Original subtitles

CHARLIE: Hey guys! Today we're hanging out at Johnson Space Center,

finding out what it's like to be an astronaut.

KIRBY (off-screen): This place is crazy cool.

Did you know astronauts train for space missions in swimming pools?

CHARLIE: Did you know that tortoises orbited the moon before humans?

We're going on a virtual reality spacewalk!

It's time for Weird but True!

(theme music plays)

KIRBY: Hey guys! CHARLIE: Perfect, you're just in time!

It seems like there are a million movies coming out these days about astronauts.

This is the police.

KIRBY (off-screen): Yeah like Astro-cops! Planets Away.

And what's the one about the space divas?

CHARLIE: Uh. The, the Sasstronauts.

KIRBY: Yeah! They're like all over the place!

CHARLIE: And it got us wondering.

What is it actually like to be an astronaut?

KIRBY: I'm pretty sure they're not busting up space criminals

and falling in love with aliens.

CHARLIE: So our goal is to figure out what it's really like to go on a space mission.

So today, we're unraveling the world of.

KIRBY (off-screen): Astronauts! CHARLIE (off-screen): Astronauts!

So, space.

KIRBY: Space. CHARLIE: Hmm okay. Here we go.

So, Weird but True, it turns out that humans weren't the first living things,

from earth, in space.

KIRBY (off-screen): Two dogs, a gray rabbit, 40 mice, two rats and

some fruit flies were passengers on Sputnik 5, a Russian rocket in 1960.

And two Russian tortoises were aboard a spacecraft that orbited the moon.

CHARLIE: Now here's the story about how humans got into space.

Perfect!

It all started with this guy, his name is Yuri.

His story starts way back in 1961.

At a Russian spaceport, in Kazakhstan.

It was a Wednesday and Yuri was nervous.

He was focused, calm, collected, a little hungry, but definitely nervous.

When the time came, Yuri buckled in and at exactly

6:07 Coordinated Universal Time, the ship's rockets fired.

The rocket burst through the atmosphere, and into orbit.

He spent one hour and 48 minutes in space circling the earth.

Then the rocket pointed downward, and Yuri ejected himself from the capsule,

floating safely down to earth!

Yuri Gagarin became the first human ever to venture into outer space.

And the world was forever changed.

KIRBY: And eight years later, it was the United States' turn to make the next big step.

With Neil Armstrong in 1969.

It was a Sunday, and Neil was nervous.

He was focused, calm, collected, a little hungry, but definitely nervous.

He wasn't in Kazakhstan, he wasn't even on this planet,

he was where no man had gone before, the moon!

And at exactly 03:56 Coordinated Universal Time, Neil emerged from his capsule.

NEIL: That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

KIRBY (off-screen): Neil and his crew returned to Earth in their command module,

which landed in the Pacific Ocean using a parachute

and there was much pomp and circumstance.

Neil Armstrong became the first human ever to walk on the moon.

And the world was forever changed.

CHARLIE: And since then there have been a bunch of other human space headlines too.

There have been six more manned missions to the moon and a bunch of other countries

hopped aboard the space train with the development of the International Space Station.

KIRBY: As of July 2015 astronaut crews have spent 48,025 days in space.

543 people have flown into orbit,

performing 175 total crew days worth of spacewalks,

and 12 people have walked on the moon.

CHARLIE: So we know it takes a lot of guts to be an astronaut.

KIRBY: Sometimes you gotta do stuff people have never done before like Neil and Yuri.

CHARLIE: But we were wondering, like what does an astronaut actually do

besides ride in rocket ships?

We found out that there are three different types of astronauts.

KIRBY: With different jobs. CHARLIE: Which one would you apply for?

Well hi there!

KIRBY: Welcome to NASA job services we're so excited

you wanna become an astronaut today!

CHARLIE: Does being a pilot or a commander interest you?

The commander and pilot are responsible for driving the spacecraft.

MAN (over radio): Everything's looking good. That's awesome guys.

CHARLIE (off-screen): It's kind of like driving a car on the highway.

Except you're accelerating for eight and a half minutes straight,

driving a 4.5 million pound car,

that's actually a spaceship, and you're accelerating up to

17,500 miles an hour, straight into space!

So I guess it's nothing like driving a car on the highway.

KIRBY: They also get to use the robotic arm. CHARLIE: Fancy right?

KIRBY: Oh my gosh, Weird But True one time the waste disposal

system malfunctioned and a giant pee icicle formed

on the side of a space shuttle, true story.

