Original subtitles

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: We live in a built world.

Engineering and technology,

built upon innovations and inventions,

stretching back thousands of years.

Some of our creations, like machines,

boost our bodies' abilities.

Others help us reach

outside our comfort zones.

We have left an indelible mark on the planet,

and now the time has come to use our skills

to make a better world.

Building taller buildings...

...that stay steady in the wind.

DAVID FIELDS: As extreme as this feels,

this is nothing compared to what the building's designed for.

NARRATOR: Or submarines that dive deep...

PATRICK LAHEY: Imagine a craft that allows you to explore a part of our world

that you simply couldn't see any other way.

NARRATOR: ...to give an unprecedented underwater view.

EDIE WIDDER: It's like being in a goldfish bowl,

only the fish are on the outside

and the people are on the inside.

NARRATOR: Clothes that let us go farther

to places we never could before.

Or even a new structure

to replace the International Space Station.

SHAWN BUCKLEY: We could put three floors inside this,

have up to six people live for months on months.

NARRATOR: "Building Stuff: Reach It!,"

right now, on "NOVA".

♪ ♪

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "NOVA" is provided by the following:

NARRATOR: Humans.

Unlike a lot of other animals,

we're not exactly fit to thrive in the wild.

We lack fur to protect us from cold.

And speed to outrun predators.

(big cat snarling)

Exposed to the elements,

many of us would struggle to survive.

But luckily, we have other strengths.

ANDREA ARMANI: Engineering is all around us

and we often don't recognize it.

One of the things that

engineering lets us do

is to do things that

we can't do with our bodies.

NARRATOR: Ever since our ancestors first evolved,

humankind has refused to stay put.

MARIA YANG: Humans are infinitely adaptable.

We live all around the world

in different climates and conditions.

Engineering has made that possible.

ALI HAJIMIRI: I think it's in human nature

to solve problems.

And solving problems is the basis for engineering.

MAN: Venting tanks.

NARRATOR: We've learned how to compensate for our vulnerabilities.

By building stuff...

(explosion)

...and reaching to every imaginable place.

♪ ♪

We've been building skyward

for thousands of years.

From raising huge stone monuments,

to building massive pyramids,

to framing today's mega-tall skyscrapers.

DAVID FIELDS: Million dollar view.

NARRATOR: Each step higher

presents new engineering challenges.

Chicago's storied Michigan Avenue,

towering over 800 feet,

is 1000M--

a 73-story skyscraper under construction

along the city's lakefront--

where it will be fully exposed to the city's notorious winds.

LYNDA DOSSEY: You can see some pretty decent wind loads.

So we have some unique conditions here.

♪ ♪

DAVID STEFFENHAGEN: Each building is unique

and it's kind of its own recipe

that gets put together.

NARRATOR: Chicago is often considered

the birthplace of the skyscraper.

The Home Insurance Building, constructed in 1885,

is widely considered to be the first skyscraper,

though only ten stories tall.

Over the decades,

engineers have relied on a blend of art

and science to cope with wind.

NEHEMIAH MABRY: Not only are you considering

the wind as it is

naturally occurring in that space,

but you take a city like Chicago

in which there are several other tall buildings,

you have to design not just for how the wind

would naturally occur, but for how the wind

would also be altered by the tall buildings around it.

NARRATOR: David Fields is the chief structural engineer

at 1000M.

In our modern era, we're seeing buildings get taller

and taller and more and more slender.

This is pushing the ragged edge

of structural engineering

and what can be built and what can be cost effective.

NARRATOR: David is responsible

for ensuring the structure's strength and integrity.

And of all the forces that can damage a skyscraper,

wind is one of the biggest threats,

not only to the structural integrity of a building,

but to its very livability as well.

It can make people physically ill

with a kind of high-rise sea sickness.

It's a problem that only became apparent

as tall buildings evolved

from heavy structures like the Empire State Building

to today's lighter, steel-framed buildings;

like 1000M.

Originally designed by the late architect Helmut Jahn,

now overseen by architect Lynda Dossey.

DOSSEY: Architecture is a balance between beauty and function.

We are hired to solve a problem and solve it beautifully.

The ultimate goal is to deliver a feasible, functional building.

Looking at our structural plan...

FIELDS (voiceover): I think of structural engineering

as designing the bones within a body.

We think about

where to put a core, where to put bracing,

and that happens very, very early.

And it shapes, fundamentally,

almost everything within the building.

DOSSEY: I think you gave us an extra few feet.

(voiceover): Structural engineers and architectural engineers,

in some ways, they're cut from the same cloth.

We do push on them a lot to try and achieve

our aesthetic goals, but at the same time,

we have a responsibility

to safety and comfort.

NARRATOR: So why is wind such a problem?

FIELDS: As wind blows on a building at low speeds,

it tends to approach a building and wrap around it smoothly.

