"In the beginning," "There was darkness." "And then, bang..." "Giving birth to an endless," "Expanding existence" "Of time, space, and matter." "Every day, new discoveries" "Are unlocking the mysterious," "The mind-blowing," "The deadly secrets of a place" "We call the universe." "They are humanity's" "Eyes and ears" "In deep space," "Exploring the plains of mars," "The geysers of Saturn's moon," "And the blazing surfaces" "Of distant stars." "They are space probes:" "Robotic explorers" "That are now humanity's" "Interstellar avatars." "They can go places" "And see things" "That we could never do" "From here on earth." "Space probes fan out" "Across the solar system," "Returning data" "That change everything" "We thought we knew." "If we could find indigenous" "Life elsewhere in our galaxy," "It would be" "One of the greatest discoveries" "In the history of humans." "Probes collide head-on" "Into icy comets," "Photograph the edge" "Of the universe itself," "Even seek planets" "In other solar systems." "We're at a golden age" "In the search and discovery" "Of earth-like planets." "A new generation" "Of robotic explorers" "Is redefining the galaxy itself" "By unlocking secrets:" "Secrets of the space probes." "The Universe - 5x05 August 26, 2010" "atthisverymoment," "Millions of miles" "From the earth," "Human beings are sampling," "Measuring, photographing" "And even sniffing the dust" "And gases of other worlds..." "But not in person." "theenvironmentof space" "Is very hostile to people." "It's got extremes" "Of temperature," "Extremes of vacuum," "High radiation Fields," "All kinds of things" "That are really inhospitable" "To human life." "oureyesandears" "Are robotic proxies" "Sent on missions" "To discover the secrets" "Of our solar system and beyond." "They are space probes" "And they were built to survive" "The hostile atmospheres" "And perilous worlds" "That mankind cannot." "ourspacemissions" "Are able to survive" "These difficult environments" "And they can go places" "And do things that we could" "Never dream of without them." "someprobes," "Like the Hubble space telescope," "Float comfortably" "In earth's orbit, while others," "Like deep impact in 2005," "Are ordered on kamikaze missions" "To smash satellite probes" "Into comets." "Others are sent to uncover" "The secrets of planets" "Like mars, Jupiter, Saturn," "Or their moons," "Imaging and analyzing them" "From orbit" "And landing on their surfaces" "To explore or dig for samples." "ourprobesareused" "To answer fundamental questions" "About planetary composition," "Atmospheric composition," "Geologic, atmospheric processes," "How are planets both similar to" "And different than earth" "And the g-picture question:" "Is there life?" "thehuntforlife" "On other worlds" "Began over 2,000 years ago" "When Greek astronomers" "Began gazing at planets." "In the 21st century," "Humanity is finally poised" "To find it." "sendingoutprobes" "Into the solar system" "And even beyond it is part" "Of a long-standing mission" "We've had to understand," "Not just ourselves" "Here on earth," "But the rest" "Of the solar system." "And in some ways," "That quest helps us learn more" "About ourselves" "In terms of where" "We may have come from" "And whether there are" "Any other examples" "Of the environment" "We see here on earth." "thelatestquestbegins" "With an ultra-high-resolution," "Digital infrared road map." "On December 14, 2009," "A delta rocket delivered" "A small package into orbit 300 miles above the earth." "It's called w.I.S.E.," "And it's creating the most" "Detailed infrared photograph" "Of the universe to date." "w.I.S.E.Isthewide-field" "Infrared survey explorer," "And it's a small-size telescope," "About 40 centimeters" "In diameter." "So that would sort of fit" "Under my arm here." "And it's surveying" "The entire sky" "At four infrared wavelengths." "Everything from the earth's" "Closest neighbors," "The asteroids and the comets," "To the most distant parts" "Of the universe." "unliketheHubbletelescope" "That generally images" "Wavelengths, visible" "To ultraviolet light," "W.I.S.E. Probes the universe" "Using infrared light." "humanbeingsperceive" "Infrared as heat." "When we feel the sun's warmth" "On our skin," "What we're really sensing" "Are the infrared rays" "Coming from the sun." "I'm pouring out infrared light" "As I sit here," "And we can use infrared" "To look for things that are" "Sort of similar temperature," "Like, for example, asteroids." "We can also use infrared to look" "For the most distant galaxies" "In the entire universe." "manyofthese" "Distant galaxies" "Can't be perceived" "In the visible light spectrum." "The