All language subtitles for The Universe S02EP13 Colonizing Space

In the beginning,
there was darkness...

and then, bang...

giving birth to an endless
expanding existence...

of time, space, and matter.

Now, see further
than we've ever imagined...

beyond the limits of our existence...

in a place we call "The Universe. "

From our beginnings...

the human race has endeavored
to extend our reach.

And now we're headed
for the final frontier.

We should be
a two-planet species.

From an outpost on the Moon
to a full-fledged colony on Mars.

It could be a challenge.

It could also be a disaster.

Right now, we're building
the rockets to get us there...

and the machines
we'll need to survive.

Do you have the right stuff
to join the crew?

I want two Scottys
and two Spocks.

The countdown begins now.

"The Universe:
Colonizing Space. "

Colonizing space is no longer
the stuff of science fiction.

It's likely the first humans
who will live on another world...

have already been born on Earth.

For these pioneers,
this adventure will be...

the ultimate
cosmic camping trip.

You need to bring everything
you need with you.

You need to bring
a place to live.

You need to bring food
you're going to eat.

You need to bring the water
you need to drink.

Now on Earth, at least...

you don't need to bring
the air you breathe...

but when we go into space,
we'll need to bring that, too.

Everything we need
has got to be with us.

If something's missing
or if something breaks...

it could be a disaster.

We need to have everything
we're going to use with us.

We need to have it working.

The success of space colonization
will depend upon it.

The ambitions to settle
somewhere out there...

go right to the core
of our existence.

The compelling reasons
to colonize space...

are to see if we can expand the range
of our activities beyond the Earth...

or are we really confined
to the Earth?

I think that's
an important question...

we need to know
the answer to.

The second one is,
what's the role of life?

We have on this Earth
a phenomenon called life.

Is it destined to spread
beyond the Earth?

We are the species
that can cause that spread.

Carl Sagan,
the great noted astronomer...

once said that we should be
a two-planet species.

That is, we should
colonize one planet...

and also have the Earth
because, for example...

the Earth is in the middle
of a cosmic shooting gallery.

There are comets and meteors
whizzing all over the place...

on a scale of hundreds
to thousands and millions of years...

and we need a spare planet...

because it's simply
too precious to put all life...

on simply one planet.

In the vastness of space...

there's one destination
above all others...

that stands out as prime
real estate for colonization.

Mars is the grand prize
of the solar system.

It's the closest planet
which human beings can settle.

It's the closest planet that
has all the resources needed...

for life and civilization.

Mars, the fourth planet
from the Sun.

It's about half
the size of Earth...

and, at its closest pass,
is roughly 35 million miles away.

The ancient Romans associated
its red color with hostility...

and named it after
their god of war.

But far from hostile,
Mars has the potential...

to be the most hospitable planet
after the Earth.

The gaseous outer planets
offer no solid ground.

Among the inner planets...

Mercury is too scorchingly
close to the Sun...

and Venus,
though similar to Earth in size...

is baked
to 870 degrees Fahrenheit...

by a runaway greenhouse effect.

It also has
an atmospheric pressure...

that would crush
any would-be human settlers.

Mars does have
its own pitfalls.

It actually has extremely
low atmospheric pressure...

which would cause your blood
to boil and then freeze.

But a pressurized spacesuit
can overcome that danger.

And while it's cold on Mars...

with typical daytime temperatures
20 to 40 degrees below zero...

humans could easily survive,
wearing proper protection.

Most important, the Red Planet...

with its
carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere...

seems to have the natural resources
we would need...

to keep a colony running.

On Mars, we have carbon dioxide
from which we can extract oxygen...

and make fuels from it.

There's water vapor
in the atmosphere...

and also in the polar caps.

The soil on Mars, the regolith...

has the minerals
and various compounds we need...

in order to set up
a colony on Mars.

Today Mars is a frozen desert.

But photos taken by space probes
show clear evidence of erosion.

This means that not only
did Mars at one time...

have water on its surface...

but also that it may have
once supported life.