As the wind blows faster and faster,

it starts to eddy on the backside.

As wind blows even faster, those eddies--

we call them vortices-- they peel off.

They peel off the building rhythmically

and kind of side to side.

This gets a building rocking and swaying at high wind speeds.

DOSSEY: If you're building a rental building

or if you're building a condo building,

these are people's homes.

They live in them and you want them to feel

as comfortable there as they would anywhere else.

All right, well, here we are. Top of the building.

NARRATOR: Luckily, there is an ingenious engineering solution

under construction here on the top floor.

Two large concrete boxes, called mass dampers.

Both will be filled with water to suppress building sway.

As wind pushes the building in one direction,

the water with all its weight

sloshes in the opposite direction.

This counterbalancing motion "dampens,"

or offsets, the sway of the building.

Here we have a demonstration of tuned sloshing dampers.

We have two frames that have effectively

the same natural frequency.

Now on top of these, we'll put two identical damper boxes.

We'll fill one with just the right amount of water.

And we'll see both how much less it sways and how much quicker

the swaying stops.

NARRATOR: The box with water settles faster

than the box without water.

What works here is exactly the same

that works here on a much larger scale.

NARRATOR: The two large damper tanks

are located north and south of the building's concrete core,

to help combat frequent intense winds at high altitude.

The tanks are 40 feet long, ten feet wide,

and 15 feet tall and will hold up to 11 feet of water,

about 33,000 gallons each.

which is only about 0.2% of the mass

of the building itself.

♪ ♪

FIELDS: So this big box,

it's basically a swimming pool.

The water pressure will try to push it outward.

That's why we have rebar very densely

all throughout these walls.

NARRATOR: Next comes the outer formwork.

When complete, the construction workers will

pour concrete between the forms

to make the walls.

FIELDS: It's like the guys are working

with more urgency now that the forms are going up.

Everybody knows they got to get their part done.

NARRATOR: And although the construction team is very experienced,

people can still make mistakes.

FIELDS: Fortunately, we caught an issue

just before the form work went up-- at the bottom of the tank,

where the water pressure is greatest,

we have major piping coming through the wall.

NARRATOR: The builders failed to install critical rebar

at the weak point in the tank wall

created by the piping.

FIELDS: The guys are solving the issue.

This is happening about five minutes before

the formwork closes things up.

This never would have been seen if we weren't here.

NARRATOR: Embedding steel bars reinforces the concrete.

Concrete is very strong in compression,

but it's brittle.

Steel is flexible-- so combining the materials

creates a structure both strong and resistant to failure.

It's going to have 24 inches of un-reinforced concrete,

so we can kind of trim it out.

SEAN TATUM: Having the engineers on site it's critical

because they have very in-depth knowledge,

obviously, of the structural design.

This way, if there are any issues that arise,

those get to be mitigated up front very quickly.

Uh, and it makes everyone's job that much easier.

NARRATOR: With the damper tank mold now fully constructed,

it's time to pour the walls.

♪ ♪

(concrete pouring)

Then, just as the pour is ending,

a storm rolls into Chicago.

(lightning strikes)

It's the perfect opportunity

to get a benchmark reading of how much

the building sways

before the dampers are filled with water.

David holds a monitor connected to an electronic motion sensor

called an accelerometer.

It's attached to the building, and reports sway

measured in fractions of G-- Earth's gravity force.

FIELDS: So we're taking our first frequency measurements

of the building; as extreme as this feels,

the wind, the rain, the thunder and lightning

we're seeing and hearing, this is nothing

compared to what the building is designed for.

The building's moving.

We're reading four milli-g right now.

These are our first dynamic measurements.

We'll take these back to the office,

decide how much water to put in the tank,

and then we're tuned.

NARRATOR: Using water to stabilize sway has roots in the 1800s,

when it was discovered that ships can achieve

greater stability by pumping water ballast into the hull.

The amount of water can be easily adjusted

as it's readily available at sea.

It's very much to an engineers' advantage

to think back on how other solutions

and other accomplishments and achievements

in the past can perhaps serve as starting points,

or even informers for what we are trying to do today.

All design is redesign.

So if you think about it, you're taking things

that have existed in the past,

but you're making them incrementally better.

You've thought about it in a new way,

or you're bringing in a new technology

that didn't exist before.

NARRATOR: When 1000M is nearly finished,

David returns to tune the damper,

making a final decision

about exactly how much water to put in the tanks.

So today is the culmination of six years of planning

and coordination and engineering.

And we'll finally see exactly how much water to tune it

and damp it, so it's comfortable for everyone who will live here.

Here we go.

FIELDS: I'll go check the inflow.

The water's flowing in.

DOSSEY: It's very exciting.

It means we're getting close to the end.

It's just a milestone moment.

FIELDS: We're turning on our application.

Right now, we have an accelerometer.

This is very sensitive.

