WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:03.870 --> 00:00:05.105 (music throughout) Imagine if you were an alien 2 00:00:05.105 --> 00:00:09.109 who was visiting the Earth for the first time from some other galaxy. 3 00:00:09.442 --> 00:00:13.613 Imagine only visiting the United States and never visiting any other part 4 00:00:13.613 --> 00:00:14.914 of the Earth's surface. 5 00:00:14.914 --> 00:00:17.951 That's essentially what we've done with the Apollo missions, really been able 6 00:00:17.951 --> 00:00:21.988 to do wonderful and groundbreaking science with the samples collected 7 00:00:21.988 --> 00:00:23.089 during the Apollo missions. 8 00:00:23.089 --> 00:00:28.328 But again, we visited only a very small part of the lunar surface. 9 00:00:28.628 --> 00:00:31.097 The way that I think about it is it's the equivalent of, 10 00:00:31.331 --> 00:00:35.835 you know, landing on Earth and getting rocks from Kansas. 11 00:00:36.002 --> 00:00:39.506 It would give us insight into one particular location on the earth, 12 00:00:39.506 --> 00:00:42.675 but not at all the diversity of what 13 00:00:42.675 --> 00:00:45.779 we see on the Earth, what we know is present on the Earth. 14 00:00:46.046 --> 00:00:50.583 So the ability to go to a different site, a different location, get different 15 00:00:50.717 --> 00:00:56.256 samples, will just enrich what we've already learned from our Apollo samples. 16 00:00:57.490 --> 00:00:59.159 There's a lot left to be learned about the moon, 17 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:11.538 and it starts with the South Pole, 18 00:01:11.538 --> 00:01:15.308 Artemis astronauts will fulfill 19 00:01:15.308 --> 00:01:18.445 a different mission in a unique environment. 20 00:01:18.445 --> 00:01:22.315 While the Apollo astronauts who visited the moon's surface between 1969 21 00:01:22.315 --> 00:01:24.751 and 1972 landed near the equator. 22 00:01:25.351 --> 00:01:28.688 Artemis Astronauts will venture to the moon's South Pole region 23 00:01:29.255 --> 00:01:32.559 frigid, rugged and with unique light and darkness, 24 00:01:32.559 --> 00:01:35.862 conditions that make it an ideal location for exploration. 25 00:01:35.962 --> 00:01:39.866 The South Pole region is also home to the rim of the moon's largest, 26 00:01:40.166 --> 00:01:43.236 oldest and deepest crater called South Pole Aitken. 27 00:01:44.070 --> 00:01:48.341 It takes up almost a quarter of the moon and is so deep it 28 00:01:48.341 --> 00:01:52.645 exposes portions of the moon's interior. 29 00:01:52.779 --> 00:01:56.349 Yeah, the South Pole is it's fascinating. 30 00:01:56.483 --> 00:02:01.221 There are some very unique types of rocks that are at the South Pole 31 00:02:01.521 --> 00:02:04.524 that will allow us to understand 32 00:02:04.524 --> 00:02:08.294 the entire history, not just of the moon, but potentially of the solar system 33 00:02:09.729 --> 00:02:11.631 very early on in lunar history. 34 00:02:11.631 --> 00:02:16.002 We think that there was this increased period or very intense 35 00:02:16.002 --> 00:02:20.874 period of huge material hitting the surface of the moon, creating 36 00:02:20.874 --> 00:02:23.710 these really large craters or 37 00:02:24.010 --> 00:02:27.080 giant holes, which we actually call basins. 38 00:02:27.113 --> 00:02:31.050 So getting a sample of impact melt from this basin 39 00:02:31.518 --> 00:02:34.921 would kind of help us bracket that early period of time. 40 00:02:35.355 --> 00:02:39.826 The Moon's South Pole region has resources that are vital for long term exploration 41 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.329 because the moon is barely tilted relative to the sun. 42 00:02:43.730 --> 00:02:46.633 The sun hovers over the horizon at the South Pole. 43 00:02:47.133 --> 00:02:49.869 Imagine a flashlight turned on laying on a table. 