Finding evidence of previous life,
even microscopic organisms...

might make the difference
between whether we establish...

a short-term base
or a more permanent colony there.

Long-range mission planning
is already under way at NASA.

The space agency plans to return
man to the Moon by 2020...

as a steppingstone
to a Mars mission.

One of the major themes
for the lunar exploration...

is called "Forward to Mars. "

And within that theme,
we'll be constantly thinking...

about how we will
operate on Mars.

The astronauts will be
involved with studying...

how humans react
to the planetary environment...

how hard they can work,
how much sleep they need...

how much entertainment
they need...

how they will relate
to mission control.

We need to learn to deal
with all of these issues...

that come with people living
in far-reaching environments.

An important step in preparing
for a long wilderness trip...

is testing the gear, setting up
everything in a local spot...

even in your backyard.

Make sure you've got everything
you need and it all works.

In that same way,
setting up a base on the Moon...

is a practice run for setting up
a base on Mars.

We learn what to do.

We learn all the equipment
we need and how it works.

We get everything working
just right.

"Everything" includes
versatile robotic machines...

like "ATHLETE," which stands...

for All-Terrain Hex-Limbed
Extraterrestrial Explorer.

ATHLETE is designed to carry
cargo on the Moon or Mars.

The most important cargo
we could carry would be a habitat.

That's usually the largest single piece
of any human mission.

But ATHLETE can do much more
than just haul cargo.

Each side of the machine...

is equipped with
high-definition cameras...

that give a 360-degree view
of the surroundings...

and display it to an operator...

based either on the planet,
in an orbiting spacecraft...

or back on Earth.

And each limb is like its own
self-deploying Swiss Army knife.

One of the things it can do
is take one of its limbs...

and grab a tool
out of a tool holster...

and use that tool to excavate.

So we have built scoops and drills
and grippers and other tools.

One of the most
interesting things...

is that if a leg
were to fail on ATHLETE...

the two adjacent legs
could, in fact, grab tools...

and disconnect
the one leg that's failed...

and amputate it
and leave it on the surface.

With equipment like ATHLETE...

astronauts will be able to establish
a long-term base on the Moon

and test how self-sufficient
they can be.

Only then, according to NASA...

will we really know
if we're ready to go to Mars.

The real acid test of our understanding
of how to live in space...

will be to take a crew
of, say, six people...

put them on the far side
of the Moon...

where they cannot see the Earth...

and have the psychological
disadvantage...

of not being able
to connect to the Earth...

and see if they can exist
for a year on their own...

with the systems
that we design for them.

If we're able to actually do
that kind of a test and experiment...

then I think we will have checked
the box that, yes...

we're ready to move out
into the solar system...

and settle more difficult regimes,
such as the planet Mars.

The Moon's close proximity
to Earth...

about 240,000 miles,
only a three-day trip...

makes it
a convenient proving ground.

But its environment
is vastly different from Mars.

Mars compares to the Moon...

as North America
compared to Greenland...

in the previous age
of human exploration.

I mean, Greenland
was closer to Europe.

Europeans got there first...

but, ultimately, it was
too poor an environment...

for a new branch of human civilization
to really develop it.

Same with the Moon.

The Moon is closer to the Earth.

We got there first.

But as a place for settlement,
Mars is a much better place to go.

Mars has more water
and other useful natural resources...

than the Moon.

It also has an Earthlike day/night cycle...

that lasts only about
forty minutes longer than ours.

That's why the Mars Society...

an organization of scientists,
researchers, and NASA personnel...

thinks we should skip
the Moon entirely...

and head directly for a rendezvous
with the Red Planet.

Mars Direct is a plan
for sending humans to Mars...

without the need for futuristic,
science-fiction spacecraft...

and without the need
for a lunar base.

The Mars Direct mission plan
proposes two launches.

The first sends an Earth return vehicle,
or ERV, to Mars.

Land this on Mars,
and then you run a pump...

and you suck in the Martian air,
which is mostly carbon dioxide.

And we react that carbon dioxide
with a little bit of hydrogen...

that we brought with us
from Earth...

to produce a large supply
of methane...

an oxygen rocket propellant.