w.I.S.E. Infrared telescope" "Becomes like" "A magic set of glasses." "so,justlikeafirefighter" "Uses infrared goggles" "To look through smoke" "In a burning building" "To find people," "Astronomers can use infrared" "To see through dust clouds" "To look for forming stars" "In their cores." "butrevealingthese" "Hidden heat signatures" "First requires" "An extreme deep freeze." "W.I.S.E.'s 4 million-pixel telescope" "Can only photograph" "Infrared images" "If the telescope is colder" "Than the objects" "It searches for." "so,weneedtomake sure" "That we're not blinded" "By the heat" "Of our own telescope." "On w.I.S.E.," "We use a tank of solid hydrogen" "That's frozen" "Near absolute zero," "And this keeps our telescope" "And our instrument cold." "Just like a cooler full of ice," "The frozen hydrogen" "On board w.I.S.E." "Is eventually going" "To sublimate away." "When we run out of all" "Of the hydrogen ice," "The telescope and the instrument" "Will warm up to the point that" "We'll no longer be able to see." "frozento" "Minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit," "The hydrogen can only last" "For about 10 months." "By that time," "Some 1.5 million photographs" "Will create a giant" "Composite picture" "Of the heavens:" "A cosmic road atlas" "That can reveal new worlds" "For future space probes" "To target," "Potentially," "Worlds with alien life forms." "But if we are to find alien life" "Many light-years from earth," "We'll need a critical clue" "To lead us there." "On earth, that clue covers 71% of our planet:" "Water." "oneofthemainreasons" "We're interested in finding" "Liquid water is that" "We really would like to know," "Is there life elsewhere" "In the solar system?" "Life on earth, as we know it," "Needs water to survive." "It needs water to form." "We hope to find life elsewhere," "And a signpost for life" "Might be first finding a place" "Where there's water," "Liquid water." "throughouthumanhistory," "There was no proof" "That liquid water existed" "Anywhere else in the universe" "Besides earth," "Until a sophisticated" "Space probe arrived" "On a mission of discovery" "To the planet Saturn in 1997." "Cassini traveled 400 million miles" "And took four years to begin" "A multi-year spy mission" "To uncover the secrets" "Of Saturn." "whenthecassiniprobe" "Got to Saturn," "Not only did it study" "All the moons and the planet" "In particular," "But then it went out" "Of the plane, changed its orbit," "And could look down" "On the rings." "oneringin particular" "Attracted cassini scientists." "weknewthatSaturn's" "Outermost ring, the "e" ring," "Was made of very small" "Micron-sized ice particles." "Micron-sized ice particles" "Don't last long in space." "We knew there was a source" "Of stuff in the Saturn system" "That was creating the "e" ring." "We guessed it was Enceladus." "whencassiniapproached" "The moon, Enceladus," "It witnessed" "A cosmic phenomenon" "And confirmed that water" "Was indeed a key ingredient" "On another world." "thecassinispacecraft" "Has detected water" "Under the surface of Enceladus," "And the way it was detected" "Was that these geysers" "Are coming out from fissures" "In the cracked surface" "Of Enceladus," "And the water freezes" "As it comes out" "Into the cold space" "Surrounding Enceladus." "theconstantstream" "Of water ice particles" "Feeds Saturn's "e" ring," "An icy reminder" "That if liquid water exists" "On remote planets" "In our own solar system," "It might be found elsewhere" "In the universe." "But Cassini's hunt for liquids" "Wasn't over." "It would have to use" "Its sensitive instruments" "To penetrate other atmospheres" "Of the Saturnian system." "thecassinispacecraft" "Has 12 science instruments." "Four of them are what we call" "Optical remote-sensing" "Instruments." "They see in the wavelength" "Of band that humans see" "Or just outside of it." "The spacecraft has filters" "That are designed to peer" "Through that haze and see" "Through to the surface below." "Cassini'sinstruments" "Are designed" "To gather intelligence" "With different tools," "Much the same way that humans" "Use our different senses." "Cassini'sdirect" "And remote sensors" "First began studying" "Saturn's moon, titan," "A place that some believed" "Could contain liquid water." "Titan is bigger" "Than the planet Mercury," "With a dense atmosphere," "Thicker than" "Even the earth's atmosphere." "In 1980, when the voyager" "Space probe flew by on its way" "To the outer solar system," "Its photographs hinted" "At another liquid phenomenon." "whatthevoyagerspacecraft" "Told us is that that atmosphere" "Is filled with hydrocarbons..." "Methane, ethane, that create" "A