44 00:02:50.336 --> 00:02:52.472 That's how the sun illuminates the South Pole. 45 00:02:53.072 --> 00:02:55.808 Light at the South Pole strikes at such a low angle, 46 00:02:55.808 --> 00:02:59.913 it brushes only areas of higher elevation, such as crater rims. 47 00:03:00.647 --> 00:03:04.717 These locations have sunlight for extended periods of time to harness for power. 48 00:03:05.318 --> 00:03:07.754 At the same time, the bottoms of some deep 49 00:03:07.754 --> 00:03:10.423 craters are shrouded in constant darkness. 50 00:03:11.191 --> 00:03:12.192 Scientists have measured 51 00:03:12.192 --> 00:03:15.461 the coldest temperatures in the solar system inside these craters, 52 00:03:15.962 --> 00:03:20.733 which have become known as perfect environments for preserving water for eons. 53 00:03:23.670 --> 00:03:24.571 Over time, 54 00:03:24.571 --> 00:03:29.142 there is individual molecules of water and carbon dioxide 55 00:03:29.142 --> 00:03:33.646 and other gases that actually bounce around the surface of the moon. 56 00:03:33.813 --> 00:03:37.684 And when they get to one of these cold spots, they actually get stuck. 57 00:03:37.784 --> 00:03:40.420 Though we call those places cold traps. 58 00:03:40.420 --> 00:03:44.290 And if you do that for millions and even billions of years, you can 59 00:03:44.290 --> 00:03:49.862 actually build up a pretty significant deposit of water and other ices. 60 00:03:50.463 --> 00:03:53.533 From an exploration perspective, if we can understand 61 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:55.401 just how much water there is 62 00:03:55.401 --> 00:03:58.738 and where it is and how to get it out of the regolith of the moon, 63 00:03:58.938 --> 00:04:02.008 we can turn it into really important things like drinking water 64 00:04:02.008 --> 00:04:05.144 for astronauts and even rocket fuel to take them back home. 65 00:04:05.178 --> 00:04:08.481 So really understanding these resources and how to use them 66 00:04:08.715 --> 00:04:10.917 is one of the objectives of the Artemis program 67 00:04:10.917 --> 00:04:13.253 and it's what makes the South Pole of the moon so exciting. 68 00:04:15.021 --> 00:04:17.156 We know the moon in incredible detail, 69 00:04:17.156 --> 00:04:21.427 thanks in large part to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. 70 00:04:22.695 --> 00:04:25.498 LRO has been circling the moon since 2009. 71 00:04:26.132 --> 00:04:28.534 It's the longest lived spacecraft there. 72 00:04:28.935 --> 00:04:32.472 Through tens of thousands of orbits and data from seven instruments, 73 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:37.510 LRO has mapped the moon's temperature, geology, radiation environment 74 00:04:37.510 --> 00:04:40.813 and is providing insight on how the moon is changing over 75 00:04:40.813 --> 00:04:43.049 time. 76 00:04:44.450 --> 00:04:45.685 LRO is led by Dr. 77 00:04:45.685 --> 00:04:48.721 Noah Petro, a planetary geologist at NASA's 78 00:04:48.721 --> 00:04:51.724 Goddard Space Flight Center. 79 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:56.329 LRO is this incredible machine. 80 00:04:56.529 --> 00:05:01.734 It was launched in 2009 as the opportunity to go back to the moon, to create this 81 00:05:02.035 --> 00:05:05.571 three dimensional, high resolution, high definition atlas of the Moon. 82 00:05:06.039 --> 00:05:09.442 Where are there safe landing sites for human and robotic explorers? 83 00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:13.346 So what LRO is doing is really giving us the tools, 84 00:05:13.613 --> 00:05:19.052 the material, the data we need to make those missions successful. 85 00:05:20.553 --> 00:05:20.987 For many 86 00:05:20.987 --> 00:05:25.591 years, LRO's elliptical orbit was closest to the moon during the spacecraft's 87 00:05:25.591 --> 00:05:29.762 pass over the South Pole. 88 00:05:29.762 --> 00:05:33.032 So scientists have more information about the South Pole region 89 00:05:33.032 --> 00:05:36.436 than any other region of the moon. 90 00:05:37.837 --> 00:05:39.739 We know that that we can do 91 00:05:39.739 --> 00:05:42.642 more and build upon the legacy of Apollo. 