So now we got a fully fueled-Up
Earth return vehicle...

sitting, waiting for us
on the surface of Mars.

The second launch sends
a crew habitat module to Mars.

After conducting their mission
on the Red Planet...

the astronauts board the ERV
to return home...

and leave behind
the habitat module.

Each time we do this...

we add another hab module
to the base.

And after a few missions,
we've built the beginning...

of the first human settlement
on a new world.

There is nothing in this
that is beyond our technology.

It's simply a question of having a
little bit of moxie, a little bit of will.

But to skeptics, the Mars Direct
mission plan is a non-starter.

If we tried to go
to Mars directly...

the first step
would be something like...

twenty years
of preparation and testing.

And at that point, the public
will get very bored...

with the idea of going to Mars.

We believe that we
can get to the Moon...

in a timeframe where the public
will be heavily engaged...

in human exploration of space,
and that will enable us...

to get to Mars,
in some sense, faster...

because we'll have
more confidence...

and we'll have less risk
to human life.

Getting to Mars,
whether by direct mission...

or only after
further lunar exploration...

is just the first step
towards colonizing the planet.

But getting there will be
as challenging as living there.

Surviving the journey will be
the ultimate test of human endurance.

The trip to Mars
is six months long.

That's when the Earth and Mars
are at their closest alignment...

making it the best time to depart.

Earth and Mars both
go around the Sun...

but they go around
at different rates.

And every two years,
Earth and Mars...

are on the same side of the Sun...

and so then,
that's when it's close...

and then it only takes
six months to get there.

When Earth and Mars are on
opposite sides of the Sun, forget it.

You're not going
from one planet to another...

not with the technologies
we've got.

You've got to wait for warp drive
for something like that.

There are new hardware elements
that need to be developed...

to enable a human
flight mission to Mars...

but no new technology.

Everything we need to make,
we know how to make.

We are much closer today to
being able to send humans to Mars...

than we were to being able
to send men to the Moon...

in 1961, when Kennedy
started the Moon program.

And we were there
eight years later.

Zero. All engines running.

The new hardware
will include the Ares...

the next-generation rocket...

that will launch man
to the Moon and beyond.

The Ares should be ready
for liftoff within a decade.

It's about the size of
the Saturn V of Apollo fame.

Taller than a thirty-six-story
building, the Saturn V...

was the largest and most
powerful rocket ever launched...

capable of delivering a 53-ton payload
into lunar orbit.

But the Ares, using boosters
derived from the space shuttle...

will be able to muscle
an extra twenty-two tons of cargo...

on each trip to the Moon.

So, if you have
very large rockets...

you can have fewer launches
in order to assemble...

the spacecraft
that goes to Mars.

The large rocket is really
a product of the desire...

to ultimately look at Mars
in our exploration scenarios.

New hardware will also include
Orion, the crew vehicle.

It will be more than
two and a half times the volume...

of an Apollo capsule.

On its missions to the Moon,
Orion will dock with a lunar lander...

sent into space
on a separate launch.

Unlike Apollo's spacecraft...

Orion will orbit the Moon unmanned
while lunar explorations take place.

The astronauts will re-dock
with Orion for the return to Earth.

This new crew vehicle will
borrow much of its hardware...

from the space station.

And this is a place where
the future is caught, so.

In 1997, retired astronaut Jerry Linenger
spent about five months...

nearly the length of time
it would take to get to Mars...

aboard the Russian
space station Mir.

While on the long mission,
he overcame many dangers...

including the most severe fire
ever on an orbiting spacecraft.

A chemical leak ignited a blaze
that lasted ninety seconds...

threatening the crew.

The things that I think
pretty much saved our lives...

are these oxygen
breathing devices...

and during the fire, of course,
that had to go on quickly.

If anybody knows firsthand
how the hardware...

including life support systems...

will work on the spacecraft taking
man to Mars, it's him.

Down here on Earth,
you take so much for granted.

You know, we're out here...

the sunshine,
the fresh air all around you.