thick photochemical haze." "The voyager spacecraft" "Couldn't see through that haze." "whencassinibeganstudying" "Titan 25 years later," "It also launched" "A satellite spy probe" "Called Huygens." "The probe penetrated" "The thick hydrocarbon atmosphere" "And landed on titan's surface." "What cassini" "And its lander found" "Was shocking." "veryearlyon ," "Cassini and Huygens" "Had seen hints" "Of the evidence of fluids" "On the surface of titan." "Eventually," "They found hydrocarbons." "They found hydrocarbon lakes," "Some larger" "Than the Great Lakes." "These are the first open bodies" "Of fluids" "Found in the solar system" "Outside of earth." "thelakesarefilled" "By classic" "Earth-like rainstorms." "But on titan," "The raindrops are not h2o," "But slow-falling liquid methane." "alotof themethane" "On earth" "Is in the gaseous state." "It's called" "Natural gas, in fact," "And it comes" "From decaying organisms." "And they're still decomposing" "And they form this natural gas," "Which we can use as a fuel" "Here on earth." "titan'sliquidmethaneworld" "Could even harbor" "Simple life forms," "Much like the single-celled life" "Found in the depths" "Of earth's oceans." "sothere'salot" "Of excitement" "About the possibilities" "That could be out there." "Planetary systems out there" "Are active, interesting," "And very varied," "And we know that life" "Can take many different forms." "lifemightbe found" "On distant planets" "Orbiting other stars." "The problem is getting there." "But a new super engine" "With a propulsion system similar" "To microwave oven technology" "Is preparing to turbocharge" "Use it to run across town..." "Deep space travel." "Space probes can boldly go" "Where no human has gone before." "But for decades," "Scientists have wrestled" "With a harsh reality:" "Space probes can fail." "Every one that succeeds" "Is built upon a half century" "Of failed missions" "And shattered dreams." "The history begins in the 1960s" "With NASA's first attempts" "To reach" "Earth's nearest neighbors." "Our first ranger probes" "Were designed to take images" "Of the moon en route" "To smashing into the moon." "And our first six rangers" "Missed the moon entirely," "But we learn quickly." "And a few months" "After the ranger probes," "We sent a successful spacecraft" "To fly past Venus." "In 1962," "The American probe, mariner 2" "Is the first spacecraft" "To fly past Venus." "It reports" "That our nearest neighbor" "Is no place like home." "We used to think that Venus" "Might be like a twin sister" "Of earth" "With hot steamy jungles." "Well, the space probes" "Taught us that, sorry," "Venus isn't like that." "The NASA probe proves" "That Venus is too hot" "And its pressure is too great" "To support any life." "But in 1970," "The first probe to land" "On the planet isn't American," "But soviet." "The Venera probes" "Had an inner Shell," "An inner hull of titanium" "That was tough." "It could withstand," "At least for a while," "The crushing pressure" "And the intense heat" "Of the Venus surface." "So the early probes to Venus" "Got destroyed" "In just half an hour" "Or under an hour." "They were able to take data" "For only a short amount of time" "Before they got crushed." "But the data sent back" "Before Venera's destruction" "Is precise and surprising." "Conditions on the surface" "Of Venus are hellish." "The temperature is about 860 degrees Fahrenheit." "That's really, really high." "I mean the boiling point" "Of water is 212 degrees" "And lead melts at a temperature" "Slightly lower that 860." "So, you'd have molten lead" "On the surface of Venus" "If you had lead there." "It's a really bad place to be." "Venus is an extreme" "Training ground" "For probe scientists." "But there is a more distant" "And difficult goal," "One whose extremes" "Are even more destructive" "Than Venus:" "The outer planets." "And getting there requires" "More than just a big rocket." "One of the biggest problems" "With space probes" "Is having enough fuel" "To get where you're going." "If you do a rocket burn," "You burn a lot of fuel." "And if you keep doing" "A bunch of rocket burns," "You're gonna run out of fuel," "And then your probe is dead." "But there is a solution built" "Into the fabric of the cosmos:" "Gravity." "In the early '60s," "It was discovered" "That we can use" "The gravity of the planets" "To assist a spacecraft," "To speed it up" "To fling it further out" "Into the solar system." "That opened up" "The outer solar system" "To exploration." "The technique" "Is called gravity assist," "A virtual engine that harnesses" "The immense gravity" "Of planetary bodies" "To assist a spacecraft" "On a