So even on a modestly windy day like today,

we know exactly the motions we're getting to micro-g's;

these are tiny percentages of the acceleration of gravity.

Last time we took readings,

we were seeing roughly four milli-g's.

Today, we're down closer to one half of a milli-G.

Part of that's a function of the tanks being filled,

part of that's a function of

it's a less windy day to begin with.

By tomorrow morning when the tanks are full,

we should see the building sway being

about half of what it would otherwise be.

DOSSEY: That's one hell of a view. It is incredible.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It's views like this that reveal

just how extensively humanity has developed the land,

Yet over 80% of the oceans remain unexplored

and untouched.

There's a reason for that.

Of all the environments that support life on our planet,

the most forbidding and remote are the deep oceans,

where the furthest reaches lie more than six miles

below the waves.

WIDDER: Our ocean is the basis for life on this rock,

and we are impacting it in ways

we don't even begin to understand.

And the first step is always exploration.

CAMERON: The more you understand the ocean,

the more you love the ocean,

the more you're fascinated by it,

the more you'll fight to protect it.

NARRATOR: Urgency to combat climate change...

Here we go.

NARRATOR: ...has spurred new efforts

to explore ocean depths...

TRITON TEAM PILOT: The sub is extremely maneuverable.

LAHEY: Imagine a craft that allows you

to explore a part of our world

that you simply couldn't see any other way.

NARRATOR: Engineering a safe submarine is extremely challenging,

and mistakes can be fatal.

NEWS ANCHOR: Catastrophic implosion.

The unthinkable became all too real...

NARRATOR: In 2023, the world was horrified by the implosion

of the OceanGate Titan submersible

that was on an expedition to explore the Titanic.

The disaster killed five people,

including OceanGate's co-founder, Stockton Rush.

I've been safely down to the Titanic wreck site 33 times.

And to me, the idea that, that lives could be claimed

by an implosion in this day and age is almost unfathomable.

It was a bad idea.

And they were warned.

NARRATOR: The carbon fiber used in the hull

may have been a critical fail point.

The material is prone to buckling under pressure,

especially when combined with the elongated pill shape.

But that was the Titan,

not to be confused with the Triton submersible,

being manufactured in Sebastian, Florida.

Triton's design approach is rigorous.

Here engineers are building subs designed to take non-specialists

hundreds and even thousands of feet below the surface, safely.

Patrick Lahey is the co-founder of Triton Submarines.

LAHEY: Safety begins with design.

It carries all the way through to the selection of materials,

the formation of those materials into parts,

those parts made up into assemblies.

Those assemblies then tested and validated on their own,

then incorporated into the complete vehicle,

which is then tested again.

ARMANI: If you're an engineer, it is your responsibility

to do things in a manner

such that the end product is safe.

Because at the end of the day,

people are relying on you to make a safe product.

NARRATOR: Altogether,

their subs have logged tens of thousands of hours underwater

without any incident.

Increasingly, the vehicles are being used

for scientific research, filmmaking,

and underwater exploration.

LAHEY: So this is our most compact three-person sub.

The pilot sits in the back, two passengers in the front.

They have this incredible, completely unobstructed view

from this acrylic pressure boundary.

NARRATOR: The pressure boundary is a perfectly round plastic orb

that is transparent.

It's like being in a goldfish bowl,

only the fish are on the outside,

and the people are on the inside.

And it's invisible.

You really feel like you're a part of the ocean.

NARRATOR: The boundary's main job

is to keep occupants safe from the crushing water pressure

pushing in from all sides.

A sphere is one of the strongest shapes in nature.

A spherical hull experiences the same amount of pressure

at every point on its surface,

minimizing the chances of structural failure.

So far, the only subs that have made it

to the bottom of the Mariana Trench--

more than six miles below the surface--

carried their passengers in spherical enclosures.

And all were made of metal, like steel or titanium.

Test, test.

We good on audio?

NARRATOR: Film director and ocean explorer James Cameron,

who is an investor in Triton,

wants more people to experience the deep the way he has.

CAMERON: The goal of Triton Subs

is to make the best commercial--

which also means scientific-- subs in the world,

and to make them widely available.

NARRATOR: In 2019,

a Triton titanium spherical enclosure sub

completed one of the most ambitious

global expeditions in modern history,

taking people--

numerous times-- to the deepest spot

in each of Earth's five oceans.

Including the Challenger Deep, in Mariana Trench.

(cheers and applause)

The geometry of a sphere

limits its usable space.

The designers wanted to increase the number of passengers

beyond what a sphere could reasonably hold,

so they settled on an elongated shape

made from a common, yet deceptively strong material:

acrylic.

JOHN RAMSAY: Acrylic is an incredible material.

It's completely transparent.

Unlike glass, where even after six inches,

you're starting to see quite significant discoloration.

