PHIL: On this
episode of<i> Explorer.</i> I'm in the Atacama Desert,
which stretches about 600 miles along the
coast of Chile. What really makes the Atacama
Desert so unique is that they have clear dark skies,
untouched by light pollution. One of the reasons they
built the world's most advanced optical telescope here. I'm gonna stare trillions
of miles, off into space. This would have been one
of the biggest discoveries in recent years? ELYAR: If, if not the biggest. PHIL: Also, correspondent
Albert Lin looks into a bold new plan to get an
astronaut safely to Mars. ALBERT: How do we put a human
into a state of hibernation? PHIL: This unlikely
creature may hold the key. DR. KLOPFER: It's
built into the genome. And we possess
those genes, too. PHIL: Plus, Mariana Van Zeller
looks into a growing movement in America: people who
believe the earth is flat. MARIANA: We have
photos from space. MARK: Yes. MARIANA: That prove
that the earth is round. MARK: Right. And nobody here believes
any of that, anymore. PHIL: And Cara Santa Maria
unveils the shadowy and lucrative world of
meteorite trading. MICHAEL: The rarest
Mars rock on earth. Sells for 10,000 U.S. per gram. PHIL: It's science versus
profit in the race to find rocks from outer space. HYSLOP: This really has
the potential to be the most expensive
meteorite we've ever sold. DARRYL: Wow. (theme music plays). PHIL: Welcome to<i> Explorer.</i> I'm Phil Keoghan. Our species have
always been stargazers, looking up in awe and
wondering what's out there. In this episode we follow
that ancient curiosity to its modern frontier. Our first story is about
scientists who believe
they've found the key to enabling humans to becoming
interplanetary travelers. Here's Albert Lin, in Houston. ALBERT: If you watch
any science fiction, you know that deep space
travel is gonna involve some kind of glass and steel
hibernation chamber. But how do we put a human
into a state of hibernation? Well, that brings us
here, to this forest, and the Fat
Tailed Dwarf Lemur, an unlikely linchpin in
our quest to become an interplanetary species. The colonization of Mars. It seems inevitable, but the
first challenge we need to overcome is simply getting
humans to survive the nine month trip there. To find out how big
that hurdle really is, I'm talking to the man who's
spent the most time in space, astronaut Scott Kelly. (engine revving) Whooooa! Does this even come close to
what it feels like to get shot off into space? SCOTT: No.
It's not close at all. ALBERT: It certainly
feels like it to me. But you really are the example
of how we might survive a journey towards Mars. How many days have
you spent in space? SCOTT: So I've spent
520 days in space, on four space flights. ALBERT: Kelly spent
nearly a year on the International Space Station. And underwent unprecedented
medical tests to determine the impact of prolonged space
travel on the human body, and the bottom line
is, it's not good. SCOTT: As you spend more
and more time in space, you know, physiologically,
bad things happen. Our physiology
recognizes that, hey, I don't need these
bones to support
everything else anymore. We get rid of that bone mass
through urination, and... ALBERT: So you
pee out your bones. SCOTT: Basically. Yeah, you
pee out a lot of calcium. 1% a month, so, you
know, after 100 months, you would have no bones if you
didn't do anything about it. Also, radiation
is a big concern. ALBERT: What would
be the equivalent, in terms of like for example,
a chest X-ray you know, to one day in space? SCOTT: At the space station,
10 to 20 chest X-rays every day. ALBERT: Every single
day. For a year. SCOTT: It damages your cells. ALBERT: But Kelly says we
fail to overcome these obstacles at our peril. In the long scheme of things
we will go beyond, right? SCOTT: Mhm, or
we-we'll cease to exist. ALBERT: The expiration
date for humans on earth is somewhere on the horizon. And many say the steady rising
population will drain the already dwindling
supply of resources here. If we hope to live beyond our
planet's ability to support the human race, we'll have to
figure out how to migrate to distant planets. You know, it's a huge paradox. Can we become an interplanetary
species without destroying the bodies of the men and the
women that we send into space? In Atlanta there's already a
team of scientists working to figure that out. At SpaceWorks, Dr. John