You know, in space,
you have to make it.

You've got to make the oxygen.

Up there,
you're in a closed ecosystem.

You have to recycle, you know,
whatever you can.

And the toilet itself
is over this way...

and it's a very simple design.

For example,
we'd take the urine, collect it...

using a little funnel,
little suction device.

For the male or female
urination is this tube here.

We'd collect that up,
we'd convert the urine into water...

water to oxygen,
and we would breathe our urine...

inside that closed ecosystem
of the space station.

I hope you've got a feel
for the space station...

as we flew you through it.

New hardware will also provide power
from clean, reliable sources.

We're going green
to the Red Planet.

Solar panels will do the job
on the return to the Moon...

but the longerjourney to Mars...

will require
another power source.

As we get off to Mars,
the solar insulation...

the intensity of sunlight at Mars
is only about half that at the Earth...

so solar panels
are less effective.

We may have to think carefully
about using nuclear power sources...

in some of these spacecraft...

and, in fact,
people are thinking seriously...

about nuclear power sources
on the surface of the Moon...

in order to generate long-term power
and not have to worry...

about the periods of darkness
on the Moon...

where you don't have sunlight...

and you have to bring
batteries up to store power.

But despite all the new hardware,
the journey to Mars...

will still have its share
of potential hazards...

just like any trek
to an unfamiliar place.

Imagine you're
on a wilderness camping trip...

and you leave home...

the familiar surroundings
that you're used to.

You go out on a long trip.

Potential dangers, hazards:

Rock slides, avalanches,
getting lost...

equipment breakdown,
all sorts of possible problems.

But you want to go anyway.

You prepare, you go out.

It could be an adventure.

It could be a disaster.

Going to the Moon and Mars
is going to be like that, too.

You leave the familiar
surroundings of Earth...

you go out in space-

potential problems, issues,
equipment breakdown-

many of
the same kind of problems...

that you might have
on a camping trip...

the astronauts
might face on Mars.

It could be a challenge.

It could also be a disaster.

A major hazard
the crew will encounter...

will be prolonged weightlessness
in the zero-gravity environment.

Easy in, Georgie.

Oh, yes, it's true.

Relieved of bearing
its usual load...

the human skeleton
starts to deteriorate.

There's a loss
of calcium phosphate...

a chemical critical
to the rigidity of bones...

and the number of bone cells
actually decreases.

For twenty-four hours a day,
you're floating...

and your body very smartly
starts physiologically to adapt...

to that new circumstance.

So, in order to counter that,
try to keep your strength up...

I'd get on a treadmill.

Two one-hour periods a day...

it's about all
you can muster up there.

In spite of that, you know, came back
at about sixty-five percent...

of my pre-flight strength level.

A lot of muscle atrophy...

and, more significantly,
about a fourteen percent bone loss.

You know, hips, lower spine.

You get up in space,
you're floating effortlessly...

the bone just keeps
dumping calcium...

and that could be a showstopper
on a long-duration flight.

It was only through intense
physical training...

after his return to Earth...

that Linenger was able
to reduce his bone loss...

from fourteen percent
to two percent.

The debilitating effects
of weightlessness...

remain an issue
that must be addressed...

before we set foot on Mars,
let alone colonize it.

Research continues
on a possible solution.

A lot of people have looked
towards artificial gravity...

which means you spin
the spacecraft up...

and you end up with a gravity...

and that would sort of help
load your bones...

because when you're
in weightlessness...

your fluids are shifting,
your bones are unloaded...

and you lose about two percent
of your bone mass per month.

It would be a large hurdle...

because in order for crews to be
healthy when they arrive on Mars...

they need to be strong
for the entire trip.

Nobody's ever built
a rotating spacecraft before...

so nobody wants
to be the first person.

But most people believe
that some kind of artificial gravity...

with a rotating spacecraft
on the way to Mars...

is actually the way
to do the mission.

Missions headed for Mars
also face danger from solar storms.

High-energy particle bursts
unleashed from the Sun...

could wipe out a crew if they
aren't prepared for the onslaught.

