1 00:00:00,866 --> 00:00:03,536 JOSH: To explore the Universe, NASA is testing new 2 00:00:03,538 --> 00:00:05,838 technologies in a place you might not imagine. 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,575 See how the Sea provides an immersive environment to expand 4 00:00:08,576 --> 00:00:12,335 the limits of Space Exploration Next... on Real World. 5 00:00:12,336 --> 00:00:16,688 ? [music] ? 6 00:00:20,581 --> 00:00:23,188 JOSH: To get set for exploration of worlds beyond 7 00:00:23,190 --> 00:00:26,191 our own NASA looks to places right here on earth that mimic 8 00:00:26,193 --> 00:00:29,161 other places in the universe where we might explore. 9 00:00:29,163 --> 00:00:33,165 NASA calls these Analog Tests, because these places are 10 00:00:33,166 --> 00:00:36,335 analogous to places like moons, other planets and asteroids. 11 00:00:36,336 --> 00:00:40,073 You know, when two things are analogous, they have a similar 12 00:00:40,075 --> 00:00:43,008 relationship. You’ve probably done word analogies in 13 00:00:43,010 --> 00:00:46,913 school... things like Jupiter is to Titan as Earth is to... 14 00:00:46,915 --> 00:00:49,381 yep, Luna... our moon. 15 00:00:49,383 --> 00:00:52,651 NASA looks for those same kinds of similar relationships when 16 00:00:52,653 --> 00:00:56,021 it does analog studies in Hawaii, where the volcanic soil 17 00:00:56,023 --> 00:00:59,791 is similar to the soil on the moon. NASA studies rovers and 18 00:00:59,793 --> 00:01:02,528 robots in the deserts of northern Arizona, where the 19 00:01:02,530 --> 00:01:05,331 landscape might be similar to what you would find on another 20 00:01:05,333 --> 00:01:08,166 planet or perhaps even a big asteroid. 21 00:01:08,168 --> 00:01:11,838 And NASA studies the effects of gravity in Key Largo Florida, 22 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,141 below the surface of the gulf of Mexico. We got some help 23 00:01:15,143 --> 00:01:17,643 from NASA engineer and special Real World correspondent, 24 00:01:17,645 --> 00:01:19,845 Heather Paul, who had a fish eye’s view 25 00:01:19,846 --> 00:01:22,048 of the events in Key Largo. 26 00:01:22,050 --> 00:01:24,083 HEATHER PAUL: Thanks Josh. We’re out here in the Florida 27 00:01:24,085 --> 00:01:26,385 Keys and this is a really unlikely place. You don’t 28 00:01:26,386 --> 00:01:28,621 thing about this when you think about going to the moon or 29 00:01:28,623 --> 00:01:31,256 Mars. But in fact, NASA is doing underwater research right 30 00:01:31,258 --> 00:01:34,938 here. So let’s go find out what we’re doing... 31 00:01:34,940 --> 00:01:40,313 ? [music] ? 32 00:01:43,971 --> 00:01:46,571 BILL TODD: This is the facility where the Aquarius Habitat, 33 00:01:46,573 --> 00:01:49,675 which is the worlds only undersea research habitat. 34 00:01:49,676 --> 00:01:53,813 It’s about 5 miles off shore. And it‘s the closest thing to 35 00:01:53,815 --> 00:01:58,216 living in space that we can find anywhere. 36 00:01:58,218 --> 00:02:00,320 JOSH: Bill Todd is the mission manager for NASA’s 37 00:02:00,321 --> 00:02:02,721 underwater research activities. 38 00:02:02,723 --> 00:02:05,791 BILL: And what we do is we send crews to the habitat, astronaut 39 00:02:05,793 --> 00:02:09,461 research crews. We send them to the habitat. And they go 40 00:02:09,463 --> 00:02:11,630 and live there, to get a feeling of what it 41 00:02:11,631 --> 00:02:13,866 would be like to live in space. 42 00:02:13,868 --> 00:02:16,870 JOSH: The undersea environment simulates space exploration in 43 00:02:16,871 --> 00:02:20,606 several important ways. First, it provides an isolated, fully 44 00:02:20,608 --> 00:02:23,488 engaging setting, similar to what astronauts might encounter 45 00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:26,045 exploring other planets, moons, etc. 46 00:02:26,046 --> 00:02:29,015 In this environment, they can test various systems, like 47 00:02:29,016 --> 00:02:31,751 communication and life support in a realistic setting. 48 00:02:31,753 --> 00:02:34,953 And it has a huge advantage over simulators. 