WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:08.875 --> 00:00:09.843 (music throughout) As an aquanaut. 2 00:00:09.843 --> 00:00:11.811 That was just just an awesome experience. 3 00:00:11.811 --> 00:00:16.583 Definitely once in a lifetime to be able to go spend nine days, 4 00:00:16.583 --> 00:00:21.421 about 60 feet below the surface in an underwater habitat, 5 00:00:23.123 --> 00:00:24.524 and we would do a full end 6 00:00:24.524 --> 00:00:27.627 to end mission scenario simulating the Moon and Mars. 7 00:00:27.694 --> 00:00:30.030 That's where we really got to put to the test. 8 00:00:30.397 --> 00:00:33.299 What is exploration of these planetary bodies 9 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:41.574 going to look like? 10 00:00:46.980 --> 00:00:48.114 So when we have these 11 00:00:48.114 --> 00:00:51.384 what we call aquanauts living in this underwater habitat, 12 00:00:51.384 --> 00:00:54.788 we can simulate some of the conditions that the astronauts will experience. 13 00:00:54.788 --> 00:00:55.655 And we're actually able 14 00:00:55.655 --> 00:01:00.160 to have these aquanauts conduct, EVAs or extravehicular activities. 15 00:01:00.360 --> 00:01:03.530 Simply put, spacewalks outside of this habitat. 16 00:01:03.663 --> 00:01:06.833 So really being able to see that process 17 00:01:06.833 --> 00:01:10.036 from multiple different angles I think will be really beneficial 18 00:01:10.036 --> 00:01:15.442 as we start to nail down exactly what that's going to look like for Artemis. 19 00:01:17.177 --> 00:01:18.678 Artemis is taking humans for 20 00:01:18.678 --> 00:01:20.980 the first time to the Moon's South Pole region. 21 00:01:22.816 --> 00:01:24.150 This area of the moon features 22 00:01:24.150 --> 00:01:28.455 some of the coldest temperatures in the solar system. 23 00:01:29.089 --> 00:01:32.092 Artemis Astronauts will look for signs of frozen water 24 00:01:32.492 --> 00:01:34.861 and gather clues about the young solar system. 25 00:01:35.128 --> 00:01:39.365 When the planets and moons were just forming, flash forward 26 00:01:39.365 --> 00:01:42.836 to astronauts exploring the lunar surface with the Artemis program. 27 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:44.838 You know, they're going to be doing exploration. 28 00:01:44.838 --> 00:01:46.706 They're going to be visiting a site on the moon 29 00:01:46.706 --> 00:01:48.975 that no human being has ever visited before. 30 00:01:48.975 --> 00:01:52.479 And they're going to be taking pictures and describing rocks that they see. 31 00:01:52.612 --> 00:01:55.215 You know, collecting samples, deploying instruments. 32 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:59.018 And we want to, you know, have them experience all of these things 33 00:01:59.018 --> 00:02:03.123 here on Earth, of course, before they fly to the moon. 34 00:02:03.990 --> 00:02:07.360 NASA has been training astronauts in geology in geoscience 35 00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:10.029 for decades. 36 00:02:10.363 --> 00:02:13.366 These scientific fields help us understand the evolution 37 00:02:13.366 --> 00:02:16.769 of the physical and chemical makeup of planets and moons 38 00:02:19.172 --> 00:02:19.539 from their 39 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:22.742 deep interiors to their surfaces and atmospheres. 40 00:02:23.576 --> 00:02:27.147 Apollo astronauts had hundreds of hours of training in geology 41 00:02:27.647 --> 00:02:29.649 or the equivalent of a master's degree. 42 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:33.920 And Artemis astronauts will, too. 43 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:35.388 NASA's astronaut corps 44 00:02:35.388 --> 00:02:39.559 includes geologists like astronaut Jessica Watkins. 45 00:02:39.559 --> 00:02:45.031 Yes, so my job title is now astronaut, NASA astronaut. 46 00:02:45.298 --> 00:02:48.067 We all come into the astronaut office with, you know, 47 00:02:48.234 --> 00:02:51.171 a whole career in the in the rearview mirror in a lot of senses. 48 00:02:51.404 --> 00:02:54.507 For me, the way that I ended up kind of sitting in 49 00:02:54.507 --> 00:02:57.544 this seat was by keeping it in the back of my mind. 50 00:02:57.577 --> 00:03:02.849 So I became interested in Mars at a pretty young age, actually. 51 00:03:03.116 --> 00:03:04.417 I'm not sure. 52 00:03:04.517 --> 00:03:06.252 Somewhere around fifth grade. 53 00:03:06.252 --> 00:03:09.322 So this is this was in a defining time for my life. 54 00:03:09.322 --> 00:03:13.860 But I remember for some school project, you know, making a little book about Marty 55 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:19.699 The Martian, that love kind of carried through in college when I found geology, 56 00:03:19.866 --> 00:03:24.938 because I learned that there's this thing called planetary geology. 