Bradford has been tasked by NASA to break through
the engineering and health challenges of sending
astronauts on long-term voyages. JOHN: We're gonna wanna
send hundreds of people, and those technologies,
and the solutions that the aerospace community has
been traditionally looking at, were not gonna support that. So, I started
thinking about, you know, what are the real challenges? And started to
wonder why can't we, you know, put humans in a
hibernation-like state, uh, during the mission? ALBERT: When animals
shift into hibernation, their body undergoes several
changes that help protect them for months at a time,
slower metabolism, cooler body temperature,
reduced brain activity. And there's evidence that it's
possible to induce a similar state in humans. JOHN: Very often we'll, uh,
we'll see in the news these kind of miraculous
stories of people, uh, recovering from
deep hypothermic states. <i> REPORTER (over TV): Rescuers
worked frantically to find</i> <i> two and a half year
old Michelle Funk.</i> <i>REPORTER (over TV): The little
girl was submerged for more than</i> <i> an hour and technically dead,
but the cold water chilled her</i> <i> down to 66 degrees, enough
to stave off brain damage.</i> JOHN: There's additional
medical benefits that we see when, uh, people are in
this low metabolic state. Uh, we think that muscle atrophy
and bone loss will be slowed. We can do things like
neuromuscular electrical stimulation, uh, to kinda
exercise their muscle groups and things, so, um, we can
keep them in a-a fit shape, uh, during, during the
course of the mission. Can also put 'em in a
much smaller habitat. ALBERT: But so far, simply
cooling the body is only a short term solution. For long space voyages, some
experts think humans will need to enter a hibernation state,
maybe even deep torpor, an unprecedented approach
being seriously considered in scientific circles. JOHN: There's a community out
there that believes that maybe early humans did hibernate and
that's how they survived some periods of, uh, kinda
famines or cold winters. So, there's a group that
thinks we could reactivate
that capability. ALBERT: Which brings me
here, to North Carolina, where researchers are studying
that capability in one of our closest genetic relatives. There we go. The fat-tailed dwarf lemur is
the only primate in the world known to hibernate for an
extended period of time. And while we may
look very different, humans actually possess the
same genetic switches that allow these
primates to hibernate, we just need to figure
out how to turn ours on. DR. KLOPFER: What we're doing
here at the Duke Lemur Center is trying to figure out
what the stimuli that induce, uh, hibernation are. ALBERT: So it's sort of
like pressing the rest, or sleep button on your
computer to go into low power mode for a little while? DR. KLOPFER: That's
a very good analogy. My guess is that it's
built into the genome. And we humans
possess those genes too. But given the modern
advances in genetic surgery, if we could identify the
controlling genes it is conceivable that we could
induce torpor in humans. ALBERT: This genetic hint
from one of our most ancient cousins could be the key that
allows scientists to unlock the secrets of human
hibernation already within us. In New York, the work to
decode our genome and find these secrets is now underway. MASON: Welcome,
welcome, this is the lab. So we'll take you on upstairs,
and tell you about everything
for the study. This is, uh, where we
keep all the samples. That have come
back from either here, ALBERT: Wow. MASON: uh, before they
went up to space. ALBERT: This is where
you guys tweak humanity. MASON: That's right. ALBERT: Dr. Chris Mason has
spent the last three years doing work for NASA, studying
the effects of space travel on astronauts like Scott Kelly. Wow. MASON: But in
here is essentially, you know, the cells that
are still viably frozen, meaning we can thaw them
and his cells were taken from space will still be alive. ALBERT: Dr. Mason invites
me into the cave at Cornell, a virtual reality room that
allows scientists to explore images at the
molecular and cellular level. What's remarkable here is that
when you look at all these different animals,
comparatively, from the mice,
to the orangutan, to the chimpanzee, to
the gibbon, to the human, we almost look exactly the same. MASON: That's right.