So radiation is one
of the larger showstoppers...

in terms of technology...

that needs to be developed
for a future vehicle.

The easiest way to deal with that
is just to make a storm shelter...

so that if you can
somehow predict...

when the solar storms
are approaching...

which you would do
with various navigation satellites...

and relaying them from Earth...

then you could get into the shelter
and wait it out...

and then be able to go back
into the spacecraft.

And then similarly on Mars...

when you know
that there's a storm coming...

you would go into a shelter.

The journey alone
will make colonizing Mars...

an unprecedented challenge...

but the enormous risks
come with historic rewards.

No decision is more important
than who gets to go.

Think you have what it takes
to be a space pioneer?

Get in line.

There are people
already training for the job.

Colonizing Mars will require
a special breed of people.

With missions that could last
more than two years...

selecting those with the right stuff
to be planetary pioneers...

will be critical to the success.

Two, one, we have ignition.

The cost of a launch,
in the billions of dollars...

and the tight quarters
of the spacecraft...

will keep the number
of crew people to a bare minimum.

I believe that number is four.

It's the smallest number
you can send...

and divide the crew up
into two groups...

and have no one be alone.

And it's the smallest number
that you can send...

in which you have
the two primary skills...

of the mission,
both multiply backed up.

A crew of that size would consist
of two ace mechanics...

who can fix anything,
and in doing so, save lives.

Joining them would be
the two field scientists...

the intellectual payload.

So, in "Star Trek" terminology,
I want two Scottys and two Spocks.

Mars colonists will need more
than just these vital skill sets.

They also need
to be mentally tough.

People think that astronauts
are tough...

they will just always
obey commands...

and will operate according to plan...

but they are human...

and humans in these situations...

do develop strange
psychological reactions.

We really have
to understand that...

because that's part
of the crew selection process.

All right, I'm going to
fly into the node.

Astronauts will have to adapt
to the confined space...

of the crew vehicle or habitat.

If you're claustrophobic,
forget it.

We actually test for that.

We put you in sort of a ball, zip it up...

it's totally dark,
you're crammed in the thing.

Inside the sleep cabin,
there's also a little window...

sleeping bag
sitting right here.

This just happens to be
the commander's sleep station.

And they have heart monitors
on you.

In my case, I fell asleep.

They finally came, opened
the thing up, and said, "You're fine. "

But if you don't fall asleep
in a closed space...

you're not the right person.

Dealing with being
the only life forms...

on an otherwise
lifeless planet...

will be another major
psychological challenge.

Out there in space, you truly
are just removed from mankind.

And, you know,
the interactions we have in life...

with the colleagues,
friends, family...

you just sort of take it
for granted down here...

but up there,
all of a sudden...

it is isolation
like I've never felt before.

If you're not totally
comfortable with yourself...

you're going to have some
very, very difficult times up there.

It's been four months...

four months,
simulated Mars mission.

Everyone's doing great.

To train people
for this extreme mission...

the Mars Society has built two
Mars analog research stations...

to practice simulated missions.

Crews consisting of
as many as six people...

mostly university scientists
and NASA personnel...

operate under many
of the same constraints...

that astronauts
will endure on Mars.

They don't go outside
without wearing spacesuits.

They live on Martian time,
37 minutes longer than an Earth day.

Their communication
with mission control in Denver...

is on a twenty-minute delay
to simulate the time it takes...

for a radio signal to go
from Mars to Earth.

Maybe most challenging...

they must coexist in a habitat
with minimal personal space.

By doing that, you find out what works
on Mars and what doesn't...

and what kind of a skill mix...

what character
mix you need in the crew...

what technologies are likely
to be most useful to the crew...

how to organize the crew,
who should command the crew...

how tight you can
ration the water...

and still sustain morale
while you're doing this kind of work.

This is not like a lunar mission,
which only lasts a week...

where you can get three test pilots,
and they can just suck up the fact...

that they don't really like each other
for that duration time and get along.

Crews first go
to the desert research station...

located outside Hanksville, Utah...

to conduct short-term missions,
lasting two weeks.