57 00:03:24.938 --> 00:03:29.075 And the idea of being able to study the surface of another planet 58 00:03:29.108 --> 00:03:32.378 was just the coolest thing to me as somebody who who loved Mars 59 00:03:34.881 --> 00:03:37.083 Geology training on our home planet covers 60 00:03:37.083 --> 00:03:40.687 just one aspect of what it would be like to scientifically explore the moon. 61 00:03:41.254 --> 00:03:45.091 Lower gravity, extreme temperatures and a bulky spacesuit 62 00:03:45.358 --> 00:03:48.728 make operating tools and collecting rocks a great challenge. 63 00:03:49.429 --> 00:03:53.833 NASA's scientists and engineers work hard to design and build custom tools 64 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:58.271 that will work well in the extreme environment of the Moon's South Polar 65 00:03:58.271 --> 00:03:59.405 region. 66 00:03:59.405 --> 00:04:04.577 Making any sort of hardware that flies in space is a huge team effort. 67 00:04:04.711 --> 00:04:06.613 I help to lead a team of people 68 00:04:06.613 --> 00:04:10.450 who are building moon tools and so specifically the tools 69 00:04:10.450 --> 00:04:14.821 that are going to take samples of the moon and bring them back to Earth 70 00:04:14.821 --> 00:04:18.658 to the scientists, can study them for generations to come. 71 00:04:19.692 --> 00:04:22.228 At Johnson Space Center, we have what's called the rock yard, 72 00:04:22.328 --> 00:04:25.531 which is essentially kind of a, you know, large, you know, open space 73 00:04:25.531 --> 00:04:30.737 where we've imported rocks, basically a large human sized sandbox. 74 00:04:30.737 --> 00:04:34.607 It's great at the rock yard we get astronauts to come out to be test 75 00:04:34.607 --> 00:04:38.344 subjects, but we also get engineers and scientists and operators 76 00:04:38.444 --> 00:04:42.115 to be test subjects as well so that we can fully understand 77 00:04:42.315 --> 00:04:45.685 what it's like to be in that crew perspective. 78 00:04:46.219 --> 00:04:49.956 So understanding, you know what what our priorities are, 79 00:04:49.956 --> 00:04:53.760 what types of rocks we're interested in and why, but also to start 80 00:04:53.760 --> 00:04:56.863 using the tools that we'll be using to collect those samples. 81 00:04:56.896 --> 00:04:59.899 Let's just start with the most simple tool, the geology hammer. 82 00:05:00.033 --> 00:05:02.101 You all know what a hammer looks like, 83 00:05:02.602 --> 00:05:05.705 but in the South Pole, it's going to be really cold there. 84 00:05:05.872 --> 00:05:09.075 And so we need to make sure that we're using a material 85 00:05:09.075 --> 00:05:12.545 that doesn't break at very cold temperatures. 86 00:05:12.578 --> 00:05:16.883 So we create a test plan that includes putting it through environmental testing. 87 00:05:16.983 --> 00:05:21.220 So putting the tools in very hot conditions, in very cold conditions 88 00:05:21.220 --> 00:05:22.288 and making sure they work. 89 00:05:22.288 --> 00:05:25.458 We can't just go to the hardware store and buy a hammer. 90 00:05:25.591 --> 00:05:27.493 We have to go make a special one. 91 00:05:27.493 --> 00:05:30.563 And then we have testing like ergonomic testing to make sure 92 00:05:30.563 --> 00:05:35.134 that it actually works with the astronauts and that it fits their gloved hand 93 00:05:35.134 --> 00:05:38.237 when they're in the spacesuits not to exhausting for them. 94 00:05:38.371 --> 00:05:42.375 There's all of these little different nuances of being in the spacesuit 95 00:05:42.375 --> 00:05:45.411 that are hard to fully appreciate unless you get in there. 96 00:05:45.778 --> 00:05:48.815 As anyone who's worn a spacesuit will tell you, it feels like 97 00:05:48.815 --> 00:05:51.684 wearing a balloon that's constantly pushing down on you. 98 00:05:52.352 --> 00:05:54.520 Spacesuits have to meet many demands. 99 00:05:54.654 --> 00:05:56.622 They must be sturdy enough to keep astronauts 100 00:05:56.622 --> 00:05:59.826 safe in the low gravity and high radiation environment of the Moon. 101 00:05:59.892 --> 00:06:03.229 But they also have to be nimble enough to allow astronauts 102 00:06:03.229 --> 00:06:05.932 to squeeze, poke and pound their tools. 103 00:06:06.332 --> 00:06:08.468 It's tough to describe, honestly. 104 00:06:08.468 --> 00:06:09.202 It's large. 105 00:06:09.202 --> 00:06:11.270 It's, you know, about 300 pounds, I think. 106 00:06:11.471 --> 00:06:14.841 You're kind of operating your own personal spacecraft in a lot of ways. 107 00:06:14.874 --> 00:06:18.578 You know, the intent is for you to be able to manipulate your arms 108 00:06:18.578 --> 00:06:21.547 and legs in a in a way that you would on the ground. 