planned trajectory." "Hitting a baseball" "Is a lot like" "A gravitational assist." "The space probe comes" "Into a planet," "It gets caught by the gravity" "And redirected" "In another direction," "Just like hitting a baseball" "With a bat and it directs" "The baseball" "In another direction." "When the bat collides" "With the baseball," "It changes the baseball's" "Direction of motion" "And it can propel that baseball" "With a much greater speed" "Than what it originally had." "By harnessing" "The gravitational pull" "Of planets," "NASA has been able to hit probes" "Out of the park" "And to the outer planets." "Cassini's home-run journey" "Covered 170 million miles" "To the methane lakes" "Of Saturn's moon, titan." "Without" "Those gravity assists," "This spacecraft," "Which weighs 12 tons" "In earth's gravity," "Never would have made it" "To the outer solar system." "We don't have a booster" "Big enough to send it" "To Saturn directly." "We would not have explored" "Saturn" "Were it not for the gravity" "Of the inner planets." "Now, 21st century" "Space exploration" "Is poised to send probes" "Beyond the outer planets" "To distant stars." "But gravity assist doesn't have" "The power to get us there." "Traveling into deep space" "Requires propulsion" "That seems to come straight" "Out of science fiction:" "The ion drive." "Ion engines are like" "A mini linear accelerator." "You accelerate ions" "Out the back," "The spacecraft goes" "The opposite direction." "That ion engine" "Has very, very low thrust," "But it operates for months" "At a time, and eventually," "Gets the spacecraft" "Up to faster and faster speeds." "The ion engine replaces" "The chemical fuel" "With an inert gas like xenon." "The xenon is given" "An electrical charge," "Or ionized." "An electric field" "Then accelerates the ions" "Out the back of the spacecraft," "Propelling it forward." "Ion propulsion is not like" "Most rocket engines." "A standard chemical" "Rocket engine propels itself" "Like a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun." "This shotgun is actually" "A chemical rocket engine," "Just like the space shuttle" "Main engines." "I'm sitting on earth" "On a Dolly track." "So the question is," "Is there enough thrust" "From the shotgun to overcome" "The friction between the wheels" "And the track?" "A single blast" "Moves the Dolly" "About six inches." "A second blast" "Keeps the momentum going." "But now, replace" "The big double-barrel shotgun" "With a smaller weapon." "Now, I have a .22 rifle." "It's a little different" "Than the shotgun." "The shotgun shot" "Mini pellets out" "At a fairly moderate velocity." "The rifle shoots a small pellet" "Out at very high velocity." "Now, the difference is" "That this is more like" "An ion engine." "The .22 recoil moves" "The Dolly less than an inch." "Multiple shots" "Move it slightly more." "But if we were in space," "The .22 would be just" "Like the ion engine." "It would start pushing us slowly" "And eventually build up," "Till we reached" "A really high velocity." "By compounding tiny thrusts" "Through the vast," "Frictionless depths of space," "The ion engine can propel" "A probe for years." "The technology" "Could mean the end" "For massive rocket boosters" "In space probe travel." "Chemical fuels are a problem" "Because they're" "Pretty inefficient." "They weigh a lot." "They have a lot of mass." "And you have to transport" "All that stuff out there," "And that means" "The rockets that launch" "The spacecraft" "Have to be even more powerful," "Even more expensive." "Lightweight ion engines" "Have already passed" "The test in outer space." "They powered" "The deep space 1 probe" "In the late 1990s," "And recently propelled" "The probe, Hayabusa," "Of the Japanese aerospace" "Exploration agency" "And helped it land" "On an asteroid." "Ion engines will completely" "Change deep-space exploration" "Because we can go" "A lot more places" "Without having to carry" "A lot of fuel." "And we can get there," "In the end, faster," "Depending on where it is" "We're going." "One of the places" "We may be going" "Is our planetary neighbor." "Currently," "The European space agency's" "Mars express probe" "Holds the earth-to-mars" "Speed title at six months," "But one advanced ion engine" "Is expected to shatter" "That record." "An ion engine could cut" "The travel time to mars" "Down to just a mere few weeks." "Five weeks to mars" "Is only the beginning." "The next step in ion drives" "Will amp up its speed" "As much as 100 times faster." "It's called Vasimr," "An acronym for variable specific" "Impulse magneto-plasma rocket." "Vasimr's ion engine" "Gets an added" "Radio