92 00:05:42.909 --> 00:05:45.378 But to do that, we needed a higher resolution dataset. 93 00:05:45.378 --> 00:05:47.380 So we wanted to know where the hazards were. 94 00:05:47.380 --> 00:05:50.650 We wanted to know where the geologic features were that we want to go explore. 95 00:05:50.650 --> 00:05:52.618 And so LRO has created that database. 96 00:05:52.618 --> 00:05:57.557 Incidentally, the LRO data volume is now over 1.3 petabytes. 97 00:05:58.424 --> 00:06:01.060 It's the largest volume of data that NASA has ever collected 98 00:06:01.394 --> 00:06:03.830 from any planetary body. 99 00:06:03.830 --> 00:06:04.263 It's remarkable. 100 00:06:04.263 --> 00:06:05.131 And so 101 00:06:05.865 --> 00:06:08.000 what we've done now in support of Artemis. 102 00:06:08.034 --> 00:06:12.739 It's a part of other NASA's missions to the moon as we created special maps. 103 00:06:12.772 --> 00:06:14.340 We share them with the public and we share them 104 00:06:14.340 --> 00:06:18.177 with the various engineers and scientists who are going to help enact and make 105 00:06:18.478 --> 00:06:19.112 Artemis a reality. 106 00:06:20.747 --> 00:06:21.047 You know, 107 00:06:21.047 --> 00:06:24.050 this is basically a Google Maps of the moon 108 00:06:24.050 --> 00:06:27.286 taken from pictures from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. 109 00:06:27.320 --> 00:06:32.959 And you can just zoom in and see a five meter boulder on the surface of the moon. 110 00:06:33.192 --> 00:06:33.893 It's just crazy. 111 00:06:33.893 --> 00:06:37.296 I could spend all day and I have spent all day sometimes 112 00:06:37.296 --> 00:06:41.467 just browsing around different parts of the moon, just looking up at the rocks. 113 00:06:43.236 --> 00:06:45.705 This wealth of information will make it easier 114 00:06:45.705 --> 00:06:50.810 to find ideal locations for NASA Basecamp and to quickly identify 115 00:06:50.843 --> 00:06:54.647 scientifically interesting areas to visit nearby. 116 00:06:55.148 --> 00:06:58.684 So it's my my real belief that we have an opportunity with Artemis 117 00:06:58.684 --> 00:07:00.052 to do something different than Apollo. 118 00:07:00.052 --> 00:07:04.457 We build on Apollo, we learn from Apollo, but we want to expand 119 00:07:04.457 --> 00:07:08.161 what Apollo was able to do and build this this presence on the moon 120 00:07:08.161 --> 00:07:12.932 that is more than just three days, more than just six individual missions, 121 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:16.936 but a much larger program that eventually will result in the ability 122 00:07:16.936 --> 00:07:17.837 to go on to Mars. 123 00:07:18.838 --> 00:07:21.641 Mars is is quite a bit longer away from our own planet. 124 00:07:21.641 --> 00:07:23.075 Then, of course, the moon is. 125 00:07:23.075 --> 00:07:25.645 It takes several months in some cases to get to Mars. 126 00:07:25.645 --> 00:07:27.847 And it's therefore going to be really critical 127 00:07:27.847 --> 00:07:30.750 when we have astronauts walking around on the surface of Mars 128 00:07:31.017 --> 00:07:33.085 to be able to stay there for longer periods of time. 129 00:07:33.119 --> 00:07:35.154 You've just spent six or so months to get there. 130 00:07:35.354 --> 00:07:37.790 You want to really be able to explore the surface around you 131 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:41.627 and having the ability to live off the land and know how to 132 00:07:41.828 --> 00:07:45.164 conduct exploration for longer periods of time is going to be critical 133 00:07:45.164 --> 00:07:46.566 for Martian exploration. 