The crew had to use the robotic arm to knock it off so they could return home safely.

So fun!

CHARLIE: Too much? KIRBY: Can't handle the machinery?

CHARLIE: No problem. Maybe you'd like to be our second type of astronaut,

a mission specialist.

The mission specialist is in charge of planning all crew activities.

And they also perform spacewalks.

KIRBY: This job requires a lot of preparation.

Weird But True this one time mission specialist Luca Parmitano

was on a spacewalk and his helmet filled with water.

LUCA: I feel a lot of water on the back of my head.

Where is it coming from? It's too much!

KIRBY (off-screen): He couldn't see or hear, but was so well trained,

he made it back to the ship safely.

KIRBY: He was very skilled.

CHARLIE: Too intense? KIRBY: Looking for something else?

CHARLIE: No worries, we have a third and final astronaut type that might work for you.

A payload specialist.

KIRBY (off-screen): These aren't actually NASA astronauts.

CHARLIE (off-screen): They're other people, citizens, scientists, anyone else,

who's brought onto the shuttle to perform very specific duties,

like scientific experiments.

KIRBY: Weird but True, this guy named Jake Garn even went.

He was a US senator, and a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Senator Garn got so sick during the spaceflight that there is now a

space sickness scale named after him.

Space is super awesome, but it's a little tricky to get used to.

CHARLIE: I guess there are plusses and minuses to the whole thing.

Weird things happen in microgravity.

Your spine stretches out so you grow like five centimeters taller in space.

But don't worry, you go back to regular height when you return.

And the Zero-G makes it so you can't burp,

the gasses just kind of collect in your intestines.

Weird stuff.

KIRBY: Well, once you decide you want to apply for the job,

just drop your application in our mailbox!

CHARLIE: Thanks for stopping by!

Very neat. So there are three types of astronauts.

Commander/pilot, mission specialist, and payload specialist.

Guys, you know we gotta try out some of these jobs!

Which is gonna be a little tough, because it's not exactly like we can rent a

space shuttle.

KIRBY: Yeah not gonna happen. But we can do the next best thing!

CHARLIE: We can go to Houston!

Like, "Houston we have a problem."

KIRBY: When astronauts call Houston they're actually calling NASA mission control

at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

CHARLIE: And guys, we're going.

We're on our way to the second largest state in US, known as the Lone Star state!

This is where we'll see if we've got what it takes to head into space!

Hey guys we made it!

KIRBY: This is the Johnson Space Center!

CHARLIE: It's where astronauts train, where astronaut related research happens,

and where mission control is.

KIRBY: We gotta find someone to talk to! Let's go!

CHARLIE: Hi I'm Charlie. MIKE: Hello Charlie.

KIRBY (off-screen): Lucky for us we ran into Mike Fossum,

an astronaut who has logged over 194 days in space.

His favorite Weird but True fact is.

CHARLIE: Today Kirby and I wanna figure out what it's really like to be an astronaut.

MIKE: I've been fortunate to fly in space three times.

The first two times as a uh space shuttle crew member.

I got to help build the space station as a spacewalker during.

CHARLIE: Holy cow MIKE: Those two flights.

And then later I flew on a, launched on a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan and lived on

the space station for half a year.

CHARLIE: What was it like to launch into space the first time?

MIKE: Oh.

MAN (off-screen): Booster ignition, and lift off of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

MIKE: I was nervous, I was a little bit scared to tell you the truth.

KIRBY: I would be.

MIKE: As the engines came to life you could feel this big rumble come through the

shuttle and it actually tipped a little bit because the main engines were on an angle and

you felt it move.

And then it's coming back up and I was looking out a window.

There's a lot of popping and crackling you can hear outside.

Inside I don't remember hearing any sound at all.

CHARLIE: Really?

MIKE: Which seems impossible, maybe it's cause my heart was beating so loud.

You're excited at the same time you have a job to do so you're concentrating on the

systems, making sure everything's working okay.

MAN (over radio): Standing by for solid rocket booster separation.

Separation confirmed, guidance now converging.

Eight minutes, 15 seconds into the flight, everything looking good on Discovery.

Standing by for main engine cut off.

MIKE: And just eight and a half minutes in the engines burned out and we're in orbit.

MAN (over radio): A smooth ride to orbit for the shuttle Discovery,

embarking on a 13 day mission.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Normal daily activities, tell me how these are different in space.

MIKE: Okay. CHARLIE: How do you take a shower?