frequency generator" "And a second stage." "One of the key things" "Is it works kind of like" "A microwave oven." "Just like a microwave" "Beams electromagnetic energy" "Into the food to superheat it." "As the plasma gets superheated," "Then it's got way more energy," "It's got this really strong" "Magnetic field that takes" "That superheated plasma" "And shoots it out the back end" "At really high velocities." "The ions can be superheated" "To about one million degrees." "That's enough to send" "A probe far beyond" "Our solar system." "As rocket technology advances," "The gates of deep space" "Are swinging open" "To exploration." "All we need is a destination." "One space probe is right now" "Scanning the heavens" "For that destination:" "A new earth," "And possibly" "A new form of life." "Space probes" "Are on the cutting edge" "Of one of astronomy's" "Oldest quests:" "The search for another earth." "Now, a new generation" "Of robotic explorers" "Seeks evidence" "Of extrasolar planets." "And we're finding them." "An extrasolar planet" "Is simply a planet" "That orbits another star." "We have eight major planets" "Orbiting our sun," "And our sun is a typical star." "And so a question that" "Has loomed for centuries is" "Whether there are planets" "That orbit the stars" "That we see at night." "Since the days of Galileo," "Scientists have believed" "There must be other planets" "Among the billions of stars" "In the sky." "But the quest" "For extrasolar or exoplanets" "Wasn't successful" "Until 400 years after Galileo." "In 1995," "In the Pegasus constellation," "Just 50 light-years from earth," "Scientists discovered the first" "True extrasolar planet, 51 Pegasi b." "It was found" "Only through indirect clues." "We were only being able" "To find these extrasolar planets" "Using a technique" "Called star wobble." "If you have a big planet" "Like a Jupiter out there," "It would cause the star's motion" "To wobble." "But you couldn't really" "Sort of directly tell" "It was there." "Also called" "The Doppler effect," "The wobble is observed" "Through a telescope." "If the star's light" "Regularly shifts" "Toward red or blue wavelengths" "And then back again," "Then an orbiting planet" "Must be causing" "The light to shift." "In the last decade or so," "Astronomers" "Have been extremely lucky" "To find hundreds of planets" "Around other stars." "But the planets" "We've been finding" "Are the large ones:" "The Jupiters, the Saturns," "Some Neptunes." "We have not been able to find" "The earth-like planets," "If they're out there." "There are now hundreds" "Of verified extrasolar planets." "But are any of these planets" "Close enough for mankind" "To explore?" "That's what Annabelle c." "From Erie, Pennsylvania," "Wanted to "ask the universe,"" "When she texted us..." "Using theest propulsion" "Available today?" "Annabelle, that's a really" "Interesting question," "And, in fact," "There's no set answer." "Using today's technology," "A space probe could reach" "Another star" "In about 100,000 years." "The nearest known exoplanet is" "About 10 1/2 light-years away," "But there might be" "A more nearby one," "Or we might improve" "Space propulsion technology" "In the near future." "So maybe we could get that down" "To about 10,000 years" "In the relatively near future," "But something like 50,000 to 200,000 years" "Is a good answer for right now." "Finding" "The earth-like planets" "Means looking deeper" "Into the cosmos," "At dimmer" "And more distant stars." "A revolutionary method" "Of watching these dim stars" "Could soon pinpoint" "The first new earth." "It's called" "The transit technique," "And it offers a dead giveaway" "That an orbiting planet" "Is crossing between" "The star and our viewpoint" "From earth." "So, let's imagine" "This reflector" "Is like the face of a star" "And a bug flying" "In front of that reflector" "Is like the planet." "As the bug goes in front of" "And around this reflector," "It will block" "A little bit of the light" "From the reflector," "Just as would happen" "When a planet crosses" "In front of a sun-like star." "The amount of dimming" "Is often less than 1/10 of 1%" "Of the star's light output." "Barely noticeable," "But it's more than enough" "For one far-sighted space probe" "That's now scouting the cosmos." "We'd love to know if there's" "Another earth-like planet" "Out there somewhere," "And the Kepler mission" "Has a good chance" "Of being able to see it" "If there is one." "The Kepler space probe" "Is the powerful eye" "Scientists will use" "To find the earth-like planets," "The proverbial needles" "In the haystack." "The probe's telescope" "Is using a 95-megapixel