Almost all the pieces
are already inside of us, we just have to put it
back and turn it back on. ALBERT: So this is, this is
basically the frontier of our human story? MASON: This is a roadmap of
what you would need to have torpor exist in other species. ALBERT: Do you think
that in my lifetime, I'll be able to induce
something like torpor? MASON: You might not
get a full torpor, but maybe a half torpor,
probably within your lifetime. ALBERT: Earth is our home,
and we have a chance to figure out how to live
more sustainably on it. But as any society
develops and thrives, it has to grow,
and eventually, we will grow
beyond this planet, sending people to Mars. And beyond. PHIL: Next on Explorer. Could a fringe movement of
conspiracy theorists pose a hidden threat to our
space agency's future? MARK: You think for the
longest time you live here. But what if it wasn't this? PHIL: And later. Are we alone? I head to one of the
most advanced deep space observatories in the
world to find out. MATIAS: Every night is
a new opportunity to
discover something new. PHIL: Welcome
back to Explorer. 2500 years ago the ancient
Greeks concluded that the earth is a sphere, a theory
that has been validated by scientists ever since. You'd think that with the
beautiful photographs that we have of our
round, blue planet, it would
convince any doubters. But there are still some who
insist that the world is flat. Correspondent Mariana van
Zeller discovers more about this fast-growing
movement in California. ♪<i> That's the famous blue
marble that everybody's seen</i> ♪ ♪<i> But let me tell you something
about that famous shot</i> ♪ ♪<i> It's not a photo at all, man</i> ♪ ♪<i> It was made in Photoshop</i> ♪ ♪<i> 'Cause there ain't no
photographs of earth</i> ♪ ♪<i> Somebody tell me why</i> ♪ ♪<i> They're all just</i> ♪♪ MARIANA: I'm Mariana van Zeller,
and I'm in Southern California to look into a growing
movement in America: People who claim
the earth is flat. They call themselves
the "Flat Earthers", and we are here to try to
understand what's behind this unconventional view, and how
it can affect the rest of us. So, what's
happening here today? Why are you here? LUCIA: This matters to me. Flat Earth shows you
that you are not a mistake. And you were, uh, created, and
so you have meaning and you matter to the world, you know? ACE: It's not testable; it's not
measurable; it's not provable. It's not real. MARIANA: Right. How old are
you Ace, just out of curiosity? ACE: 27. MARIANA: Do you think
it's a growing movement? ACE: Yes. And we're networking. We're getting stronger.
People are realizing it. It's coming out in the media. You're hearing the,
the term "flat earth." It's becoming more
normal and people are
more open-minded to it. MARIANA: He's not wrong. A recent survey of
Americans found that 2%
believe the earth is flat. For the U.S. population as a
whole, that works out to be over 6.5 million people. Even high-profile artists and
athletes are getting on board. MARK: Flaaaat. MARIANA: So I want to
try to find Mark Sargent, who's one of the leaders of
the Flat Earth community. MARK: Nice to see
you, man. We met. -We met. We did meet once.
-We met in Pasadena. MARIANA: Mark used to
design video games and
run software trainings. Now he devotes himself
full time to promoting
the flat earth. MARK: Absolutely. MARIANA: Hi.
MARK: Hi. MARIANA: I see with all
the attention that you
must be Mark Sargent. MARK: I am Mark Sargent. MARIANA: Thanks
for meeting us here. MARK: It's ah,
pleasure to be here. MARIANA: So tell me, what
is this movement all about? MARK: This movement is
about changing the world. Literally. You think for the longest
time that you live here. MARIANA: Mhm. MARK: But what if
it wasn't this? What if this was
just the illusion? Yeah. We're gonna open
this thing up. And the reality looks
something like this. In a nutshell, you have
North Pole at the center. The continents splayed out
organically on the sides. Antarctica is stretched
around the entire outer edge, like an ice wall. The sun and the moon
are very, very small. And the stars are
just lights in the sky. A giant planetarium. Which means it was
built by somebody. Someone bigger than us.
Someone better than us. MARIANA: Do you
think it was a god? MARK: Not my place to say. MARIANA: Your belief
in the earth being flat
flies in the face of. MARK: Hundreds of years. MARIANA: Of years of evidence,
of scientific evidence that the world is round. Not only that.
We have satellite imagery. We have photos from space. MARK: Yes. MARIANA: That prove
that the earth is round. MARK: Right. And nobody here
believes any of that, anymore. ASTRONAUT: Uh, it's
beautiful, Mike, really is. MARIANA: So you don't believe
that people travel in space? MARK: No. Oh, it's much
worse than you know. MARIANA: Okay. MARK: Meaning the only
reason NASA was founded
in 1958 was to keep this thing under wraps, as best
they could. Meaning they... MARIANA: Why? Why? MARK: Think of the shock waves
if all of a sudden you're telling a civilization that this
model, this isn't it anymore? Flat earth, is,
the last conspiracy
anyone ever looks at. MARIANA: Mark and his fellow
"Flat Earthers" seem to be pretty convinced
that the earth is flat, and that we've all been
lied to for all these years. But I'm interested in knowing
what kind of impact this might have, not only for science
but for society at large. So we're heading to meet
with an astrophysicist, that we hope can answer
some of these questions. BULLOCK: The universe began
about 14 billion years ago, an event that we
call The Big Bang. MARIANA: James Bullock is
a professor of physics and astronomy at the University
of California, Irvine. He specializes in
how galaxies form. Did you ever think,
a few years ago, that you'd be
having this discussion? For<i> National Geographic?</i> BULLOCK: It's
frankly shocking. We've known for 2,000 years,
based on observations you can make with your own eyes,
that the world is round. MARIANA: But they have all
the evidence right in front of them, and they still
choose not to believe in it. BULLOCK: You know, who
knows what motivates people, from the inside, to
believe these things. But, science is important. Science is valuable.