109 00:06:21.581 --> 00:06:26.552 So we have a large pool here at the NBL the Neutral Buoyancy 110 00:06:26.552 --> 00:06:30.690 Laboratory here on site and in the corner we now have a moon area. 111 00:06:30.723 --> 00:06:34.160 So we've imported sand and rocks down there 112 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:39.065 and we've started to do runs trying to approximate one sixth gravity. 113 00:06:39.132 --> 00:06:41.734 It's kind of a lot of moving pieces, but it's really fun. 114 00:06:41.734 --> 00:06:43.669 It's one of the coolest things we get to do. 115 00:06:43.669 --> 00:06:46.806 And I'll tell you what, some of my most favorite moments at NASA 116 00:06:46.806 --> 00:06:50.176 have been when I see these engineers start to get excited about the science 117 00:06:50.176 --> 00:06:53.846 that we're doing and start to, you know, learn some of the geology terminology, 118 00:06:54.046 --> 00:06:56.416 because that really is what creates an effective team. 119 00:06:56.416 --> 00:06:57.750 And so hearing, you know, 120 00:06:57.750 --> 00:07:01.120 tools engineer out of me start to say, wow, this looks like a basalt 121 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:04.223 that has lots of vesicles with olivine phenocrysts in it 122 00:07:04.424 --> 00:07:06.993 just make me incredibly excited because it means that, 123 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:09.228 you know, we're learning to speak each other's languages 124 00:07:12.465 --> 00:07:21.140 (beatboxing) Yeah, 125 00:07:21.307 --> 00:07:24.510 I just like to do weird and unique things. 126 00:07:24.510 --> 00:07:28.080 So I've always found those, you know, those odd hobbies, 127 00:07:28.080 --> 00:07:32.418 like learning to juggle or learning to beatbox or do improv. 128 00:07:32.418 --> 00:07:35.188 I was watching TV and I saw the TV show American 129 00:07:35.188 --> 00:07:38.024 Ninja Warrior, and I was just like, I want to do that. 130 00:07:38.224 --> 00:07:41.360 And so I started to train to be a ninja warrior. 131 00:07:41.961 --> 00:07:45.164 That's how I decided that I should be called the Space Ninja. 132 00:07:45.498 --> 00:07:48.067 And so I would just share my interest of space. 133 00:07:48.067 --> 00:07:51.671 I got selected and got to go out there and compete. 134 00:07:52.438 --> 00:07:55.041 So I think we would limit ourselves 135 00:07:55.041 --> 00:07:59.045 if we only have one vision of what exploration looks like. 136 00:07:59.045 --> 00:08:02.348 Being a part of the NASA team has really showed me what that means 137 00:08:02.348 --> 00:08:05.551 and what exploration really looks like on a daily basis. 138 00:08:05.585 --> 00:08:09.622 But I do enjoy creative writing, short stories, poems 139 00:08:09.622 --> 00:08:11.958 sometimes when I can, you know, find the time. 140 00:08:11.958 --> 00:08:16.262 It's just an enjoyable way for me to explore what I'm thinking and feeling 141 00:08:16.796 --> 00:08:19.232 and really kind of, you know, use the other side of my brain. 142 00:08:20.066 --> 00:08:23.769 Now, whenever I take a step back to I think about what I do. 143 00:08:23.769 --> 00:08:27.640 I mean, it is just it is surreal and it is 144 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:32.478 it's just it's thrilling and realize that I have a leadership role in this, too, 145 00:08:32.612 --> 00:08:36.315 and I get to influence what we're going to do on the Moon. 146 00:08:36.315 --> 00:08:40.820 For me, I think why it is so important for us as humans to explore 147 00:08:40.953 --> 00:08:43.856 is that exploration kind of forces us 148 00:08:43.856 --> 00:08:47.894 to push ourselves to the limits of our capacities. 149 00:08:48.227 --> 00:08:51.330 I think that that's really important for us to do so that we can, 150 00:08:51.831 --> 00:08:55.301 you know, find those boundaries and push them forward and see 151 00:08:55.301 --> 00:08:58.604 what's out there, see what we're made of, see what the universe is made 152 00:08:58.604 --> 00:08:59.972 of and where we fit into it. 153 00:09:01.908 --> 00:09:04.744 The Moon's South Pole is an ideal location for many reasons. 154 00:09:05.244 --> 00:09:08.180 One reason is that we've collected more information about this 155 00:09:08.180 --> 00:09:11.484 region of the moon than any other from a NASA orbiter 156 00:09:11.484 --> 00:09:15.354 that's been circling the moon for more than a decade. 157 00:09:15.454 --> 00:09:18.791 On the next episode of NASA Explorers Why the South Pole? 158 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:23.262 What remaining questions do scientists have about the moon and solar system 159 00:09:23.696 --> 00:09:28.935 and how will going to the South Pole Help answer those questions?