camera" "To watch" "For the transiting planets." "The Kepler mission is using" "The so-called transit technique" "To search" "For new extrasolar planets." "With the transit technique," "Kepler is watching thousands" "Of stars," "Waiting for their light" "To slightly dim" "When a planet passes" "In front of the star." "The milky way is composed" "Of billions of stars," "And potentially," "Billions of earth-like planets." "The odds of finding one earth" "Orbiting one particular star" "Are very low." "So, Kepler will train" "Its unblinking eye" "On many thousands of stars" "At the same time." "Here I have a DVD" "To represent a planetary system" "With the star in the center" "And a planet" "Going around the outside," "And of course, most of the time," "The planetary system" "Is tilted to our line of sight." "And so, as the planet" "Goes around," "It never crosses" "In front of the star," "Blocking the starlight." "But if we're lucky," "And the orbital plane" "Of the planet is seen edge on," "Then the planet crosses" "In front of the star," "Blocking some of the starlight," "And dimming the star." "And so, you have to be watching" "Tens or even hundreds" "Of thousands of stars" "To be lucky enough" "To catch a few planets" "That happen to cross right" "In front of the star." "As the world waits," "Kepler watches" "The distant stars" "Moment by moment." "But if it does find a new earth," "What can we actually find out" "About it?" "What will it look like?" "Could there be life?" "Once Kepler finds" "Earth-like planets," "And I'm fairly sure" "It will be successful," "The next thing will be" "To try to analyze" "The light from that planet." "What's the chemical composition" "Of this earth?" "Does it have" "An oxygen atmosphere" "Or is it just carbon dioxide" "Or methane?" "Does the planet have continents" "And oceans," "Water on the surface?" "Currently," "We don't have the technology" "To analyze the atmosphere" "Of a distant earth-like planet." "But that's about to change." "In 2015," "The James Webb space telescope" "Will offer four times" "The imaging capability" "Of the Hubble space telescope." "It will allow scientists" "To observe tiny molecules" "In the atmospheres" "Of an earth-like planet" "That is potentially" "Thousands of light-years" "From the earth." "So we're at a golden age" "In the search and discovery" "Of earth-like planets." "This is it." "This is the moment" "When we humans are going to find" "The first earths," "Understand them," "Understand how common they are." "But we'd like to go farther." "Ultimately, space telescopes" "And interstellar probes" "Could actually go beyond" "Discovering new planets" "And discover their inhabitants." "If we could find" "Indigenous life elsewhere" "In our galaxy" "That's really quite independent" "Of that on earth," "It would be one of the greatest" "Discoveries in the history" "Of humans." "Life on other worlds could be" "Thousands of light-years away," "But critical clues" "Are constantly circling" "The earth." "They are comets," "And scientists are capturing" "Their dust trails" "And launching kamikaze probes" "To extract their icy secrets." "Space probes have pushed" "The boundary of our knowledge" "Of the cosmos." "As humanity enters" "A new golden age" "For interstellar exploration," "Some probes are uncovering" "Secrets much closer to home." "Our solar system" "Is full of fast-moving debris" "And particles," "Including the giant balls" "Of ice and dust called comets." "Comets are like" "Time capsules." "They're frozen remnants" "Left over from when" "Our solar system first formed 4 1/2 billion years ago." "We've had great success" "Studying comets with spacecraft." "The deep impact mission" "Actually slammed into a comet" "And recorded the whole event" "On video." "July 3, 2005," "NASA's deep impact 1 space probe" "Creeps within range" "Of the comet Tempel 1." "As the comet hurtles forward" "At about 23,000 miles per hour," "The probe launches" "An impactor satellite" "Directly into the path" "Of the four-mile-wide comet." "What it actually did" "Is it impacted the comet" "And caused a dust cloud" "To fly out of it," "Because the trick was," "We wanted to see" "What was inside the comet." "What is the comet" "Really made of?" "The impact ejects" "Some 11 million pounds of ice" "And up to 55 million pounds" "Of dust from Tempel 1." "It's the first time" "Scientists are able to record" "And study cometary material" "Up close." "And it reveals much about" "What a comet really is." "The space probes have told us" "That a comet is more like" "A frozen watermelon" "Than it is a dirty snowball." "There turns out to be a really" "Hard compacted layer of