1 00:00:00,436 --> 00:00:03,519 (rocket blasting) 2 00:00:04,502 --> 00:00:07,040 - [Narrator] After the race to the moon 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,603 the United States charts a new future with a new spacecraft. 4 00:00:12,420 --> 00:00:14,940 And a robotic mission to Jupiter 5 00:00:14,940 --> 00:00:17,610 struggles to get off the ground. 6 00:00:17,610 --> 00:00:19,710 - [John] We started tearing this thing apart 7 00:00:19,710 --> 00:00:22,500 and really began to find the warts on it. 8 00:00:22,500 --> 00:00:23,430 - [Narrator] Meanwhile 9 00:00:23,430 --> 00:00:25,610 another spacecraft attempts to complete 10 00:00:25,610 --> 00:00:28,960 the first reconnaissance of the outer planets. 11 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:30,730 - [Torrence] The initial calculation showed 12 00:00:30,730 --> 00:00:32,820 that we were going to be in great danger 13 00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:34,680 of getting really fuzzy pictures 14 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,650 if we didn't do something to the spacecraft. 15 00:00:37,650 --> 00:00:40,883 - ISS wide angle electronics is off. 16 00:00:40,883 --> 00:00:43,497 (faint speaking) replacement heater is off. 17 00:00:43,497 --> 00:00:45,090 - [William] And at close encounter 18 00:00:45,090 --> 00:00:47,770 we would all be holding our breaths. 19 00:00:47,770 --> 00:00:50,680 You can't believe how exciting that was. 20 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,610 - [Ed] The images that were returned this morning 21 00:00:53,610 --> 00:00:57,361 revealed a world unlike any of the others that we've seen. 22 00:00:57,361 --> 00:01:00,790 (people exclaiming) (people applauding) 23 00:01:00,790 --> 00:01:03,300 - [Narrator] Yet even in the midst of triumph 24 00:01:03,300 --> 00:01:07,253 the future of planetary exploration seems in doubt. 25 00:01:08,790 --> 00:01:10,050 - [Female Speaker] I'm kind of having a hard time 26 00:01:10,050 --> 00:01:11,540 reconciling all this to know 27 00:01:11,540 --> 00:01:14,240 what the next generation's going to be doing in space. 28 00:01:16,110 --> 00:01:18,800 - [Narrator] The Footsteps of Voyager 29 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,359 JPL and the beginnings of the Space Age. 30 00:01:22,359 --> 00:01:23,192 Next. 31 00:01:31,115 --> 00:01:33,782 (light music) 32 00:01:39,639 --> 00:01:43,697 ♪ I was strolling on the Moon one day ♪ 33 00:01:43,697 --> 00:01:47,430 ♪ In the merry, merry month of December ♪ 34 00:01:47,430 --> 00:01:48,704 - May, May! 35 00:01:48,704 --> 00:01:51,003 May is the month this year. - May, that's right. 36 00:01:51,003 --> 00:01:53,918 - [Narrator] In December of 1972 37 00:01:53,918 --> 00:01:56,546 Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt 38 00:01:56,546 --> 00:02:00,419 and Gene Cernan took the last steps on the Moon. 39 00:02:00,419 --> 00:02:01,896 ♪ Da, da, da, da, da, da, da ♪ 40 00:02:01,896 --> 00:02:03,911 ♪ Dee, da, dee ♪ 41 00:02:03,911 --> 00:02:06,948 - Okay, Bob. ♪ Da, da, da, da, da, dee ♪ 42 00:02:08,890 --> 00:02:09,930 Let me tell you, Bob. 43 00:02:09,930 --> 00:02:12,410 This flag is a beautiful picture. 44 00:02:12,410 --> 00:02:13,450 That's beautiful. 45 00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:15,880 This has gotta be one of the most proud moments of my life. 46 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:16,723 I guarantee you. 47 00:02:18,660 --> 00:02:21,540 - [Narrator] NASA had hoped for more missions. 48 00:02:21,540 --> 00:02:23,520 But the race against the Soviet Union 49 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,653 to be the first to the Moon had been won. 50 00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:29,593 America's priorities were turning elsewhere. 51 00:02:30,617 --> 00:02:32,867 - [Gene] This is Gene and I'm on the surface. 52 00:02:34,782 --> 00:02:38,532 And as I take man's last step from the surface 53 00:02:39,455 --> 00:02:43,600 I'd like to just let what I believe history will record 54 00:02:45,110 --> 00:02:48,480 that America's challenge of today 55 00:02:49,654 --> 00:02:53,563 has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. 56 00:02:55,330 --> 00:02:57,887 Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17. 57 00:03:01,011 --> 00:03:04,594 (intense orchestral music) 58 00:03:07,550 --> 00:03:09,530 - [Narrator] Long before this moment 59 00:03:09,530 --> 00:03:11,630 NASA was charting a new future 60 00:03:11,630 --> 00:03:14,303 with a very different kind of spacecraft. 61 00:03:18,670 --> 00:03:22,263 One with wings that could glide back to a runway. 62 00:03:25,510 --> 00:03:27,840 The Shuttle, as it came to be known, 63 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,030 could be reused over and over again 64 00:03:31,030 --> 00:03:33,983 to ferry astronauts and cargo into space. 65 00:03:37,180 --> 00:03:41,460 Early designs envisioned an enormous rocket flown by pilots 66 00:03:41,460 --> 00:03:43,510 that would launch the Shuttle into orbit. 67 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,630 This extraordinary concept was as unaffordable 68 00:03:47,630 --> 00:03:50,240 as it was unrealistic. 69 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,423 The final design was severely scaled back. 70 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,823 What did not change were expectations. 71 00:04:00,710 --> 00:04:03,710 Proponents promised that with this winged orbiter 72 00:04:03,710 --> 00:04:07,010 access to space would become routine commutes. 73 00:04:07,010 --> 00:04:10,133 The Shuttle was to be cheaper and safer. 74 00:04:12,030 --> 00:04:14,080 But to make the economic model work 75 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,593 meant abandoning expendable rockets. 76 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,140 The Shuttle's manifest was to carry all cargo 77 00:04:21,140 --> 00:04:23,201 for NASA, commercial companies, 78 00:04:23,201 --> 00:04:26,293 and even defense and intelligence agencies. 79 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,670 But the Shuttle's reach went only as far as low earth orbit. 80 00:04:31,670 --> 00:04:35,323 And that was not good news for exploring the solar system. 81 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:38,470 - This was threatening the whole planetary program. 82 00:04:38,470 --> 00:04:41,090 But in this monopoly craze 83 00:04:41,090 --> 00:04:42,230 NASA said, no, 84 00:04:42,230 --> 00:04:44,740 you can't just buy regular launch vehicles 85 00:04:44,740 --> 00:04:46,150 that were available. 86 00:04:46,150 --> 00:04:46,983 We're gonna liquidate those. 87 00:04:46,983 --> 00:04:48,673 We're gonna force them to close. 88 00:04:49,950 --> 00:04:53,440 - [Narrator] Bruce Murray was often out of step with NASA. 89 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,200 But he viewed the policy of a Shuttle monopoly 90 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,650 as a threat to the entire space agency. 91 00:04:59,650 --> 00:05:00,720 - And so there were two issues. 92 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,120 One was my programmatic view 93 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:03,810 that this was a crazy thing to do, 94 00:05:03,810 --> 00:05:05,539 and would, by the way, 95 00:05:05,539 --> 00:05:06,950 kill the planetary program, 96 00:05:06,950 --> 00:05:08,250 which it did for a decade. 97 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,140 But more generally, it would destroy the agency. 98 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:14,530 So the agency that had been able 99 00:05:14,530 --> 00:05:16,830 to do extraordinary things like Apollo 100 00:05:16,830 --> 00:05:19,270 was going to consciously transform itself 101 00:05:19,270 --> 00:05:22,728 to running a space transportation system 102 00:05:22,728 --> 00:05:25,410 because it had gained a monopoly. 103 00:05:25,410 --> 00:05:29,148 This was dreadfully wrong on both grounds. 104 00:05:29,148 --> 00:05:32,231 (rocket launching) 105 00:05:37,343 --> 00:05:39,540 - [Narrator] Murray's criticisms were hard to see 106 00:05:39,540 --> 00:05:40,983 when the Shuttle first flew. 107 00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:45,420 The Shuttle not only looked like a space age vehicle, 108 00:05:45,420 --> 00:05:48,794 it impressively performed like one. 109 00:05:48,794 --> 00:05:51,627 (people cheering) 110 00:05:52,620 --> 00:05:54,430 And Murray's opinions did nothing 111 00:05:54,430 --> 00:05:57,410 to discourage an enterprising group of JPLers 112 00:05:57,410 --> 00:06:00,350 from trying to hitch a ride on the Shuttle. 113 00:06:00,350 --> 00:06:03,410 The team's leader was Charles Elachi. 114 00:06:03,410 --> 00:06:06,853 And he pitched a series of radar science experiments. 115 00:06:08,010 --> 00:06:10,640 - And basically, it's a configuration of it at launch. 116 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,540 It will be configured in this arrangement. 117 00:06:12,540 --> 00:06:13,863 Once we get in orbit 118 00:06:13,863 --> 00:06:16,470 then the antenna panels will be opened 119 00:06:16,470 --> 00:06:18,400 which will take about twenty minute operation 120 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:19,533 to open the antennas. 121 00:06:21,670 --> 00:06:24,570 - [Narrator] NASA said yes to the proposal. 122 00:06:24,570 --> 00:06:26,550 And the second flight carried on board 123 00:06:26,550 --> 00:06:28,950 the Shuttle Imaging Radar A, 124 00:06:28,950 --> 00:06:31,843 the first in a series of radar payloads. 125 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:33,713 - [Male Speaker] Okay, Sally. 126 00:06:33,713 --> 00:06:35,020 We've got the arm secured right now. 127 00:06:35,020 --> 00:06:37,474 We're just getting ready to activate the SIR-A. 128 00:06:37,474 --> 00:06:38,420 We've got the power on 129 00:06:38,420 --> 00:06:41,121 and we're getting ready to turn it on. 130 00:06:41,121 --> 00:06:44,440 - [Sally Ride] Okay, sounds good. 131 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:45,780 - [Narrator] The radar experiments 132 00:06:45,780 --> 00:06:47,830 demonstrated how the Shuttle could be used 133 00:06:47,830 --> 00:06:50,440 to better understand our own planet. 