49 00:02:34,955 --> 00:02:37,356 BILL: We can do all types of things in simulators. In those 50 00:02:37,358 --> 00:02:40,560 simulations, we flip switches and we talk to the mission 51 00:02:40,561 --> 00:02:42,895 control center and we go through a dress rehearsal, 52 00:02:42,896 --> 00:02:47,100 but at 5 o’clock we go home. The day is over and we go home 53 00:02:47,101 --> 00:02:49,435 and back to our families, and kind of wind down from all 54 00:02:49,436 --> 00:02:53,071 that. It doesn’t really give you the sense, the feel for 55 00:02:53,073 --> 00:02:55,908 what it’s like to live in an extreme environment. 56 00:02:55,910 --> 00:02:59,211 Here, it’s a lot different. You stay. You do your 57 00:02:59,213 --> 00:03:02,615 activities during the day, your EVAs. And then, at 5 o’clock, 58 00:03:02,616 --> 00:03:06,051 you’re still right immersed, literally, in all of your 59 00:03:06,053 --> 00:03:09,588 activities, the life sciences they have to go on, the public 60 00:03:09,590 --> 00:03:13,225 outreach, and everything else that you have to do, which is 61 00:03:13,226 --> 00:03:17,863 similar to flying in space. This is the real deal. 62 00:03:17,865 --> 00:03:21,166 When we’re doing missions and working here and when we’re in 63 00:03:21,168 --> 00:03:24,936 the habitat, that is a true, extreme mission. 64 00:03:24,938 --> 00:03:27,173 There’s consequences and risks to your actions, 65 00:03:27,175 --> 00:03:29,941 just like there is in space. 66 00:03:29,943 --> 00:03:33,078 JOSH: This underwater analog also allows engineers to test 67 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,181 other systems, for instance, the backpacks that astronauts 68 00:03:36,183 --> 00:03:39,285 wear for EVAs, called the portable life support system, 69 00:03:39,286 --> 00:03:43,790 or PLSS. It supplies oxygen, removes carbon dioxide, 70 00:03:43,791 --> 00:03:46,558 regulates temperature in the space suit and contains 71 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,861 communication hardware. By using a backpack rig to 72 00:03:49,863 --> 00:03:52,598 simulate the PLSS, the underwater environment allows 73 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,335 engineers to figure out how best to configure this pack in 74 00:03:55,336 --> 00:03:58,103 different gravity settings, to make the astronauts as 75 00:03:58,105 --> 00:04:00,940 comfortable and productive as possible on each EVA. 76 00:04:00,941 --> 00:04:03,208 Here’s Heather with Nick Skytland, 77 00:04:03,210 --> 00:04:06,078 a Project Manager in NASA’s Space Life Program. 78 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,481 NICK SKYTLAND: For each dive, we’ll take them down and put 79 00:04:08,483 --> 00:04:10,883 this backpack on, and we’ll have them do a number of 80 00:04:10,885 --> 00:04:14,553 activities. We have them walk back and forth. We have them 81 00:04:14,555 --> 00:04:18,223 kneel and recover. We have them fall and recover and by 82 00:04:18,225 --> 00:04:21,260 recover we mean, just get back up. And then we have them pick 83 00:04:21,261 --> 00:04:24,530 up rocks and put them on a crate. And then at the end, we 84 00:04:24,531 --> 00:04:26,800 have them climb a ladder, and then come back down. 85 00:04:26,801 --> 00:04:29,635 JOSH: The exercise allows Nick and his team to adjust the 86 00:04:29,636 --> 00:04:32,871 backpack rig, and find the most effective center of gravity to 87 00:04:32,873 --> 00:04:35,975 accomplish the tasks. Center of gravity is the point on 88 00:04:35,976 --> 00:04:39,245 which an object’s weight is balanced. We use this same 89 00:04:39,246 --> 00:04:42,348 principle everyday. Let’s see how to calculate the center of 90 00:04:42,350 --> 00:04:45,651 gravity using a seesaw. The fulcrum is the point that 91 00:04:45,653 --> 00:04:48,688 supports the board for the seesaw. The weight must be 92 00:04:48,690 --> 00:04:51,356 evenly distributed on both sides of the fulcrum for the 93 00:04:51,358 --> 00:04:55,261 board to be balanced. But what would happen if a child who 94 00:04:55,263 --> 00:04:59,098 weighs 20 kilograms sits on one end of the board, and a second 95 00:04:59,100 --> 00:05:02,001 child who weighs 25 kilograms sits on the other end? 96 00:05:02,003 --> 00:05:05,605 The see saw is no longer balanced. Math can help us 97 00:05:05,606 --> 00:05:08,375 solve this problem. Think of the fulcrum as the center of 98 00:05:08,376 --> 00:05:11,543 the equation. What’s on one side of the equation must 99 00:05:11,545 --> 00:05:14,646 balance with the other side. Remember that our board is 5 100 00:05:14,648 --> 00:05:18,785 meters in length. Five meters is equal to 500 centimeters. 