ice" "With dust mixed in with it," "And then the slushy" "Dirty snowball stuff" "Is on the inside." "It's kinda got a rind" "And then the watermelony stuff" "On the inside." "And as it gets closer to the sun" "On its orbit," "It heats up," "And then the water" "On the inside turns into steam" "And squirts out." "And that's why" "We see the dust trails" "And the geysers squirting" "Out of the comet." "The deep impact probe" "Returns stunning images," "But it doesn't actually catch" "A comet by the tail." "That's a job" "For the comet probe" "Called stardust." "In 2004, stardust" "Cruises within 149 miles" "Of comet wild 2." "So the stardust spacecraft" "Literally flew through" "The tail of a comet" "To collect that material" "That's being degassed" "Off the surface of a comet." "To capture" "The precious particles," "Stardust deploys a collector" "About the size and shape" "Of a tennis racquet." "Inside is a porous," "Sponge-like gel." "As the comet flies past," "The particles embed themselves" "In the gel," "At about six times" "The speed of a rifle bullet." "We're literally getting" "The material out of which" "The comets were made" "And surely the material" "Out of which the planets," "The asteroids," "The moons in our solar system" "Were also made." "We're getting nearly" "The pristine material," "The building blocks" "Of which our solar system" "Is composed and was built." "Once the material" "Is gathered," "The collector is stowed" "In a capsule." "And on January 15, 2006," "The precious samples" "Plummet back to earth." "Among the first secrets" "Discovered embedded in the gel" "Are glycine molecules," "An amino acid used" "By living orgasms" "To make proteins," "A fundamental requirement" "For sustaining life." "And there are some folks" "Who suggest" "That perhaps there could be" "Biological organisms" "Trapped in the ices" "On these comets." "Even, like, flu viruses" "Or something could be there." "Stardust didn't capture" "Any viruses," "But its discoveries" "Support the theory" "That the very building blocks" "Of the human race" "Could have formed in space" "And they were long ago" "Delivered to the earth" "By meteorites or comets." "An even more bizarre secret" "Is discovered" "Trapped in the gel," "Particles that even" "The farthest-reaching" "Space probes" "Haven't yet gathered:" "The actual material" "From other suns." "I believe they have found" "Some dust particles" "That appear to come" "From outside our solar system," "From other stars," "Because they have solar winds" "Themselves." "The dust particles are" "Flowing away from those stars" "And some of them happen" "To come into our solar system" "And they get captured" "By the stardust probe." "We have captured" "For the first time," "Literally, stardust" "From other stars." "That's amazing." "That's amazing." "The stardust analysis" "From comet wild 2" "Continues to this day" "And could yield" "Even more insight" "Into the origins" "Of our tiny corner" "Of the universe." "If you want to understand" "How our sun and planet" "Were formed," "You need to understand" "The material out of which" "We were formed." "But a better understanding" "Of our universe" "May come not from particles" "From distant suns," "But from the star closest" "To our home." "A revolutionary probe" "Is awaiting a launch date" "To fly headlong" "Into the hottest region" "That man has ever attempted" "To explore." "Space probes" "Now soar through the galaxy" "To explore the mysteries" "Of mars, Venus," "The outer giants," "The distant exoplanets" "And the farthest stars." "But our own home star still has" "Its unsolved mysteries." "That's about to change." "Previously," "We've looked at small areas," "Not the whole disk," "Or we've had gaps" "In our coverage" "Where we've looked for a day" "Or we've not looked for a day," "We've looked for part of day," "But not the whole time." "So this is really" "Our first chance to look" "At the sun as a whole star." "A high-tech solar probe" "Arrives in space," "Locked and loaded." "Its mission:" "Watch the sun 24/7" "In high-definition color" "And transmit" "Mega broadband images" "Back to earth." "The solar dynamics" "Observatory" "Takes images of the sun" "In very high resolution," "High definition," "In many wavelengths," "And essentially," "It takes movies of the sun." "Using four HD telescopes," "The SDO transmits" "An unblinking hi-def-like" "Channel to earth," "Uploading 50 times" "More science data" "Than any probe mission" "In NASA history." "It was really exciting" "To look at" "Some of the first images." "What we saw was" "Very small features" "In one place" "Having a big effect" "Someplace else." "So we could see