134 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,570 But for spacecraft destined beyond Earth orbit 135 00:06:53,570 --> 00:06:55,820 the Shuttle's limitations would be crippling. 136 00:07:00,858 --> 00:07:04,858 (deliberative orchestral music) 137 00:07:12,050 --> 00:07:13,550 Jupiter. 138 00:07:13,550 --> 00:07:17,273 Only the Sun is larger than the fifth planet from our star. 139 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,610 It is two and a half times the mass 140 00:07:20,610 --> 00:07:23,583 of all the other planets in our solar system combined. 141 00:07:25,190 --> 00:07:27,150 The Pioneer and Voyager missions 142 00:07:27,150 --> 00:07:30,393 had provided the first flyby glimpses of this giant. 143 00:07:32,340 --> 00:07:34,983 The next step was to send an orbiter. 144 00:07:36,030 --> 00:07:36,930 - There was something called 145 00:07:36,930 --> 00:07:40,060 the Jupiter Orbiter with Probe, JOP. 146 00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:43,882 And the science team was consisted only of 147 00:07:43,882 --> 00:07:47,020 fields and particle people and atmospheric people. 148 00:07:47,020 --> 00:07:48,710 And they wanted to build a probe 149 00:07:48,710 --> 00:07:50,930 that would go into the atmosphere of Jupiter 150 00:07:50,930 --> 00:07:53,483 and the simplest spacecraft to carry it there 151 00:07:53,483 --> 00:07:55,280 would have just be a spinning spacecraft. 152 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,080 And you could slap some fields and particles 153 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:58,550 on the spinning spacecraft, 154 00:07:58,550 --> 00:07:59,600 and you had a winner. 155 00:08:02,250 --> 00:08:04,100 - [Narrator] Not everyone thought so. 156 00:08:05,100 --> 00:08:06,680 Other scientists were clamoring 157 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,463 for different instruments and a camera. 158 00:08:10,410 --> 00:08:12,400 And that posed a dilemma. 159 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,430 Taking images requires a steady platform 160 00:08:15,430 --> 00:08:17,400 while measuring magnetic fields 161 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,923 calls for a spinning spacecraft. 162 00:08:21,580 --> 00:08:24,300 To solve these conflicting requirements, 163 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:28,093 NASA assigned the project to JPL in 1975. 164 00:08:29,020 --> 00:08:31,470 The result was Galileo, 165 00:08:31,470 --> 00:08:33,110 a novel engineering design 166 00:08:33,110 --> 00:08:36,953 featuring both spinning and stable platforms. 167 00:08:37,980 --> 00:08:41,320 - That quickly escalated into a really major, 168 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:42,800 major big design. 169 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,160 Big cost change, big mass change. 170 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,760 We started tearing this thing apart 171 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,640 and really began to find the warts on it 172 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,230 and, you know, attack them one by one. 173 00:08:53,230 --> 00:08:56,060 But the spacecraft got bigger 174 00:08:56,060 --> 00:08:58,073 and more complex as a result of that. 175 00:09:00,370 --> 00:09:02,460 - [Narrator] Galileo also had the challenge 176 00:09:02,460 --> 00:09:04,440 of being the first planetary mission 177 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,200 assigned for deployment by the Shuttle. 178 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,510 But to travel beyond Earth orbit 179 00:09:09,510 --> 00:09:12,573 would require strapping on a second booster rocket. 180 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,840 There were two boosters from which to choose. 181 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:17,913 One was the Centaur. 182 00:09:19,122 --> 00:09:21,820 - The problem with a Centaur is it's liquid fuel. 183 00:09:21,820 --> 00:09:24,270 If there's any kind of leak of the liquid fuel 184 00:09:24,270 --> 00:09:25,310 into the Shuttle bay 185 00:09:25,310 --> 00:09:26,970 while they're trying to get this thing up in orbit 186 00:09:26,970 --> 00:09:29,450 it could be potentially catastrophic. 187 00:09:29,450 --> 00:09:30,793 A very volatile fuel. 188 00:09:31,870 --> 00:09:35,250 - [Narrator] The Centaur was seen as a dangerous risk 189 00:09:35,250 --> 00:09:37,527 and NASA ruled out its use. 190 00:09:37,527 --> 00:09:40,390 - And they were right, it was nuts to do that. 191 00:09:40,390 --> 00:09:41,820 It was not safe. 192 00:09:41,820 --> 00:09:42,970 So, cancel that. 193 00:09:42,970 --> 00:09:45,100 And the only other thing we have 194 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:49,350 is a solid fuel rocket called the IUS, 195 00:09:49,350 --> 00:09:52,243 which is actually an Air Force rocket developed. 196 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:54,270 And you can use that. 197 00:09:54,270 --> 00:09:55,970 But that won't get you to Jupiter! 198 00:09:57,130 --> 00:09:59,390 - [Narrator] That was because the IUS booster 199 00:09:59,390 --> 00:10:01,550 was still on the drawing boards 200 00:10:01,550 --> 00:10:04,120 and it was not powerful enough. 201 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,280 To use this booster also required 202 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,523 a gravity assist around Mars. 203 00:10:09,430 --> 00:10:11,360 The launch dates slipped a year 204 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,143 resulting in the first in a long list of budget increases. 205 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,300 Then it was realized that Galileo was heavier 206 00:10:20,300 --> 00:10:22,830 than the Shuttle could safely lift. 207 00:10:22,830 --> 00:10:25,073 More powerful engines had to be built. 208 00:10:27,250 --> 00:10:29,210 NASA next directed JPL 209 00:10:29,210 --> 00:10:32,050 to explore dividing the mission in two: 210 00:10:32,050 --> 00:10:33,400 launching the spacecraft 211 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,460 and the probe on separate Shuttle missions. 212 00:10:36,460 --> 00:10:38,123 That plan was scrapped, too. 213 00:10:39,060 --> 00:10:41,653 Galileo was again delayed. 214 00:10:44,100 --> 00:10:45,560 - There's this kind of back and forth. 215 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,060 And every time the JPL engineers 216 00:10:48,060 --> 00:10:50,010 are kind of back to the drawing board 217 00:10:50,010 --> 00:10:54,793 accommodating different payload specifications, 218 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:57,810 different trajectories they can accomplish, 219 00:10:57,810 --> 00:10:59,370 every time, they have to redesign the mission, 220 00:10:59,370 --> 00:11:01,170 and it's just a major headache here. 221 00:11:02,540 --> 00:11:05,793 - [Narrator] Galileo also became a political lightning rod. 222 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,050 And now engineering decisions were being debated 223 00:11:10,050 --> 00:11:11,733 on the floor of the House. 224 00:11:13,430 --> 00:11:14,263 - Earlier this year 225 00:11:14,263 --> 00:11:16,560 we passed a NASA authorization bill 226 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:18,590 overwhelmingly in this House 227 00:11:18,590 --> 00:11:20,767 that said that we would go with the IUS. 228 00:11:21,870 --> 00:11:23,960 Now, you can vote any way you want to. 229 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:25,670 I have no vested interest. 230 00:11:25,670 --> 00:11:28,710 - The problem here is that you have a vehicle 231 00:11:28,710 --> 00:11:32,570 that will get Galileo into a geosynchronous orbit. 232 00:11:32,570 --> 00:11:34,560 It may be launched probably a year later, 233 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:38,090 but as compared to the IUS and the kick stage, 234 00:11:38,090 --> 00:11:39,893 it will get there a year earlier. 235 00:11:41,910 --> 00:11:44,220 - [Narrator] The booster dispute finally came to an end 236 00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:47,770 when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1982 237 00:11:47,770 --> 00:11:52,543 that by law ordered NASA to use the liquid fuel booster. 238 00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:57,210 Galileo's launch date was delayed for yet another year, 239 00:11:57,210 --> 00:12:00,011 but at least there was now a path forward. 240 00:12:00,011 --> 00:12:01,810 (camera shuttering) 241 00:12:01,810 --> 00:12:03,493 Or so it seemed. 242 00:12:08,573 --> 00:12:12,323 (deliberative ambient music) 243 00:12:16,930 --> 00:12:19,200 Galileo survived. 244 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:20,603 Bruce Murray did not. 245 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:25,490 In trying to keep JPL planetary missions alive 246 00:12:25,490 --> 00:12:28,423 he had burned one Washington bridge too many. 247 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,573 - It's a real pleasure to be here. 248 00:12:33,610 --> 00:12:36,382 We at last have a Director. 249 00:12:36,382 --> 00:12:38,860 And it turns out he's a pretty good Director 250 00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:40,940 as far as I'm concerned. 251 00:12:40,940 --> 00:12:45,525 A man I'm proud to call my friend is Dr. Lew Allen. 252 00:12:45,525 --> 00:12:47,740 (people applauding) 253 00:12:47,740 --> 00:12:50,620 - [Narrator] Lew Allen was a four-star Air Force general 254 00:12:50,620 --> 00:12:53,480 with a PhD in nuclear physics. 255 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,470 His resume included stints as deputy director of the CIA, 256 00:12:57,470 --> 00:13:00,300 director of the National Security Agency, 257 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:02,920 director of the National Reconnaissance Office, 258 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,440 commander of Air Force Systems Command, 259 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,280 and Air Force Chief of Staff. 260 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,300 - My space experience in the Air Force 261 00:13:10,300 --> 00:13:12,630 was almost entirely associated 262 00:13:12,630 --> 00:13:14,410 with the National Reconnaissance Office. 