Science saves lives. It makes our lives
better and more comfortable. And it enriches
us intellectually. And, to question what
scientists are saying, and suggest that
they're part of some massive, international global
conspiracy, it's really scary. MARIANA: Are they a
threat to the work that
you do as a scientist? BULLOCK: If, say, governments
stop funding science, because of some
kind of anti-science, anti-intellectual, uh,
feedback they're getting from the populous, that's when
it really starts getting dangerous for
our civilization. MARIANA: And as the
war on science heats up, some Americans
are fighting back. We're heading to the largest
lake in California to meet The Independent Investigations
Group, which is, uh, a group that essentially
debunks paranormal claims. And they want to do
a round earth test, basically a test that will
prove that the earth is not flat, but that it is round. UNDERDOWN: Let's go!
We're ready to launch.
You ready, Craig? MARIANA: James!
How are you? UNDERDOWN: Hey. Okay. MARIANA: Okay. So what's
happening here right now? UNDERDOWN: Okay, so this
is the boat based target;
it's horizontal stripes. MARIANA: Uh-huh. UNDERDOWN: We're gonna launch
a small boat out into the water here, with
a striped target. Come on, daddy. And as it get
farther and farther out, you'll start to
lose the stripes. MARIANA: One way that
Aristotle proved 2000 years ago that the earth is a sphere
was with a boat test very similar to this one. As a boat approaches the
horizon it appears to slowly dip down into the water,
before disappearing completely. That's got everything to do
with the curvature of the earth. If the planet was flat, the entire boat would
remain visible. UNDERDOWN: So it will be a
very visual depiction of the curvature of the Earth. MARIANA: And what's
really interesting is that uh, some of the Flat Earthers,
including Mark Sargent, are actually going to
be here for this test. They want to see
it for themselves. What do you think is
going to happen here today? MARK: I appreciate a
scientific group coming out
and trying to do this test. Great. Appreciate the
enthusiasm. But, cannot work. PATRICIA: Cannot work. MAN: Tell us
when you're ready. MAN: I'm ready, I'm
ready, bring it up, I. MARIANA: So it's starting?
RESEARCHER: Yeah. MARIANA: Ok, so the
test is starting. The test is
starting right now. At first, all the
stripes are clearly visible. But sure enough, as the
boat reaches the horizon, the stripes begin to
disappear one by one. It's pretty amazing. You can actually see it pretty
clearly with this camera here. And you see that the red
stripe that was at the bottom has completely disappeared. And it's now getting
closer to sort of the middle, uh, green stripe that is? ROSS: Yeah. So we've lost
about one and a half stripes. MARIANA: So this
can only happen why? ROSS: Because of the
curvature of the earth. So then here's what
we were shooting. MARIANA: But Mark Sargent and
the other Flat Earthers have a very different
interpretation of the results. So you don't think what we
are seeing is actually real. You think it's because of. MARK: Yeah.
MARIANA: Heat. MARK: Absolutely heat. Does anyone here from Flat
Earth believe it's a globe? FLAT EARTHER: It's still flat. MARK: Anyone?
Raise of hands. FLAT EARTHER: No, and
it's not a pear either. MARIANA: This
demonstration it doesn't
change anything for you? MARK: Good Lord, no. MARIANA: Mark, do you
really believe this stuff? Tell me the truth. I'm serious. MARK: I absolutely 100% believe
we are not on a globe, we are part of a
giant studio set, uh, all the world's a
stage and you're on it. MARIANA: I still
don't understand though. Like, who's gaining
from all this, from
this large conspiracy? MARK: The highest authority,
higher than presidents. Uh, the super rich. People that are
behind the scenes. Remember, the first rule
of power is stay hidden. MARIANA: So this is for me
where I think it gets really dangerous, because we're
going back into the Dark Ages. Right?