NARRATOR: Increasing the thickness of the acrylic

increases its strength

and ability to resist the pressure of the water,

while retaining visibility.

It's completely different from anything that's preceded it.

We wanted to be able to put the most people

into the smallest volume possible.

NARRATOR: When it's complete,

this sub will hold up to nine people,

including a pilot.

they call it AVA.

It's designed to safely dive depths of up to 600 feet.

The unusual shape is the work of engineering firm Dark Ocean,

and their principal designer, John Ramsay.

RAMSAY: To accommodate nine passengers,

it's incredibly difficult to do that in a,

in a traditional sphere.

The way the 660/9 AVA works

is it just takes that sphere and it optimizes it

for the passengers inside

by stretching it out and allowing everyone

to sit side by side.

NARRATOR (archival): Down into worlds never before seen...

NARRATOR: This design draws from decades of research on acrylics.

RAMSAY: There's an 800-page kind of

bible of submersible acrylics and you can

go through and see

every bit of testing that was done.

The material that makes this possible

is acrylic plastic. (knocking)

CAMERON: Everything you do in engineering

is based on what other engineers before you have done.

If somebody's got a great, elegant solution,

why reinvent the wheel?

NARRATOR: At the factory,

the team is attempting to attach AVA's pressure hull

to its steel chassis.

They've never had to maneuver a shape like this.

Okay, uh, Chris bring yours up a little bit.

(cranking)

NARRATOR: One slip,

and the acrylic could be damaged or scratched.

One, two, three... Just the corner.

NARRATOR: The team positions the metal chassis

beneath the elliptical hull.

It needs to go towards you a little bit, Monroe.

(indistinct chatter)

Ready?

(straining)

That doesn't look bad.

Let's just keep a little bit of tension on it.

MAN: Yep, it has tension still.

NARRATOR: Despite the best efforts of the engineers...

There we go.

NARRATOR: ...there are still small adjustments to be made.

ARTHUR MUTTOCK: So we are trying to thread in this big pin now.

Some of the bits of machine

to within a tenth of a millimeter

or less to, to get that nice fit.

STOTT: Come back, Monroe, a little bit.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Go...

Hold tension, it's slipping.

Give me a freaking heart attack.

STOTT: I mean it is so freaking close.

It's not going to go anywhere right now.

So just come down on your forks, Monroe. Okay.

Tilt forward.

Okay. Backup.

NARRATOR: The acrylic hull is secure for the moment.

But they'll have to stop for the day

to tweak the size of the screws.

Does it always go according to plan?

No.

Am I really pleased with how far we've got today?

Oh, yes.

MABRY: When we're solving problems, when we're building things,

we're engaged in this process of getting our hands dirty

and actually doing some trial and error testing

to see if what we've, we've built

was effective, if it worked.

NARRATOR: Testing needs to be particularly rigorous

when lives are at stake.

HAJIMIRI: You are implicitly relying

on the people who designed it and built it

to make sure that they've thought about how

it can fail, and if they've come up

with ways to get around that.

NARRATOR: Today, every new vehicle,

be it a car, airplane or submarine,

is subjected to thorough testing and review

throughout the engineering process.

(crash)

The true testament to its reliability ultimately hinges

on obtaining certification from an independent third party.

LAHEY: They make sure

that your assumptions are not flawed,

that you're not doing something

that could be dangerous,

that it complies with

an internationally recognized set of rules.

NARRATOR: The failed Titan submersible was never officially certified.

CAMERON: If you're putting passengers on a sub,

you need it to be qualified

by some independent body,

whose job it is to make sure

that that vehicle is safe.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

We are going to try to launch

just before noon.

NARRATOR: The AVA sub is now ready for its first dive.

Senior approval engineer Ionel Darie

is on-site today for final checks

of all the sub's vital systems,

making sure the submersible is safe

for passenger dives down to 600 feet.

DARIE: Everything went great,

we can issue the final certificate

for this submersible.

NARRATOR: After getting the green light,

The sub is ready to make a shallow dive.

(hydraulics hissing)

MAN: Top sides, top sides.

Hatch is closed, life support is on and good.

MAN (on radio): Roger, you have permission to dive.

(splashing)

And we're on our way.

♪ ♪

MUTTOCK: Amazing.

I mean, this is the first time I've been down,

and it's been two and a half years of work.

This is the result, and it's a magnificent one.

Really loving this.

NARRATOR: If Triton is able to fulfill its mission

of building more submersibles,

many others will soon be able to have their first ride

into the deep ocean.

WIDDER: This is this other universe

that is most of our planet,

and it's such a magical place.

And to be able to now explore it

in comfort is a phenomenal ability

that is open to more and more people.

(indistinct radio communication)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Our inventions can act as force fields

between our bodies and the environment,

protecting us from extremes.

You can see them all around us:

what we live in,

what we move in,

and even what we wear.

At a textile research laboratory in North Carolina...