263 00:13:14,410 --> 00:13:19,060 These reconnaissance missions were of course different 264 00:13:19,060 --> 00:13:21,590 than planetary missions, 265 00:13:21,590 --> 00:13:23,580 but they weren't all that different. 266 00:13:23,580 --> 00:13:28,000 So coming to JPL was not a tremendous shock 267 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,690 in the sense that it was a continuation really 268 00:13:30,690 --> 00:13:33,440 of the kind of work that I'd been doing for many years. 269 00:13:35,010 --> 00:13:38,000 - [Narrator] Whereas Murray had meant to shake things up, 270 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,663 Allen's demeanor was calm and reassuring. 271 00:13:42,180 --> 00:13:46,080 - We who did not contribute to those accomplishments, 272 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,530 but who have admired the work of this laboratory, 273 00:13:49,530 --> 00:13:51,100 envy you. 274 00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:55,143 And I consider it an honor to be able to join you now. 275 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:57,590 - [Narrator] But there were concerns 276 00:13:57,590 --> 00:14:01,170 about how Allen's military background would be perceived, 277 00:14:01,170 --> 00:14:05,890 especially by Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. 278 00:14:05,890 --> 00:14:08,590 - They were extremely self-conscious about the perception 279 00:14:08,590 --> 00:14:10,810 that they were bringing in this military general 280 00:14:10,810 --> 00:14:14,560 just when the lab was going to be ramping up defense work, 281 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:15,850 and this perception that well now 282 00:14:15,850 --> 00:14:19,523 JPL was just becoming basically a de facto military lab. 283 00:14:20,990 --> 00:14:23,210 - [Narrator] Caltech President Marvin Goldberger 284 00:14:23,210 --> 00:14:27,530 instructed JPL to play down his military background. 285 00:14:27,530 --> 00:14:29,550 He was also worried that the news media 286 00:14:29,550 --> 00:14:31,075 might view a general's arrival 287 00:14:31,075 --> 00:14:33,460 as signaling a dramatic change 288 00:14:33,460 --> 00:14:37,620 and NASA's capitulation to the militarization of space. 289 00:14:37,620 --> 00:14:40,290 Goldberger declared there was to be no forsaking 290 00:14:40,290 --> 00:14:43,640 the civilian space emphasis for a military one 291 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,863 or an open R&D facility for a classified one. 292 00:14:49,550 --> 00:14:51,630 - So they worked hard to counter that perception. 293 00:14:51,630 --> 00:14:54,960 One way they did that was by referring to Lew Allen 294 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,540 not as General Allen, but as Dr. Allen, 295 00:14:57,540 --> 00:14:59,410 because he did have a PhD in nuclear physics. 296 00:14:59,410 --> 00:15:01,513 He did have scientific credentials. 297 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:04,650 - [Narrator] Before Allen's arrival 298 00:15:04,650 --> 00:15:07,140 NASA's leadership had instructed JPL 299 00:15:07,140 --> 00:15:09,260 to take on work for the Pentagon 300 00:15:09,260 --> 00:15:10,783 and the lab had complied. 301 00:15:12,610 --> 00:15:15,970 One involved the Strategic Defense Initiative. 302 00:15:15,970 --> 00:15:18,180 JPL's role was to find ways 303 00:15:18,180 --> 00:15:20,350 of tracking the path of incoming missiles 304 00:15:20,350 --> 00:15:23,350 that were to be destroyed by lasers. 305 00:15:23,350 --> 00:15:25,850 Another project was underway for the Army, 306 00:15:25,850 --> 00:15:28,510 an attempt to sort and analyze for commanders 307 00:15:28,510 --> 00:15:30,700 fast-moving and complicated events 308 00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:32,883 taking place on the battlefield. 309 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:37,010 - That situation was so challenging to the Army 310 00:15:37,890 --> 00:15:39,530 that in some desperation 311 00:15:39,530 --> 00:15:43,550 they turned to JPL because they believed we were good enough 312 00:15:43,550 --> 00:15:46,900 and tough enough to make a breakthrough of sorts 313 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:48,253 in this particular area. 314 00:15:49,790 --> 00:15:52,160 - [Narrator] But Dr. Allen's main interest 315 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,000 was now space exploration. 316 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,360 And early on, he announced that JPL 317 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,490 would be actually reducing military projects 318 00:16:00,490 --> 00:16:03,550 to no more than 20% of its workload. 319 00:16:03,550 --> 00:16:05,290 And he articulated a policy 320 00:16:05,290 --> 00:16:07,560 restricting the type of defense activities 321 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,853 the lab would take on and what it would avoid. 322 00:16:13,550 --> 00:16:16,330 - We should view the defense work in this way, 323 00:16:16,330 --> 00:16:19,360 that the JPL role should be early, 324 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:20,890 that we make our contributions 325 00:16:20,890 --> 00:16:22,530 on the front edge of technology 326 00:16:22,530 --> 00:16:25,120 and phase out then of the programs 327 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,223 just as quickly as we can. 328 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,750 - [Narrator] This policy about military work 329 00:16:30,750 --> 00:16:32,910 coincided with a shift in Washington 330 00:16:32,910 --> 00:16:35,850 in favor of new planetary missions. 331 00:16:35,850 --> 00:16:39,180 Soon, Allen would have the best of worries: 332 00:16:39,180 --> 00:16:41,883 more work than the lab knew how to handle. 333 00:16:43,210 --> 00:16:45,450 - So our problems quickly shifted to the fact 334 00:16:45,450 --> 00:16:48,184 that we were outgrowing our facilities. 335 00:16:48,184 --> 00:16:50,720 (people applauding) 336 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,150 So we tried different techniques 337 00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:56,310 for restricting the size of the workforce. 338 00:16:56,310 --> 00:16:58,340 None of them worked. (laughing) 339 00:16:58,340 --> 00:17:00,780 The people at JPL who were out seeking the work 340 00:17:00,780 --> 00:17:02,580 were far too inventive 341 00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:07,040 to be influenced via a broad policy idea 342 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:08,580 that one shouldn't grow. 343 00:17:08,580 --> 00:17:10,493 And so we continued to grow. 344 00:17:12,890 --> 00:17:15,840 - [Narrator] Earth science had been one growth area. 345 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,590 Another was astronomy. 346 00:17:17,590 --> 00:17:19,050 The lab had played a vital role 347 00:17:19,050 --> 00:17:21,913 in the first infrared space telescope mission. 348 00:17:23,020 --> 00:17:26,420 And now, JPL was busy building the workhorse camera 349 00:17:26,420 --> 00:17:29,343 for the much anticipated Hubble Space Telescope. 350 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,430 A radar mission to Venus was underway. 351 00:17:33,430 --> 00:17:35,993 So was an orbiter to circle Mars. 352 00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:40,660 There was even good news about Galileo. 353 00:17:40,660 --> 00:17:41,920 It was being packed up 354 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,133 and shipped by truck convoy across the country to Florida. 355 00:17:47,340 --> 00:17:50,303 The spacecraft's next scheduled stop was the launch pad. 356 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,393 Then, it would finally be on its way to Jupiter. 357 00:17:55,790 --> 00:17:58,510 But as Galileo made its way to the Cape 358 00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:02,030 another spacecraft already far beyond Jupiter 359 00:18:02,030 --> 00:18:03,913 was about to make history. 360 00:18:04,832 --> 00:18:07,832 (vehicles whirring) 361 00:18:11,345 --> 00:18:15,345 (deliberative orchestral music) 362 00:18:20,370 --> 00:18:23,070 After triumphs at Jupiter and Saturn 363 00:18:23,070 --> 00:18:26,700 Voyager 2 was closing in on the first encounter ever 364 00:18:26,700 --> 00:18:29,653 with the ice giant planet Uranus. 365 00:18:33,660 --> 00:18:37,173 Voyager's journey to this point had taken over eight years. 366 00:18:41,610 --> 00:18:43,780 And the wear and tear of a billion miles 367 00:18:43,780 --> 00:18:45,013 was beginning to show. 368 00:18:46,730 --> 00:18:49,300 The scan platform that moved Voyager's camera 369 00:18:49,300 --> 00:18:50,703 was prone to seizing up. 370 00:18:53,770 --> 00:18:56,030 Transmitting instructions to the spacecraft 371 00:18:56,030 --> 00:18:57,970 was an elaborate chore 372 00:18:57,970 --> 00:19:01,100 as the primary receiver was no longer functioning 373 00:19:01,100 --> 00:19:03,663 and the backup was only partially working. 374 00:19:05,540 --> 00:19:08,763 Getting a signal back from Voyager was a challenge, too. 375 00:19:10,050 --> 00:19:13,513 One-way transmission time now took three hours. 376 00:19:14,700 --> 00:19:17,840 - The extension of the mission to Uranus and Neptune 377 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,227 I think highlights really one of the unsung heroes of JPL 378 00:19:22,227 --> 00:19:24,513 and that was the Deep Space Network. 379 00:19:26,810 --> 00:19:29,610 - [Narrator] The Deep Space Network is a group of antennas 380 00:19:29,610 --> 00:19:33,600 arrayed in three strategic locations around the globe. 381 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,650 This is the essential link for tracking and communicating 382 00:19:36,650 --> 00:19:39,823 with all of NASA's interplanetary spacecraft. 