During that time, they perform EVAs,
extra-vehicular activities...

such as collecting soil samples
for geological study.

After completing
their desert work...

the crews are ready
to join longer missions...

lasting up to four months at
the research station on Devon Island...

in the Canadian Arctic.

Devon Island is one
of the key places...

that you can conduct Mars research
because of its isolation.

It's the largest uninhabited
island in the world.

There are no signs of life around...

maybe some bacteria and algae
growing on the rocks...

and also because
the crater formation...

that the research station is located on
is similar to a crater...

that you would typically find
on any planet.

There's a lot of permafrost
up in the Arctic...

and drilling into there,
looking for microbial life...

could be a similar experiment...

to what you would do
on the surface of Mars.

We're going on
our radiation/weather station EVA.

We'll be taking readings
of the surrounding area.

In addition
to conducting field research...

scientists at both stations
also study each other...

as part of what they call
human factors.

The human factors research...

looks at the interactions
between humans and computers...

the interactions between humans
and their environment...

and with each other.

By learning
how we're going to react...

with each other
in different situations...

we can then learn how crew
will react together...

on the way to Mars
or on the surface of Mars.

A lot of our findings
sound very obvious...

but they have not really been
paid attention to before.

For example, the very first thing
you learn is that this activity...

a field exploration while wearing
a spacesuit, is a physical activity.

The amount of exploration...

is very much contingent
upon your physical fitness.

So what is this saying?

It's saying you don't want
to go to Mars in zero-gravity...

if you want to actually
get anything done...

because you'd be deconditioned.

Another key finding
was determining...

how little water
humans need to survive.

It's a drop in the bucket...

compared to the 125 gallons
a day the average person uses.

We have found
that with careful rationing...

and with the right kind of crew,
we can limit water use...

down to about three gallons
a day per person...

taking sponge baths
every other day...

instead of showers every day,
and carefully rationing it.

But if we try to cut the water down
much below that...

then it does in fact start interfering
with morale in a serious way.

And this is a very important
number to know...

from the point of view of the engineer
designing the mission...

and how much mass
you need to ship.

The Mars Society shares data...

from its Arctic and desert
research stations with NASA.

The space agency
will study the findings...

as it plans
a future base on Mars...

the next step
to colonizing the planet.

See you soon in space.

The year is 2040...

the destination: Mars.

After decades of careful
study and research...

the first human explorers
are on their way to the Red Planet.

After completing the six-month
journey from Earth...

the longest manned space trip
in history...

it's time to land on Mars.

But where's the best place
to touch down?

You want areas that are
geologically diverse...

where there's a
lot of different things to explore...

within a reasonably
small radius of action.

You want to definitely
include areas...

that have had water in them
in the past...

because that is where there
could have been life on the surface.

That's where
you want to hunt for life.

You want to go to places...

that are either in the temperate
or tropical regions of the planet...

because you don't want
to go to a place...

where it's going to be dark
for twelve months at a time.

By these criteria,
the best place to land...

would be just north
of Valles Marineris...

within driving range
of run-off areas...

not far from where space probes
Pathfinder and Viking I touched down.

It's also the best place
to establish a base camp...

that will function much like one
in the wilderness on Earth.

Here in a remote wilderness area,
we can establish a base camp...

because we have
everything we need.

We also rely
on the environment.

We get oxygen
from the environment.

We get water.

We get wood for fire
from the environment.

Well, now,
let's imagine colonizing Mars.

On Mars, we also rely
on the environment.

Colonizing Mars
is going to require...

using the oxygen
from the Mars atmosphere...

that we could derive
from the carbon dioxide...

growing food on Mars...

getting water
from the atmosphere on Mars.

The same mix of resources
from the environment...

and material
that we brought with us...

is what's required to allow us
to successfully colonize space.

Once the base
has been established...

the primary objective
of early missions...

is to search for evidence of life
in the past and the present.

Using radar, astronauts
attempt to locate groundwater...

within a few hundred yards
of the surface...

then bring it up
with drilling rigs.