♪ ♪

...engineers are preparing to set a mannequin on fire.

(igniting)

(flames roaring)

Their goal: collect data that will help make

safer fire-fighting suits.

And researchers are also focused on

finding solutions for women firefighters

who often struggle to work in suits

typically designed for men.

(flames crackling)

ROGER BARKER: What we do can be life-saving.

So there are no higher stakes than that.

Textiles are the unsung heroes of the world, period.

(sirens wailing)

NARRATOR: As firefighters battle flames and smoke,

their clothing and gear is the first line of defense.

But their suits can also contribute to a hidden danger:

heat stress,

when the body's core temperature and heart rate

rise to unsafe levels.

About 40% of work-related firefighter deaths

are the result of cardiac incidents due to heat stress.

The big question:

how can we keep firefighters safe from flames

and keep their body temperatures within the suit

from rising to heat stress levels?

For decades, Roger Barker and his team

have been building new instruments and test methods

to measure both thermal protection and comfort.

An earlier iteration of their mannequin couldn't move.

In a real-life situation,

a firefighter would almost never be stationary.

After three years of development,

researchers are ready to light up

their moving mannequin.

Fire it up, John.

(beep)

(flames roaring)

NARRATOR: Thermal sensors throughout its body

allow them to study how heat is transferred

or blocked by the clothing--

and if this motion creates new avenues

for hot air to enter and move inside the suit.

BARKER: So now we're seeing the combined effects of the flame

and the stresses that are being generated

as the dynamic pyroman moves their arms and their legs.

(flames roaring)

NARRATOR: With mannequin simulations,

they can predict how long it will take

for a firefighter to sustain burns.

They also test for seams breaking open, fabric ruptures,

and the effects of garment fit and design.

The tough outer shell protects against flame and abrasions.

The middle layer is a moisture barrier

that keeps liquids from penetrating the suit.

The innermost layer resists any remaining heat

that gets through the first two layers.

This system offers high protection--

up to a point.

(light clicks off)

A proper fit and design also play a protective role.

MCQUERRY: Trying to create

that optimum balance between

protection and comfort

for all firefighters

is so important.

NARRATOR: And for women in the field in particular,

an ill-fitting suit designed for a man

can put them at higher risk of injury while on the job.

HILARY DAVIDSON: The fabric on its own isn't going to save you.

It can be the most engineered, up-to-date,

advanced composite fabric,

but how it's put together,

how it's worked around the body,

the fit, every kind of material aspect

of how that fabric is used

that is going to really make it an effective technology.

NARRATOR: Today, there are about 90,000 women

in the fire service in the United States.

80% report that their gear does not fit properly.

CASSANDRA KWON: They are doing the exact same

actions, the same motions, as their male counterparts.

So, you know, they should have something

that actually works for them.

NARRATOR: The goal for this research team

is to develop and design a prototype suit made specifically

for female firefighters.

MCQUERRY: A large majority of

firefighting PPE on the market today

is made with a male body in mind,

and it's patterned in that way.

There is sizing for women,

but that sizing is not always achieved by

initially starting from

a female pattern.

NARRATOR: Women also vary more in shape than men do.

Males are a little bit more up and down,

while females have curves

because of the hips and the bust areas.

I've always had an issue with the fit of my jacket

needing more space up in the chest area.

NARRATOR: In order to accommodate,

women will often be given larger jackets.

DONAHUE: Whenever you go up in sizing for jacket,

it makes down here larger as well.

So, you know, you've got the good mobility and fit up here,

but then sometimes

down here, you're going to have some extra fabric.

MCQUERRY: So a really tailored fit is important.

It's critical for their mobility,

for their vision.

It's also critical in terms of heat stress.

NARRATOR: An oversized garment creates thicker air gaps,

increasing insulation and potential protection

from outside heat, but larger air gaps

also restrict the firefighter's ability

to lose body heat to the outside environment,

trapping heat inside the suit.

KWON: We've had female firefighters

say that the collars on their jacket are really tall.

The length of it rising up from the collar bone

and how much it takes up your neck.

KWON: If you're a smaller stature female firefighter,

that can be problematic,

because when you're wearing your SCBA mask, your helmet,

you really start limiting mobility.

And if even... (helmet knocking)

...the air pack itself,

my helmet really hits it.

So it's hard to look up,

so you can see what's going on above you.

Imagine you're in a fire,

you have everything sort of caught here at your neck.

You're putting yourself at higher risk for injury

because of your minimized range of motion.

NARRATOR: Protecting the body from the elements

is a pursuit as old as we are.

♪ ♪

(sewing machine whirring)

DAVIDSON: The history of clothing is also a history of

the relationship between people and their environments.

Although humans started off taking the skins

of other animals and putting them on their skin,

once they discovered

how you can use plant fibers to make, first of all,

string and thread, and then weave that together

and make fabric.

