56,960 what's left are the white minerals that 596 00:21:00,789 --> 00:20:58,640 used to coat the inside of those 597 00:21:03,190 --> 00:21:00,799 fractures and these are calcium sulfate 598 00:21:05,110 --> 00:21:03,200 minerals but what this tells us is that 599 00:21:07,830 --> 00:21:05,120 water was circulating within these rocks 600 00:21:10,310 --> 00:21:07,840 long after the lakes disappeared and the 601 00:21:12,310 --> 00:21:10,320 mud they left behind hardened into rock 602 00:21:13,990 --> 00:21:12,320 so whatever was happening at the surface 603 00:21:16,630 --> 00:21:14,000 i think an even a longer story was 604 00:21:19,110 --> 00:21:16,640 happening below the surface so on the 605 00:21:21,190 --> 00:21:19,120 next slide 606 00:21:24,549 --> 00:21:21,200 um here you know let's let's see where 607 00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:24,559 we are was mars ever habitable um and i 608 00:21:29,909 --> 00:21:26,000 think the mission has answered a 609 00:21:31,909 --> 00:21:29,919 resounding yes and not only for a short 610 00:21:34,230 --> 00:21:31,919 period of time but probably for tens of 611 00:21:36,230 --> 00:21:34,240 millions of years and maybe even longer 612 00:21:38,149 --> 00:21:36,240 in the subsurface so this is 613 00:21:40,390 --> 00:21:38,159 a great discovery for the mission and 614 00:21:42,070 --> 00:21:40,400 really why curiosity was sent to mars 615 00:21:45,430 --> 00:21:42,080 and i think it's exceeded all our 616 00:21:48,789 --> 00:21:46,630 i mean it's great to know that we've 617 00:21:50,470 --> 00:21:48,799 answered the big question right but that 618 00:21:53,029 --> 00:21:50,480 kind of leads into this nest point we've 619 00:21:56,390 --> 00:21:53,039 done so many great things but what comes 620 00:21:57,669 --> 00:21:56,400 next what do we where do we go from here 621 00:21:59,750 --> 00:21:57,679 yeah um 622 00:22:02,390 --> 00:21:59,760 we are at a really exciting time in the 623 00:22:05,590 --> 00:22:02,400 mission even 10 years in it has not 624 00:22:08,070 --> 00:22:05,600 gotten uh boring by any means in fact i 625 00:22:10,149 --> 00:22:08,080 think we're on the brink of making some 626 00:22:11,110 --> 00:22:10,159 truly astounding discoveries with the 627 00:22:13,270 --> 00:22:11,120 mission 628 00:22:15,430 --> 00:22:13,280 where we're at now is where this um 629 00:22:17,190 --> 00:22:15,440 arrow is pointing and and look then you 630 00:22:19,270 --> 00:22:17,200 know this is that view from sol 23 that 631 00:22:21,430 --> 00:22:19,280 i showed earlier that we were so far 632 00:22:23,350 --> 00:22:21,440 away from and now we're actually where 633 00:22:25,270 --> 00:22:23,360 that arrow is and we're right at that 634 00:22:27,029 --> 00:22:25,280 boundary from where the flat layers of 635 00:22:29,190 --> 00:22:27,039 lower mount sharp turn into these 636 00:22:30,390 --> 00:22:29,200 rounded hills and these rounded hills we 637 00:22:32,070 --> 00:22:30,400 think are 638 00:22:34,149 --> 00:22:32,080 well we know from 639 00:22:35,750 --> 00:22:34,159 spacecraft measurements from orbit that 640 00:22:37,110 --> 00:22:35,760 they have a different mineralogy they 641 00:22:39,430 --> 00:22:37,120 have these sulfate 642 00:22:40,870 --> 00:22:39,440 magnesium sulfate minerals 643 00:22:41,909 --> 00:22:40,880 enrichment 644 00:22:44,230 --> 00:22:41,919 you know they're enriched with these 645 00:22:46,470 --> 00:22:44,240 magnesium sulfate minerals which we 646 00:22:48,630 --> 00:22:46,480 believe might be telling us that they 647 00:22:51,029 --> 00:22:48,640 formed in environments that were drier 648 00:22:53,350 --> 00:22:51,039 than the ones below so we might be right 649 00:22:55,750 --> 00:22:53,360 at the brink of seeing uh 650 00:22:57,190 --> 00:22:55,760 at the at the minimum of dramatic change 651 00:22:59,830 --> 00:22:57,200 in mars climate 652 00:23:01,510 --> 00:22:59,840 and maybe even an end to the era of 653 00:23:04,070 --> 00:23:01,520 habitability that's the thing we need to 654 00:23:06,310 --> 00:23:04,080 answer now did habitability persist 655 00:23:08,789 --> 00:23:06,320 through a dramatic change in the climate 656 00:23:11,669 --> 00:23:08,799 from the the environments that were much 657 00:23:14,310 --> 00:23:11,679 wetter to environments that were drier 658 00:23:16,870 --> 00:23:14,320 on the next one 659 00:23:19,110 --> 00:23:16,880 um you know look here's where we are you 660 00:23:20,470 --> 00:23:19,120 know this this is uh 661 00:23:22,070 --> 00:23:20,480 something i always dreamed of you know 662 00:23:23,830 --> 00:23:22,080 in those pictures from saul 23 you can 663 00:23:25,510 --> 00:23:23,840 kind of look out in the distance and you 664 00:23:27,669 --> 00:23:25,520 can imagine that one day the rover was 665 00:23:29,350 --> 00:23:27,679 going to be among all these beautiful 666 00:23:31,510 --> 00:23:29,360 hills on mount sharp and that's this is 667 00:23:33,190 --> 00:23:31,520 exactly where we are now and so these 668 00:23:35,750 --> 00:23:33,200 are hills that kind of tower above the 669 00:23:37,430 --> 00:23:35,760 rover on all sides and on the next slide 670 00:23:38,390 --> 00:23:37,440 you can see that 671 00:23:41,029 --> 00:23:38,400 here's a 672 00:23:43,350 --> 00:23:41,039 cliff a face that's just much taller 673 00:23:45,430 --> 00:23:43,360 much bigger than the rover we're driving 674 00:23:47,269 --> 00:23:45,440 next to it couldn't imagine we would be 675 00:23:49,110 --> 00:23:47,279 in such a fantastic landscape ten years 676 00:23:50,630 --> 00:23:49,120 ago and on this cliff face there's all 677 00:23:52,310 --> 00:23:50,640 these beautiful colors where the 678 00:23:54,789 --> 00:23:52,320 groundwater that once flowed through the 679 00:23:57,190 --> 00:23:54,799 rocks has affected the minerals in this 680 00:23:58,950 --> 00:23:57,200 uh cliff face in different ways causing 681 00:24:00,950 --> 00:23:58,960 some of them to turn red and leaving 682 00:24:03,830 --> 00:24:00,960 other ones in the more grayish color 683 00:24:06,789 --> 00:24:03,840 it's just a truly fantastic landscape 684 00:24:10,390 --> 00:24:08,710 here's looking back now so we can kind 685 00:24:12,230 --> 00:24:10,400 of look in the rear view mirror and see 686 00:24:14,070 --> 00:24:12,240 where we came from and you can see we're 687 00:24:17,430 --> 00:24:14,080 pretty high up we've gained over 2000 688 00:24:20,710 --> 00:24:17,440 feet in elevation after driving 18 miles 689 00:24:22,070 --> 00:24:20,720 and we can look back uh and and 690 00:24:23,750 --> 00:24:22,080 and see where we came from there's a 691 00:24:26,230 --> 00:24:23,760 crater floor in the distance and the 692 00:24:27,350 --> 00:24:26,240 wall of the crater in the very far 693 00:24:30,789 --> 00:24:27,360 distance 694 00:24:34,789 --> 00:24:32,710 what's really special about this picture 695 00:24:37,350 --> 00:24:34,799 is this is kind of the reverse one the 696 00:24:39,750 --> 00:24:37,360 reverse you know uh counterpart to that 697 00:24:41,669 --> 00:24:39,760 saul 23 mosaic and where the arrow is 698 00:24:43,909 --> 00:24:41,679 pointing is our landing site it took 699 00:24:45,669 --> 00:24:43,919 until just recently for us to be high 700 00:24:47,269 --> 00:24:45,679 enough on mount sharp where we can 701 00:24:49,110 --> 00:24:47,279 actually look back and see all the way 702 00:24:50,390 --> 00:24:49,120 to where we landed 703 00:24:52,630 --> 00:24:50,400 and 704 00:24:53,830 --> 00:24:52,640 so i i just you know i'm just amazed 705 00:24:55,830 --> 00:24:53,840 that we can 706 00:24:57,269 --> 