383 00:19:42,150 --> 00:19:43,700 - Those encounters at Uranus and Neptune 384 00:19:43,700 --> 00:19:44,680 would have been impossible 385 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:46,297 without what the Deep Space Network, 386 00:19:46,297 --> 00:19:49,910 the DSN, did to get that data back. 387 00:19:49,910 --> 00:19:50,743 When you think about it, 388 00:19:50,743 --> 00:19:52,790 you've got the Voyager radio transmitter 389 00:19:52,790 --> 00:19:54,980 powered at about 23 watts, 390 00:19:54,980 --> 00:19:58,310 which is about the power of your refrigerator light bulb. 391 00:19:58,310 --> 00:20:00,480 And we're trying to pick up that signal here on Earth 392 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,460 from well over a billion miles away. 393 00:20:03,460 --> 00:20:06,510 And picking out that very tiny little signal 394 00:20:06,510 --> 00:20:08,880 from that vast background of outer space 395 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,880 is really a remarkable achievement, when you think about it. 396 00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:20,220 - [Narrator] Plotting Voyager's encounter 397 00:20:20,220 --> 00:20:21,623 was another challenge. 398 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:26,030 That was because compared to the rest of the planets, 399 00:20:26,030 --> 00:20:28,270 Uranus is flipped on its side, 400 00:20:28,270 --> 00:20:31,923 caused perhaps by a gigantic collision long ago. 401 00:20:34,630 --> 00:20:37,210 - Uranus was a real planning challenge. 402 00:20:37,210 --> 00:20:40,980 And the reason why is one, we only get one shot; 403 00:20:40,980 --> 00:20:44,770 and two, Uranus is kind of turned up on its edge. 404 00:20:44,770 --> 00:20:48,960 And we're now instead of seeing the moons in kind of a plane 405 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:50,270 where you can fly through this plane 406 00:20:50,270 --> 00:20:51,760 and get one after the other, 407 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:53,160 we're looking at a bullseye. 408 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,700 - [Narrator] That meant that the flyby of Uranus 409 00:20:57,700 --> 00:21:01,133 and its moons and rings would occur nearly simultaneously. 410 00:21:03,085 --> 00:21:06,600 Coping with so much to see in such a short period of time 411 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,750 would make this the most intense 412 00:21:08,750 --> 00:21:10,973 of all the Voyager encounters. 413 00:21:13,210 --> 00:21:16,520 - You're given this pulse of data no one's ever seen. 414 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:17,740 And you get it all at once. 415 00:21:17,740 --> 00:21:18,850 You get high resolution. 416 00:21:18,850 --> 00:21:19,990 It comes up very, very quickly 417 00:21:19,990 --> 00:21:21,150 because these moons are small 418 00:21:21,150 --> 00:21:24,230 and you're flying by it at large velocity. 419 00:21:24,230 --> 00:21:25,570 So in a blink of an eye 420 00:21:25,570 --> 00:21:27,890 basically you go from a very low resolution image 421 00:21:27,890 --> 00:21:29,670 to in your face high resolution, 422 00:21:29,670 --> 00:21:30,713 and then gone again. 423 00:21:34,900 --> 00:21:37,800 - You're gonna go by every satellite in the same hour. 424 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,040 It presented kind of an extreme version 425 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,610 of the scientific competition between different targets. 426 00:21:43,610 --> 00:21:46,670 Everybody wanted to look in different directions. 427 00:21:46,670 --> 00:21:49,210 - [Narrator] As he had done at Jupiter and Saturn 428 00:21:49,210 --> 00:21:52,580 Project Scientist Ed Stone listened to the arguments, 429 00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:55,963 sought consensus, and then made decisions. 430 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:57,930 - I would take a poll. 431 00:21:57,930 --> 00:22:00,030 But it was not literally a vote in a sense 432 00:22:00,030 --> 00:22:00,910 because I didn't feel 433 00:22:00,910 --> 00:22:03,620 that the science should be decided by vote. 434 00:22:03,620 --> 00:22:06,393 It really had to be decided on its value. 435 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:09,610 And that had to be something 436 00:22:09,610 --> 00:22:11,643 that ultimately the group understood. 437 00:22:12,730 --> 00:22:15,350 In some cases, I had to make a decision where in fact 438 00:22:15,350 --> 00:22:17,610 it was really weighing two different objectives. 439 00:22:17,610 --> 00:22:19,343 And it was a judgment call. 440 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:22,520 - [Narrator] The biggest worry 441 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,570 was whether anything could be seen at all. 442 00:22:25,570 --> 00:22:27,710 Anyone who has ever used a camera knows 443 00:22:27,710 --> 00:22:29,239 that taking a picture in focus 444 00:22:29,239 --> 00:22:32,503 requires a steady hand and ample light. 445 00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:38,100 Voyager was moving at over 30,000 miles per hour. 446 00:22:38,100 --> 00:22:43,100 And sunlight at Uranus is 400 times fainter than at Earth. 447 00:22:44,390 --> 00:22:47,363 - One half of Uranus in fact, was not even in sunlight. 448 00:22:48,460 --> 00:22:50,310 The initial calculation showed 449 00:22:50,310 --> 00:22:52,140 that we were going to be in great danger 450 00:22:52,140 --> 00:22:53,840 of getting really fuzzy pictures 451 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,883 of practically everything if we didn't do something. 452 00:22:57,740 --> 00:23:00,600 And so we actually did some re-engineering on the spacecraft 453 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,576 with the help of the engineering teams. 454 00:23:03,576 --> 00:23:06,975 (people chattering) 455 00:23:06,975 --> 00:23:08,090 - It ended at 0623. 456 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,833 - We called it our anti-smear campaign. 457 00:23:12,940 --> 00:23:16,790 We basically improved our camera platform in flight 458 00:23:16,790 --> 00:23:18,933 by remotely changing how we operated it. 459 00:23:23,310 --> 00:23:25,730 - [Narrator] Scientists could also thank the navigators 460 00:23:25,730 --> 00:23:27,483 for their astounding precision. 461 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,940 Voyager would arrive just a single minute 462 00:23:34,940 --> 00:23:37,010 off the predicted schedule, 463 00:23:37,010 --> 00:23:40,433 a schedule calculated five years before. 464 00:23:42,010 --> 00:23:43,660 Now came the mad rush 465 00:23:43,660 --> 00:23:48,300 to squeeze close to 100 measurements into just a few hours. 466 00:23:48,300 --> 00:23:49,404 - Off. 467 00:23:49,404 --> 00:23:51,124 (faint speaking) is off. 468 00:23:51,124 --> 00:23:52,830 There are no temperatures in alarm. 469 00:23:52,830 --> 00:23:54,410 All items are as expected. 470 00:23:54,410 --> 00:23:55,337 Temperature (faint speaking). 471 00:23:58,100 --> 00:24:01,860 - We were bringing our sleeping bags to our offices 472 00:24:01,860 --> 00:24:04,700 and sleeping overnight so that we could be there 473 00:24:04,700 --> 00:24:07,150 and not miss any of the great discoveries 474 00:24:07,150 --> 00:24:09,890 that were occurring on a regular basis. 475 00:24:09,890 --> 00:24:12,130 Even though we couldn't predict what they were, 476 00:24:12,130 --> 00:24:14,980 we knew that there were going to be some great surprises. 477 00:24:15,852 --> 00:24:19,185 (intense ambient music) 478 00:24:37,700 --> 00:24:39,490 - [Narrator] The initial surprise though 479 00:24:39,490 --> 00:24:41,453 was the lack of a surprise. 480 00:24:43,790 --> 00:24:47,400 - We thought we'd see bands and other colorful things 481 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,660 like we had seen at Jupiter and Saturn. 482 00:24:49,660 --> 00:24:52,043 And Uranus presented to us a blank face. 483 00:24:55,860 --> 00:24:58,310 - [Narrator] That first impression was deceiving. 484 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,290 Uranus turned out to be the coldest planet 485 00:25:02,290 --> 00:25:04,160 in the solar system. 486 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,640 Here, winds blow more than twice the speed 487 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:08,073 of hurricanes on earth. 488 00:25:09,420 --> 00:25:12,790 Another surprise was the planet's magnetic field. 489 00:25:12,790 --> 00:25:15,710 The poles here reside near the equator, 490 00:25:15,710 --> 00:25:18,003 twisting and turning like a corkscrew. 491 00:25:21,140 --> 00:25:23,130 And to everyone's delight 492 00:25:23,130 --> 00:25:27,593 two new narrow rings and 10 tiny new moons were discovered. 493 00:25:29,150 --> 00:25:33,050 The biggest surprise though was the tiny moon Miranda. 494 00:25:33,050 --> 00:25:34,750 - Larry, I've heard you refer to this 495 00:25:34,750 --> 00:25:37,780 as probably the most exotic body in the solar system. 496 00:25:37,780 --> 00:25:40,580 - Well, I think exotic is an understatement. 497 00:25:40,580 --> 00:25:43,710 Miranda surpassed our wildest expectations. 498 00:25:43,710 --> 00:25:46,853 No one possibly imagined what we were going to find here. 499 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,350 - Miranda just looked incredible. 500 00:25:53,350 --> 00:25:54,970 The amount of detailed structure, 501 00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:56,510 it looked like someone had 502 00:25:56,510 --> 00:25:58,420 just maybe like a clay or something, 503 00:25:58,420 --> 00:25:59,560 sort of squeezed on it 504 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,523 and given it all these different shapes and patterns. 505 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,965 - Miranda was another one of these weird jigsaw puzzles 506 00:26:08,965 --> 00:26:12,740 of two or three different types of terrain 507 00:26:12,740 --> 00:26:16,666 that looked like you just painted them on the surface 508 00:26:16,666 --> 00:26:19,400 and then ripped apart the images 509 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,850 and then put them together in some haphazard way. 510 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,090 - [Linda] It was clear that something had happened. 511 00:26:26,090 --> 00:26:29,360 Some kind of activity had changed it 512 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:30,910 from when it originally formed. 513 00:26:32,374 --> 00:26:34,730 - [Rich] It was probably hit with something very large, 514 00:26:34,730 --> 00:26:36,990 which actually disrupted it, broke it apart. 