Fabrics have always kind of

started and then inspired

new types of innovations and technologies.

NARRATOR: Like the invention of the eyed needle.

The first ones were made of bone.

And once you have this concept of

bringing two things together,

a whole lot of engineering possibilities open up to you.

♪ ♪

It gives us seams.

It gives us tight seams,

which means you can start to think about

having things waterproof or windproof.

NARRATOR: Or even fire-resistant.

Earlier firefighter suits were made of wool,

chosen for its natural flame resistance.

Today's suit offers much better protection from fire,

but it's not as breathable,

meaning body heat can get trapped more easily

than it did with wool.

Firefighting is physically demanding work.

KWON: You're working hard,

you're entering a hot environment.

You know, you create all these microclimates

inside your suit.

BARKER: Working at high levels of exertion,

if their body traps too much heat,

they may be subject to heat stroke

or even worse, cardiac events.

NARRATOR: One of the ways our bodies try to cool down

is by sweating.

But that only works

if the sweat can evaporate.

A suit's ability to release heat

is measured with this female mannequin named Liz.

♪ ♪

She sweats through nearly 100 pores

designed to mimic human perspiration.

When clothed in firefighter gear

and made to move in a hot environment,

sensors can detect where the hot spots are.

Where the clothing is not allowing evaporation

to occur or the heat to be released--

shown here in red.

And where heat is escaping more efficiently,

cooling the body, shown in blue.

For Liz, her torso, chest, and hips

are retaining the most heat.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: To make protective garments

specifically for the female form,

the research team will need a whole new set of measurements

to make new patterns.

One. One, two...

KWON: We're in the process of

collecting anthropometric data

on hopefully as many female firefighters as we can.

NARRATOR: Anthropometric data

is information about the body's shape and proportions.

You're gonna do a front shot,

then it's going to ask you to turn to the side...

NARRATOR: The team is using three methods

to collect the measurements.

SCANNER: Please move feet

slightly further apart.

NARRATOR: First, a remote scanning application.

SCANNER: Well done.

Your body scan is complete.

NARRATOR: Second, a 3D scanner.

Finally,

hand measurements for verification.

RESEARCHER: 33.2.

NARRATOR: They will turn the patterns

into fire suit mockups.

KWON: Then, the next goal

of our research is to develop those

into wearable prototypes, which we then plan to pilot.

ADAM STELTZNER: Fabrics are

one of the many things

that are taken for granted in our modern life.

That this piece of fabric was engineered.

We think of it as a shirt.

Your t-shirt is engineered.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: One major leap was

the transition from natural fibers like silk and cotton

to synthetics.

(sewing machine whirring)

Before World War II,

most parachutes were made of silk.

DAVIDSON: Silk is very light,

but it's very strong.

That's why it was used for parachutes.

NARRATOR: But in 1935,

a new textile was invented at DuPont,

a chemical company.

So they developed this new material

called a polyamide,

which we now know as nylon.

(clicking)

NARRATOR: Nylon, with other synthetics,

eventually made it possible for us to walk on the moon.

And all along the way,

women were helping us to reach greater

and greater heights.

So, Sophia can come out now.

Think maybe some holes in...

MCQUERRY: Having a group of women

that really understand the female body

is so important in the work that we're doing.

We all come at the problem

with different perspectives,

different backgrounds, different areas of expertise.

KWON: The other thing that really keeps us in it,

is the enthusiasm of all the female firefighters.

Wow. Yeah...

KWON (voiceover): Because once they get it,

they're like "Oh yes," you know,

"Now I can actually speak up.

I can be heard and I can be acknowledged."

This scan looks like it came through really well.

(voiceover): It's an iterative process.

We are constantly going to have to make changes.

As we continue getting that out to

the firefighting community,

and, you know, and as long as there's

some level of acceptance,

I mean, we'll slowly be-- I think--

moving in the right direction

of sort of implementing,

you know, change for the better.

♪ ♪

(zipper sliding)

NARRATOR: Woven fabrics can be

engineered to protect here on earth.

But what about in one of the most challenging

environments of all?

The harsh vacuum of outer space.

When crews first occupied

the International Space Station in 2000,

it marked the beginning of over 20 years

of continual human residence

in space.

But NASA plans to retire

and de-orbit the station in the 2030s.

The hope is that it will be replaced,

and then some.

MALIK THOMPSON: We're going back to space to stay.

We've proven that we can live in space for long periods

in the International Space Station,

and now we're pushing the envelope again.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: A variety of companies

are eager to join this new phase of space habitation,

which holds promise

for scientific breakthroughs.

LICAVOLI: It's really Sierra Space's mission to

fill that gap, fill that void,

have an opportunity to

have a platform in space.

NARRATOR: NASA contracted Sierra Space

to develop a new generation

of inflatable habitats designed and built

to allow humans to live and work in space,

as well as on the moon, and eventually on Mars.