00:24:55,840 look back at that saw 23 picture 707 00:24:59,190 --> 00:24:57,279 dreaming of where we would be one day 708 00:25:00,950 --> 00:24:59,200 and now we're there and we can look back 709 00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:00,960 and see where we landed 710 00:25:07,110 --> 00:25:05,430 here i just want to tell you a little 711 00:25:09,029 --> 00:25:07,120 bit about where what we're currently 712 00:25:10,549 --> 00:25:09,039 doing what we're currently finding 713 00:25:12,950 --> 00:25:10,559 um we 714 00:25:15,830 --> 00:25:12,960 are definitely out of the era of lakes 715 00:25:17,990 --> 00:25:15,840 on mars in gale crater which is exciting 716 00:25:19,430 --> 00:25:18,000 you know they lasted for a long time but 717 00:25:21,510 --> 00:25:19,440 now we're seeing 718 00:25:23,590 --> 00:25:21,520 that the rocks around us no longer those 719 00:25:27,110 --> 00:25:23,600 ones that formed in ancient lakes but 720 00:25:29,350 --> 00:25:27,120 formed actually in dry dune fields 721 00:25:31,029 --> 00:25:29,360 but that's not the whole story so 722 00:25:34,710 --> 00:25:31,039 we're not completely dry yet because 723 00:25:36,710 --> 00:25:34,720 those dark ridges with that left arrow 724 00:25:40,470 --> 00:25:36,720 are where streams once flowed among 725 00:25:42,549 --> 00:25:40,480 those dunes and deposited sand that 726 00:25:45,029 --> 00:25:42,559 was carried by liquid water flowing 727 00:25:46,789 --> 00:25:45,039 water so we're in kind of a dry-ish 728 00:25:48,630 --> 00:25:46,799 environment on the right you can see all 729 00:25:50,710 --> 00:25:48,640 these wavy layers that formed in dry 730 00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:50,720 dune fields and on the left you can see 731 00:25:56,230 --> 00:25:53,200 these dark ridges that formed in streams 732 00:25:57,590 --> 00:25:56,240 on the next one 733 00:25:59,269 --> 00:25:57,600 uh this is 734 00:26:01,110 --> 00:25:59,279 a self portrait that we took recently in 735 00:26:04,149 --> 00:26:01,120 this area and just wanted to show you 736 00:26:05,990 --> 00:26:04,159 what the rover looks like after 10 years 737 00:26:08,149 --> 00:26:06,000 it's it's almost turning the color of 738 00:26:09,029 --> 00:26:08,159 mars a lot of dust has deposited on the 739 00:26:11,029 --> 00:26:09,039 rover 740 00:26:13,110 --> 00:26:11,039 the wheels are kind of banged up as i 741 00:26:15,110 --> 00:26:13,120 think everyone knows we ran into some 742 00:26:17,269 --> 00:26:15,120 issues early on with holes developing in 743 00:26:19,750 --> 00:26:17,279 the wheels but we've been very careful 744 00:26:21,430 --> 00:26:19,760 in how we drive and i think we've 745 00:26:22,310 --> 00:26:21,440 managed to make the wheels last a long 746 00:26:24,310 --> 00:26:22,320 time 747 00:26:25,909 --> 00:26:24,320 but the rover is doing incredibly well 748 00:26:28,310 --> 00:26:25,919 after 10 years we really have all the 749 00:26:30,149 --> 00:26:28,320 capabilities we need to keep going 750 00:26:32,149 --> 00:26:30,159 further and the last thing i'll just 751 00:26:33,190 --> 00:26:32,159 cover is about um you know what lies 752 00:26:35,510 --> 00:26:33,200 ahead 753 00:26:37,590 --> 00:26:35,520 so in the next one 754 00:26:40,390 --> 00:26:37,600 we'll see a little animation of what 755 00:26:42,070 --> 00:26:40,400 what's going to come up uh come up in in 756 00:26:43,590 --> 00:26:42,080 the next few years 757 00:26:45,029 --> 00:26:43,600 um so 758 00:26:46,470 --> 00:26:45,039 in the foreground there's some places 759 00:26:48,950 --> 00:26:46,480 we've already been 760 00:26:50,549 --> 00:26:48,960 and then right about 761 00:26:52,950 --> 00:26:50,559 in the next few seconds is kind of where 762 00:26:54,710 --> 00:26:52,960 we are 763 00:26:56,710 --> 00:26:54,720 which is right near where those rounded 764 00:26:58,630 --> 00:26:56,720 hills begin and that magnesium sulfate 765 00:27:00,070 --> 00:26:58,640 bearing unit that might talk that might 766 00:27:01,269 --> 00:27:00,080 tell us about that dramatic change in 767 00:27:03,590 --> 00:27:01,279 mars climate 768 00:27:05,190 --> 00:27:03,600 right above that there's actually a 769 00:27:07,110 --> 00:27:05,200 channel that's been etched into those 770 00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:07,120 layers so here you can see 771 00:27:10,789 --> 00:27:08,480 what it looks like to be an ancient 772 00:27:11,990 --> 00:27:10,799 riverbed that's etched into those layers 773 00:27:13,830 --> 00:27:12,000 so that's going to be exciting to see 774 00:27:15,909 --> 00:27:13,840 whether liquid water flowed even after 775 00:27:17,750 --> 00:27:15,919 the sulfate unit formed then we're going 776 00:27:19,590 --> 00:27:17,760 to drive and continue to look at that 777 00:27:22,230 --> 00:27:19,600 sulfate bearing unit 778 00:27:24,389 --> 00:27:22,240 until we once again head more directly 779 00:27:26,630 --> 00:27:24,399 uphill on mount sharp maybe this is in 780 00:27:29,110 --> 00:27:26,640 three or four years from now uh and we 781 00:27:30,789 --> 00:27:29,120 get all the way up to where this uh this 782 00:27:32,870 --> 00:27:30,799 very strange looking layer is it almost 783 00:27:35,909 --> 00:27:32,880 looks like a lemon meringue top on mount 784 00:27:38,470 --> 00:27:35,919 sharp and this layer isn't actually part 785 00:27:40,549 --> 00:27:38,480 of the continuous geological record 786 00:27:42,950 --> 00:27:40,559 it was pasted on at a later point in 787 00:27:44,789 --> 00:27:42,960 time so when we reach here maybe in 788 00:27:47,110 --> 00:27:44,799 three four or five years 789 00:27:48,789 --> 00:27:47,120 we'll have read the entire book of mars 790 00:27:50,389 --> 00:27:48,799 history that's preserved in lower mount 791 00:27:52,710 --> 00:27:50,399 sharp and we'll have done everything we 792 00:27:54,870 --> 00:27:52,720 hoped we could ever do so let's hope we 793 00:27:56,950 --> 00:27:54,880 get there 794 00:27:59,029 --> 00:27:56,960 let's certainly hope so and i mean thank 795 00:28:01,269 --> 00:27:59,039 you for encapsulating 10 years of 796 00:28:02,470 --> 00:28:01,279 amazing science in just a short period 797 00:28:04,389 --> 00:28:02,480 of time 798 00:28:05,669 --> 00:28:04,399 i do want to take a couple questions 799 00:28:07,430 --> 00:28:05,679 from the audience i think we only have 800 00:28:08,549 --> 00:28:07,440 time for two quick questions so i'm 801 00:28:10,070 --> 00:28:08,559 going to throw it over to sarah because 802 00:28:13,669 --> 00:28:10,080 i'm sure there's lots of people asking 803 00:28:17,750 --> 00:28:15,669 well definitely a lot of questions 804 00:28:20,630 --> 00:28:17,760 coming in on the chat so the first one 805 00:28:23,269 --> 00:28:20,640 i'm going to ask you ashwin is from my 806 00:28:29,110 --> 00:28:23,279 on facebook my wants to know what was 807 00:28:34,710 --> 00:28:31,830 hmm i'm sure there's been a lot of 808 00:28:36,870 --> 00:28:34,720 surprising ones uh but i think 809 00:28:37,830 --> 00:28:36,880 the the most surprising and profound one 810 00:28:40,789 --> 00:28:37,840 to me 811 00:28:42,630 --> 00:28:40,799 is that uh those lakes persisted much 812 00:28:44,549 --> 00:28:42,640 longer than we could tell from when we 813 00:28:46,630 --> 00:28:44,559 just had satellite images before we 814 00:28:48,230 --> 00:28:46,640 landed we thought there may have been 815 00:28:50,149 --> 00:28:48,240 lakes at one layer of mount sharp where 816 00:28:52,470 --> 00:28:50,159 there was a lot of clay minerals we 817 00:28:53,909 --> 00:28:52,480 found lakes at the crater floor then