515 00:26:36,990 --> 00:26:40,910 So you now have a big chunk of rock and a big chunk of ice. 516 00:26:40,910 --> 00:26:42,810 And these big chunks came together, 517 00:26:42,810 --> 00:26:44,710 which created these peculiar terrains. 518 00:26:49,010 --> 00:26:51,010 - [Narrator] This first ever visit to Uranus 519 00:26:51,010 --> 00:26:53,730 provided a bounty of discoveries. 520 00:26:53,730 --> 00:26:57,200 And NASA saw the encounter as an excellent backdrop 521 00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:58,810 to underscore to the press 522 00:26:58,810 --> 00:27:03,810 that 1986 was the agency's year of space science. 523 00:27:04,310 --> 00:27:05,143 - Thanks, Jim. 524 00:27:05,143 --> 00:27:06,970 It's been a real pleasure and a thrill for me 525 00:27:06,970 --> 00:27:09,060 as I'm sure it's been for all of you. 526 00:27:09,060 --> 00:27:11,920 It's been a brilliant scientific achievement. 527 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,310 - [Narrator] But the plan backfired. 528 00:27:14,310 --> 00:27:17,170 These reporters were almost to a person 529 00:27:17,170 --> 00:27:20,420 unabashed supporters of exploring the planets. 530 00:27:20,420 --> 00:27:21,890 And the answer to one question 531 00:27:21,890 --> 00:27:24,370 had the effect of waving a red flag 532 00:27:24,370 --> 00:27:27,520 in front of a herd of disgruntled bulls. 533 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,410 - This is pretty much the whole ball game, isn't it? 534 00:27:29,410 --> 00:27:31,930 None of us in this room are ever going to see anything else 535 00:27:31,930 --> 00:27:35,018 of any real consequence coming back from Uranus, are we? 536 00:27:35,018 --> 00:27:36,220 - As I just mentioned, 537 00:27:36,220 --> 00:27:37,220 it is very likely 538 00:27:37,220 --> 00:27:41,000 that there will not be another mission to Uranus 539 00:27:42,190 --> 00:27:43,573 for a couple of centuries. 540 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:47,240 And so this is it. 541 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,380 - To what extent is the fact that the United States 542 00:27:49,380 --> 00:27:52,100 does not have its own Halley mission 543 00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:54,850 a loss of face or a step backwards 544 00:27:54,850 --> 00:27:56,670 in terms of keeping the United States 545 00:27:56,670 --> 00:27:58,490 preeminent in space technology? 546 00:27:58,490 --> 00:28:03,410 - What follow up plans you have for the follow up stars? 547 00:28:03,410 --> 00:28:05,540 - I'm a kind of having a hard time reconciling all this 548 00:28:05,540 --> 00:28:07,160 to know what the next generation's 549 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:08,820 going to be doing in space. 550 00:28:08,820 --> 00:28:10,830 - What assurance can you really offer 551 00:28:10,830 --> 00:28:13,070 that the United States is going to continue 552 00:28:13,070 --> 00:28:15,400 to pursue planetary science 553 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,290 and that when we see international missions, 554 00:28:17,290 --> 00:28:20,800 it won't be international without the United States? 555 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:21,633 - [Male Speaker] Final question, 556 00:28:21,633 --> 00:28:23,290 Kelly Beatty, Sky and Telescope. 557 00:28:23,290 --> 00:28:25,050 - Dr. Edelson did a meeting 558 00:28:25,050 --> 00:28:27,470 of planetary scientists in October. 559 00:28:27,470 --> 00:28:30,450 Dr. Allen stated that planetary science 560 00:28:30,450 --> 00:28:33,000 does not seem to be highly regarded within NASA. 561 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,050 Would you like to comment on that please? 562 00:28:35,943 --> 00:28:38,440 (laughing) 563 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:39,440 - [Lew] Dr. Edelson? 564 00:28:41,410 --> 00:28:43,525 - Gosh, I didn't make that statement. 565 00:28:43,525 --> 00:28:44,358 - [Male Speaker] I don't think so, sir. 566 00:28:44,358 --> 00:28:46,020 - Maybe you oughta ask Dr. Allen to comment on it. 567 00:28:46,020 --> 00:28:48,713 - [Male Speaker] I didn't write it down. (laughing) 568 00:28:49,730 --> 00:28:51,870 - We do need to continue planetary exploration. 569 00:28:51,870 --> 00:28:56,158 There are things which are terribly important left to do. 570 00:28:56,158 --> 00:28:59,740 And it should compete in scientific importance 571 00:28:59,740 --> 00:29:01,410 with other important things 572 00:29:01,410 --> 00:29:03,460 such as the great observatories. 573 00:29:03,460 --> 00:29:05,550 - And ladies and gentlemen, our time is fleeting. 574 00:29:05,550 --> 00:29:08,700 Thank you very much, Dr. Edelson, Dr. Allen. 575 00:29:08,700 --> 00:29:10,740 We'd like to remind you that at 10 o'clock-- 576 00:29:10,740 --> 00:29:13,550 - [Narrator] The rush to get off the stage was telling. 577 00:29:13,550 --> 00:29:16,393 Expectations were far greater than funding. 578 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,580 And in contrast to Voyager 579 00:29:19,580 --> 00:29:23,240 the Shuttle program was not living up to its billing. 580 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,210 Access to space had not become routine, 581 00:29:26,210 --> 00:29:28,193 cheaper, or safer. 582 00:29:33,870 --> 00:29:36,460 Two days after the Voyager press conference 583 00:29:36,460 --> 00:29:39,280 scientists at JPL paused to watch the launch 584 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,023 of the next Shuttle flight. 585 00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:48,740 - We were meeting in our daily science discussion meeting 586 00:29:49,030 --> 00:29:51,330 and we'd had them through the weekends 587 00:29:51,330 --> 00:29:52,866 during that time period. 588 00:29:52,866 --> 00:29:56,330 And we had just finished discussing 589 00:29:56,330 --> 00:29:57,700 what we were going to talk about 590 00:29:57,700 --> 00:29:59,503 in the press conference that day. 591 00:30:00,350 --> 00:30:04,263 And it was time for the launch of the Challenger Shuttle. 592 00:30:06,470 --> 00:30:10,120 And so we had the television set there in the room 593 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:15,120 and we broke our meeting up just in time to watch that. 594 00:30:15,970 --> 00:30:20,860 - [Male Speaker] T minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six. 595 00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:23,060 We have main engine start. 596 00:30:23,060 --> 00:30:26,418 Four, three, two, one. 597 00:30:26,418 --> 00:30:28,203 And lift off. 598 00:30:28,203 --> 00:30:31,550 Lift off of the 25th Space Shuttle mission. 599 00:30:31,550 --> 00:30:33,213 And it has cleared the tower. 600 00:30:34,201 --> 00:30:37,368 (faint radio chatter) 601 00:30:39,773 --> 00:30:42,750 - And we were pleased that it got off the ground. 602 00:30:42,750 --> 00:30:46,190 And then suddenly, we saw this bright flash 603 00:30:46,190 --> 00:30:49,433 and trails of material going in different directions. 604 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,120 And it slowly dawned on us 605 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,720 that the Challenger had actually blown apart. 606 00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:57,553 - [Male Speaker] Flight controllers 607 00:30:57,553 --> 00:30:59,560 here looking very carefully at the situation. 608 00:31:00,980 --> 00:31:02,633 Obviously, a major malfunction. 609 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,283 - [Ellis] It was a tremendous shock. 610 00:31:08,130 --> 00:31:09,833 - [Male Speaker] We have no downlink. 611 00:31:12,510 --> 00:31:14,770 - We had two TV monitors up; 612 00:31:14,770 --> 00:31:18,720 one that was streaming the pictures of Uranus coming back 613 00:31:20,210 --> 00:31:23,580 and the second with the repeats of the explosions 614 00:31:23,580 --> 00:31:24,563 at the Challenger. 615 00:31:25,630 --> 00:31:27,413 So hard to watch those. 616 00:31:28,990 --> 00:31:31,100 Success... tremendous success with Voyager 617 00:31:31,100 --> 00:31:34,463 versus the heartbreak of what happened with Challenger. 618 00:31:37,415 --> 00:31:40,665 (somber ambient music) 619 00:31:55,610 --> 00:31:58,000 - [Narrator] The loss of Challenger and its crew of seven 620 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,210 was a major shock to the nation 621 00:32:00,210 --> 00:32:02,423 and an enormous setback for NASA. 622 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,750 All Shuttle flights were grounded. 623 00:32:06,750 --> 00:32:09,960 With no Shuttle and no available expendable rockets 624 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:13,893 there was no doorway into space for the United States. 625 00:32:17,810 --> 00:32:21,263 Galileo was wrapped up and transported back to Pasadena. 626 00:32:23,050 --> 00:32:24,950 Other missions to Venus, Saturn, 627 00:32:24,950 --> 00:32:27,473 and Mars were placed on hold. 628 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:30,940 - All of you recall, I'm sure, 629 00:32:30,940 --> 00:32:34,543 that 1986 was to be the year of space science. 630 00:32:35,820 --> 00:32:40,820 It began magnificently with Voyager's encounter with Uranus. 631 00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:42,290 But of course 632 00:32:42,290 --> 00:32:46,510 the year of space science was brought to a tragic conclusion 633 00:32:46,510 --> 00:32:49,763 when the Challenger accident occurred so early in the year. 634 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:56,000 We are overall looking at a substantial period of stand down 635 00:32:57,090 --> 00:33:00,060 in the achievement of space science information 636 00:33:00,060 --> 00:33:02,943 from the exploration of the solar system. 637 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:07,540 Satellite programs will have to go into storage 638 00:33:07,540 --> 00:33:09,919 for a substantial period of time. 639 00:33:09,919 --> 00:33:12,586 (door thudding) 640 00:33:21,754 --> 00:33:25,254 (somber orchestral music) 641 00:33:30,150 --> 00:33:31,810 - [Narrator] As NASA's Shuttle program 642 00:33:31,810 --> 00:33:34,660 worked to recover from the loss of Challenger, 643 00:33:34,660 --> 00:33:37,080 Voyager 2 continued on its journey 644 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,093 and final planetary encounter. 