MARK: Mm. MARIANA: You're essentially
perpetuating ignorance by denying science. You know, there's a real-life
implication in all of this. MARK: Science has
had its chance, and they aren't
putting up a defense. I think that Flat Earth
could potentially usher
in a new Golden Age. Or, it could usher
in an age of chaos. MARIANA: It's easy to
dismiss this as just a, a silly theory,
and unimportant. But the problem is that it's a
growing movement in America. More and more young
people seem to believe
that the world is flat. And, you know, it's more than
just distrusting government. It's this notion that
thousands of years of empirical scientific evidence
is now being dismissed as a mere conspiracy. And that's where I think
it really starts getting dangerous, for all of us. PHIL: When we come back, does
life exist on distant planets? I travel to one of the
most otherworldly places to find out. So this would've been one
of the biggest discoveries
in recent years? EYLAR: For sure.
If not the biggest. PHIL: And later. When a meteorite
strikes the earth, is it scientists or
deep-pocketed collectors
that get first dibs? HYSLOP: I have heard stories
of meteorites changing hands for $1 million. PHIL: Most of us live
under light-polluted skies. The best stargazing
spots on earth are
often extremely remote. Places like the
Atacama Desert in Chile, where scientists have an
unparalleled view of deep space, and are making
discoveries that are changing our understandings
of the universe. Our next story is my
journey to see stars up close, as close as you can get. Rising more than 8,000
feet above sea level, the Atacama is the highest,
driest desert on earth. There are places here where
it's so dry that they've never had a drop of rain. The soil has no
water, or nutrients. But what really makes the
Atacama Desert so unique is that they have
clear, dark skies, untouched by light pollution. One of the reasons they built
the world's most advanced optical telescope here. If you're a star
gazer, worth the trip. The Paranal Observatory:
it's as good as it gets. This telescope tell me,
why is it so special? MATIAS: The size of
the main mirror is very
important, because. PHIL: How, how
big are we talking? MATIAS: 8.2
meters in diameters. PHIL: So maybe 24, 25 feet? MATIAS: The larger the
telescope, the more
light you collect. PHIL: Oh! It's moving. MATIAS: Yeah, it's moving. PHIL: Oh.
MATIAS: It's fine. PHIL: Matias, can we walk
up so we can see the mirror? MATIAS: Of course. PHIL: Can we go up the stairs?
MATIAS: Yeah, yeah. PHIL: So here you
really get to see this... MATIAS: Exactly.
PHIL: This mirror! MATIAS: Yeah. PHIL: The VLT's largest
mirror collects the light from distant stars and planets. From there, a series of
smaller mirrors reflect that light onto one of
several instruments that allow astronomers to
study the subject. How thick is this big one? MATIAS: 17 centimeters. PHIL: So, we're
looking at about 7 inches, or something like that, right. MATIAS: Yeah,
something like that. It weighs more than 20 tons,
so it's a big piece of glass. PHIL: Wow.
MATIAS: It's like. Right. PHIL: But having one of the
largest mirrors in the world is useless unless
you can focus it. That's why you need lasers. Just like something
out of<i> Star Wars,</i> a powerful laser beam
shoots out from the telescope, causing sodium atoms high
in the atmosphere to glow, creating an artificial star
that allows the scientists to calibrate the VLT. MATIAS: I mean, this
is state of the art, uh, instrumentation in astronomy, so it's, it's, this
is the right place, uh, if you want to do. PHIL: The work that you do.
