1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:02,300
To understand a changing climate

2
00:00:02,300 --> 00:00:05,400
scientists need sophisticated tools.

3
00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:07,000
So, how do you develop

4
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,100
advanced technologies to study

5
00:00:09,100 --> 00:00:11,600
essential aspects of the climate

6
00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:13,500
during a global pandemic? 

7
00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:15,100
With teams socially distant 

8
00:00:15,100 --> 00:00:16,000
they’re working from 

9
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,000
spare bedrooms and at tables in their backyards.

10
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,700
It's tough!

11
00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:23,200
It’s not easy to turn a wrench from home.

12
00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,200
But, uh, we also work with some

13
00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,100
very clever, some very innovative people

14
00:00:28,100 --> 00:00:30,400
who have figured out

15
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,300
methodologies to actually test things--

16
00:00:34,300 --> 00:00:36,200
really!-- from home, you know, remotely.

17
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,700
So the longer we’re stuck at home

18
00:00:39,700 --> 00:00:41,900
and the itchier we are to get back to work

19
00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:43,900
the more creative we can get to 

20
00:00:43,900 --> 00:00:45,900
finding ways to perform those tests. 

21
00:00:45,900 --> 00:00:48,500
We have electrical ground support

22
00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:50,600
equipment that we hook up to the network--

23
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:52,100
—the computer networks at Goddard--

24
00:00:52,100 --> 00:00:53,200
and we VPN into them…

25
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:54,700
and we can actually

26
00:00:54,700 --> 00:00:55,460
turn on power supplies

27
00:00:55,460 --> 00:00:57,800
and power up the components from home.

28
00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,500
What they’re powering up…is this.

29
00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:02,010
It’s the spacecraft

30
00:01:02,010 --> 00:01:03,370
that headlines NASA’s mission 

31
00:01:03,370 --> 00:01:04,600
called PACE.

32
00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:05,920
From orbit it will study 

33
00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,500
Earth’s oceans, biogeochemistry, ecology,

34
00:01:09,500 --> 00:01:12,730
the carbon cycle, aerosols, and clouds.

35
00:01:12,730 --> 00:01:16,480
PACE is a climate change observatory...

36
00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:17,400
…and climate change continues

37
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,000
even during the pandemic,

38
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,400
so the mission’s research goals

39
00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:22,900
can’t wait.

40
00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:24,400
But that said…

41
00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:25,700
Progress is being made,

42
00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:28,400
but not in the way one typically

43
00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,100
thinks about construction of

44
00:01:31,100 --> 00:01:32,500
a satellite observatory.

45
00:01:32,500 --> 00:01:33,900
The technological advances

46
00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:37,000
are great, and they really do help us

47
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,200
but they’re still not as good

48
00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:40,400
as a face-to-face.

49
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:41,500
It’s been lovely

50
00:01:41,500 --> 00:01:42,070
being home with my wife 

51
00:01:42,070 --> 00:01:43,000
and my daughter. 

52
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,700
I can’t complain about that!

53
00:01:45,700 --> 00:01:46,800
But it’s not the same

54
00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:47,700
as getting out to work

55
00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:48,800
and seeing everybody.

56
00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,600
There’s going to be, probably,

57
00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,300
a meaningful cultural shift

58
00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:56,050
in how a project of this size

59
00:01:56,050 --> 00:01:57,570
y’know, somewhere between 400

60
00:01:57,570 --> 00:02:02,020
and 500 people right now

61
00:02:02,020 --> 00:02:03,200
learn how to interact with each other

62
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:04,140
going forward.

63
00:02:04,140 --> 00:02:05,040
I don’t think meetings will be

64
00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:06,200
structured the same way

65
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:07,400
and that might actually make us

66
00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:08,400
more productive.

67
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,000
There’s that serendipity 

68
00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,300
that’s disappeared, and also that

69
00:02:15,300 --> 00:02:17,700
everything has to be planned

70
00:02:17,700 --> 00:02:18,900
ahead of time. 

71
00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:23,850
Nothing beats the personal interaction

72
00:02:23,850 --> 00:02:27,800
especially when you’re having to

73
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,200
describe the type of engineering

74
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,740
features that we’re talking about.

75
00:02:33,740 --> 00:02:37,930
It’s really hard sometimes to point out

76
00:02:37,930 --> 00:02:42,980
small pins that we’re referring to.

77
00:02:42,980 --> 00:02:45,600
We really have to be face-to-face

78
00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,000
to show you, no, I’m talking

79
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:48,600
about this specific one.

80
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,100
Virtual meetings do not

81
00:02:50,100 --> 00:02:53,480
take over the importance of that.

82
00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,700
I think that me and my co-lead

83
00:02:55,700 --> 00:02:57,500
have been equally productive

84
00:02:57,500 --> 00:02:59,600
because we can do absolutely 100%

85
00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,700
of our work remotely.

86
00:03:01,700 --> 00:03:02,900
And I think that moving forward

87
00:03:02,900 --> 00:03:05,400
it’s going to lend to, you know, instead 

88
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,300
of just working remotely one day a week

89
00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:09,600
maybe I try doing two days a week.

90
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,100
because it really is working out well.

91
00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:13,600
Eventually we will come to a point

92
00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,900
where we need to get back in there

93
00:03:15,900 --> 00:03:17,850
and put things together…the hardware.

94
00:03:17,850 --> 00:03:20,150
The team has done, I would say, 

95
00:03:20,150 --> 00:03:22,700
a Herculean effort. There is

96
00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:25,300
a large aspect of the mission

97
00:03:25,300 --> 00:03:27,300
that is more than just

98
00:03:27,300 --> 00:03:28,800
hands-on labor. 

99
00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,300
There’s a lot of people who are doing that.

100
00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:33,000
But there’s also a lot of people

101
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,900
that have to do paperwork.

102
00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:38,000
You know, drawings, work orders, 

103
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,700
procedures, software development, 

104
00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:43,700
access to these computer systems

105
00:03:43,700 --> 00:03:45,500
for testing.

106
00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:49,800
It’s just hard-- emotionally, mentally. 

107
00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,800
This is a difficult thing

108
00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:53,000
to overcome.

109
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,800
True. Spaceflight and scientific research

110
00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,000
are all about teamwork,

111
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,300
and this is a tough time to be part of a team.

112
00:04:01,300 --> 00:04:03,100
But this team knows why

113
00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:05,600
this mission matters so much.

114
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:06,800
The biggest uncertainty in our future

115
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,000
is our climate. And understanding the ocean

116
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,700
that controls a large percentage of that

117
00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:14,600
climate behavior is crucial

118
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,400
and that’s what PACE is going

119
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:17,300
to bring us, better understanding 

120
00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:19,300
of ocean that controls our climate

121
00:04:19,300 --> 00:04:20,500
which is pretty much our house.

122
00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:23,200
And that’s why, pandemic or no pandemic,

123
00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,700
this team isn’t slowing down.

124
00:04:25,700 --> 00:04:28,600
I think it’s very challenging to make

125
00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,100
any of these people stop work, right?

126
00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:35,500
It goes so much against our natural

127
00:04:35,500 --> 00:04:38,800
desire to want to build, want to achieve,

128
00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,200
want to innovate. 

129
00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,850
I mean, we’re creative people! 

130
00:04:43,850 --> 00:04:44,150
That’s why we work at NASA, right?

131
00:04:44,150 --> 00:04:51,968
(music)