we 818 00:28:56,230 --> 00:28:53,919 found lakes at the bottom of mount sharp 819 00:28:57,830 --> 00:28:56,240 and then those lakes persisted for 820 00:28:59,510 --> 00:28:57,840 several hundred meters of thickness 821 00:29:01,110 --> 00:28:59,520 which probably means translates to 822 00:29:02,710 --> 00:29:01,120 something like tens or hundreds of 823 00:29:04,549 --> 00:29:02,720 millions of years 824 00:29:06,070 --> 00:29:04,559 so not only was mars habitable and the 825 00:29:07,909 --> 00:29:06,080 lakes were there but they persisted for 826 00:29:10,710 --> 00:29:07,919 much longer than we ever could have 827 00:29:15,669 --> 00:29:12,710 well that is a perfect segue to my next 828 00:29:17,750 --> 00:29:15,679 question it's from gretel on linkedin um 829 00:29:20,389 --> 00:29:17,760 you're mentioning lakes gretel wants to 830 00:29:21,909 --> 00:29:20,399 know where did the water go 831 00:29:24,789 --> 00:29:21,919 yeah 832 00:29:27,269 --> 00:29:24,799 uh probably evaporated and maybe some of 833 00:29:30,789 --> 00:29:27,279 it's now frozen at the uh in the polar 834 00:29:33,190 --> 00:29:30,799 caps uh but a lot of mars water that's 835 00:29:35,830 --> 00:29:33,200 not still you know in the polar caps or 836 00:29:37,510 --> 00:29:35,840 incorporated into minerals in the soil 837 00:29:39,990 --> 00:29:37,520 uh may have actually been even lost to 838 00:29:41,269 --> 00:29:40,000 space mars used to have a much thicker 839 00:29:44,630 --> 00:29:41,279 atmosphere 840 00:29:46,630 --> 00:29:44,640 the water was lost to space and a lot of 841 00:29:52,389 --> 00:29:46,640 the other water is now just in the form 842 00:29:56,789 --> 00:29:54,549 awesome for one more 843 00:29:59,669 --> 00:29:56,799 okay okay sarah one more you can throw 844 00:30:01,750 --> 00:29:59,679 one more in all right i'm sorry one more 845 00:30:03,350 --> 00:30:01,760 because it's a question that i've heard 846 00:30:06,549 --> 00:30:03,360 before and i think it's an interesting 847 00:30:08,870 --> 00:30:06,559 one so manuel on linkedin wants to know 848 00:30:11,269 --> 00:30:08,880 how much radiation the rover is exposed 849 00:30:16,149 --> 00:30:13,750 yeah um i can't give you like a number 850 00:30:19,590 --> 00:30:16,159 or anything but i can say it's 851 00:30:22,310 --> 00:30:19,600 uh more than you'd get on earth because 852 00:30:24,710 --> 00:30:22,320 uh mars has two things going against it 853 00:30:26,789 --> 00:30:24,720 it has a thinner atmosphere so it has 854 00:30:29,590 --> 00:30:26,799 less shielding from the atmosphere and 855 00:30:32,789 --> 00:30:29,600 it also lacks a strong magnetic field 856 00:30:34,630 --> 00:30:32,799 both of which help us on earth 857 00:30:36,870 --> 00:30:34,640 not be exposed to the radiation that 858 00:30:39,909 --> 00:30:36,880 comes from cosmic rays which 859 00:30:41,029 --> 00:30:39,919 come from deep space or from radiation 860 00:30:42,630 --> 00:30:41,039 from the sun 861 00:30:44,470 --> 00:30:42,640 and i'll just take the opportunity now 862 00:30:47,110 --> 00:30:44,480 to mention that we have an instrument on 863 00:30:49,350 --> 00:30:47,120 the rover that nasa specifically flew on 864 00:30:51,750 --> 00:30:49,360 curiosity to measure that radiation at 865 00:30:54,149 --> 00:30:51,760 the surface of mars in order to prepare 866 00:30:55,029 --> 00:30:54,159 uh for eventual human exploration of 867 00:30:56,789 --> 00:30:55,039 mars 868 00:30:58,149 --> 00:30:56,799 so we've been taking radiation 869 00:30:59,990 --> 00:30:58,159 measurements actually since shortly 870 00:31:02,149 --> 00:31:00,000 after launch we measured radiation the 871 00:31:04,710 --> 00:31:02,159 whole way to mars and then through the 872 00:31:06,789 --> 00:31:04,720 atmosphere and on the surface now for 873 00:31:08,789 --> 00:31:06,799 the last 10 years we've even done 874 00:31:10,789 --> 00:31:08,799 experiments where we snuck the rover up 875 00:31:12,710 --> 00:31:10,799 next to one of those big cliff faces i 876 00:31:15,029 --> 00:31:12,720 showed so that we're blocking part of 877 00:31:16,310 --> 00:31:15,039 the sky and we can measure how well that 878 00:31:19,029 --> 00:31:16,320 cliff face 879 00:31:20,870 --> 00:31:19,039 uh protects the rover uh from radiation 880 00:31:23,269 --> 00:31:20,880 coming from space and therefore if 881 00:31:25,509 --> 00:31:23,279 astronauts could use natural features 882 00:31:28,470 --> 00:31:25,519 like cliffs as shelters to protect 883 00:31:30,389 --> 00:31:28,480 themselves from radiation 884 00:31:31,830 --> 00:31:30,399 well i'm certainly glad i let that last 885 00:31:34,230 --> 00:31:31,840 question in because that's a question 886 00:31:35,590 --> 00:31:34,240 i've been asking myself so ashwin we are 887 00:31:37,350 --> 00:31:35,600 going to come back to you in just a few 888 00:31:39,909 --> 00:31:37,360 minutes i want to take a moment now to 889 00:31:41,990 --> 00:31:39,919 actually introduce our second speaker as 890 00:31:44,149 --> 00:31:42,000 ashwin was talking about curiosity has 891 00:31:46,070 --> 00:31:44,159 done some great science but a lot of it 892 00:31:47,669 --> 00:31:46,080 has been because curiosity has been able 893 00:31:49,350 --> 00:31:47,679 to drive so 894 00:31:52,389 --> 00:31:49,360 i want to introduce our second speaker 895 00:31:55,269 --> 00:31:52,399 carrie bean is a systems engineer at jpl 896 00:31:58,549 --> 00:31:55,279 and she is the deputy lead rover planner 897 00:32:01,269 --> 00:31:58,559 aka mars rover driver and robotic arm 898 00:32:03,669 --> 00:32:01,279 operator for the curiosity mars rover 899 00:32:05,909 --> 00:32:03,679 she also worked on curiosity as a 900 00:32:09,029 --> 00:32:05,919 student at the time of landing on the 901 00:32:10,950 --> 00:32:09,039 environmental science and mast cam teams 902 00:32:13,430 --> 00:32:10,960 she's worked on numerous other missions 903 00:32:15,830 --> 00:32:13,440 such as ingenuity mars helicopter the 904 00:32:18,470 --> 00:32:15,840 mars exploration rover's spirit and 905 00:32:20,870 --> 00:32:18,480 opportunity and many more she got her 906 00:32:23,750 --> 00:32:20,880 bachelor's and master's degrees at texas 907 00:32:26,870 --> 00:32:23,760 a m university in meteorology with her 908 00:32:29,430 --> 00:32:26,880 focus on studying the weather on mars hi 909 00:32:32,389 --> 00:32:29,440 carrie thanks for being here tonight 910 00:32:34,149 --> 00:32:32,399 hi thanks for having me 911 00:32:35,669 --> 00:32:34,159 so i want to start off the same way i 912 00:32:37,430 --> 00:32:35,679 mean you both have great stories of how 913 00:32:39,990 --> 00:32:37,440 you got to this mission so how did you 914 00:32:42,789 --> 00:32:40,000 get where you are today 915 00:32:44,549 --> 00:32:42,799 yeah so i grew up totally obsessed with 916 00:32:46,310 --> 00:32:44,559 weather i was glued to the weather 917 00:32:48,389 --> 00:32:46,320 channel and it was a huge part of my 918 00:32:50,630 --> 00:32:48,399 life when i was three years old a 919 00:32:52,389 --> 00:32:50,640 tornado hit my house when i was in the 920 00:32:54,470 --> 00:32:52,399 fifth grade i had to evacuate from a 921 00:32:56,549 --> 00:32:54,480 hurricane and when i was in high school 922 00:32:58,789 --> 00:32:56,559 i was struck by lightning so it's always 923 00:33:00,230 --> 00:32:58,799 kind of a big part of my life 924 00:33:02,549 --> 00:33:00,240 and so 925 00:33:04,950 --> 00:33:02,559 i didn't really get interested in space 926 00:33:06,710 --> 00:33:04,960 until high school where my family was 927 00:33:08,870 --> 00:33:06,720 doing the whole