Samples will be studied under
microscopes in the crew habitat...

to see if they contain
evidence of life.

If the planet proves capable
of supporting life...

then it would be viable for astronauts
to construct greenhouses...

and cultivate crops,
using Martian water, soil, and sunlight.

As they search for life,
these pioneering astronauts...

will have to contend
with the one force...

that could bring the lofty ambition
to colonize Mars back down to Earth.

That's gravity.

The gravity on Mars is
one-third the gravity on Earth.

We don't know
if that's enough gravity...

to allow for healthy
bones and muscles.

If Mars' gravity is not suitable
for humans' long-term survival...

it may become the place we visit.

We may go there
for a week or so.

It's a tourist attraction,
but it's not a home.

So that's a fundamental question
that needs to be answered.

Is one-third gravity enough gravity
for us to live biologically fit lives?

My guess is the answer is yes.

But we have no direct data,
so we can only guess.

Houston, Discovery and Alpha.

Capture confirmed.

Getting direct data
will be vitally important.

So will communicating it
to Earth.

The lag time
in radio communication...

between the Mars crew
and mission control-

as much forty minutes, depending
on planetary alignments-

will affect how the astronauts
conduct their research.

It certainly means
that the Mars crew...

is going to have to be
a lot more autonomous...

than you could have
with human crews...

in Earth orbit or on the Moon.

You're not going to be talking
to the Mars crew...

"Okay, now step two steps to the left
and head towards the rock. "

They are going to have to make
their own decisions.

And I think, more generally...

the Mars mission is going to
have to be led from the front...

and that the commander
of the Mars mission...

will be in the Mars mission...

and rather than
have mission control...

we will have mission support
on Earth.

Good luck. Back to work now.

Back to work, all you guys.

The habitat that will
house the astronauts...

offers a preview of structures...

that could form
the first settlement on Mars.

As proposed
in the Mars Society's Direct Plan...

the initial habitat will be
the crew vehicle itself.

The "tuna can,"
as its proponents call it...

is about twenty feet tall
and twenty-seven feet in diameter.

It has two decks...

the upper level for cabins
and a common area...

the lower one for lab
and workspace.

Okay, I'm going to
step off the LEM.

We have found in our fieldwork...

that, while these
are tighter quarters...

than most Americans are used
to working, living in...

they're not that bad.

You don't really feel
that crowded.

We tend to keep the private
bunks very small...

so that we can maximize
the public space, you know...

the wardroom
where people hang out.

If you've got a healthy crew...

where the people want
to associate with each other...

then this is clearly the best way
to ration the available space.

As more pioneers settle
on Mars, it may be safer...

to move the growing community
underground.

Because it's a terribly
dangerous place.

There are sandstorms
that can hit and knock over...

any surface establishment.

There's horrible ultraviolet
cosmic-ray effects.

You're going to want
to save people's lives...

save their reproductive abilities.

You're going to want to have a place
where you could raise children.

You're not going to do that
at the Martian surface.

You're going to be doing that
underground.

Under those circumstances...

it would be more
like vast urban malls...

probably very nicely lit,
nuclear and solar power.

It shouldn't be a terrible life...

providing that they get to
a tipping point in technology...

a tipping point in support
from the outside world.

Early missions to Mars...

if conducted during
optimal planetary alignment...

will last approximately
two and a half years.

That includes the six months
to get there...

a year-and-a-half stay
on the surface...

and the six-month
return trip to Earth.

During that time, we will know
whether Mars can support life.

If it can, that opens the door
to the ultimate form of colonization...

terraforming the planet
to make it more like the Earth.

Once humans establish
a self-sufficient base on Mars...

the next major advance
in space colonization...

say advocates, will be
to terraform the planet...

a process that will make
Mars Earth-like.

Wherever humans have settled...

they've remade the environment
to suit their needs.

Mars may not be any different.

Terraforming is perhaps
the ultimate way...

to create a new
Garden of Eden in outer space.

And how would we do it?

Take a look at Mars.

Mars is a frozen desert.

