1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,770 NASA flies spacecraft all over the solar system, and orbits the Earth. 2 00:00:06,770 --> 00:00:09,799 How do we communicate with them when they're so far away? 3 00:00:09,799 --> 00:00:12,150 Let's find out from an expert. 4 00:00:12,150 --> 00:00:18,180 Hi, I'm Jim Green, Chief Scientist at NASA and this is the Gravity Assist Podcast. 5 00:00:18,180 --> 00:00:23,140 In this season of Gravity Assist, we'll go behind the scenes at NASA and we'll hear from 6 00:00:23,140 --> 00:00:29,950 the scientists and engineers and others who make these amazing space missions happen. 7 00:00:29,950 --> 00:00:35,710 I'm here with Nacer Chahat, and he is the Senior Antenna and Microwave Engineer with 8 00:00:35,710 --> 00:00:39,989 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory out in Pasadena, California. 9 00:00:39,989 --> 00:00:45,489 Well, you know, communication with our surface assets on Mars is kind of complicated. 10 00:00:45,489 --> 00:00:51,229 You know, when we landed Curiosity, I don't see it carrying a big truck with a big dish 11 00:00:51,229 --> 00:00:52,629 behind it. 12 00:00:52,629 --> 00:00:59,559 So how do we communicate back and forth with, with our surface assets, like Insight, like 13 00:00:59,559 --> 00:01:01,279 Perseverance, like Curiosity? 14 00:01:01,279 --> 00:01:03,620 Yes, so we have two concepts to do so. 15 00:01:03,620 --> 00:01:07,240 The first one is to communicate with the orbiter. 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:14,071 So we have orbiters around Mars which we can they are dedicated for science, but for a 17 00:01:14,071 --> 00:01:18,580 critical event like that, we can use them to relay the data to Earth. 18 00:01:18,580 --> 00:01:24,429 And we also have on these landers and rover, high-gain antennas that allow us to communicate 19 00:01:24,429 --> 00:01:27,229 directly with Earth but a lower that rate. 20 00:01:27,229 --> 00:01:31,560 So it's really a trade off, when we should be using the orbiter or when we should be 21 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:32,880 using the high-gain antenna. 22 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:37,630 Most of the time, we end up using the orbiter because it allows us to transmit the science 23 00:01:37,630 --> 00:01:38,630 much faster. 24 00:01:38,630 --> 00:01:42,289 Well, you know, we're flying a helicopter on Mars for the first time. 25 00:01:42,289 --> 00:01:44,179 And we call that Ingenuity. 26 00:01:44,179 --> 00:01:45,429 Did you get involved in that? 27 00:01:45,429 --> 00:01:46,819 And what's your role? 28 00:01:46,819 --> 00:01:53,670 My contribution was with the telecommunication subsystem, to ensure that the rover can send 29 00:01:53,670 --> 00:02:00,869 commands to the helicopter, and the helicopter can send images or telemetry back to the rover. 30 00:02:00,869 --> 00:02:05,799 So, I worked on the antenna design and also worked on the system engineering. 31 00:02:05,799 --> 00:02:11,430 Wow, that sounds really difficult because this is a very small vehicle. 32 00:02:11,430 --> 00:02:12,720 What's that antenna look like? 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,040 I don't remember seeing it. 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:15,040 Does it stick out? 35 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,760 Or is it part of it goes up to the top or, where's it at? 36 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:24,060 Yeah, so on the top of the helicopter, there is a solar panel, which allows us to recharge 37 00:02:24,060 --> 00:02:25,060 our battery. 38 00:02:25,060 --> 00:02:29,730 And we decided to locate the antenna on this surface, because this is what provided the 39 00:02:29,730 --> 00:02:33,293 largest area to use as a reflective surface. 40 00:02:33,293 --> 00:02:37,650 So this is the simplest type of antenna that you can ever use. 41 00:02:37,650 --> 00:02:39,050 This is called a monopole. 42 00:02:39,050 --> 00:02:41,659 So monopole is basically a single wire. 43 00:02:41,659 --> 00:02:47,916 This type of monopole antenna are being used when you need to communicate omnidirectionally. 44 00:02:47,916 --> 00:02:53,918 Meaning, we need to communicate this with the same capabilities in any direction. 45 00:02:53,918 --> 00:02:56,727 It's very small - it's about five to six centimeter 46 00:02:56,727 --> 00:03:05,416 So it sounds like though the Ingenuity communication is only with, with Perseverance, and then 47 00:03:05,519 --> 00:03:10,560 it's up to Perseverance to package that data and then send it up to an orbiter which then 48 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,151 relays it back to Earth. 49 00:03:12,151 --> 00:03:13,849 That's exactly it. 50 00:03:13,849 --> 00:03:22,010 Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight of a powered aircraft 51 00:03:22,010 --> 00:03:23,010 on another planet! 52 00:03:23,010 --> 00:03:24,000 [cheering] 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:29,915 When I saw the first flight, I couldn't help but think of all of those hours working really 54 00:03:29,915 --> 00:03:32,400 hard to solve technical problems.