disney world vacation in 928 00:33:10,789 --> 00:33:08,880 florida we just happened to be the the 929 00:33:13,909 --> 00:33:10,799 week of a space shuttle launch and it 930 00:33:15,029 --> 00:33:13,919 was sts-114 which was our return to 931 00:33:15,909 --> 00:33:15,039 flight 932 00:33:18,950 --> 00:33:15,919 and 933 00:33:19,830 --> 00:33:18,960 away 934 00:33:22,630 --> 00:33:19,840 um 935 00:33:24,710 --> 00:33:22,640 just you could fill and see the space 936 00:33:26,389 --> 00:33:24,720 shuttle and i was like okay maybe this 937 00:33:28,470 --> 00:33:26,399 space thing is kind of cool so i started 938 00:33:30,870 --> 00:33:28,480 reading a lot more and i decided to go 939 00:33:32,870 --> 00:33:30,880 to space camp and while i was at space 940 00:33:34,710 --> 00:33:32,880 camp uh one of the documentaries they 941 00:33:36,389 --> 00:33:34,720 showed was roving mars which was about 942 00:33:38,389 --> 00:33:36,399 spirit and opportunity and i remember 943 00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:38,399 saying hey those mars rovers are kind of 944 00:33:41,590 --> 00:33:39,360 cool 945 00:33:45,669 --> 00:33:41,600 and i decided to go to school for 946 00:33:47,190 --> 00:33:45,679 meteorology and lucked out that i got to 947 00:33:48,549 --> 00:33:47,200 work with a professor who let me study 948 00:33:50,230 --> 00:33:48,559 the weather on mars if you pull up my 949 00:33:51,669 --> 00:33:50,240 first graphic you'll see 950 00:33:54,630 --> 00:33:51,679 my professor and i when we worked 951 00:33:55,830 --> 00:33:54,640 together on curiosity um 952 00:33:57,029 --> 00:33:55,840 he brought me along to working on a 953 00:33:59,430 --> 00:33:57,039 whole bunch of different missions 954 00:34:02,310 --> 00:33:59,440 including the phoenix marslander 955 00:34:03,830 --> 00:34:02,320 both spirit and opportunity and then on 956 00:34:05,509 --> 00:34:03,840 to curiosity so i actually joined 957 00:34:07,830 --> 00:34:05,519 curiosity first about a year before 958 00:34:09,510 --> 00:34:07,840 launch as part of the masscam team and 959 00:34:10,790 --> 00:34:09,520 the environmental science team working 960 00:34:12,869 --> 00:34:10,800 with oshman and all the other great 961 00:34:14,869 --> 00:34:12,879 meteorologists to get ready to study 962 00:34:17,349 --> 00:34:14,879 weather on mars so i was looking for 963 00:34:21,109 --> 00:34:17,359 clouds and dust doubles and other 964 00:34:23,430 --> 00:34:21,119 anything meteorology related and um 965 00:34:25,829 --> 00:34:23,440 when i was ready to graduate i 966 00:34:27,510 --> 00:34:25,839 luckily got a job at jpl and my first 967 00:34:30,069 --> 00:34:27,520 mission was actually working on dawn and 968 00:34:32,389 --> 00:34:30,079 the asteroid belt and so the asteroid 969 00:34:34,230 --> 00:34:32,399 people are great but i miss mars so as 970 00:34:36,790 --> 00:34:34,240 soon as i could i went back to mars and 971 00:34:38,470 --> 00:34:36,800 i went to opportunity and was one of her 972 00:34:40,230 --> 00:34:38,480 final engineers and i was in the middle 973 00:34:42,149 --> 00:34:40,240 of rover driver training for opportunity 974 00:34:44,629 --> 00:34:42,159 when we lost contact so 975 00:34:46,230 --> 00:34:44,639 in 2018 the curiosity team said hey 976 00:34:48,149 --> 00:34:46,240 we're about to start another class of 977 00:34:50,629 --> 00:34:48,159 river drivers do you want to come along 978 00:34:52,790 --> 00:34:50,639 and so i was able to finally get my mars 979 00:34:54,869 --> 00:34:52,800 rover driver license and work my way up 980 00:34:57,430 --> 00:34:54,879 to now being the deputy lead rover 981 00:34:58,950 --> 00:34:57,440 driver for curiosity 982 00:35:00,390 --> 00:34:58,960 well carrie it's very obvious that 983 00:35:02,710 --> 00:35:00,400 you're passionate just like ashwin about 984 00:35:04,950 --> 00:35:02,720 mars in particular as well but you 985 00:35:07,990 --> 00:35:04,960 mentioned your rover license how do you 986 00:35:10,870 --> 00:35:08,000 get a rover license 987 00:35:13,589 --> 00:35:10,880 yeah so um 988 00:35:14,470 --> 00:35:13,599 it it takes a little bit of time um 989 00:35:16,550 --> 00:35:14,480 so 990 00:35:18,790 --> 00:35:16,560 it usually takes like one to two years 991 00:35:20,310 --> 00:35:18,800 and we start out with classes so 992 00:35:21,829 --> 00:35:20,320 unfortunately if you think once you're 993 00:35:23,270 --> 00:35:21,839 done with school you stop taking classes 994 00:35:25,990 --> 00:35:23,280 that is not true you're gonna keep 995 00:35:27,750 --> 00:35:26,000 taking classes so we have a couple weeks 996 00:35:30,069 --> 00:35:27,760 worth of classes and that includes 997 00:35:32,470 --> 00:35:30,079 homeworks and then we have some hands-on 998 00:35:34,710 --> 00:35:32,480 labs and then we run some training 999 00:35:37,030 --> 00:35:34,720 simulations and being a star wars fan i 1000 00:35:39,190 --> 00:35:37,040 had to make a star wars acronym for them 1001 00:35:42,069 --> 00:35:39,200 porgs practical operational readiness 1002 00:35:45,109 --> 00:35:42,079 gambits and so i 1003 00:35:47,030 --> 00:35:45,119 roast my trainees through some porgs and 1004 00:35:49,349 --> 00:35:47,040 uh once they're ready then they actually 1005 00:35:51,349 --> 00:35:49,359 get to sit on shift with the rest of the 1006 00:35:53,190 --> 00:35:51,359 team and they'll actually develop the 1007 00:35:55,030 --> 00:35:53,200 commands and drive the rover and move 1008 00:35:56,950 --> 00:35:55,040 the robotic arm around 1009 00:35:59,670 --> 00:35:56,960 with someone double checking their work 1010 00:36:01,430 --> 00:35:59,680 and after a couple months um 1011 00:36:02,630 --> 00:36:01,440 usually of uh 1012 00:36:05,670 --> 00:36:02,640 doing that then they'll get their 1013 00:36:09,109 --> 00:36:05,680 driver's license um it takes a while 1014 00:36:10,710 --> 00:36:09,119 it's a big investment but uh you know 1015 00:36:13,270 --> 00:36:10,720 it's there's a lot to learn for river 1016 00:36:15,430 --> 00:36:13,280 driving so it takes a while 1017 00:36:18,630 --> 00:36:15,440 i mean it sounds exciting um i know you 1018 00:36:20,550 --> 00:36:18,640 mentioned before that as far as rover 1019 00:36:21,990 --> 00:36:20,560 drivers there's fewer rover drivers than 1020 00:36:23,589 --> 00:36:22,000 there are astronauts in the world which 1021 00:36:25,349 --> 00:36:23,599 is pretty cool to be part of that elite 1022 00:36:28,310 --> 00:36:25,359 class so congratulations on your rover 1023 00:36:31,670 --> 00:36:28,320 license uh but tell us what is a day in 1024 00:36:34,470 --> 00:36:31,680 the life of rover operations 1025 00:36:37,910 --> 00:36:34,480 yeah um so if you pull up my next 1026 00:36:39,670 --> 00:36:37,920 graphic there um so it starts out 1027 00:36:41,430 --> 00:36:39,680 you've got a lot of like scientists and 1028 00:36:42,790 --> 00:36:41,440 a mix of engineers so this was a picture 1029 00:36:45,670 --> 00:36:42,800 of me from landing night with some of 1030 00:36:47,829 --> 00:36:45,680 the amazing women scientists on the team 1031 00:36:49,270 --> 00:36:47,839 and you start out with all those 1032 00:36:51,109 --> 00:36:49,280 scientists in the morning looking at all 1033 00:36:53,349 --> 00:36:51,119 the images coming down from mars saying 1034 00:36:55,270 --> 00:36:53,359 oh you know here's this cool rock let's 1035 00:36:57,030 --> 00:36:55,280 investigate this today and then let's 1036 00:36:58,630 --> 00:36:57,040 drive the rover over to that next rock 1037 00:37:01,270 --> 00:36:58,640 so if you pull up my next graphic it 1038 00:37:02,310 --> 00:37:01,280 shows a little bit about our process 1039 00:37:03,910 --> 00:37:02,320 so 1040 00:37:05,829 --> 00:37:03,920 the scientists are looking at all that 1041 00:37:07,349 --> 00:37:05,839 data coming back and the engineers are 1042 00:37:09,829 --> 00:37:07,359 looking at the health and safety of the 1043 00:37:11,670 --> 00:37:09,839 rover did the roamer stay warm enough 1044 00:37:13,430 --> 00:37:11,680 through the night how's the power 1045 00:37:15,430 --> 00:37:13,440 situation looking all that kind of 1046 00:37:17,030 --> 00:37:15,440 engineering data just to make sure the 1047 00:37:18,550 --> 00:37:17,040 rover's healthy 1048 00:37:19,990 --> 00:37:18,560 then over the course of the day the 1049 00:37:21,190 --> 00:37:20,000 scientists and engineers will work 1050 00:37:22,870 --> 00:37:21,200 together to make sure that we are 1051 00:37:24,710 --> 00:37:22,880 getting as much science as we can out of 1052 00:37:26,630 --> 00:37:24,720 the rover for the day whether that's 1053 00:37:28,390 --> 00:37:26,640 moving the robotic arm around driving to 1054 00:37:29,589 --> 00:37:28,400 the next location taking pictures of 1055 00:37:32,069 --> 00:37:29,599 cool rocks 1056 00:37:34,390 --> 00:37:32,079 any sort of day the scientists need 1057 00:37:35,829 --> 00:37:34,400 and then the latter half of the day 1058 00:37:37,990 --> 00:37:35,839 they'll actually sit there and write the 1059 00:37:40,550 --> 00:37:38,000 code that will go to the spacecraft we 1060 00:37:42,870 --> 00:37:40,560 call them commands and it's basically a 1061 00:37:44,950 --> 00:37:42,880 laundry to-do list for the rover so 1062 00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:44,960 it'll say do this then do this then do 1063 00:37:46,710 --> 00:37:45,760 this 1064 00:37:48,069 --> 00:37:46,720 and 1065 00:37:50,950 --> 00:37:48,079 then once we've written all those 1066 00:37:52,550 --> 00:37:50,960 commands we'll verify it we'll run 1067 00:37:54,950 --> 00:37:52,560 simulations make sure it's all doing 1068 00:37:56,870 --> 00:37:54,960 what we expect it to and then we'll 1069 00:37:58,950 --> 00:37:56,880 bundle all of that instructions up and 1070 00:38:00,470 --> 00:37:58,960 then we'll use nasa's deep space network 1071 00:38:01,349 --> 00:38:00,480 to radiate all those commands to the 1072 00:38:05,030 --> 00:38:01,359 rover 1073 00:38:07,109 --> 00:38:05,040 commands for us we usually send one to 1074 00:38:09,270 --> 00:38:07,119 three days worth of commands at a time 1075 00:38:11,349 --> 00:38:09,280 but no live joystick for rover driving 1076 00:38:13,430 --> 00:38:11,359 unfortunately mars is just a little bit 1077 00:38:15,589 --> 00:38:13,440 too far away to be able to talk to the 1078 00:38:16,630 --> 00:38:15,599 rovers in real time 1079 00:38:18,150 --> 00:38:16,640 so 1080 00:38:20,550 --> 00:38:18,160 we'll hear back from the rovers a couple 1081 00:38:21,910 --> 00:38:20,560 times a day through our uh orbiter 1082 00:38:23,589 --> 00:38:21,920 missions like the mars reconnaissance 1083 00:38:25,829 --> 00:38:23,599 orbiter mars odyssey all those cool 1084 00:38:28,310 --> 00:38:25,839 missions orbiting mars they'll send all 1085 00:38:29,990 --> 00:38:28,320 of the data back for us and then the 1086 00:38:31,910 --> 00:38:30,000 process starts all over again the next 1087 00:38:33,829 --> 00:38:31,920 day we'll again look at all that cool 1088 00:38:36,710 --> 00:38:33,839 data that came back and figure out what 1089 00:38:40,390 --> 00:38:38,230 i mean it's incredible the amount of 1090 00:38:42,069 --> 00:38:40,400 both on the science and on the driving 1091 00:38:43,750 --> 00:38:42,079 side the operational side how much 1092 00:38:46,069 --> 00:38:43,760 connection and communication and 1093 00:38:47,990 --> 00:38:46,079 teamwork this really takes so carrie can 1094 00:38:50,870 --> 00:38:48,000 you tell us how have the past few years 1095 00:38:52,790 --> 00:38:50,880 kind of changed things 1096 00:38:54,310 --> 00:38:52,800 yeah so it's been really interesting 1097 00:38:56,390 --> 00:38:54,320 over the last few years none of us 1098 00:38:59,190 --> 00:38:56,400 expected to be commanding curiosity from 1099 00:39:01,109 --> 00:38:59,200 our couch and yet here we are so if you 1100 00:39:02,630 --> 00:39:01,119 pull up the the next graphic you'll see 1101 00:39:05,190 --> 00:39:02,640 what it used to look like when we were 1102 00:39:07,030 --> 00:39:05,200 all in person um so this is what it 1103 00:39:08,470 --> 00:39:07,040 looks like in our downlink rooms that's 1104 00:39:10,069 --> 00:39:08,480 where all the engineering telemetry 1105 00:39:12,069 --> 00:39:10,079 comes in and the engineers are assessing 1106 00:39:13,910 --> 00:39:12,079 the data and then on the bottom you can 1107 00:39:15,510 --> 00:39:13,920 see what we call our uplink room so this 1108 00:39:17,030 --> 00:39:15,520 is all the engineers and scientists 1109 00:39:19,589 --> 00:39:17,040 working together to figure out the next 1110 00:39:20,630 --> 00:39:19,599 plan and make those commands 1111 00:39:22,550 --> 00:39:20,640 and 1112 00:39:24,310 --> 00:39:22,560 for most of the mission the science team 1113 00:39:26,230 --> 00:39:24,320 has actually been mostly remote because 1114 00:39:27,190 --> 00:39:26,240 they're working at other universities or 1115 00:39:30,950 --> 00:39:27,200 other 1116 00:39:32,390 --> 00:39:30,960 space agencies around the globe and so 1117 00:39:34,630 --> 00:39:32,400 we already were somewhat of a hybrid 1118 00:39:37,430 --> 00:39:34,640 environment before um 1119 00:39:39,190 --> 00:39:37,440 with all the jpl roles being at jpl and 1120 00:39:40,630 --> 00:39:39,200 then if you go to the next graphic 1121 00:39:43,430 --> 00:39:40,640 you'll see 1122 00:39:45,030 --> 00:39:43,440 we all had to go from home and so we 1123 00:39:47,589 --> 00:39:45,040 brought all of our computers and our 1124 00:39:49,030 --> 00:39:47,599 monitors and one of the things for rover 1125 00:39:50,950 --> 00:39:49,040 drivers we actually have really cool 1126 00:39:52,230 --> 00:39:50,960 stereo glasses we can use but we 1127 00:39:54,710 --> 00:39:52,240 couldn't 1128 00:39:56,550 --> 00:39:54,720 let people bring that home so instead 1129 00:39:59,270 --> 00:39:56,560 i have to sit here and i put on my 1130 00:40:01,510 --> 00:39:59,280 clip-on red blue glasses and flip up and 1131 00:40:04,069 --> 00:40:01,520 down and look in stereo don't look at 1132 00:40:05,589 --> 00:40:04,079 stereo stereo you know i look like this 1133 00:40:07,030 --> 00:40:05,599 all day it's pretty cool 1134 00:40:09,829 --> 00:40:07,040 um 1135 00:40:12,069 --> 00:40:09,839 and uh you know we were working from our 1136 00:40:13,430 --> 00:40:12,079 kitchen tables i'm in the top left photo 1137 00:40:15,270 --> 00:40:13,440 there and you can actually see my cat 1138 00:40:17,190 --> 00:40:15,280 underneath my monitors as well our pets 1139 00:40:19,030 --> 00:40:17,200 have been very involved in uh you know 1140 00:40:21,510 --> 00:40:19,040 operating the rovers with us 1141 00:40:23,270 --> 00:40:21,520 um but it's been very interesting to to 1142 00:40:24,630 --> 00:40:23,280 all be remote and so now we're trying to 1143 00:40:26,630 --> 00:40:24,640 figure out what those next steps are 1144 00:40:28,790 --> 00:40:26,640 going to be of you know how do we 1145 00:40:30,870 --> 00:40:28,800 potentially work in a hybrid environment 1146 00:40:33,030 --> 00:40:30,880 and how do we bring people back safely 1147 00:40:35,109 --> 00:40:33,040 and it's really cool to be exploring 1148 00:40:38,309 --> 00:40:35,119 this time