First, we would have
to raise the temperature.

We know
how to warm up planets.

We're doing it right here on Earth,
where it's not a good thing...

whereas on Mars,
it would be a good thing.

So, in fact, we could do
the same things we're doing on Earth...

putting in the atmosphere
greenhouse gases...

which would cause
the planet to warm.

On Earth,
that would be pollution.

On Mars, it's medicine.

Calculations have shown that
the amount of greenhouse gases...

that we need to introduce
to Mars are reasonable.

They're not really way beyond
what we can imagine to produce.

But the amount
is also too large...

for us to bring it
from the Earth to Mars.

That means that those gases
have to be produced on Mars.

We would need to set up factories
to produce those gases...

and release them
into the environment.

These factories
would combine elements...

taken from
the Martian environment...

convert them to non-toxic
fluorocarbon gases...

and vent them
into the atmosphere.

Experts estimate
in about a hundred years...

these greenhouse gases
will have terraformed...

a cold, dry, dead planet into
a warm, wet, life-supporting world.

It's interesting to think about
what would Mars look like...

after a hundred years of warming.

It would be bluer
than it is today.

You'd see large patches of water.

You'd start seeing
little fringes of green...

around the margins
of these blue areas.

And then with time,
this infestation of green...

would move away and up
and into the mountains.

And eventually, you'd see
a world of blue and green...

with little islands of red
that remain...

almost like
national parks preserve.

Then in the first stages
of terraforming...

the temperature will rise...

and also the atmospheric
pressure will rise.

That will mean that humans will
actually be able to go out just in suits...

that really press down
on their skin...

in order to re-create some pressure
and with an air mask.

And that would really make it
much easier to go outside.

It will probably take quite a while...

for Mars to become
really a place like this...

where we're in a greenhouse
at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

It would
definitely take a while...

before we have
such a paradise as this.

But we can start
from very basic algae...

mosses, maybe grasses.

While this is going on...

genetic engineering
of the people themselves...

could also be taking place
so that you are breeding in...

either through selection
of your offspring...

or possibly even
genetic manipulation...

generations of citizens
who need less gear...

when they go out
on the Martian surface.

Their skin is less fragile
to the ultraviolet...

to the low-density atmosphere.

And, eventually, they just need
their respirators less and less.

As the atmosphere increases...

so does their ability to meet
the atmosphere halfway.

And these would be the beginnings
of the true Martians...

the people who could actually
make this world their own.

NASA itself is not interested
in terraforming planets...

partly because it sounds
very science fiction-y...

but partly because there are
real ethical questions involved.

You will find
a lot of people who believe...

that human beings
should not go into space...

because we will just
destroy things...

in the way that we've
destroyed our own planet...

and that we need
to preserve the Moon and Mars...

and the other planets the way
they are for scientific investigation.

Whether we should
terraform Mars...

is an issue for future
generations to resolve.

It's a very distant point
on a space colonization timeline...

that could begin
with this generation.

The one thing
that we can probably predict...

is that we will see ourselves...

in other places of the solar system
than the planet Earth.

Space colonization
will be driven...

by the normal processes that
we've seen over human history...

of expansion of people from one place
to another, across frontiers.

Space is another kind of frontier.

It's a technologically
challenging frontier...

but the human species has been
extraordinarily resourceful...

over its history
in its ability to adapt...

and to overcome challenges
like the frontier of space.

My son, maybe someday,
he'll follow in Dad's footsteps...

and I would be awful proud
knowing that you blazed the trail.

And, you know, he can do it.

The next generation,
who knows where they'll be?

Space colonization will be
the ultimate camping trip.

It'll test our equipment...

it'll test our planning,
it'll test us...

but it'll be worth it...

to learn a lot about space...

about our own Earth,
and about ourselves.

Whether it happens on Mars
or somewhere else...

maybe even
beyond our solar system...

space colonization won't be driven
by the desire to plant a flag...

but rather a seed.

In the future, when we gaze
into the heavens and ask...

"Is anybody out there?"

the answerjust might be,
"Yes. It's us. "