645 00:33:41,053 --> 00:33:42,970 (people chattering) 646 00:33:42,970 --> 00:33:45,660 - Three, two, one. 647 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:47,310 Just about a million miles left 648 00:33:47,310 --> 00:33:49,550 to travel for the robot Voyager spacecraft 649 00:33:49,550 --> 00:33:51,480 to the last planet in the solar system, 650 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,200 its close approach to Neptune. 651 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:54,660 Scientists are eagerly awaiting 652 00:33:54,660 --> 00:33:57,360 the closeup pictures of Neptune and its moon Triton. 653 00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:58,930 And Project Scientist Ed Stone 654 00:33:58,930 --> 00:34:01,083 says they'll be looking for more moons too. 655 00:34:06,370 --> 00:34:09,560 - Neptune, 30 times as far from the Sun as the Earth, 656 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,613 very cold, very remote edge of the solar system. 657 00:34:14,820 --> 00:34:16,580 - [Narrator] Neptune is so far away 658 00:34:16,580 --> 00:34:18,923 that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. 659 00:34:20,180 --> 00:34:23,403 It was discovered only through mathematical calculations. 660 00:34:25,090 --> 00:34:28,060 This was the best telescope image of Neptune 661 00:34:28,060 --> 00:34:29,460 before Voyager 2. 662 00:34:32,310 --> 00:34:34,233 - It's very, very dark at Neptune. 663 00:34:35,300 --> 00:34:37,570 We knew that there were rings at Neptune. 664 00:34:37,570 --> 00:34:42,570 The rings themselves were half the brightness of soot. 665 00:34:43,340 --> 00:34:46,100 Seen against a jet black background 666 00:34:46,100 --> 00:34:48,160 with sunlight which is 1,000 times dimmer 667 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:49,770 than it is on Earth. 668 00:34:49,770 --> 00:34:51,923 So you've got everything going against you. 669 00:34:53,730 --> 00:34:54,563 - [Narrator] Once again 670 00:34:54,563 --> 00:34:57,900 Voyager had to be retooled by remote control 671 00:34:57,900 --> 00:35:01,243 to have any hope of getting back usable images. 672 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:04,520 - If the spacecraft is doing what it normally does, 673 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,020 which is to slowly weave, bob around it, 674 00:35:07,020 --> 00:35:08,540 it rotates around like this, 675 00:35:08,540 --> 00:35:10,290 you're just gonna smear everything. 676 00:35:16,930 --> 00:35:19,740 - And so we had to go into the attitude control system 677 00:35:19,740 --> 00:35:22,500 and come up with very clever software changes 678 00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:24,943 to allow the spacecraft to stay very stable. 679 00:35:30,820 --> 00:35:33,770 - [Narrator] More advances in data compression were needed. 680 00:35:35,090 --> 00:35:38,670 A global array of antennas had to be lashed together 681 00:35:38,670 --> 00:35:41,463 and Voyager itself was requiring attention. 682 00:35:42,710 --> 00:35:44,441 - The spacecraft has encountered its problems. 683 00:35:44,441 --> 00:35:47,370 It's a deaf in one ear essentially, 684 00:35:47,370 --> 00:35:48,203 one of the receivers. 685 00:35:48,203 --> 00:35:50,070 It's tone deaf in the other ear. 686 00:35:50,070 --> 00:35:53,022 It's got an arthritic scan platform. 687 00:35:53,022 --> 00:35:55,850 It's hung up on us several times. 688 00:35:55,850 --> 00:35:57,460 It's got memory lapses. 689 00:35:57,460 --> 00:35:58,310 It's got other, you know, 690 00:35:58,310 --> 00:36:00,230 the kinds of things you can associate 691 00:36:00,230 --> 00:36:02,900 with degradation, with age. 692 00:36:02,900 --> 00:36:04,870 But nevertheless, it's got a personality 693 00:36:04,870 --> 00:36:06,653 and it's also got a brain. 694 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:12,690 - [Narrator] And that brain had already noted 695 00:36:12,690 --> 00:36:14,713 a massive swirling storm, 696 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,453 previously unknown moons and ring arcs. 697 00:36:21,130 --> 00:36:22,510 These were early signs 698 00:36:22,510 --> 00:36:25,163 that Neptune would not be a bland world. 699 00:36:27,050 --> 00:36:28,820 - It was kind of an amazing encounter. 700 00:36:28,820 --> 00:36:31,810 I'm still not exactly sure why it happened, 701 00:36:31,810 --> 00:36:35,323 but it was a huge public affairs success. 702 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:37,750 - [Narrator] With each encounter 703 00:36:37,750 --> 00:36:40,100 Voyager became better known. 704 00:36:40,100 --> 00:36:43,840 And scientists and engineers were more media savvy. 705 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,655 Some were even doubling up as news anchors. 706 00:36:46,655 --> 00:36:47,488 - We'll do the opening. - Yeah. 707 00:36:47,488 --> 00:36:48,613 - We come to you. - Right. 708 00:36:48,613 --> 00:36:50,080 - You say a few words. 709 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,692 We say let's have examples of star occultations. 710 00:36:52,692 --> 00:36:53,525 - The Neptune encounter. 711 00:36:53,525 --> 00:36:55,300 I got to be the host of the PBS show 712 00:36:55,300 --> 00:36:56,980 called Neptune All Night. 713 00:36:56,980 --> 00:36:59,640 It was four hours of sitting there 714 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:01,100 in front of the TV monitor 715 00:37:01,100 --> 00:37:02,530 for people who wanted to stay up all night 716 00:37:02,530 --> 00:37:03,990 for the encounter. 717 00:37:03,990 --> 00:37:06,559 - Three, two, one. 718 00:37:06,559 --> 00:37:07,392 Roll the opening. 719 00:37:07,392 --> 00:37:08,483 - Opening rolling. 720 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:10,840 - [Narrator] Another anchor 721 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,493 was a young engineer named Suzanne Dodd. 722 00:37:14,410 --> 00:37:17,250 - With us this morning, we have Dr. Jay Holberg. 723 00:37:17,250 --> 00:37:18,190 I just got asked. 724 00:37:18,190 --> 00:37:23,190 I think JPL was looking for a young female engineer 725 00:37:23,540 --> 00:37:25,905 who knew something about the Voyager project 726 00:37:25,905 --> 00:37:27,823 and what Voyager was gonna do. 727 00:37:29,060 --> 00:37:30,970 - [Narrator] Dodd joined the Voyager team 728 00:37:30,970 --> 00:37:32,840 right out of college. 729 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:34,840 She had moved up the ranks 730 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,080 and was now responsible for the commands 731 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:38,230 that would have Voyager 732 00:37:38,230 --> 00:37:41,173 executing a daredevil fly by of Neptune. 733 00:37:42,445 --> 00:37:45,680 - I thought, okay, my career is kinda riding on this one 734 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,110 'cause I built the closest approach sequence. 735 00:37:48,110 --> 00:37:53,110 And if it goes wrong, it could be my fault. 736 00:37:55,980 --> 00:37:58,720 - [Narrator] A sense of drama was everywhere 737 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:01,600 and journalists and writers from all over the world 738 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,880 were converging to be a part of what was being called 739 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:06,243 the last picture show. 740 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:09,630 - It was like a reunion. 741 00:38:09,630 --> 00:38:10,890 I mean, they came out here 742 00:38:10,890 --> 00:38:14,400 and they melded with the scientists. 743 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,360 The scientists had a great time. 744 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,720 They got a lot of good press coverage. 745 00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:19,903 It was a festival. 746 00:38:21,050 --> 00:38:24,430 - [Narrator] And at times, a feeding frenzy. 747 00:38:24,430 --> 00:38:26,640 No one knew that better than a Dutch-born, 748 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:31,230 sleep deprived JPLer named Jurrie van der Woude. 749 00:38:31,230 --> 00:38:35,200 It was his job to provide the always on deadline press 750 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:36,370 with the latest images 751 00:38:36,370 --> 00:38:39,720 that were coming quite literally off the printing press 752 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,713 in this era before the internet. 753 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:43,433 - In those days 754 00:38:43,433 --> 00:38:44,820 as soon as they saw you come in 755 00:38:44,820 --> 00:38:47,060 with the boxes with photographs 756 00:38:47,060 --> 00:38:49,820 was everybody had a deadline. 757 00:38:49,820 --> 00:38:54,750 And it was exactly 15 seconds from the moment they saw you. 758 00:38:54,750 --> 00:38:55,583 Okay. 759 00:38:55,583 --> 00:38:57,190 Just before you leave here, come by, 760 00:38:57,190 --> 00:38:59,770 and I will get you a bunch of photographs to take home. 761 00:38:59,770 --> 00:39:00,603 All right? 762 00:39:00,603 --> 00:39:02,270 - Thank you. - Fantastic. 763 00:39:02,270 --> 00:39:03,800 Then I had to turn around, 764 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:05,640 go to the photo lab, 765 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,400 and see what was coming in as far as data is concerned, 766 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,270 see how it was processed. 767 00:39:11,270 --> 00:39:13,416 Then have 600 to 800 768 00:39:13,416 --> 00:39:17,060 of those individual photographs printed, 769 00:39:17,060 --> 00:39:20,370 of each stacks of photographs that high. 770 00:39:20,370 --> 00:39:22,750 That had to happen through the night. 771 00:39:22,750 --> 00:39:26,000 But I had to stay there to get captions written, 772 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,583 and printed, and glued on the back of each of the prints. 773 00:39:31,580 --> 00:39:33,213 Three weeks, I saw no bed. 774 00:39:40,170 --> 00:39:44,490 But boy, I wouldn't have missed a second of those days. 775 00:39:44,490 --> 00:39:46,423 There's no way you can describe, 776 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:49,780 or I cannot, 777 00:39:49,780 --> 00:39:54,780 the feeling when you look at a planet for the first time 778 00:39:56,260 --> 00:39:58,450 in the history of our species. 