and once again changing how 1149 00:40:40,390 --> 00:40:38,319 we're operating the rover 1150 00:40:42,550 --> 00:40:40,400 that is awesome and thank you for 1151 00:40:43,990 --> 00:40:42,560 sharing that carrie so i want to open it 1152 00:40:46,069 --> 00:40:44,000 up for a few questions because i'm sure 1153 00:40:47,510 --> 00:40:46,079 we've had some questions online on the 1154 00:40:49,109 --> 00:40:47,520 operational side in fact the chats are 1155 00:40:50,630 --> 00:40:49,119 all lit up so please keep asking your 1156 00:40:52,390 --> 00:40:50,640 questions but i'm going to toss it over 1157 00:40:54,550 --> 00:40:52,400 to sarah we'll do two or three questions 1158 00:40:57,109 --> 00:40:54,560 for carrie 1159 00:40:59,670 --> 00:40:57,119 sounds great okay um next question is 1160 00:41:02,470 --> 00:40:59,680 from youtube so this is from akshay 1161 00:41:04,950 --> 00:41:02,480 asking on youtube i heard curiosity will 1162 00:41:08,790 --> 00:41:04,960 be doing some autonomous navigation 1163 00:41:10,790 --> 00:41:08,800 is that true and how is that possible 1164 00:41:12,230 --> 00:41:10,800 yeah so when we rover drive we actually 1165 00:41:14,630 --> 00:41:12,240 have a couple different ways that we can 1166 00:41:16,950 --> 00:41:14,640 drive the rover so we can be very very 1167 00:41:19,349 --> 00:41:16,960 specific with our commands of drive 1168 00:41:20,870 --> 00:41:19,359 forward a couple meters turn 30 degrees 1169 00:41:22,630 --> 00:41:20,880 go forward another couple meters you can 1170 00:41:23,750 --> 00:41:22,640 be very very very precise with what we 1171 00:41:25,829 --> 00:41:23,760 want it to do 1172 00:41:27,829 --> 00:41:25,839 we also have all the way to the other 1173 00:41:29,990 --> 00:41:27,839 end of the spectrum we call it auto nav 1174 00:41:32,710 --> 00:41:30,000 or auto navigation where we can actually 1175 00:41:34,470 --> 00:41:32,720 pick a rock or some other target in the 1176 00:41:36,309 --> 00:41:34,480 distance and tell the rover to figure 1177 00:41:38,870 --> 00:41:36,319 out how to get there itself and it will 1178 00:41:41,030 --> 00:41:38,880 actually take images build a map and we 1179 00:41:42,550 --> 00:41:41,040 can tell it how brave or how careful we 1180 00:41:46,710 --> 00:41:42,560 want the rover to be 1181 00:41:48,470 --> 00:41:46,720 and we will be able to drive the rover 1182 00:41:50,309 --> 00:41:48,480 to those destinations that we may not be 1183 00:41:52,950 --> 00:41:50,319 able to see is it safe to all drive 1184 00:41:55,109 --> 00:41:52,960 there let the rover decide um so just 1185 00:41:56,710 --> 00:41:55,119 kind of depending on what the goal is 1186 00:42:00,550 --> 00:41:56,720 and how we feel we can either let the 1187 00:42:04,790 --> 00:42:02,630 excellent okay next question is coming 1188 00:42:07,670 --> 00:42:04,800 from facebook christopher on facebook 1189 00:42:09,349 --> 00:42:07,680 asks how fast does the rover travel 1190 00:42:11,109 --> 00:42:09,359 on the terrain of mars with the 1191 00:42:13,190 --> 00:42:11,119 atmospheric pressure being slightly 1192 00:42:15,510 --> 00:42:13,200 different does that have any effect on 1193 00:42:17,910 --> 00:42:15,520 the rover 1194 00:42:20,630 --> 00:42:17,920 yeah so not so much the atmosphere um 1195 00:42:22,309 --> 00:42:20,640 really our limitation is that usually 1196 00:42:23,349 --> 00:42:22,319 while we're driving we're tracking our 1197 00:42:25,829 --> 00:42:23,359 position 1198 00:42:28,470 --> 00:42:25,839 and that takes a bit of bring brain 1199 00:42:30,950 --> 00:42:28,480 power and time to think and we don't go 1200 00:42:32,390 --> 00:42:30,960 very fast uh we only go about a meter a 1201 00:42:35,990 --> 00:42:32,400 minute that's about three feet per 1202 00:42:37,430 --> 00:42:36,000 minute it's pretty slow so um 1203 00:42:40,710 --> 00:42:37,440 you know we're very cautious but we'll 1204 00:42:42,230 --> 00:42:40,720 drive for a couple hours at a time um so 1205 00:42:44,309 --> 00:42:42,240 you know we'll make some good distance 1206 00:42:46,710 --> 00:42:44,319 usually somewhere between 20 and 100 1207 00:42:49,109 --> 00:42:46,720 meters per day uh depending on the kind 1208 00:42:51,670 --> 00:42:49,119 of terrain we're in um 1209 00:42:53,510 --> 00:42:51,680 and you know how close the next cool 1210 00:42:55,670 --> 00:42:53,520 rock is um 1211 00:42:59,030 --> 00:42:55,680 so yeah 1212 00:43:00,790 --> 00:42:59,040 we're not we're not very fast 1213 00:43:03,190 --> 00:43:00,800 but you have to be slow and careful 1214 00:43:05,270 --> 00:43:03,200 because you've got a very precious rover 1215 00:43:07,109 --> 00:43:05,280 and of course you want to make sure it 1216 00:43:07,910 --> 00:43:07,119 lasts a long time 1217 00:43:10,550 --> 00:43:07,920 so 1218 00:43:13,030 --> 00:43:10,560 ayush on youtube is asking can you tell 1219 00:43:15,270 --> 00:43:13,040 us about curiosity's twin which is in 1220 00:43:16,790 --> 00:43:15,280 the mars yard on earth so sounds like 1221 00:43:18,710 --> 00:43:16,800 this person has been following us a 1222 00:43:19,910 --> 00:43:18,720 while 1223 00:43:21,349 --> 00:43:19,920 yeah so 1224 00:43:22,790 --> 00:43:21,359 um 1225 00:43:25,349 --> 00:43:22,800 one of the things that we do is we 1226 00:43:27,349 --> 00:43:25,359 actually build kind of back well i don't 1227 00:43:29,430 --> 00:43:27,359 know i say backup but extra rovers here 1228 00:43:31,750 --> 00:43:29,440 on earth so we can test all of our stuff 1229 00:43:33,990 --> 00:43:31,760 here on earth before we send it to mars 1230 00:43:35,430 --> 00:43:34,000 so if we're doing a new activity we can 1231 00:43:37,190 --> 00:43:35,440 test it all here on earth because it's 1232 00:43:39,030 --> 00:43:37,200 much easier to fix the rover here on 1233 00:43:42,470 --> 00:43:39,040 earth than it is on mars 1234 00:43:45,349 --> 00:43:42,480 so what we'll do is um we've got one 1235 00:43:46,630 --> 00:43:45,359 rover that is almost a perfect duplicate 1236 00:43:47,750 --> 00:43:46,640 it tries to have as many of the 1237 00:43:49,990 --> 00:43:47,760 instruments 1238 00:43:52,470 --> 00:43:50,000 it has the drill and the robotic arm and 1239 00:43:54,390 --> 00:43:52,480 its full size 1240 00:43:56,150 --> 00:43:54,400 and that's the one that we can really 1241 00:43:58,390 --> 00:43:56,160 use to test out 1242 00:44:01,030 --> 00:43:58,400 um drilling or anything else we would 1243 00:44:03,349 --> 00:44:01,040 need we also have one um 1244 00:44:05,589 --> 00:44:03,359 that is the weight here on earth what it 1245 00:44:07,750 --> 00:44:05,599 is on mars so it doesn't have the 1246 00:44:09,829 --> 00:44:07,760 robotic arm it's pretty much just the 1247 00:44:12,230 --> 00:44:09,839 wheels and the legs and a computer in 1248 00:44:14,710 --> 00:44:12,240 the middle and so we can use that one a 1249 00:44:16,390 --> 00:44:14,720 lot more for our mobility and driving 1250 00:44:17,190 --> 00:44:16,400 testing because that one will act a lot 1251 00:44:19,910 --> 00:44:17,200 more 1252 00:44:20,870 --> 00:44:19,920 uh like it will on mars but here on 1253 00:44:23,750 --> 00:44:20,880 earth 1254 00:44:25,589 --> 00:44:23,760 so that's a great question 1255 00:44:28,309 --> 00:44:25,599 awesome so i think it's time to open up 1256 00:44:29,990 --> 00:44:28,319 q a for both of our speakers so sarah 1257 00:44:31,510 --> 00:44:30,000 what are they asking for both ashwin 1258 00:44:33,829 --> 00:44:31,520 we'll bring him back to the conversation 1259 00:44:37,430 --> 00:44:33,839 and carrie 1260 00:44:39,589 --> 00:44:37,440 excellent okay so