1 00:00:00,020 --> 00:00:04,210 Voice Off Screen: The evolution of Mars from a warm and wet planet to the cold and 2 00:00:04,210 --> 00:00:08,380 dry desert we see today is one of our solar system's 3 00:00:08,380 --> 00:00:12,390 biggest secrets. The NASA MAVEN mission is returning new results 4 00:00:12,390 --> 00:00:16,410 that are shedding a little bit of light on the secret, and here to tell us more 5 00:00:16,410 --> 00:00:20,420 about those results from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt 6 00:00:20,420 --> 00:00:24,430 Maryland is NASA Goddard's Chief Scientist Dr. Jim Garvin. 7 00:00:24,430 --> 00:00:26,050 Thank you so much for joining us today. 8 00:00:26,050 --> 00:00:28,070 Jim: Well thanks for having me. 9 00:00:28,070 --> 00:00:32,630 Voice Off Screen: MAVEN is returning some exciting results on the martian atmosphere, what are we seeing? 10 00:00:32,630 --> 00:00:36,830 Jim Garvin: Well MAVEN is giving us a new insight into how that 11 00:00:36,830 --> 00:00:40,860 wonderful Mars of the past; warm, wet, hospitable 12 00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:45,040 has gone from that state to its present dry cold foreboding state. 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,050 By measuring how Mars interacts with the energy 14 00:00:49,050 --> 00:00:53,060 from the Sun, this solar wind, this streaming set of invisible particles 15 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:57,070 we're watching how its atmosphere is losing parts of itself 16 00:00:57,070 --> 00:01:01,070 and if you play that tape backwards we can start to fill in the puzzle pieces 17 00:01:01,070 --> 00:01:05,750 on that ancient warm wet Mars and that dry foreboding desert Mars of today 18 00:01:05,750 --> 00:01:09,250 Voice Off Screen: Wow, so what role does atmospheric loss 19 00:01:09,250 --> 00:01:13,430 play in Mars' ability to support life? 20 00:01:13,430 --> 00:01:17,520 Garvin: Life is all about environments. Habitable envrionments, warm, wet, fuzzy, 21 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,700 energy, all that great stuff. The Mars of today is not like that 22 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:25,710 the Mars of the past we believe was warm, wet, and even habitable. But how 23 00:01:25,710 --> 00:01:29,900 did the Mars of the past through climate change go to the Mars of today which is 24 00:01:29,900 --> 00:01:34,080 dry desert like... almost impossible to imagine it being alive 25 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,280 as we presently understand that. MAVEN is filling in the gaps, by measuring 26 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,280 atmospheric loss today and the real Mars, the Mars that's living and breathing 27 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,390 in our solar system and giving us a position on how 28 00:01:46,390 --> 00:01:50,580 it got from today, back in time. And that magical 29 00:01:50,580 --> 00:01:54,590 if you will, time machine tour is what we need to understand how planets evolve. 30 00:01:54,590 --> 00:01:58,690 Voice Off Screen: Interesting. So what is MAVEN telling us about the impact 31 00:01:58,690 --> 00:02:00,930 of the Sun on the martian climate? 32 00:02:00,930 --> 00:02:02,790 So Mars is different from Earth, and 33 00:02:02,790 --> 00:02:06,790 martian climate today of course is very non earth like, and so we now realize 34 00:02:06,790 --> 00:02:10,800 the interactions of Mars with the Sun and especially its atmosphere as 35 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,980 its being peeled away to space is critical in the Mars of today 36 00:02:14,980 --> 00:02:19,160 and how it got to be that way. We think that will help us connect Mars back 37 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,170 in time as the sun was more active, there were more energetic events 38 00:02:23,170 --> 00:02:27,360 that may have helped to accelerate the loss of atmosphere over time and MAVEN is giving us 39 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,460 the here and now today which we need to run the tape backwards. 40 00:02:31,460 --> 00:02:35,470 Voice Off Screen: Now a recent NASA discovery has actually found water on Mars 41 00:02:35,470 --> 00:02:39,270 surface, how do MAVEN's results help us understand what's happened 42 00:02:39,270 --> 00:02:40,480 to water on the planet? 43 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,660 Jim: Well MAVEN is all about the big picture Mars with 44 00:02:43,660 --> 00:02:47,670 water and loss of water and carbon dioxide from space 45 00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:51,680 in interactions with the sun. We also know at very local scales 46 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,800 there's the expression we think of modern water, small trickles, 47 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,820 and we're observing that with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. But the big picture 48 00:02:59,820 --> 00:03:04,000 is how that water in the atmosphere and the small amount that's exchanged from within the 49 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,010 ground is lost to space and MAVEN is measuring that, its the big picture. 50 00:03:08,010 --> 00:03:11,490 We need to know that to go to Mars. 51 00:03:11,490 --> 00:03:15,150 Voice Off Screen: Where can we go to learn more about MAVEN and NASA's future with Mars? 52 00:03:15,150 --> 00:03:20,500 Jim: Well, one can go to www.nasa.gov/maven we 53 00:03:20,500 --> 00:03:24,680 have fantastic animations that show what MAVEN is measuring. Things 54 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,800 that our eyes don't see that we can now see through these wonderful animations. 55 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,900 And lots of other links to places that describe our Mars program. This program of 56 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:35,910 exploring our brotherly planet. 57 00:03:35,910 --> 00:03:37,150 Voice Off Screen: Great, Dr. Jim Garvin thank you for joining us. 58 00:03:37,150 --> 00:03:40,504 Jim: Thanks a lot for having me.