something" "Near the center of the disk," "Center of the sun," "And you could see the connection" "Between that" "And what was happening 100,000, 200,000 miles away." "The advanced optics watched" "The sun in 10 different" "Light wavelengths, including" "The extreme ultraviolet." "This wavelength is so deadly" "That without earth's" "Upper atmosphere to filter it," "A day at the beach" "Would be fatal." "Our eventual goal" "Is to look inside the sun," "To see what's happening" "Below the surface:" "What the currents are," "What the motions are," "And how that all ties together" "In a big picture." "The SDO will activate" "A sensor, the helioseismic" "Magnetic imager," "That can see through" "The scorching solar surface." "The helioseismic" "And magnetic imager:" "We're using sound waves" "To probe inside." "Just like we do" "In a seismic way" "For earthquakes," "We can use sound waves" "Inside the sun to look and see" "What's happening inside." "So we look at the vibrations" "As they bounce off the surface" "And then try and figure out" "What's happening inside the sun." "It's this inner core," "The solar dynamo," "That scientists most want" "To demystify." "From here" "Come the unpredictable," "Violent eruptions" "Of high-energy material" "That can threaten the earth." "So, that material is charged," "Often in the form of what's" "Called a coronal mass ejection." "It's a huge amount of material" "In the form" "Of charged particles." "Those charged particles arrive" "Here at earth and interact" "With our magnetic field." "If you can get close enough" "To do direct measurements" "On that sort of activity," "We'd better understand" "How those processes work." "Getting close" "To planetary bodies" "Is something space probes" "Have been doing" "For half a century." "But getting a probe" "Close to the sun" "Is a suicide mission." "Or is it?" "Scheduled for launch in 2015," "Solar probe plus will fly" "Directly into the sun's 2-million-degree corona" "And survive." "Solar probe plus" "Will get very close to the sun," "Within eight or nine solar radii" "From the sun." "Now, for comparison," "The earth is 200 solar radii" "From the center of the sun." "So, solar probe plus" "Is gonna be immersed" "Within the corona." "The corona is" "A mysterious part" "Of the star we call the sun." "Though farther" "From the sun's core," "It's actually hotter" "Than the sun's surface." "But if a human" "Were to somehow get there," "They'd get a frigid surprise." "The solar corona" "Is very hot, millions of degrees" "In temperature." "That means the particles" "Are moving around" "Very, very rapidly." "So you might think" "That if you were immersed" "In the corona," "You'd get burned." "But there are so few particles," "That the total amount of energy" "Being transferred to a body" "Is less than the amount" "Of energy being radiated." "So, in fact, you would freeze" "If you were immersed" "In the solar corona, as long as" "You had a good heat shield" "Protecting you" "From the disk of the sun." "Solar probe plus" "Will come equipped" "With a lightweight" "Carbon-foam heat shield," "Allowing it to survive" "The massive heat," "The freezing effect," "And even operate" "Near room temperature." "When it completes its mission," "Solar probe plus" "Will reveal the structure" "Of the sun's magnetic Fields" "And explore the flow" "Of solar energy" "That heats the sun's corona" "And makes life on our planet" "Possible." "It's important to remember" "That the sun" "Is the nearest star." "So really, it's important" "To study the sun" "As part of the entire enterprise" "Of studying all the stars" "In the universe." "Ultimately, space probes" "Will bring us knowledge" "Far beyond the sun" "And into the distant parts" "Of our galaxy," "Where billions" "Of other suns burn" "And potentially," "A few blue planets await" "Future human explorers." "To learn" "Some of the most amazing secrets" "About our universe," "We need spacecraft" "Because they can go places" "And see things" "That we could never do" "From here on earth." "There's a deeper reason" "That we send probes" "Out into space." "We humans have it in our DNA" "To be curious and to explore." "And of course," "Probes that we send into space," "To the planets," "And ultimately to the stars," "Represent our migration" "Into the cosmos." "It is almost certainly" "Our destiny as a species" "To crawl off the planet earth" "And out into our galaxy" "And the universe as a whole." "Until that day," "Space probes will continue" "To peel back the wonders" "Of the cosmos," "And the universe will continue" "To give up her secrets, as these robotic avatars persuade humanity's quest for the stars."