sociodead on facebook 1261 00:44:41,589 --> 00:44:39,599 is asking this will be for you ashwin 1262 00:44:44,309 --> 00:44:41,599 has curiosity confirmed the presence of 1263 00:44:47,589 --> 00:44:44,319 water in any state along its path of 1264 00:44:51,750 --> 00:44:49,750 so the main way we've confirmed the 1265 00:44:54,069 --> 00:44:51,760 presence of water is in 1266 00:44:56,710 --> 00:44:54,079 incorporated into minerals 1267 00:44:58,870 --> 00:44:56,720 so in terms of the rocks on mars we 1268 00:45:01,109 --> 00:44:58,880 found a lot of clay minerals in rocks 1269 00:45:02,710 --> 00:45:01,119 and clay minerals have water bound 1270 00:45:04,790 --> 00:45:02,720 inside of them 1271 00:45:07,430 --> 00:45:04,800 but geologically we've also found you 1272 00:45:09,510 --> 00:45:07,440 know evidence that lakes once existed 1273 00:45:11,349 --> 00:45:09,520 but a long time ago so we found indirect 1274 00:45:13,270 --> 00:45:11,359 evidence for liquid water that once 1275 00:45:14,150 --> 00:45:13,280 existed uh you know billions of years 1276 00:45:15,589 --> 00:45:14,160 ago 1277 00:45:18,550 --> 00:45:15,599 the other place we found evidence for 1278 00:45:20,630 --> 00:45:18,560 water today is in the sky so we found 1279 00:45:23,190 --> 00:45:20,640 really beautiful we've taken really 1280 00:45:24,790 --> 00:45:23,200 beautiful pictures of water ice clouds 1281 00:45:25,990 --> 00:45:24,800 in the atmosphere 1282 00:45:28,790 --> 00:45:26,000 so water 1283 00:45:32,470 --> 00:45:28,800 is is around today just not so much in 1284 00:45:35,030 --> 00:45:33,510 okay 1285 00:45:37,270 --> 00:45:35,040 this next one i think is very 1286 00:45:39,190 --> 00:45:37,280 interesting this is from crystal on 1287 00:45:40,550 --> 00:45:39,200 linkedin ashwin i would like you to 1288 00:45:41,430 --> 00:45:40,560 answer 1289 00:45:42,950 --> 00:45:41,440 to your 1290 00:45:45,109 --> 00:45:42,960 the best of your knowledge 1291 00:45:47,190 --> 00:45:45,119 does mars have the potential to become 1292 00:45:48,790 --> 00:45:47,200 habitable again 1293 00:45:50,230 --> 00:45:48,800 oh 1294 00:45:51,589 --> 00:45:50,240 um 1295 00:45:53,990 --> 00:45:51,599 i you know i think the most 1296 00:45:55,910 --> 00:45:54,000 straightforward way to make uh mars 1297 00:45:57,349 --> 00:45:55,920 habitable is to bring a lot of equipment 1298 00:45:59,750 --> 00:45:57,359 with us if we go there and make it 1299 00:46:01,430 --> 00:45:59,760 habitable for ourselves so right now you 1300 00:46:04,550 --> 00:46:01,440 know if humans were to go there and set 1301 00:46:06,950 --> 00:46:04,560 up a you know permanent kind of station 1302 00:46:08,630 --> 00:46:06,960 we would have to um bring our own 1303 00:46:11,190 --> 00:46:08,640 environment with us 1304 00:46:12,230 --> 00:46:11,200 there's more exotic ideas about you know 1305 00:46:13,750 --> 00:46:12,240 kind of 1306 00:46:15,430 --> 00:46:13,760 you've probably heard about terraforming 1307 00:46:18,390 --> 00:46:15,440 mars and making mars back into an 1308 00:46:19,910 --> 00:46:18,400 environment where uh other forms of life 1309 00:46:21,270 --> 00:46:19,920 could exist 1310 00:46:23,109 --> 00:46:21,280 that's a little bit 1311 00:46:24,630 --> 00:46:23,119 more science fiction than fact at this 1312 00:46:26,309 --> 00:46:24,640 point but a lot of people have 1313 00:46:30,710 --> 00:46:26,319 interesting ideas about how maybe that 1314 00:46:34,870 --> 00:46:33,030 all right next one is for you carrie 1315 00:46:36,150 --> 00:46:34,880 this is from facebook 1316 00:46:37,990 --> 00:46:36,160 mania pen 1317 00:46:40,069 --> 00:46:38,000 on facebook is asking 1318 00:46:41,750 --> 00:46:40,079 since mars is super dusty how are the 1319 00:46:44,230 --> 00:46:41,760 camera lenses clean and taking those 1320 00:46:46,550 --> 00:46:44,240 great pictures 1321 00:46:47,670 --> 00:46:46,560 yeah that's a great question so 1322 00:46:50,069 --> 00:46:47,680 um 1323 00:46:51,829 --> 00:46:50,079 our hand lens imager the molle camera 1324 00:46:53,270 --> 00:46:51,839 actually has a cover on it so when we're 1325 00:46:55,349 --> 00:46:53,280 not using the camera we actually have a 1326 00:46:57,750 --> 00:46:55,359 nice little cover we put over it 1327 00:46:59,430 --> 00:46:57,760 and the mars dust actually settles 1328 00:47:01,109 --> 00:46:59,440 pretty straight down so when we're not 1329 00:47:02,230 --> 00:47:01,119 using the cameras we actually point our 1330 00:47:04,309 --> 00:47:02,240 head down 1331 00:47:05,990 --> 00:47:04,319 and so all of the dust kind of settles 1332 00:47:08,630 --> 00:47:06,000 on the back of our head instead of on 1333 00:47:13,829 --> 00:47:08,640 our camera lenses so um that works out 1334 00:47:17,910 --> 00:47:16,470 all right let's see 1335 00:47:19,349 --> 00:47:17,920 this is a 1336 00:47:21,589 --> 00:47:19,359 a person who has a 1337 00:47:24,390 --> 00:47:21,599 good appropriate name estrella 1338 00:47:25,430 --> 00:47:24,400 this is from linkedin and this is for 1339 00:47:27,589 --> 00:47:25,440 you carrie 1340 00:47:31,349 --> 00:47:27,599 would you say curiosity has performed 1341 00:47:34,630 --> 00:47:33,430 yeah absolutely so 1342 00:47:37,109 --> 00:47:34,640 um 1343 00:47:39,190 --> 00:47:37,119 we've operated well beyond our expected 1344 00:47:40,630 --> 00:47:39,200 lifetime and our wheels have held up 1345 00:47:42,470 --> 00:47:40,640 great even though we had a little bit of 1346 00:47:44,230 --> 00:47:42,480 trouble with them at first we've figured 1347 00:47:47,030 --> 00:47:44,240 that out now 1348 00:47:49,109 --> 00:47:47,040 we just figured out how to drill again 1349 00:47:51,270 --> 00:47:49,119 we've had a couple drill anomalies all 1350 00:47:52,950 --> 00:47:51,280 throughout the course of the mission and 1351 00:47:54,790 --> 00:47:52,960 uh that's one of my favorite things 1352 00:47:56,470 --> 00:47:54,800 about working at jpl is we have a lot of 1353 00:47:58,470 --> 00:47:56,480 great people here and a lot of really 1354 00:47:59,990 --> 00:47:58,480 smart people and so every time we're 1355 00:48:01,589 --> 00:48:00,000 faced with a problem we turn around and 1356 00:48:07,349 --> 00:48:01,599 solve it and so 1357 00:48:12,230 --> 00:48:09,349 great next question is from youtube it's 1358 00:48:14,069 --> 00:48:12,240 for you ashwin this is from peter peter 1359 00:48:16,230 --> 00:48:14,079 on youtube is asking is there any 1360 00:48:18,950 --> 00:48:16,240 evidence of plant life to have existed 1361 00:48:21,510 --> 00:48:18,960 on mars when she was covered with lakes 1362 00:48:24,630 --> 00:48:21,520 and rivers 1363 00:48:26,870 --> 00:48:24,640 not that we've discovered you know so 1364 00:48:29,030 --> 00:48:26,880 we have found that mars 1365 00:48:30,790 --> 00:48:29,040 was a very habitable place it offered 1366 00:48:33,589 --> 00:48:30,800 conditions that could have supported 1367 00:48:35,270 --> 00:48:33,599 life if life ever was present and that's 1368 00:48:36,950 --> 00:48:35,280 the result of you know our detailed 1369 00:48:39,349 --> 00:48:36,960 investigations we found that to be the 1370 00:48:41,589 --> 00:48:39,359 case for you know maybe tens or hundreds 1371 00:48:44,069 --> 00:48:41,599 of millions of years in mars past but we 1372 00:48:44,950 --> 00:48:44,079 have not found any obvious evidence for 1373 00:48:47,109 --> 00:48:44,960 life 1374 00:48:48,630 --> 00:48:47,119 and i say that i that it would be 1375 00:48:49,910 --> 00:48:48,640 obvious because 1376 00:48:52,150 --> 00:48:49,920 uh we're not 1377 00:48:54,309 --> 00:48:52,160 equipped to look in a