779 00:39:58,450 --> 00:40:00,003 Nobody else has seen it. 780 00:40:05,653 --> 00:40:06,890 - It's kinda interesting. 781 00:40:06,890 --> 00:40:08,780 Beautiful pictures frequently are the ones 782 00:40:08,780 --> 00:40:11,162 that also have a lot of scientific content in them. 783 00:40:11,162 --> 00:40:13,412 (laughing) 784 00:40:15,100 --> 00:40:17,220 - We've been in the observatory phase for months, 785 00:40:17,220 --> 00:40:21,700 seeing Neptune as slowly growing from a dot 786 00:40:21,700 --> 00:40:25,740 to something filling the television screen and more. 787 00:40:25,740 --> 00:40:30,740 Neptune itself is a beautiful austere blue world. 788 00:40:32,270 --> 00:40:37,170 We are looking at a world of clouds and gas. 789 00:40:37,170 --> 00:40:39,870 The surface, if any, is far below. 790 00:40:39,870 --> 00:40:42,561 We have no idea what's deep down there. 791 00:40:42,561 --> 00:40:46,906 (people exclaiming) (people applauding) 792 00:40:46,906 --> 00:40:48,380 - And at close encounter 793 00:40:48,380 --> 00:40:52,650 we would all be in von Karman holding our breaths. 794 00:40:52,650 --> 00:40:54,920 And you'd get these incredible pictures 795 00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:56,350 which nobody had ever seen before. 796 00:40:56,350 --> 00:40:59,940 And you'd sit there and you'd say, oh my god! 797 00:40:59,940 --> 00:41:02,453 You can't believe how exciting that was. 798 00:41:03,420 --> 00:41:05,480 - [Narrator] As Neptune's dark spot 799 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,460 the size of the Earth came more into focus, 800 00:41:08,460 --> 00:41:10,613 other features became apparent too. 801 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:14,990 Just below the dark spot was a group of streaking clouds 802 00:41:14,990 --> 00:41:19,170 circling Neptune so fast they were named Scooter. 803 00:41:19,170 --> 00:41:23,230 Here winds blow over 1,200 miles per hour, 804 00:41:23,230 --> 00:41:25,453 the fastest in the solar system. 805 00:41:27,820 --> 00:41:31,140 Voyager was moving fast too and flying low, 806 00:41:31,140 --> 00:41:33,903 skimming just above the cloud tops of Neptune. 807 00:41:34,899 --> 00:41:37,840 (intense ambient music) 808 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,020 Then the gravitational force of the planet 809 00:41:40,020 --> 00:41:44,450 bent the spacecraft downwards towards the final fly by. 810 00:41:44,450 --> 00:41:47,740 Scientists who were accustomed to extraordinary sights 811 00:41:47,740 --> 00:41:51,813 were still amazed by what they saw at Neptune's moon Triton. 812 00:41:53,580 --> 00:41:56,920 - Last night was certainly a night to be remembered. 813 00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:58,720 I think it's the most exciting night 814 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:01,360 that I can remember from any of the encounters 815 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:02,600 that we've had with Voyager, 816 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,690 and there have been some exciting nights. 817 00:42:04,690 --> 00:42:05,910 Without a question 818 00:42:05,910 --> 00:42:08,870 the images that were returned this morning 819 00:42:08,870 --> 00:42:12,473 revealed a world unlike any of the others that we've seen. 820 00:42:17,371 --> 00:42:19,430 - It seemed like a lot of these flybys 821 00:42:19,430 --> 00:42:21,360 often happened in the middle of the night 822 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,493 or early morning hours. 823 00:42:23,493 --> 00:42:26,813 It seemed like that and Triton was one of those. 824 00:42:26,813 --> 00:42:29,813 (people chattering) 825 00:42:31,780 --> 00:42:33,714 - Well, it's like all of those things. 826 00:42:33,714 --> 00:42:36,840 Voyager put all the things that seemed before as strange 827 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,050 and put it in one place again. 828 00:42:39,050 --> 00:42:41,040 - I think for me, one of the highlights, 829 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:43,190 to see those early pictures come back 830 00:42:43,190 --> 00:42:45,960 and people pointing at the screen and saying, 831 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:47,530 what do you think that means 832 00:42:47,530 --> 00:42:49,693 or what do you think is going on? 833 00:42:50,830 --> 00:42:52,040 - [Ed] What is it? 834 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:54,053 - It's a crocodile of the solar system. 835 00:42:54,053 --> 00:42:56,303 (laughing) 836 00:42:58,537 --> 00:42:59,370 - Beautiful. 837 00:42:59,370 --> 00:43:00,683 - Oh, there are craters there. 838 00:43:02,910 --> 00:43:04,260 - [Narrator] What Voyager saw 839 00:43:04,260 --> 00:43:07,750 was a frigid world of rock and ice. 840 00:43:07,750 --> 00:43:09,620 - And it also had a very thin atmosphere. 841 00:43:09,620 --> 00:43:12,380 And the atmosphere had these cloud structures in it, 842 00:43:12,380 --> 00:43:15,623 these very, very thin narrow clouds. 843 00:43:16,950 --> 00:43:18,153 You guys see a limb haze? 844 00:43:21,724 --> 00:43:22,570 I think that's a wind streak. 845 00:43:22,570 --> 00:43:23,581 - [Brad] Oh, they are wind streaks. 846 00:43:23,581 --> 00:43:24,530 No question about it. 847 00:43:24,530 --> 00:43:25,363 - How can you have a wind streak 848 00:43:25,363 --> 00:43:27,040 with such a tenuous atmosphere though? 849 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:28,626 - You get the winds to blow. 850 00:43:28,626 --> 00:43:29,459 - To follow the migrations? 851 00:43:29,459 --> 00:43:30,292 You had to blow very hard. 852 00:43:30,292 --> 00:43:31,440 - If you get the winds blow fast enough. 853 00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:34,146 - Yeah, but did you calculate how fast it's gotta blow 854 00:43:34,146 --> 00:43:35,620 in a (faint speaking) atmosphere? 855 00:43:35,620 --> 00:43:37,570 - Obviously, it knows how fast to blow 856 00:43:37,570 --> 00:43:40,793 because it's certainly streaking that material out. 857 00:43:44,010 --> 00:43:49,010 - Triton had a very, very peculiar surface. 858 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:50,420 Very few craters. 859 00:43:50,420 --> 00:43:53,740 Very odd, chaotic looking terrain. 860 00:43:53,740 --> 00:43:55,380 Very disturbed. 861 00:43:55,380 --> 00:43:58,220 There are areas that look very resurfaced, right? 862 00:43:58,220 --> 00:43:59,840 I mean, craterless. 863 00:44:02,260 --> 00:44:05,220 - [Narrator] Here perhaps is the most diverse terrain 864 00:44:05,220 --> 00:44:07,123 in the entire solar system. 865 00:44:08,430 --> 00:44:10,800 Triton's surface has few craters, 866 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:13,750 which suggests that unlike the moon itself, 867 00:44:13,750 --> 00:44:16,813 the surface is for some reason relatively young. 868 00:44:17,820 --> 00:44:20,190 A smudge on one of Voyager's images 869 00:44:20,190 --> 00:44:22,980 so small as to almost go unnoticed 870 00:44:22,980 --> 00:44:25,820 provided a clue as to why. 871 00:44:25,820 --> 00:44:28,010 - We saw these vents of things. 872 00:44:28,010 --> 00:44:31,100 And the thing is only like 20 degrees above absolute zero. 873 00:44:31,100 --> 00:44:33,130 I mean, it's one of the coldest things there is. 874 00:44:33,130 --> 00:44:35,633 And it's got things erupting on it. 875 00:44:37,930 --> 00:44:40,470 - [Narrator] And though these smudges were faint 876 00:44:40,470 --> 00:44:42,813 the implications were spectacular. 877 00:44:44,978 --> 00:44:48,311 (intense ambient music) 878 00:44:52,870 --> 00:44:54,630 These were erupting geysers 879 00:44:55,540 --> 00:44:58,615 shooting out material miles into space. 880 00:44:58,615 --> 00:45:01,532 (intense rumbling) 881 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,770 In other places, there were lava-like flows of ice, 882 00:45:07,770 --> 00:45:10,950 all of it believed caused by volcanic processes 883 00:45:10,950 --> 00:45:12,993 underneath Triton's surface. 884 00:45:15,150 --> 00:45:18,700 - A world at the very, very edge of the solar system. 885 00:45:18,700 --> 00:45:20,290 Frozen. 886 00:45:20,290 --> 00:45:22,770 We thought it would be completely geologically dead. 887 00:45:22,770 --> 00:45:24,920 And it turns out to be geologically active. 888 00:45:26,430 --> 00:45:27,730 That was a great surprise. 889 00:45:33,570 --> 00:45:37,335 - I think we were all just overwhelmed with the experience 890 00:45:37,335 --> 00:45:38,168 that it had been. 891 00:45:38,168 --> 00:45:40,110 I mean this, for everybody, I think, on the Voyager team 892 00:45:40,110 --> 00:45:42,133 had been the journey of a lifetime. 893 00:45:43,060 --> 00:45:45,330 There's no doubt that the wealth of discovery 894 00:45:45,330 --> 00:45:47,330 from this mission had never been matched 895 00:45:47,330 --> 00:45:48,380 by any other mission. 896 00:45:49,970 --> 00:45:52,640 Voyager discovered the diversity of the solar system 897 00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,940 which really told us that the solar system is alive. 898 00:45:55,940 --> 00:45:58,730 The objects in the solar system have evolved 899 00:45:58,730 --> 00:46:00,740 and are continuing to evolve. 900 00:46:00,740 --> 00:46:02,350 And I think for a science team 901 00:46:02,350 --> 00:46:04,290 that was a unique experience 902 00:46:04,290 --> 00:46:06,414 which will be the highlight for many of the careers 903 00:46:06,414 --> 00:46:08,283 of the Voyager scientists. 904 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,180 - I think we should just have a show of hands 905 00:46:13,180 --> 00:46:16,613 who's here from that 1972 imaging team? 906 00:46:16,613 --> 00:46:19,640 (people laughing) One! 907 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:21,230 - I think it was very sad 908 00:46:21,230 --> 00:46:22,510 for some of the people on the project 909 00:46:22,510 --> 00:46:25,620 who had been there for all four encounters 910 00:46:25,620 --> 00:46:28,650 and really had had their whole life 911 00:46:28,650 --> 00:46:31,360 revolve around these four encounters. 