101 00:05:18,786 --> 00:05:21,988 The fulcrum is located at the center of the board, 250 102 00:05:21,990 --> 00:05:25,558 centimeters from the end. If the child weighing 20 kilograms 103 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,428 sits on a mark at the end of the board, she is 250 104 00:05:29,430 --> 00:05:32,465 centimeters from the center. Where would the second child 105 00:05:32,466 --> 00:05:35,268 need to sit to balance the see saw? We could write the 106 00:05:35,270 --> 00:05:39,971 equation to look like this: Twenty times 250 equals 25 107 00:05:39,973 --> 00:05:44,276 times what? By balancing the equation, we can determine the 108 00:05:44,278 --> 00:05:47,413 distance from the fulcrum that the second child must sit. 109 00:05:47,415 --> 00:05:50,550 The board will balance when the child weighing 25 kilograms 110 00:05:50,551 --> 00:05:54,353 sits 200 centimeters from the fulcrum – that’s 50 centimeters 111 00:05:54,355 --> 00:05:58,425 from the end of the board. The team in Key Largo often uses 112 00:05:58,426 --> 00:06:01,093 this kind of mathematical reasoning to solve problems, 113 00:06:01,095 --> 00:06:03,863 like figuring out the center of gravity for many different 114 00:06:03,865 --> 00:06:05,998 kinds of exploration activities. 115 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,300 Here’s Nick and Heather with another example. 116 00:06:08,301 --> 00:06:10,436 NICK: Actually you have a backpack right there. Why 117 00:06:10,438 --> 00:06:13,238 don’t you put your backpack on. Now imagine you were outside 118 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,275 working and you had a shovel. And actually, pretend you’re 119 00:06:16,276 --> 00:06:18,478 just in your back yard and you’re just shoveling 120 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,613 some things up. HEATHER: Can I be on the moon? 121 00:06:20,615 --> 00:06:22,915 NICK: Well, Not yet. HEATHER: Oh! Okay. All right. 122 00:06:22,916 --> 00:06:25,085 NICK: Not yet. All right, so there you go. You’re 123 00:06:25,086 --> 00:06:27,353 shoveling. All right. It’s pretty easy, right. 124 00:06:27,355 --> 00:06:29,521 HEATHER: Yeah. It’s easy. NICK: Now imagine someone comes 125 00:06:29,523 --> 00:06:31,791 along and they put a jug of water in your backpack. 126 00:06:31,793 --> 00:06:33,993 HEATHER: Okay. Now it’s getting kind of heavy, Nick. 127 00:06:33,995 --> 00:06:36,195 NICK: Right. It’s getting kind of heavy, so now try it again. 128 00:06:36,196 --> 00:06:39,298 HEATHER: Yeah. I think I’d probably have to change up how 129 00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:41,835 I would do the shoveling. NICK: Right. And so that’s 130 00:06:41,836 --> 00:06:44,236 changing your center of gravity. So we have this c.g. 131 00:06:44,238 --> 00:06:46,673 rig that allows us to change the center of gravity from 132 00:06:46,675 --> 00:06:49,975 being very very backwards, to very very forwards, to very 133 00:06:49,976 --> 00:06:53,680 high to very low and even to the side if we wanted to. 134 00:06:53,681 --> 00:06:55,815 And we can see how this affects the crew performance 135 00:06:55,816 --> 00:06:58,183 when doing a number of activities. 136 00:06:58,185 --> 00:07:01,120 JOSH: Once they figure out how to best configure the rig, 137 00:07:01,121 --> 00:07:04,023 they can take those lessons learned and apply them to the 138 00:07:04,025 --> 00:07:06,591 actual portable life support system that astronauts will use 139 00:07:06,593 --> 00:07:08,661 on EVAs. 140 00:07:08,663 --> 00:07:11,765 NASA has more analog tests planned throughout the year, 141 00:07:11,766 --> 00:07:14,333 including more work in Key Largo. 142 00:07:14,335 --> 00:07:19,266 You can follow the progress at www.NASA.gov. 143 00:07:19,268 --> 00:07:22,966 ? [music] ? 144 00:07:36,888 --> 00:07:39,766 .