1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 [slate] 2 00:00:00,020 --> 00:00:04,090 [slate] This is a great 3 00:00:04,110 --> 00:00:08,220 time this weekend, the next week or so to go outside and look at Mars 4 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:08,340 in the evening. The reason is that Mars and Earth in their 5 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,530 in the evening. The reason is that Mars and Earth in their respective 6 00:00:12,550 --> 00:00:16,610 orbits are lining up on the same side of the sun which means 7 00:00:16,630 --> 00:00:20,710 that Mars is relatively close and will look quite bright in the sky. 8 00:00:20,730 --> 00:00:24,840 If you go out right after sunset and look up in the southeast 9 00:00:24,860 --> 00:00:29,030 sky, you'll see the moon rising but you'll also see Mars nearby 10 00:00:29,050 --> 00:00:33,160 a very bright, reddish looking object in the sky 11 00:00:33,180 --> 00:00:37,270 and you'll know that you're seeing Mars at one of its closest times. 12 00:00:37,290 --> 00:00:41,470 [slate] 13 00:00:41,490 --> 00:00:45,510 We're so pleased that because Mars is fairly close 14 00:00:45,530 --> 00:00:49,660 to Earth now we were able to look at Mars with the Hubble Space Telescope and 15 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,840 get a new image. And because of Hubble's exquisite capabilities we can see 16 00:00:53,860 --> 00:00:57,910 a lot of detail. We can see features that are smaller than even 30 miles across. 17 00:00:57,930 --> 00:01:01,960 So if you look at our new image of Mars, you'll see all kinds of interesting 18 00:01:01,980 --> 00:01:06,060 detail. In the middle you see this orange looking 19 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,160 region of desert plains with cratered features. On the right 20 00:01:10,180 --> 00:01:14,340 hand side you see a cloudy region. Those are actually clouds surrounding a dormant 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,400 volcano. You can see dark bedrock regions to the north 22 00:01:18,420 --> 00:01:22,480 and south. You can see the polar regions. They look white 23 00:01:22,500 --> 00:01:26,590 The polar cap is a little small, it's summer in the northern hemisphere 24 00:01:26,610 --> 00:01:30,760 on Mars. And you can see wispy clouds around the region. It's a beautiful 25 00:01:30,780 --> 00:01:34,780 picture to look at. [slate] 26 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,890 Well because the Hubble 27 00:01:38,910 --> 00:01:43,050 Space Telescope has been in operation now for more than 26 years 28 00:01:43,070 --> 00:01:47,110 we've been able to watch the planets in solar system over time 29 00:01:47,130 --> 00:01:51,210 We've learned that they're very dynamic. For example Jupiter with its 30 00:01:51,230 --> 00:01:55,340 beautiful atmosphere is changing. That giant is red 31 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,500 spot for example, a big storm, is actually shrinking over time. 32 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,550 Other storms cropping up. We're also looking at places like Saturn 33 00:02:03,570 --> 00:02:07,650 and because Hubble has ultraviolet eyes, we can see things like 34 00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:11,740 the aurorae on the poles coming and going. Such interesting 35 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,880 dynamics weren't possible to see before over such long periods of time 36 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:20,060 We've also looked at things like comets and asteroids and found out that our solar system 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,070 is a very active place. 38 00:02:24,090 --> 00:02:28,220 [slate] Well the Hubble Space Telescope 39 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,260 is actually in wonderful scientific condition right now. 40 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,310 Because the astronauts that have visited Hubble from time to time over the years 41 00:02:36,330 --> 00:02:40,400 have done a wonderful job servicing this observatory 42 00:02:40,420 --> 00:02:44,510 The last time in 2009 did a wonderful job of putting in 43 00:02:44,530 --> 00:02:48,660 new instruments and capabilities. So Hubble is giving us the best science 44 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,730 we've ever had now. And we anticipate for the next few years that Hubble will keep 45 00:02:52,750 --> 00:02:56,810 doing superb science looking not only at the solar system but also 46 00:02:56,830 --> 00:03:00,930 at star forming regions in our galaxy, places where 47 00:03:00,950 --> 00:03:05,080 stars are actually dying and emitting their outer atmospheres. Looking 48 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:09,140 at other galaxies and seeing stars form in them. And also looking 49 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,240 at very distant galaxies to understand how the universe was shortly after 50 00:03:13,260 --> 00:03:17,350 it was formed. So we anticipate Hubble will be operating for years to 51 00:03:17,370 --> 00:03:21,520 come and will soon be joined in 2018 by the James 52 00:03:21,540 --> 00:03:25,600 Webb Space Telescope. That's a NASA facility we're really looking forward 53 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:29,700 to which will be an inferred giant space telescope 54 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,820 and both of these facilities will continue to give us outstanding new information 55 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,850 about the universe. 56 00:03:37,870 --> 00:03:41,900 [slate] With the Hubble Space Telescope 57 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,970 looking at Mars, we can see the planet as a whole. 58 00:03:45,990 --> 00:03:52,350 This gives us information about its global conditions. We can already 59 00:03:52,370 --> 00:03:56,400 see in this new image all these interesting features and the cloud cover. In the past when we looked at Mars 60 00:03:56,420 --> 00:04:00,480 sometimes we've seen even global dust storms. That helps us understand 61 00:04:00,500 --> 00:04:04,590 the global dynamics and it goes well with the information 62 00:04:04,610 --> 00:04:08,730 that we get from the probes and the rovers that are already at Mars. 63 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:12,770 Sampling its atmosphere, telling us about its soil. All 64 00:04:12,790 --> 00:04:16,820 this information is telling us about Mars composition 65 00:04:16,840 --> 00:04:20,910 its history, its present and its future. 66 00:04:20,930 --> 00:04:25,030 And it also tells us something about planet Earth. What's our history. 67 00:04:25,050 --> 00:04:29,240 How is our history related to the history of Mars. It's preparing 68 00:04:29,260 --> 00:04:33,300 us also for a future human mission to Mars. So all of these observatories 69 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,390 and tools work together to give us a complete picture of Mars 70 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:41,400 and the interesting science we can learn there. 71 00:04:41,420 --> 00:04:45,600 [slate] The Hubble Space Telescope 72 00:04:45,620 --> 00:04:49,690 has taught us interesting things. I think some of my favorite 73 00:04:49,710 --> 00:04:53,780 discoveries with Hubble include understanding that stars 74 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,930 formation is a very active process that we can actually 75 00:04:57,950 --> 00:05:02,150 watch in terms of seeing young stars at different phases of their formation 76 00:05:02,170 --> 00:05:06,210 We're also learning that the universe as a whole has changed in spectacular 77 00:05:06,230 --> 00:05:10,300 ways over time. With Hubble we've been able to see infant galaxies 78 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,450 over 13 billion light years away showing 79 00:05:14,470 --> 00:05:18,490 us what conditions were like in the universe shortly after it began and we can compare 80 00:05:18,510 --> 00:05:22,550 that with our own Milky Way galaxy is like today. So I think 81 00:05:22,570 --> 00:05:26,630 looking at the activity as well as the beauty of the universe 82 00:05:26,650 --> 00:05:30,750 has been my favorite achievements of the Hubble Space Telescope. 83 00:05:30,770 --> 00:05:34,870 [slate] 84 00:05:34,890 --> 00:05:39,020 You can see more of Hubble's images including this beautiful new image of Mars 85 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,110 at nasa.gov/hubble or on Twitter 86 00:05:43,130 --> 00:04:25,190 @NASA_Hubble. 87 00:04:25,210 --> 00:05:46,893 How is our history related to the history of Mars is preparing