MIKE: Well the space shower's a problem 'cause we can't get the water to find the drain.

So we don't have a shower.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Oh okay. MIKE (off-screen): You use soapy water on a wash cloth.

You know, and the other one is sleeping.

We had a little bedroom and it's about the size of an old fashioned phone booth.

CHARLIE: So you have your own little room?

MIKE: You got your own little room.

We use sleeping bags in space.

CHARLIE: So what was your job on the missions you went up to space in?

MIKE: Main job was really being a spacewalker.

On the first one we did some special testing outside to see if we could inspect and do

repairs to the shuttle's heat shield incase we needed to.

Then when I went back the next time the big job was installing the new

Japanese built laboratory to the space station.

CHARLIE: Ohhh. MIKE: It was the Kibo Laboratory.

KIRBY: Wow. CHARLIE: Cool.

MIKE: Tell you what though, we've got the mock ups of the space station that you can see.

CHARLIE: Mhmm.

MIKE: We've got the virtual reality lab, would you guys like to see some of that?

CHARLIE: I think that'd be perfect, yeah! KIRBY: I think yes.

MIKE: Okay well I happen to have a passport book for you,

right here, that's gonna get you all over those places.

CHARLIE: This sounds absolutely perfect Mike! KIRBY: Perfect.

MIKE: Learn a bunch and I'll see you guys in the stars.

KIRBY: Awesome. CHARLIE: Perfect.

KIRBY: Thank you so much! CHARLIE: See you later!

Mike set us up to make the rounds like astronaut trainees.

First up, we're going to the space station.

Well sort of.

Welcome everybody to the International Space Station mock up facility!

This is basically a life sized replica of the actual International Space Station.

And before we hop inside let's bring you up to speed on what the ISS is all about.

15 countries are working together on the Space Station.

Weird but True, it's the size of a football field with the living space

of a five-bedroom house.

This place is huge!

And there are a couple main parts, the truss, the backbone of the system.

The solar array wings giant solar panels.

And the pressurized modules where astronauts live.

That's the part we're gonna check out. The pressurized modules.

We're gonna take a quick break, but when we get back,

we're gonna see how astronauts live while in space!

We'll see you soon.

KIRBY (off-screen): Weird but True.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Welcome back to the Johnson Space Center.

Right now we're exploring the ISS mock up.

It's a replica of the International Space Station.

That's where astronauts live while they're in space!

Let's go hop inside!

The ISS has 14 main pressurized modules divided into two sections

The Russian section and the United States section,

although astronauts share spaces throughout.

We're starting here on the Russian half of things in the Zvezda service module.

If you are a Russian cosmonaut, this is your world right here.

This is the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory.

Where they do all their super important scientific space research.

And if you wanna go on a space walk, the airlock that they use

is over there to the right.

The Poisk Docking Module.

If we move through here, this is where the Russian astronauts store their super

important science stuff.

In the Zarya Functional Cargo Block.

But Kirby and I are from the United States, so if we were astronauts we'd be living and

working over here, in the US Orbital Segment.

The dining room's located here, in Node 1.

The bathroom and work out facility are here.

In the Tranquility Node.

And if you need to go on a spacewalk, you head over here, to Quest.

The main airlock for US astronauts to enter and exit the space station.

Once you've finished your space walk, you gotta head over here to Destiny,

the US research lab.

Here, they got a giant joystick that lets you control a huge robotic arm.

This is where the astronauts spend most of their time doing all their awesome research.

In this spot. How cool is that?

What's that? Your friends are arriving?

Let's go meet them over in Node 2. AKA Harmony.

Here's the lab for our friends from the Japanese Aerospace Agency.

And the European Space Agency does their research here, in the Columbus lab.

And at the end of a long day, astronauts on the ISS sleep in

these tiny, little, padded chambers.

KIRBY: Weird but True, astronauts have to be tethered when they sleep.

So they don't float away! Night Charles.

CHARLIE: Night Kirb.

Alright guys, so far we got a good idea of what the living quarters

are like for an astronaut.

KIRBY: The next step, it's time for an equipment demo.

Let's go.

Here's the plan, I'm gonna complete this simple task, tie a bow with a rope.

First I'm gonna do it at earth pressure and then we're gonna pressure it down to simulated

space pressure.

We'll see how it goes.

Let's give it a go.

I can already tell it's gonna be hard I can barely reach it.

Ugh!

It feels like I'm wearing a cement suit.

It is not similar to anything I have ever felt before.

