1 00:00:03,950 --> 00:00:06,765 ? [music] ? 2 00:00:11,463 --> 00:00:14,616 KIDS: Our World! 3 00:00:14,618 --> 00:00:17,881 EVAN: Hey Globey, today we’re going to talk about the Phoenix Lander. 4 00:00:17,883 --> 00:00:20,451 Have you ever heard of it? 5 00:00:20,453 --> 00:00:24,690 No? Well the Phoenix Lander is really cool, and its mission was very exciting. 6 00:00:24,691 --> 00:00:29,326 It’s a robotic craft that NASA sent to Mars to learn more about our neighboring planet. 7 00:00:29,328 --> 00:00:32,696 The Phoenix Lander was sent to Mars for two main reasons. 8 00:00:32,698 --> 00:00:36,066 The first was to look for water or a history of water on the planet. 9 00:00:36,068 --> 00:00:39,070 The second reason was to test the soil to see if it could 10 00:00:39,071 --> 00:00:41,640 support life in the past or present. 11 00:00:41,641 --> 00:00:44,910 We call this ability to sustain life "habitability." 12 00:00:44,911 --> 00:00:48,113 CARLA BITTER: Habitability refers to the potential or 13 00:00:48,115 --> 00:00:53,818 the ability for anything biological in nature to survive or exist in a place. 14 00:00:53,820 --> 00:00:57,976 So when we explore Mars to go looking for life as we know it, 15 00:00:57,978 --> 00:01:02,093 would probably be pretty foolish because Mars is really different from Earth. 16 00:01:02,095 --> 00:01:06,331 So what we want to know is, is it a possibility? Is it habitable? 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,400 Does it have the building blocks of life? The carbon, 18 00:01:09,468 --> 00:01:13,671 the oxygen, the nitrogen, the phosphorous, and of course water. 19 00:01:13,740 --> 00:01:18,176 Liquid water is the huge ingredient which allows Earth to be habitable. 20 00:01:21,781 --> 00:01:24,415 EVAN: The Phoenix Lander touched down on the surface of Mars 21 00:01:24,416 --> 00:01:28,220 on May 25th, 2008, completing a journey from Earth that was 22 00:01:28,221 --> 00:01:33,925 680 million kilometers long. That’s a very long way. 23 00:01:33,926 --> 00:01:37,895 The Phoenix Lander has all sorts of cool instruments on board. 24 00:01:37,896 --> 00:01:42,333 One of those is a robotic arm, which is used to dig trenches in the Martian soil, 25 00:01:42,335 --> 00:01:46,571 scoop up soil samples for testing, and also search for evidence of water. 26 00:01:47,641 --> 00:01:51,041 Possibly the most exciting discovery was when the robotic arm 27 00:01:51,110 --> 00:01:55,413 dug just below the surface of the soil and discovered ice. 28 00:01:55,415 --> 00:01:58,650 This was proof that water existed on Mars...even though 29 00:01:58,651 --> 00:02:02,086 it was now all frozen or in the form of gas in the atmosphere. 30 00:02:02,088 --> 00:02:05,556 If water existed on Mars in a liquid form in the past, 31 00:02:05,558 --> 00:02:08,426 then perhaps life did too at some point. 32 00:02:08,428 --> 00:02:11,061 The camera on-board the Lander sent photographs of 33 00:02:11,063 --> 00:02:14,900 the ice back to scientists on Earth. It was a major discovery! 34 00:02:14,901 --> 00:02:17,601 And thanks to the technology of the internet, the whole 35 00:02:17,603 --> 00:02:20,371 world shared in this discovery. We saw the 36 00:02:20,373 --> 00:02:24,541 pictures just a few hours after the scientist learned about the ice themselves. 37 00:02:24,543 --> 00:02:27,578 CARLA BITTERS: It was very exciting to find it because 38 00:02:27,580 --> 00:02:30,515 it said 'yes' all our other instruments, the things we’ve done in the past. 39 00:02:30,516 --> 00:02:33,951 The other missions we sent to Mars, that’s all right. 40 00:02:33,953 --> 00:02:37,055 That missing ingredient is there. 41 00:02:37,056 --> 00:02:40,225 So the potential goes through the roof that it is a 42 00:02:40,226 --> 00:02:43,261 possibility that Mars was or even currently is 43 00:02:43,263 --> 00:02:46,898 habitable by some kind of living thing. 44 00:02:46,900 --> 00:02:49,300 EVAN: And that’s what exploration is all about... 45 00:02:49,301 --> 00:02:51,336 discovering new things and determining if what you 46 00:02:51,338 --> 00:02:53,705 thought was correct is indeed right. 47 00:02:53,706 --> 00:02:56,140 CARLA BITTERS: Exploration is important to humans because 48 00:02:56,141 --> 00:02:59,376 I wouldn’t be standing here today talking about a mission to Mars 49 00:02:59,378 --> 00:03:02,798 if my ancestors didn’t cross the ocean. 50 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,418 Or didn’t know what was on the other side of the river or over the mountain. 51 00:03:06,420 --> 00:03:08,853 And now we have the opportunity and the 52 00:03:08,855 --> 00:03:12,923 technology and the possibility to just offload planet Earth altogether 53 00:03:12,925 --> 00:03:17,228 and go see what’s out there, go see the ends of our known universe. 54 00:03:17,230 --> 00:03:20,698 So exploration is what we do, it’s how we move forward, 55 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:23,901 not just as a species, but as a thinking group of people 56 00:03:23,903 --> 00:03:27,171 that are curious and want to know what’s next. 57 00:03:27,173 --> 00:03:31,643 EVAN: The Phoenix Lander’s mission was designed to last around 90 Sols, 58 00:03:31,645 --> 00:03:34,345 which is what we call days on Mars. 59 00:03:34,346 --> 00:03:39,316 If you want to count in Earth days, then the Lander was meant to work for 92 days. 60 00:03:39,318 --> 00:03:43,088 Remember, days on Mars last longer because the planet is 61 00:03:43,090 --> 00:03:48,226 revolving or spinning on its axis at a slower speed than Earth spins on its axis. 62 00:03:48,228 --> 00:03:52,630 It takes about 37 minutes longer for Mars to make one complete turn. 63 00:03:53,866 --> 00:03:57,101 EVAN: Because the Phoenix Lander had touched down in the polar region, 64 00:03:57,103 --> 00:03:59,570 scientists knew that when the Martian winter arrived, 65 00:03:59,571 --> 00:04:02,806 it would become much too cold for the Lander to continue to work. 66 00:04:02,808 --> 00:04:06,110 And that’s exactly what happened. One day the scientists 67 00:04:06,111 --> 00:04:09,748 here on Earth simply stopped receiving information from the Phoenix Lander. 68 00:04:09,750 --> 00:04:12,916 Even though the Phoenix Lander is no longer working, 69 00:04:12,918 --> 00:04:15,653 its mission is still an amazing success story. 70 00:04:15,655 --> 00:04:18,256 It proved that water ice exists on Mars. 71 00:04:19,358 --> 00:04:22,460 And perhaps in the future, during another NASA mission to Mars, 72 00:04:22,461 --> 00:04:26,063 scientist will prove that life once existed on the red planet as well. 73 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,435 That is so exciting, Globey. I can’t wait to see what 74 00:04:30,436 --> 00:04:33,371 those NASA scientists uncover next. 75 00:04:34,803 --> 00:04:37,951 ? [music] ? 76 00:04:42,738 --> 00:04:46,240 KIDS: Our World!