MATIAS: Exactly. There will be also very
nice, new instrument. PHIL: I love that. Look, the lights are
going down, Matias, right? MATIAS: Exactly. Look. This is part of the excitement
of working here, right? Every night is a
new opportunity to, to discover
something, something new. PHIL: The half-billion
dollar facility is the most productive ground-based
observatory in the world, advancing our
knowledge of black holes, and how stars and
planets are born. In 2008, the very large
telescope detected the afterglow of a gamma ray burst
among the farthest objects ever observed. Near the very edge of
the known universe, light from this explosion took
almost 13 billion years to get here, giving us a window into
the universe in its infancy. MATIAS: We can go to
the, um, control room. PHIL: Mhm. MATIAS: Where we
operate, remotely. PHIL: But perhaps the most
significant work done here is the discovery and
studying of exoplanets, planets outside
our solar system. MATIAS: Okay. So here, we are in
uh, the control room. PHIL: And each, so each one of
these are control centers for? MATIAS: For, for the instrument
on that specific telescope. PHIL: Observation time on
these powerful telescopes is precious, and requests
come from all over the world. Only astronomers with the best
proposals get to use them. Elyar is an
astronomer from Iran and, uh, I guess this is a great
way be able to sort of get a sense of what an
exoplanet looks like. ELYAR: Yes. For sure. PHIL: These images are
really quite extraordinary. We've known about
exoplanets since 1992, but didn't catch an
image of one until 2004, when the team here at
Paranal made history. ELYAR: Here, we
actually have a direct
image of an exoplanet. This is the star,
and this is a, uh, giant planet, it's,
uh, a little bit bigger than Jupiter, around
that star that we, we could take its
picture directly. PHIL: It is the first-ever
image of a planet outside our solar system. This exoplanet orbits a
star located 230 light
years from earth, which sounds far, unless you're
talking to an astronomer. ELYAR: It's in
our neighborhoods, in terms of the size
of the, uh, galaxy, because our galaxy's about
100,000 light years. PHIL: Since the imaging
technology at Paranal is relatively new and
not widely available, these so-called neighborhoods
are still largely unexplored. But recently, the astronomers
here happened upon a potentially
earth-shattering discovery. ELYAR: So this is a,
this planetary system, is covered around a
star called Trappist. Trappist-1. And they found 7 rocky
planets around this star. PHIL: And what do we
know about these planets? ELYAR: What we know is that 3
of them are for sure in the habitable zone of the star,
which means that there is a possibility that there is
liquid water on their surface. PHIL: So are you now
zeroing in on these planets, and starting to really
understand them more and more? ELYAR: For sure. I mean,
we are really lucky that, from our point of view, all 7
of these planets pass in front of the, the host star. So, as it, as it passes
in front of the host star, we can actually study,
study their atmosphere. PHIL: I learn that an
exoplanet passing in front of its star is a very important
time for these astronomers. For one, it slightly dims
the light from the star, making it the best time
to detect the planet in
the first place. Also, as light from the
star passes through the
planet's atmosphere, astronomers can identify
which gases are present. And by then studying the
composition of all the gases you start to understand more
about what the potential is for life, that sort of thing? ELYAR: Absolutely, yes. PHIL: And your
personal feeling is what? Maybe there is some life
there? In Trappist? ELYAR: If I had to bet, I
would say probably not. The reason that I say probably
not is because this star emits a lot of X-ray radiation. As we know, X-ray is
not quite good for life. But, you never know. We, we have, I mean, we
only know one example of life, uh, that has
evolved in the universe. So we are very inexperienced. PHIL: You have dreams, Matias? You have something that
you're searching for? You feel like
you want to find? MATIAS: If we find
sign of life, in, outside the solar system,
would be, I mean, that, I think that is one of
the biggest question
of, of mankind, right? PHIL: Yeah. MATIAS: Are we
alone in the universe? And probably the answer to
this will be provided by astronomy in the
coming decades, so, it's challenging, but
it's also super exciting. PHIL: The high-powered
telescopes here give astronomers a groundbreaking
view of deep space. But the remote desert
landscape on which they stand provides a truly
incredible look at the stars, with or without a telescope. For me, I've just never
seen the sky like this
in my entire life. ELYAR: You can see this,
this brilliant band of, uh, light across the sky. That, as, as you can see
just goes all the way across. PHIL: Beautiful.
And that band is called. ELYAR: That's the Milky Way.
PHIL: That's the Milky Way. ELYAR: That's our home.
That's our home galaxy. So if we can, I would, I would
like to actually have you come a bit closer to home and
actually have a look at Jupiter. PHIL: Okay. I like Jupiter.
ELYAR: If, if you would like. So that's the brightest star
that you can see in the sky. PHIL: Oh, there. ELYAR: Yeah, the
one right there. PHIL: I see. Okay.
ELYAR: Now you can see. PHIL: Oh, wow.