♪ ♪

The habitat is called LIFE,

for Large Integrated Flexible Environment.

Today's engineering challenge

is to destroy it.

BUCKLEY: We're at Marshall Space Flight Center.

For today's event,

we're doing what's called an ultimate burst test.

We're going to take this article,

and we're going to pressurize it until it fails.

Huge explosion,

equal to 150 sticks of dynamite.

It's going to be epic.

HARRIS II: They are in the exciting process

of watching their program

intentionally fail. (chuckles)

They're in that learning mode

where, you know, they go out and say,

"we're going to blow this thing up."

NARRATOR: One unique feature of the LIFE habitat

is that it can be compressed

to fit into a single rocket's payload housing.

♪ ♪

And then inflated by a factor of six

when deployed in space.

We have these goals of going to the moon, or going to Mars.

A lot of focus is being there.

Not everyone's thinking about actually living there.

And so this is where we start to fill in those gaps.

BUCKLEY: A LIFE article is 300 cubic meters.

We can put three floors inside this,

have up to six people live inside this

for months on months.

NARRATOR: At the core of the LIFE habitat's technology

are what are known as soft goods:

flexible, immensely strong materials

that can be tightly packed down

and then inflated.

(air hissing)

The LIFE habitat is made up of four different layers,

each with its own purpose, such as holding in air,

providing insulation,

and repelling dangerous micrometeorites,

which can travel at tens of thousands of miles per hour

and are common in outer space.

But the most critical layer of the LIFE habitat

is the restraint layer, or primary structural shell,

which the company is testing here.

The restraint layer

is composed of hand-sewn pieces of fabric

made of high-strength synthetic space-age material

called Vectran.

BUCKLEY: Vectran is a chemically spun material

made to be harder than steel.

So it comes in a thread,

and then that thread is woven into a strap.

You could hang seven cars on this strap,

and that strap would never break.

NARRATOR: Like so many modern technologies, at its core,

the habitat and its Vectran webbing

depend on age-old knowledge.

In this case, on the art and science

of making baskets out of plant fibers.

BUCKLEY: When you're designing structural systems,

you don't start from scratch,

and basket weaving has been around

for thousands of years,

but we've applied it

so you can use it in space.

NARRATOR: Today's test is crucial

for assessing how the LIFE habitat manages

the air pressure introduced in space.

At sea level on earth,

the average air pressure

is around 15 psi-- pounds per square inch.

That's the normal pressure that will fill the habitat.

However, the structure has to withstand

significantly higher pressures

to prevent any risk of a disastrous explosion.

That's where today's test comes in.

Humans are very...

squishy,

and they don't play well

outside of their own environment, being Earth.

So when a new habitat is developed,

a lot of intentionality goes into it,

so that the human body

is not exposed to things like radiation,

extreme temperatures,

lack of oxygen, and anything that could be

flying around out there in space.

BUCKLEY: The LIFE habitat

is following the NASA guidelines

for operating pressure safety,

which is a times four safety factor.

So we have a 15.2-psi operating pressure.

We times that by four, it gives us a 60.8.

NARRATOR: To reach the desired pressure of 60.8 psi,

the habitat will be connected to air pumps

regulated by valves controlling the flow of air.

The team will monitor the habitat's inflation

from a control room more than a quarter mile away.

BUCKLEY: We have sensors on the top and the bottom of the article,

which are going to give us what we call strain data.

All those thousands and thousands of data points,

our analysts are going to take and take a look at it,

so we can validate on Earth

how our modules operate,

along with validating it in space.

NARRATOR: Today's test will be the first ever

of such a large inflatable structure.

Come on! (man replies indistinctly)

NARRATOR: But the team has already done

several smaller burst tests.

BUCKLEY: You want to build articles fast,

test, get that data.

(exploding)

Prior to this,

we did four articles,

which gave us that data to catapult us

and give us the confidence to go on to

our first full-scale burst.

(blasting off)

NARRATOR: Central to the habitat concept

by NASA and Sierra Space is the vision

that multiple structures

can be sent into space gradually

and linked together,

like buildings along a city block.

Modularity is key to this concept.

If you have a modular design

that you can configure any way you need to.

BUCKLEY: You're going to have a medical facility,

you're going to have exercise, you're going to have

a place for people to live, to enjoy themselves in space.

NARRATOR: As the team prepares for the evening's burst test,

Beth Licavoli makes her final checks

on the LIFE habitat's vast array of wires and sensors.

We're pretty much looking ready for burst.

NARRATOR: Safely watching from the control room,

the team monitors the test in front of a dozen screens

that will capture the burst.

BUCKLEY: So right now, we're inside the test room

and we're taking a look at

what is happening on the screens

and we're preparing everything for the test.

(rumbling)

Main site's been closed down,

everything is good to go.

NARRATOR: The habitat sits out under the lights

at one psi, but that soon changes.