It feels like you're trying to pick up a tiny piece of thread,

but your fingers can't find it.

CHARLIE: It's so hard for Kirby to move her fingers around because

her gloves are pressurized.

So think of bending an uncapped water bottle versus bending a capped water bottle.

It's much harder to bend the capped one because it's pressurized,

like the space suit.

Now think of each one of those fingers as their own capped water bottles,

really hard to move around.

KIRBY: It's impossible. There's no way.

CHARLIE: Where's Mike sending us next?

KIRBY: Looks like we got the countermeasures room.

CHARLIE: Cool, cool let's go!

Alright guys inside this ordinary looking building is the Countermeasures Room.

KIRBY: It has all the equipment astronauts use to workout while on their mission.

CHARLIE: Ready to get ripped Kirb? KIRBY: You bet.

CHARLIE: This is the ARED, the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device.

It works like a squat or bench press machine.

Except it doesn't work with any weights 'cause things are weightless in space.

This is T2, it's the treadmill that astronauts use aboard the ISS.

So Kirby is strapped down to that treadmill so that she can keep on exercising.

This is CEVIS. It's basically like an exercise bike.

How does it feel Kirb?

KIRBY: Feeling pretty good.

CHARLIE: Alright what do we got next today? KIRBY: We got virtual reality!

CHARLIE: No way! Let's go!

Next on our tour Mike's sending us on a spacewalk.

KIRBY: This is it, the virtual reality lab!

This is where astronauts go through training to learn how to go on spacewalks.

CHARLIE: But what exactly is a spacewalk?

KIRBY: Basically anytime an astronaut goes outside in space, that's called a spacewalk.

On spacewalks astronauts do tests on new equipment,

make repairs, and perform science experiments.

For a while, NASA was developing the Manned Maneuvering Units.

That allowed the astronauts to float around without being tethered to anything.

Now-a-days they're always tethered to the ship or space station.

CHARLIE: This is where they get to practice spacewalks while here on earth.

And Kirby and I are gonna be able to try it out!

KIRBY: Just like real astronauts!

CHARLIE: After the break. Stick around.

KIRBY (off-screen): Weird but True.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Hey guys! Welcome back!

KIRBY: We're here at the Johnson Space Center Virtual Reality Lab!

Gearing up to go on our first simulated spacewalk.

CHARLIE: So let's do it.

Whoa!

KIRBY (off-screen): Check it out! It's earth Charles!

CHARLIE (off-screen): I'm seeing a big old scaffolding of the ISS.

The earth is down this way.

And there's Kirby, I see Kirby over here.

Hey Kirb. First high five, high five.

KIRBY (off-screen): Hey! CHARLIE (off-screen): Space high five!

KIRBY: Woah! This is like way harder than you expect.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Kirb you flipped totally upside down.

We're opposite of each other.

You could see why they need training because like up and down does not exist.

So it kind of feels like you're swimming in water.

It helps put you kind of in the mindset of what it's like to be in space because like

I'm sitting in a swivel chair right now, but I'm locked onto this pole.

I'm not letting go man. I don't wanna float away.

KIRBY: This is nutty. You don't know what's up, what's down.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Up and down is the weirdest thing.

KIRBY: You gotta know this thing like the back of your hand.

It's under water monkey bars in a fun house being twirled around.

That's it.

CHARLIE: Aw how cool was that Kirb? KIRBY: Incredible.

CHARLIE: It looks like, according to Mike's itinerary, he saved the best for last.

KIRBY: This is gonna be amazing. Let's go!

CHARLIE: Hey! LUCIEN: Hey guys!

KIRBY: Hello! CHARLIE: Hi I'm Charlie. LUCIEN: I'm Lucien.

KIRBY (off-screen): This is Lucien Junkin, senior robotics engineer,

who's worked at the NASA Johnson Space Center for more than 15 years.

His favorite Weird but True fact is.

CHARLIE: Where are we? What is this thing?

LUCIEN: This is the space exploration vehicle.

It's an off roading RV for the moon and mars.

And we're at the rock yard where we do a lot of the testing.

KIRBY (off-screen): So it's a mode of transportation,

it's a research lab, it's your home for two weeks.

CHARLIE (off-screen): It's an RV.

KIRBY (off-screen): It's a tiny vehicle, but it's got a lot going on.

LUCIEN (off-screen): You wanna go for a ride?

KIRBY: Absolutely CHARLIE: Oh yeah!