more in a very 1378 00:48:55,990 --> 00:48:54,319 detailed way for like evidence of 1379 00:48:57,270 --> 00:48:56,000 microbial life that may have existed 3 1380 00:48:59,190 --> 00:48:57,280 billion years ago that would be very 1381 00:49:01,030 --> 00:48:59,200 hard to detect at this point in time 1382 00:49:03,990 --> 00:49:01,040 because mostly because microbes don't 1383 00:49:06,630 --> 00:49:04,000 leave really great fossils behind 1384 00:49:08,790 --> 00:49:06,640 so we found evidence for habitability no 1385 00:49:11,030 --> 00:49:08,800 obvious evidence of life but in the 1386 00:49:13,430 --> 00:49:11,040 future you know when we hopefully will 1387 00:49:15,589 --> 00:49:13,440 bring back samples of mars rock back to 1388 00:49:17,910 --> 00:49:15,599 earth we can use the vet the very best 1389 00:49:19,109 --> 00:49:17,920 laboratories on earth to do that uh 1390 00:49:20,870 --> 00:49:19,119 extremely 1391 00:49:22,790 --> 00:49:20,880 careful observation to figure out if 1392 00:49:26,390 --> 00:49:22,800 there's any actual evidence that life 1393 00:49:31,510 --> 00:49:29,109 that is awesome unfortunately that is 1394 00:49:34,390 --> 00:49:31,520 all the time we have for questions today 1395 00:49:36,150 --> 00:49:34,400 uh i do want to give our speakers one 1396 00:49:37,910 --> 00:49:36,160 final chance for their final remarks so 1397 00:49:39,430 --> 00:49:37,920 please do stick with us carrie i'm going 1398 00:49:41,910 --> 00:49:39,440 to toss it over to you for your final 1399 00:49:43,270 --> 00:49:41,920 words for the evening 1400 00:49:45,589 --> 00:49:43,280 yeah so 1401 00:49:48,150 --> 00:49:45,599 one of the fun things about working on 1402 00:49:50,309 --> 00:49:48,160 this mission is that 1403 00:49:55,109 --> 00:49:50,319 you do not have to be the absolute 1404 00:49:57,109 --> 00:49:55,119 perfect 4.0 a plus student uh to be a 1405 00:49:59,190 --> 00:49:57,119 rover driver i actually failed my first 1406 00:50:02,309 --> 00:49:59,200 calculus class in college and i'm now 1407 00:50:04,549 --> 00:50:02,319 the deputy lead rover driver so you know 1408 00:50:06,870 --> 00:50:04,559 take your failures learn from them keep 1409 00:50:08,950 --> 00:50:06,880 going and if you pull up my last graphic 1410 00:50:10,390 --> 00:50:08,960 i think working with some of the amazing 1411 00:50:13,270 --> 00:50:10,400 people on this mission 1412 00:50:16,549 --> 00:50:13,280 is just fantastic uh recently we had for 1413 00:50:18,549 --> 00:50:16,559 international women's day we actually uh 1414 00:50:20,710 --> 00:50:18,559 had a shift where we tried to staff 1415 00:50:22,309 --> 00:50:20,720 every single role with a woman and i 1416 00:50:23,829 --> 00:50:22,319 think that was really exciting to be a 1417 00:50:26,309 --> 00:50:23,839 part of um 1418 00:50:27,829 --> 00:50:26,319 to have such a really great diverse team 1419 00:50:29,829 --> 00:50:27,839 um and 1420 00:50:31,910 --> 00:50:29,839 all sorts of backgrounds as well and fun 1421 00:50:33,990 --> 00:50:31,920 hobbies of we have some people that 1422 00:50:36,230 --> 00:50:34,000 actually have music records that they've 1423 00:50:38,390 --> 00:50:36,240 put out we have pottery makers we have 1424 00:50:40,150 --> 00:50:38,400 board game geeks all over the place 1425 00:50:41,910 --> 00:50:40,160 we're all super diverse and we all come 1426 00:50:43,990 --> 00:50:41,920 together for this love for this mars 1427 00:50:46,630 --> 00:50:44,000 river and to keep going and exploring 1428 00:50:48,710 --> 00:50:46,640 another planet so um 1429 00:50:51,510 --> 00:50:48,720 you know stick around and we'll have a 1430 00:50:53,109 --> 00:50:51,520 lot more fun adventures coming up 1431 00:50:56,230 --> 00:50:53,119 that's awesome thank you carrie and 1432 00:50:57,510 --> 00:50:56,240 ashwin your final remarks 1433 00:50:59,990 --> 00:50:57,520 yeah 1434 00:51:01,750 --> 00:51:00,000 on the graphic that i chose you know for 1435 00:51:04,150 --> 00:51:01,760 these final remarks you can 1436 00:51:05,910 --> 00:51:04,160 you can see a picture of a poster that's 1437 00:51:07,349 --> 00:51:05,920 down the hall from my office 1438 00:51:08,390 --> 00:51:07,359 and the tradition had become that 1439 00:51:10,710 --> 00:51:08,400 everyone who 1440 00:51:12,390 --> 00:51:10,720 works on curiosity operations you know 1441 00:51:14,470 --> 00:51:12,400 signs this poster and you can see that 1442 00:51:15,589 --> 00:51:14,480 there's just hundreds of names on it 1443 00:51:17,750 --> 00:51:15,599 and now you know with our 10th 1444 00:51:19,910 --> 00:51:17,760 anniversary it just makes me uh very 1445 00:51:21,829 --> 00:51:19,920 grateful and thinking back to the 1446 00:51:23,030 --> 00:51:21,839 literally thousands of people who are 1447 00:51:23,910 --> 00:51:23,040 responsible 1448 00:51:26,630 --> 00:51:23,920 for 1449 00:51:27,910 --> 00:51:26,640 designing and building and testing and 1450 00:51:30,150 --> 00:51:27,920 flying 1451 00:51:31,510 --> 00:51:30,160 the spacecraft to mars and then the 1452 00:51:33,829 --> 00:51:31,520 hundreds of people who have helped 1453 00:51:34,630 --> 00:51:33,839 operate it you know an amazing fact is 1454 00:51:36,150 --> 00:51:34,640 that 1455 00:51:37,910 --> 00:51:36,160 almost all of the people operating 1456 00:51:41,109 --> 00:51:37,920 curiosity now were not there when it 1457 00:51:42,950 --> 00:51:41,119 landed we're um on you know our our 1458 00:51:44,390 --> 00:51:42,960 second and third generation of people 1459 00:51:46,309 --> 00:51:44,400 running the rover 1460 00:51:48,069 --> 00:51:46,319 uh and that just goes to show that it 1461 00:51:50,150 --> 00:51:48,079 takes so many people and so many people 1462 00:51:52,230 --> 00:51:50,160 have contributed to the rover's success 1463 00:51:53,829 --> 00:51:52,240 not only at jpl but at other places 1464 00:51:57,190 --> 00:51:53,839 around the country and in other places 1465 00:52:00,549 --> 00:51:58,630 i mean it's incredible to think of the 1466 00:52:02,549 --> 00:52:00,559 team that has done all this amazing work 1467 00:52:05,190 --> 00:52:02,559 and who's here today unfortunately that 1468 00:52:07,670 --> 00:52:05,200 is all the time we have for today for 1469 00:52:10,069 --> 00:52:07,680 our talk it seems like you know 10 years 1470 00:52:11,670 --> 00:52:10,079 to wrap it up in such a short time but i 1471 00:52:14,069 --> 00:52:11,680 do want to thank our speakers for 1472 00:52:16,470 --> 00:52:14,079 joining us this evening dr ashwin 1473 00:52:20,230 --> 00:52:16,480 vasavada and carrie bean for joining us 1474 00:52:21,910 --> 00:52:20,240 to discuss a curiosity a decade on mars 1475 00:52:24,549 --> 00:52:21,920 also i want to thank our wonderful 1476 00:52:25,750 --> 00:52:24,559 questions co-host sarah marcotte and all 1477 00:52:27,990 --> 00:52:25,760 of you that are working behind the 1478 00:52:30,390 --> 00:52:28,000 scenes to make this possible to those of 1479 00:52:32,150 --> 00:52:30,400 you watching online thank you so much 1480 00:52:34,069 --> 00:52:32,160 for taking the time to join us every 1481 00:52:36,630 --> 00:52:34,079 month if you missed one or would like to 1482 00:52:38,630 --> 00:52:36,640 revisit any of our von carmen talks from 1483 00:52:41,750 --> 00:52:38,640 the past five years they are available 1484 00:52:45,030 --> 00:52:41,760 on jpl's youtube page and please do join 1485 00:52:47,430 --> 00:52:45,040 us next month for voyager 45 years in 1486 00:52:49,510 --> 00:52:47,440 space we will see you next time have a 1487 00:52:58,410 --> 00:52:49,520 wonderful evening bye everyone thank you