134 00:07:46.566 --> 00:07:50.403 And lessons learned for that sustainable type of exploration 135 00:07:50.603 --> 00:07:52.038 start right here at the moon. 136 00:07:52.038 --> 00:07:54.941 So there's still so much for us to learn from going back 137 00:07:54.941 --> 00:07:58.978 to the moon from a scientific perspective, that it's a no brainer in my head. 138 00:08:00.012 --> 00:08:01.681 But with Mars in the horizon 139 00:08:01.681 --> 00:08:07.353 as our kind of end goal this is an important step for us to take. 140 00:08:07.653 --> 00:08:10.122 And then also, just kind of from a human aspect, 141 00:08:10.156 --> 00:08:13.426 we all have this kind of intrinsic desire to explore. 142 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:16.829 I think it's it's in all of us and certainly in us as a society. 143 00:08:16.863 --> 00:08:19.031 And so I think setting our sights on something 144 00:08:19.031 --> 00:08:23.069 and accomplishing this goal together is really important 145 00:08:23.069 --> 00:08:27.173 just for international relations, for, you know, just coming together 146 00:08:27.273 --> 00:08:30.209 as a human, humankind, you know, the human spirit. 147 00:08:30.243 --> 00:08:35.848 I think that that's a piece of what we're doing that we can't ignore as well. 148 00:08:38.351 --> 00:08:41.921 I have three kids aged ten, six and two. 149 00:08:43.222 --> 00:08:46.492 I talk about space often with them. 150 00:08:46.492 --> 00:08:49.028 The great thing that my parents did for me. 151 00:08:49.028 --> 00:08:53.232 It was, let me find my path. 152 00:08:53.432 --> 00:08:56.302 I also look at my daughter and I, I think, 153 00:08:57.036 --> 00:09:00.039 okay Amelia, you know, she keeps saying she wants to be a firefighter 154 00:09:00.239 --> 00:09:02.441 and a construction worker and an astronaut. 155 00:09:02.608 --> 00:09:07.647 I said, Amelia, you can do all three and be an astronaut. 156 00:09:08.548 --> 00:09:10.883 Well, I mean, when you're an astronaut, you'll learn how to fight a fire in space. 157 00:09:10.883 --> 00:09:12.952 You get to learn how to build something. You've got to do all those things. 158 00:09:14.487 --> 00:09:15.354 What they'll become. 159 00:09:15.354 --> 00:09:17.189 I'm so excited to find out. 160 00:09:17.189 --> 00:09:18.824 I have no idea what they're going to. 161 00:09:18.824 --> 00:09:22.328 They're going to end up gravitating towards. 162 00:09:22.562 --> 00:09:25.097 So why is the moon my favorite body to study? 163 00:09:25.865 --> 00:09:28.568 I think growing up, you can you know, you can always 164 00:09:28.568 --> 00:09:32.305 see it in the sky. 165 00:09:32.305 --> 00:09:34.440 You can see some beautiful stars. 166 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.877 And maybe Mars or Jupiter is like small little dots, 167 00:09:37.877 --> 00:09:40.413 but the moon is just there in all its glory. 168 00:09:40.413 --> 00:09:42.448 It's like our nearest and dearest neighbor. 169 00:09:42.882 --> 00:09:45.685 And you can even even 170 00:09:46.052 --> 00:09:49.455 with the naked eye, you could start picking out features on the moon. 171 00:09:49.755 --> 00:09:50.957 I felt I was really cool. 172 00:09:50.957 --> 00:09:54.727 You know, this is thousands of miles away 173 00:09:54.727 --> 00:09:59.765 and you can still kind of be a geologist from the ground if you want to. 174 00:10:00.132 --> 00:10:01.267 And I felt that's really cool. 175 00:10:01.267 --> 00:10:05.538 And that's why I always wanted to study the moon. 176 00:10:08.140 --> 00:10:09.241 Just seeing 177 00:10:09.241 --> 00:10:13.713 people walk on the moon on this foreign planetary body. 178 00:10:13.913 --> 00:10:18.951 You know, looking at images like the one behind me here is the thing 179 00:10:18.951 --> 00:10:22.021 that always blows my mind. 180 00:10:23.155 --> 00:10:25.925 I will say with my two year old, what I have noticed recently 181 00:10:25.925 --> 00:10:28.794 and this is wonderful, is that when he sees the moon, 182 00:10:29.328 --> 00:10:33.299 we're out for a walk, we're driving around or outside a window of a moon moon. 183 00:10:33.332 --> 00:10:35.701 And just the fact that he can look up and see the moon moon, 184 00:10:36.636 --> 00:10:39.138 that makes me so happy.