ELYAR: You have it. PHIL: Yeah, that's beautiful. ELYAR: And you
also see four dots, uh, very close to Jupiter,
and those are Jupiter's moons. PHIL: I really
appreciate the tour. ELYAR: It was my pleasure. PHIL: This
state-of-the-art observatory, and the men and women
who work here, are on the vanguard of an amazing
explosion of knowledge. And even with all
that's been explored, we've only scratched the
surface of the historic discoveries that await
us on distant horizons. When we come back. CARA: Here in Morocco when a
meteorite strikes the Earth, there's a rush to
find the best pieces. MICHAEL: Just those two
pieces, they want $20,000. CARA: $20,000 for
what's in my hand right now? MICHAEL: Yes. PHIL: Welcome back. While space might
appear like an empty vacuum, it is in fact filled
with cosmic debris, like asteroids,
comets, and meteors. Tens of thousands of
these meteors become fiery meteorites, breaking
through our atmosphere before crashing down on earth. These extraterrestrial
rocks can offer rich
insight into alien worlds, and are often so valuable
they're worth more than gold. Up next, Cara Santa Maria
goes behind the scenes of the global meteorite
market, in North Africa. CARA: I'm Cara Santa Maria, and here in Morocco when a
meteorite strikes the Earth, there's a rush
to find the best pieces. From scientists to
private collectors, everyone's interested in the
secrets of the cosmos that these rocks could unlock. Many meteorites are unchanged
since the birth of our solar system, and can tell
scientists a lot about our place in the universe. More than 40 tons of
interplanetary rocks and dust fall through our
atmosphere every day. Most are lost to
oceans or dense terrain. But of the precious few
meteorites that have been found, nearly one
in five landed here. CARA: In the oasis town of
Erfoud, Morocco a large percentage of the economy
is made up in meteorites. Known as the
gate of the Sahara, people come from all over
the world to trade in this precious commodity. Michael Farmer is a
meteorite dealer, one of only 20 people in
the world with access to the nearly impenetrable
meteorite market. (speaking native language). CARA: These guys
you trade with? MICHAEL: Yes, yeah.
CARA: Yeah? Cool. MICHAEL: I've known
them a lot of years. CARA: Really? Nice. Aw. MICHAEL: Dates!
Mm. Shukran. CARA: This is your
full-time job? MICHAEL: I worked at
Target while I was in the
University of Arizona, and, uh, I quit that job,
traveled to Morocco, started buying meteorites,
and I've never looked back. CARA: Do you travel the world
in search of these things? MICHAEL: Yeah, I've
been to over 80 countries. I, I never stop. Any time a new
meteorite falls, uh, I tend to jump on a
plane and rush there. CARA: Michael has a network
of meteorite brokers all
around the world. Here in Morocco, his
local agent is Mohammed. In anticipation of
Michael's arrival, he has set up secret
meetings with a small
group of top sellers. Thank you. The one we're about to meet
claims that he has two rare rocks out of only 200 of its
kind that were ever found. MICHAEL: The rarest
Mars rock on earth. Scientifically,
it's extraordinary. It has a lot of water
in it, Martian water. Usually sells for
10,000 U.S. per gram. Yeah, no doubts. Yeah, very, very,
very rare rock. Gold is $50 a gram. Just those two pieces
they want $20,000. CARA: $20,000 for
what's in my hand right now? MICHAEL: Yes. CARA: The existence of
this global underground
meteorite industry is actually a huge problem
according to another group of people desperate to get their
hands on these rare rocks. Paul Chodas is the head of
Near Earth Objects for NASA, and believes meteorites are
too important to be collected by anyone other
than scientists. PAUL: Oh, a meteorite is a stone
that is sitting on the ground. Uh, a stone from
space, a rock from space. It's exciting because it
formed in space 4 billion years ago, so we can learn
more about the formation of the solar system, and the
composition of that early material that was, were the
building blocks of the planets. So, to ascertain,
kind of the age, and when the fall happened,
and where there are other related meteorites,
documentation is certainly needed when
meteorites are recovered. And I, I can't speak to what the
meteorite hunters are doing. CARA: Scientists like
Paul have good reason
to be suspicious. In an underground marketplace,
even well-known meteorite hunters sometimes struggle to
get the information they need. (speaking native language). CARA: Should we take off
our shoes here? Okay. We sit here? Here? MOHAMED: Yeah.
CARA: Oh, here. MAN: Anywhere you want.
Grab a pillow. CARA: Oh, thank you. MOHAMED: Wow.