912 00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:32,457 They had their 913 00:46:32,457 --> 00:46:35,220 plan their children in between encounters. 914 00:46:35,220 --> 00:46:36,100 And you know, 915 00:46:36,100 --> 00:46:38,900 you could watch your family grow by the different years. 916 00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:40,993 - Here's to Kennedy. 917 00:46:40,993 --> 00:46:42,756 We couldn't have done it without her! 918 00:46:42,756 --> 00:46:44,250 (people cheering) 919 00:46:44,250 --> 00:46:46,700 - So not only are you sort of done 920 00:46:46,700 --> 00:46:48,650 with the science aspect of the mission, 921 00:46:48,650 --> 00:46:51,570 but you're really losing your friends and your family 922 00:46:51,570 --> 00:46:54,913 as they go out and start working on other projects. 923 00:46:57,000 --> 00:46:58,570 - If I really think about what's happened 924 00:46:58,570 --> 00:47:00,440 in the last few days, 925 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:02,000 it's intellectually 926 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:05,560 perhaps one of the most stimulating times in my life. 927 00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:08,280 Emotionally, it's one of the saddest. 928 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:09,580 I've been here... For the last 10 years 929 00:47:09,580 --> 00:47:10,600 I've worked on this mission, 930 00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:13,910 always anticipated one encounter after the next, 931 00:47:13,910 --> 00:47:15,680 realizing they'd be fantastic, 932 00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:18,423 realizing that there'd be things totally unexpected. 933 00:47:19,570 --> 00:47:21,060 And it's over. 934 00:47:21,060 --> 00:47:22,230 We've done it. 935 00:47:22,230 --> 00:47:24,500 We've finished the first reconnaissance 936 00:47:24,500 --> 00:47:25,820 of the entire solar system. 937 00:47:25,820 --> 00:47:27,320 We've rewritten the textbooks. 938 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:30,947 What do you do next, you know? 939 00:47:35,870 --> 00:47:38,983 - [Narrator] The adventures of the Voyagers were not over. 940 00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:42,740 In 1990, Voyager 1, 941 00:47:42,740 --> 00:47:45,980 over three and a half billion miles away from its home, 942 00:47:45,980 --> 00:47:47,703 snapped these images. 943 00:47:49,490 --> 00:47:53,060 This first ever family portrait of the solar system 944 00:47:53,060 --> 00:47:55,423 was the idea of scientist Carl Sagan. 945 00:47:58,570 --> 00:48:01,210 - [Child] Hello from the children of planet Earth. 946 00:48:01,210 --> 00:48:02,940 - Sagan also led the team 947 00:48:02,940 --> 00:48:05,183 that designed Voyager's Golden Record. 948 00:48:06,110 --> 00:48:07,420 It is a greeting card 949 00:48:07,420 --> 00:48:10,440 containing sights and sounds of our planet, 950 00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:13,990 should one day somewhere in interstellar space 951 00:48:13,990 --> 00:48:16,830 a wayfarer were to stumble upon the spacecraft 952 00:48:16,830 --> 00:48:20,253 and wonder who had sent it on its adventure. 953 00:48:22,610 --> 00:48:24,150 A member of the record team 954 00:48:24,150 --> 00:48:27,445 and later Sagan's wife was Ann Druyan. 955 00:48:27,445 --> 00:48:30,267 Together, they wrote this excerpted passage 956 00:48:30,267 --> 00:48:32,683 about our pale blue dot. 957 00:48:36,587 --> 00:48:38,410 (soft piano music) 958 00:48:38,410 --> 00:48:40,193 - Consider again that dot. 959 00:48:41,740 --> 00:48:42,693 That's home. 960 00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:44,633 That's us. 961 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,340 On it, everyone you love. 962 00:48:48,340 --> 00:48:49,563 Everyone you know. 963 00:48:51,020 --> 00:48:52,780 Everyone you ever heard of. 964 00:48:52,780 --> 00:48:56,703 Every human being who ever was lived out their lives. 965 00:48:58,420 --> 00:49:00,400 Our planet is a lonely speck 966 00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:02,803 in the great enveloping cosmic dark. 967 00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:08,210 In our obscurity, in all this vastness, 968 00:49:08,210 --> 00:49:11,610 there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere 969 00:49:11,610 --> 00:49:13,543 to save us from ourselves. 970 00:49:14,410 --> 00:49:17,503 For the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. 971 00:49:18,750 --> 00:49:21,370 It underscores our responsibility 972 00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:24,710 to deal more kindly with one another 973 00:49:25,690 --> 00:49:30,133 and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, 974 00:49:31,050 --> 00:49:33,873 the only home we've ever known. 975 00:49:38,384 --> 00:49:40,920 (people applauding) 976 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,920 (upbeat rock music) 977 00:49:52,670 --> 00:49:54,010 - [Narrator] At the end of the encounter 978 00:49:54,010 --> 00:49:55,810 at Neptune and Triton 979 00:49:55,810 --> 00:49:58,340 a celebration organized by Carl Sagan 980 00:49:58,340 --> 00:50:01,993 and the Planetary Society was held on JPL's mall. 981 00:50:03,290 --> 00:50:05,330 The evening featured a surprise appearance 982 00:50:05,330 --> 00:50:07,373 by rock and roll great Chuck Berry. 983 00:50:08,250 --> 00:50:10,610 It was a fitting choice as Berry's music 984 00:50:10,610 --> 00:50:13,630 was now sailing outward toward the stars 985 00:50:13,630 --> 00:50:15,803 aboard Voyager's Golden Record. 986 00:50:17,710 --> 00:50:20,403 That was only one of many reasons to celebrate. 987 00:50:26,510 --> 00:50:28,143 The Shuttle was flying again. 988 00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:31,620 Three months before the Neptune encounter 989 00:50:31,620 --> 00:50:35,600 the Shuttle Atlantis had deployed JPL's Magellan. 990 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:37,460 This spacecraft used radar 991 00:50:37,460 --> 00:50:39,883 to map the surface of Venus in 3D. 992 00:50:40,890 --> 00:50:44,530 It was a natural follow-on to the pioneering experiments 993 00:50:44,530 --> 00:50:47,603 JPL had flown on the Shuttle's early flights. 994 00:50:50,150 --> 00:50:53,230 Five months after Magellan's deployment 995 00:50:53,230 --> 00:50:57,293 Galileo was also deployed and sent on its way to Jupiter. 996 00:50:58,530 --> 00:51:00,790 Magellan and Galileo were two 997 00:51:00,790 --> 00:51:03,390 of only three planetary spacecraft 998 00:51:03,390 --> 00:51:05,483 ever carried aloft by the Shuttle. 999 00:51:08,260 --> 00:51:10,893 Lew Allen retired in 1991. 1000 00:51:12,641 --> 00:51:15,950 He used this skit to help say his goodbye, 1001 00:51:15,950 --> 00:51:18,543 riding off into the sunset with his wife. 1002 00:51:20,700 --> 00:51:22,533 Allen died in 2010. 1003 00:51:25,490 --> 00:51:28,313 Ed Stone became the new sheriff in town. 1004 00:51:29,640 --> 00:51:33,150 Even while serving as JPL's director for a decade 1005 00:51:33,150 --> 00:51:36,303 he continued on as Voyager's chief scientist. 1006 00:51:37,450 --> 00:51:39,500 In 2013, Stone, 1007 00:51:39,500 --> 00:51:43,170 still the only chief scientist Voyager has ever had, 1008 00:51:43,170 --> 00:51:47,690 announced that Voyager 1 had reached interstellar space, 1009 00:51:47,690 --> 00:51:49,893 the region between the stars. 1010 00:51:50,750 --> 00:51:52,800 This historic event happened 1011 00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:56,300 during the watch of Voyager's 10th project manager 1012 00:51:56,300 --> 00:51:57,563 Suzanne Dodd. 1013 00:51:59,860 --> 00:52:02,230 All this was still ahead. 1014 00:52:02,230 --> 00:52:05,300 But on this evening of the Neptune celebration 1015 00:52:05,300 --> 00:52:09,320 before Chuck Berry struck the first note on his guitar, 1016 00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:12,500 Carl Sagan addressed the assembled crowd 1017 00:52:12,500 --> 00:52:17,500 with words that are as fitting today as they were in 1989. 1018 00:52:20,900 --> 00:52:24,700 - [Carl] Every human culture has rites of passage. 1019 00:52:24,700 --> 00:52:27,650 They mark the transition from one stage of life to another. 1020 00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:30,770 We are gathered here to celebrate 1021 00:52:30,770 --> 00:52:33,143 Voyager's right of passage. 1022 00:52:34,740 --> 00:52:39,200 A machine designed, built, and operated right here at JPL 1023 00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:42,830 has broken free of the Sun's gravity, 1024 00:52:42,830 --> 00:52:45,890 explored most of the worlds of the solar system, 1025 00:52:45,890 --> 00:52:47,580 and is now on its way 1026 00:52:47,580 --> 00:52:51,563 to the great dark ocean of interstellar space. 1027 00:52:53,270 --> 00:52:56,433 The men and women responsible are gathered here. 1028 00:52:57,330 --> 00:53:00,310 They are heroes of human accomplishment. 1029 00:53:00,310 --> 00:53:03,113 Their deeds will be remembered in the history books. 1030 00:53:04,750 --> 00:53:06,890 Our remote descendants may live 1031 00:53:06,890 --> 00:53:09,943 on some of the worlds first revealed to us by Voyager. 1032 00:53:10,990 --> 00:53:14,700 If so, those descendants will look back upon us 1033 00:53:14,700 --> 00:53:17,273 as we look on Christopher Columbus. 1034 00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:22,180 Voyager reminds us of the rarity 1035 00:53:22,180 --> 00:53:25,730 and preciousness of what our planet holds, 1036 00:53:25,730 --> 00:53:28,773 of our responsibility to preserve life on Earth. 1037 00:53:30,100 --> 00:53:32,620 If we are capable of such grand, 1038 00:53:32,620 --> 00:53:35,070 long-term, benign, visionary, 1039 00:53:35,070 --> 00:53:38,230 high technology endeavors as Voyager, 1040 00:53:38,230 --> 00:53:41,100 can we not use our technological gifts 1041 00:53:41,100 --> 00:53:44,463 and long-term vision to put this planet right? 1042 00:53:46,180 --> 00:53:48,090 To take care of one another, 1043 00:53:48,090 --> 00:53:49,870 to cherish the Earth, 1044 00:53:49,870 --> 00:53:54,870 and bravely, to venture forth in the footsteps of Voyager 1045 00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,377 to the planets and the stars.