JONAH BURGIN: We are pressurizing to

15 psi, for a five-minute hold.

LICAVOLI: Oh, you can hear it.

Yeah? Go time.

Fill rate?

LICAVOLI: Uh, 3.06 psi per minute. I'd expect...

BURGIN: 35 psi, 35 psi.

All right. All on the way to burst.

BUCKLEY: Here we go, let's do this. LICAVOLI: All right.

NARRATOR: But about half an hour into the test,

something is going wrong.

The flow of air has started to slow.

LICAVOLI: We're slowing down.

NARRATOR: But the team still hopes they can meet their goal.

BUCKLEY: Gotta hit 61.

BURGIN: Then call at 61? Okay.

BUCKLEY: 61.

This is where it gets dicey.

BUCKLEY: Hear a little movement.

LICAVOLI: Come on, any second now.

61 psi, 61 psi.

(cheers and applause) Well done!

(clapping) Fantastic.

LICAVOLI: Let's keep going, though.

BUCKLEY: That is amazing.

NARRATOR: They've reached NASA's target psi,

but the habitat is not filling as fast as expected.

BUCKLEY: Are we fighting it now?

BURGIN: Yeah, yep.

LICAVOLI: Oh my gosh, yeah.

NARRATOR: One potential explanation--

a leak.

That could be disastrous in space.

BUCKLEY: Are we still dropping?

LICAVOLI: Yeah.

NARRATOR: About an hour into the test,

they decide to end it--

short of their ultimate goal.

BURGIN: R.O.V. 311 closed.

(team members confirm)

TEAM MEMBER (over comms): R.O.V. 311 closed.

BUCKLEY: Close it, let it leak down.

NARRATOR: the lack of an explosion

is a major disappointment.

Testing to failure is crucial to

understanding the habitat's ability to withstand pressure.

After the habitat

is depressurized and safe,

the team gathers to determine the source of the leak.

TEAM MEMBER: All those straps want to be

aligned with the bottom of the plate.

So there is nothing pushing on that bladder

or doing anything like-- I would, I would highly doubt

there's a leak right there. Okay.

BUCKLEY: There's an air of excitement,

and then there's air of like, "Aw, I wanted a big burst!"

Yeah, it's... You know, you want to take it to that failure.

LICAVOLI: This valve seems like our culprit.

We over-pressurized it.

NARRATOR: As air pressure built up in the valve,

it overcame the force of the spring holding it closed,

allowing air to escape.

BUCKLEY: When we found out that it was the valve,

a little bit of a sense of relief,

you know, knowing that the design of the structure

was very viable.

NARRATOR: They decide to shut the problem valve off.

Fortunately, the remaining working valve

is still able to inflate the habitat.

The following night,

the group is back in the control room.

BURGIN: 25 psi,

25 psi.

BUCKLEY: Got our fill rate?

2922. 2922.

PSI per minute.

Ramp to burst.

TEAM MEMBER: Just keep going.

BURGIN: 55 psi.

Went better than last time.

BURGIN: 55 psi.

63 psi, 63 psi.

(room clapping)

NARRATOR: They have reached the same pressure

as the failed test the night before.

Keep going. Going to burst.

NARRATOR: And it keeps rising.

BURGIN: 70 psi. TEAM MEMBER: 70 psi...

BURGIN: 75 psi.

76 psi.

This is insane.

I think I heard a little pop. This is insane.

(loud burst)

Oh! (cheers and applause)

(booming)

(shaking)

(booming, cheering continues)

All right, high-fives, high-fives.

BUCKLEY: Well done, guys.

LICAVOLI: This is the first one

that we could really feel the ground shake

in this control room, which is incredible.

To see it, to really be here.

It's kind of surreal.

NARRATOR: And now they know the habitat's limit--

77 psi.

BUCKLEY (voiceover): It was just an amazing moment.

It's one of those things you don't forget in your career,

and you always talk about it.

(explosion roaring)

NARRATOR: We're constantly on the move.

Expanding our reach upward, outward,

and toward new horizons.

MABRY: Engineering is a process. You take the baton

and continue to engineer our world

and to build things further,

bigger, better, more efficient

and more valuable.

The whole human experience, you could say, is

an experiment in engineering

of a society that's better,

and that's why

everything that we do is built upon

what has been done in the past.

NARRATOR: Throughout history,

we've never been content to stay put.

HARRIS II: Engineering is not a modern-day thing.

Engineering is something that

expanded way into our past.

And I think it comes from curiosity,

It comes from the need for survival.

One, two, three.

NARRATOR: As we continue building on what has come before,

who knows what we'll innovate next.

ZILEVU: When we look at our lives,

and we look at technology

100 years ago versus now, we couldn't

imagine some of the things that we see today.

(booming)

NARRATOR: "Building Stuff,"

to reach beyond.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