MICHAEL: What's this? MICHAEL: Yeah,
that's a nice piece. Wow. Look at that. A very nice oriented rock. CARA: Chondrites are pieces of
asteroid and are thought to be one of the earliest building
blocks of our solar system. Nearly 90% of meteorites
found so far are chondrites, and researchers consider
the specific details of each rock's fall to the earth vital
to the scientific record. But this dealer is being cryptic
about where he found this one. MICHAEL: I saw pieces of
this a few months ago. It looks like a
fall from Algeria. CARA: It's illegal to export
meteorites from Algeria. They're seen as
priceless artifacts, and property of the state. So you're concerned about
these coming from a place where it's not
legal to sell them? MICHAEL: Yeah. If
I had information on, on that exactly I
would buy it. But, uh... CARA: Morocco is the global hub
of a booming meteorite market. But these keys to the origins
of the cosmos are also vital to science, and it seems
some dealers are willing to compromise critical scientific
data just to make a profit. MICHAEL: If I had
information on, on that exactly I would
buy it. But, uh. CARA: So you're concerned
about these coming from a place where it's not
legal to sell them? MICHAEL: Yeah.
At the moment, with, with the information I
have, I won't buy it. I would love to buy it, but I
don't like what I'm hearing, so I, I'm out. CARA: Michael may have
turned this rock down, but some collectors
look the other way, destroying critical data
scientists need to create a complete picture of
a meteorite fall. PAUL: There often
is a "strewn field", that is to say, there are
um, a bunch of meteorites that are related, together. You know, and, and that
mapping out that field is also of great interest. If the local citizens have
picked up a meteorite and moved it, you know,
hundreds of miles maybe, then, then we have no
information on where that fell. So, in general, my preference
is that professionals are involved in uh,
recovering the meteorites. CARA: Michael Farmer argues
that despite some bad actors, the vast majority of meteorite
hunters are careful and coordinate with scientists. MICHAEL: Any time I
get a new meteorite, we have to share
20 grams or 20%. And that's been a joint
agreement with collectors, dealers, and, uh, scientists,
to make sure that science gets its share, or at
least enough to study. CARA: But it's not just out of
the goodness of their hearts, in a twist of irony,
scientific certification is actually the best way for
meteorite traders to get top dollar for their finds. HYSLOP: I have heard stories
of meteorites changing hands for $1 million, or
in excess of it. CARA: James Hyslop sources
the most extraordinary meteorites on the planet. HYSLOP: I'm really looking
for the best of the best. I'd say for every 100
meteorites that I'm offered, I probably turn
down 98, 99 of them. CARA: He's currently receiving
deliveries from brokers around the world for one of
Christie's meteorite auctions. HYSLOP: Wow. DARRYL: Canyon Diablo, named
after meteor crater in Arizona. Most, as you know, most Canyon
Diablo's do not look like this. HYSLOP: No. CARA: And when you're dropping
the same amount of cash on a piece of rock as
you would a home, like a home, you want
qualified experts to make sure you're buying what
you think you are. HYSLOP: Until it's been
formally classified by the Meteoritical Society,
it's just a rock. So it, it then has to,
basically has to be cut open, analyzed, published, then it's
officially a meteorite and then we'll offer it
for sale at Christie's. This really has the potential
to be the most expensive meteorite we've ever
sold at Christie's. DARRYL: Uh, it
should be. It's a. HYSLOP: Yeah.
DARRYL: It's a one-of-a-kind. I mean they're all
one-of-a-kind objects, but this is extraordinary. This is really
is extraordinary. CARA: At the auction Christie's
held in February 2018, this scientifically-certified
Canyon Diablo meteorite sold for a staggering $237,500. So, in many ways, scientists
help fuel the high prices in the meteorite market. But they also get
a lot in return. Recovering these incredible
pieces of outer space from far-flung regions is a costly
and time-consuming endeavor and scientists almost
never have to foot the bill, because the meteorite hunters
are chasing a much bigger payday than any government
budget would provide. MICHAEL: Okay.
Now that's a nice piece. Nice moon rock, big moon rock. I mean, I jump on a
plane, I go to India, I get the meteorite, and I
deliver it to scientific hands in 72 hours. Whereas, they may have to
write up a budget proposal and wait a year on somebody to
give them some money to go and try to acquire a sample,
we cut that red tape. MICHAEL: That's $15,000.
Fourteen nine. MOHAMED: Yeah. CARA: After cutting, polishing
and obtaining scientific certification, Michael
could clear at least $45,000 in profit from this one and a
half pound piece of the moon. MICHAEL: He's happy, I'm
happy, everybody's happy. PHIL: In this episode,
we've seen how enduring
human curiosity is when it comes to understanding
how the universe works. Many people believe our
long-term survival as a species will depend on it. That's it for this episode.
Join me next time, on<i> Explorer.</i> Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.