LUCIEN: Come on. KIRBY: Let's do it.

So there's no steering wheel.

LUCIEN: Yeah. KIRBY: How do you steer this thing?

LUCIEN: It looks a lot like a helicopter. KIRBY: Yeah.

LUCIEN (off-screen): From that seat you have to drive the vehicle,

but you also have to do a lot of science.

That's the magic about astronauts, they can do pretty much everything.

That's what makes them really, really special.

CHARLIE: It looks relatively simple.

KIRBY (off-screen): Let's do it!

CHARLIE (off-screen): Lucien got me started, and we're off.

Yeah! This is like a moon crater right here that we're driving into.

KIRBY (off-screen): Whoa! CHARLIE (off-screen): Yeah!

LUCIEN (off-screen): Stop right there. Perfect.

And do a pure right translation.

KIRBY (off-screen): Oh yeah.

CHARLIE (off-screen): It's like we're in a car, but we're going straight right.

KIRBY: We're going sideways. CHARLIE: Jeez! Do a swivel.

We're now spinning around like a merry go round.

KIRBY (off-screen): This is nerve racking but. CHARLIE (off-screen): Yeah!

KIRBY: You feel confident in the vehicle don't you?

CHARLIE (off-screen): I think it's fun, it's like an amusement ride.

KIRBY (off-screen): Like this thing's got it no problem.

CHARLIE (off-screen): This thing's taking the hills.

KIRBY: Are you going up this hill?

CHARLIE: This one? KIRBY: Ohh!

CHARLIE (off-screen): Time to climb the hill. Let's go guys.

KIRBY (off-screen): This is so nerve racking.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Ohhhh! KIRBY: Keep going! Keep going!

LUCIEN (off-screen): Stay committed to your command that you have in.

KIRBY: Go man go.

Alright. You're good forward.

Okay stop, stop, stop.

LUCIEN: Keep an eye on not going over the edge.

That's when bad things happen.

This is your life support system.

You're doing good. Full stick forward.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Dude this truck is a beast.

There's nothing this thing can't handle.

LUCIEN (off-screen): You see that big triangular rock on the side of the hill?

CHARLIE: Yeah. LUCIEN (off-screen): Let's go do science on that.

That means creep up to it.

KIRBY: Nice. LUCIEN (off-screen): Okay stop right there.

CHARLIE (off-screen): Kirby can stick her head in that bubble.

So she can get a nice, close look at some stuff.

Pressurized spacesuits don't let you lean down.

So you can get closer to rocks in this car, just inches away,

than you can in your actual spacesuit.

How cool was that?

KIRBY: So amazing! CHARLIE: Ugh!

KIRBY: That should be in an astronaut movie.

CHARLIE: After all of this astronaut training we know what it takes to write the

real story line for the next astronaut block buster!

KIRBY: We gotta head back to HQ to put it all together!

CHARLIE: Definitely! We'll see you there is a bit? Awesome we'll see you soon!

Weird but True.

Hey, guys. We just got back from an awesome trip to NASA's Johnson Space Center.

(screams)

KIRBY: It was amazing!

CHARLIE: We learned so much about what it's like for astronauts to be in space!

KIRBY (off-screen): Like, Payload Specialists aren't NASA astronauts!

CHARLIE: Or that they sleep in these tiny, little padded chambers.

What else did we learn today?

There were so many Weird but True things!

In space your spine stretches so you can grow up to five centimeters taller.

KIRBY (off-screen): There's a space sickness scale named after US senator Garn,

a payload specialist, who became severely ill while in space.

CHARLIE: We've been wracking our brains over here trying to come up with a storyline

for a real astronaut movie.

KIRBY: So far it's pretty awesome.

CHARLIE: Here's what we got, there's a problem aboard the ISS.

KIRBY: A giant pee icicle has formed on the side of Node 2.

CHARLIE: Causing terrible amounts of damage.

KIRBY: NASA's solution. CHARLIE: They need a uniquely talented mission specialist,

to complete the job.

KIRBY: Someone with incredible aerial athleticism,

CHARLIE: Mental strength, KIRBY: And skill.

CHARLIE: Now, we present to you, Ricky Babylon,

Space Shredder!

This movie's gonna make $1 billion.

KIRBY: We gotta get started on this screenplay.

CHARLIE: Alright guys it looks like we got a new project on our hands.

But thanks so much for stopping by!

Come by again when we discover more things that are weird.

KIRBY: But true! CHARLIE: We'll see you later!

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services