1
00:00:00,223 --> 00:00:02,806
(upbeat music)

2
00:00:07,050 --> 00:00:10,530
- Hi, I'm Dr. Ellen Stofan,
also known as Dr. E,

3
00:00:10,530 --> 00:00:11,850
and I'm thrilled to welcome you

4
00:00:11,850 --> 00:00:15,100
to a very special episode of E.Z. Science,

5
00:00:15,100 --> 00:00:18,260
what we're calling "E.Z. on the Go."

6
00:00:18,260 --> 00:00:20,380
Joining us from the Kennedy Space Center

7
00:00:20,380 --> 00:00:23,420
is my cohost, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen.

8
00:00:23,420 --> 00:00:26,511
Dr. Z, where are you right now?

9
00:00:26,511 --> 00:00:28,720
- Hey, I'm in Florida, it's really warm.

10
00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,260
I'm at that Kennedy Space Center,

11
00:00:31,260 --> 00:00:34,050
and I'm right near the launch site,

12
00:00:34,050 --> 00:00:38,810
where within 48 hours, this
spacecraft will go into space.

13
00:00:38,810 --> 00:00:41,541
Right now, you see the rocket

14
00:00:41,541 --> 00:00:44,020
moving from a building where it was

15
00:00:44,020 --> 00:00:46,800
integrated vertically, standing up.

16
00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,860
And on top of it, you see,
right, it's a spacecraft,

17
00:00:49,860 --> 00:00:52,780
and it's being readied to go to Mars.

18
00:00:52,780 --> 00:00:55,540
So we're right here, and
the rocket is moving.

19
00:00:55,540 --> 00:00:57,025
Within less than 48 hours,

20
00:00:57,025 --> 00:00:59,540
just a few hundred yards this way,

21
00:00:59,540 --> 00:01:02,530
the spacecraft is going to go to space.

22
00:01:02,530 --> 00:01:04,030
So I look forward to the launch.

23
00:01:04,030 --> 00:01:06,640
I really miss you, I was
hoping you'd be here with me,

24
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:08,860
but tell me about your launches.

25
00:01:08,860 --> 00:01:12,090
You've been to other
launches before, have you?

26
00:01:12,090 --> 00:01:14,880
- That's right, my dad was in charge of,

27
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,610
first the Atlas-Centaur and
then the Titan-Centaur rockets.

28
00:01:17,610 --> 00:01:20,384
So I went to my first launch
when I was four years old.

29
00:01:20,384 --> 00:01:22,490
Went to launches down at the Cape

30
00:01:22,490 --> 00:01:23,840
the whole time I was growing up,

31
00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,540
but probably the most
special launch for me,

32
00:01:26,540 --> 00:01:28,780
and one that I definitely, you know,

33
00:01:28,780 --> 00:01:30,740
feel very nostalgic with this launch,

34
00:01:30,740 --> 00:01:35,380
is the launch of the first
Viking Lander to Mars.

35
00:01:35,380 --> 00:01:39,740
In August of 1975, I was 14 years old,

36
00:01:39,740 --> 00:01:42,970
and it was at that launch
that I heard Carl Sagan

37
00:01:42,970 --> 00:01:46,370
speak about why we were exploring
Mars to search for life,

38
00:01:46,370 --> 00:01:47,830
and understanding its geology

39
00:01:47,830 --> 00:01:50,700
and comparing it to Earth's
geology that I said,

40
00:01:50,700 --> 00:01:52,658
I want to be a planetary geologist,

41
00:01:52,658 --> 00:01:55,140
and that was what I ended up doing.

42
00:01:55,140 --> 00:01:58,010
- What an amazing beginning of a career.

43
00:01:58,010 --> 00:01:59,799
And so of course, on this rocket is

44
00:01:59,799 --> 00:02:02,940
the perseverance and
ingenuity of all these

45
00:02:02,940 --> 00:02:04,530
thousands of people who built it.

46
00:02:04,530 --> 00:02:07,040
But what is the most
exciting part for you,

47
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:08,270
relative to the science,

48
00:02:08,270 --> 00:02:10,260
you think we're going to get from this?

49
00:02:10,260 --> 00:02:12,760
- So one of the things I'm
most excited about is MOXIE,

50
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:14,289
this instrument on board Perseverance

51
00:02:14,289 --> 00:02:16,940
that's actually going
to pull carbon dioxide

52
00:02:16,940 --> 00:02:17,860
out of the atmosphere,

53
00:02:17,860 --> 00:02:21,310
and split the oxygen away
from the carbon atoms.

54
00:02:21,310 --> 00:02:24,011
That's important because
oxygen is a resource

55
00:02:24,011 --> 00:02:27,220
that future human explorers
to Mars will need,

56
00:02:27,220 --> 00:02:31,100
both for water, to breathe,
and to make rocket fuel.

57
00:02:31,100 --> 00:02:34,410
We call it In-Situ Resource Utilization.

58
00:02:34,410 --> 00:02:35,850
How do you live off the land?

59
00:02:35,850 --> 00:02:37,870
MOXIE's the first step.

60
00:02:37,870 --> 00:02:39,570
There's so much I'm excited about,

61
00:02:39,570 --> 00:02:40,550
but you know, Thomas,

62
00:02:40,550 --> 00:02:42,320
to me, it really comes back to

63
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,630
if the Viking launch inspired me,

64
00:02:45,630 --> 00:02:48,590
who are we inspiring with this launch

65
00:02:48,590 --> 00:02:50,710
with Perseverance, with Ingenuity.

66
00:02:50,710 --> 00:02:53,600
- That's, you know for me,
my first launch was only,

67
00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,950
can you believe that,
when I was in this job.

68
00:02:55,950 --> 00:02:58,300
I was never able to go before.

69
00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:00,450
And every time see a launch vehicle

70
00:03:00,450 --> 00:03:03,060
and I see a launch, I
really turn emotional.

71
00:03:03,060 --> 00:03:05,860
It actually affects me a lot
more than I care to admit.

72
00:03:05,860 --> 00:03:08,024
That's just such an amazing moment when

73
00:03:08,024 --> 00:03:10,290
something that is an engineering project,

74
00:03:10,290 --> 00:03:11,860
becomes a space mission.

75
00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:13,190
And I really look forward to that.

76
00:03:13,190 --> 00:03:16,380
You'll be my thoughts
during the entire time.

77
00:03:16,380 --> 00:03:18,020
And I'll be sure to send you

78
00:03:18,020 --> 00:03:20,930
some pictures on the way, Ellen.

79
00:03:20,930 --> 00:03:21,763
- Awesome.

80
00:03:21,763 --> 00:03:23,500
Thank you, Thomas, and good luck.

81
00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:25,220
Everybody is rooting for you.

82
00:03:25,220 --> 00:03:27,320
Go Atlas, go Perseverance.

83
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,310
- Yes, thanks so much Ellen.

84
00:03:29,310 --> 00:03:30,170
Bye bye.

85
00:03:30,170 --> 00:03:31,120
- Bye.

86
00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,530
I'm just so impressed by all the work

87
00:03:33,530 --> 00:03:35,690
that the scientists
and engineers have done

88
00:03:35,690 --> 00:03:37,820
to get us to this point to launch,

89
00:03:37,820 --> 00:03:41,250
despite all of the challenges
that COVID-19 has brought.

90
00:03:41,250 --> 00:03:43,938
It's shown a lot of perseverance.

91
00:03:43,938 --> 00:03:46,837
I'm going to be watching
the launch from DC,

92
00:03:46,837 --> 00:03:49,840
fingers crossed everything's
going to go well.

93
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,620
Thanks for joining us for this episode of