The Universe: Human Life on Mars is Coming Soon (S2, E13) | Full Episode | History

from our beginnings the human race  has endeavored to extend our reach   and now we're headed for the final  frontier we should be a two planet species from an outpost on the moon to a full-fledged  colony on mars it could be a challenge it could   also be a disaster right now we're  building the rockets to get us there   and the machines we'll need to survive do  you have the right stuff to join the crew   i want two scotties and two spots the  countdown begins now the universe colonizing space colonizing space is no longer  the stuff of science fiction it's likely the first humans who will live on  another world have already been born on earth   for these pioneers this adventure will  be the ultimate cosmic camping trip you need to bring everything you need with you you  need to bring a place to live you need to bring   the food you're going to eat you need to bring the  water you need to drink now on earth at least you   don't need to bring the air you breathe but when  we go into space we'll need to bring that too   everything we need has got to be with us if  something's missing or something breaks it could   be a disaster we need to have everything we're  going to use with us we need to have it working the success of space colonization will depend upon the ambitions to settle somewhere out  there go right to the core of our existence   compelling reasons to colonize space are to see  if we can expand the range of our activities   beyond the earth or are we really confined to  the earth i think that's an important question   we need to know the answer to the second one is  what's the role of life we have on this earth a   phenomenon called life is it destined to spread  beyond the earth we are the species that can   cause that spread carl sagan the great  noted astronomer once said that we should   be a two planet species that is we should  colonize one planet and also have the earth   because for example the earth is in the middle  of a cosmic shooting gallery there are comets   and meteors whizzing all over the place on a scale  of of hundreds to thousands and millions of years   and we need a spare planet because it's simply  too precious to put all life on simply one planet in the vastness of space there's one destination   above all others that stands out as  prime real estate for colonization   mars is the grand prize of the solar system it's  the closest planet which human beings can settle   it's the closest planet that has all the  resources needed for life and civilization mars the fourth planet from the sun  it's about half the size of earth   and at its closest pass is  roughly 35 million miles away   the ancient romans associated its red color with  hostility and named it after their god of war but far from hostile mars has the potential to  be the most hospitable planet after the earth the gaseous outer planets offer no solid ground   among the inner planets mercury is  too scorchingly close to the sun and venus though similar to earth in size is baked  to 870 degrees fahrenheit by a runaway greenhouse   effect it also has an atmospheric pressure  that would crush any would-be human settlers mars does have its own pitfalls it actually has  extremely low atmospheric pressure which would   cause your blood to boil and then freeze but a  pressurized space suit can overcome that danger   and while it's cold on mars with typical  daytime temperatures 20 to 40 degrees below zero   humans could easily survive wearing proper  protection most important the red planet   with its carbon dioxide rich atmosphere seems to  have the natural resources we would need to keep   a colony running on mars we have carbon dioxide  from which we can extract oxygen and make fuels   from it there's water vapor in the atmosphere  and also in the polar caps the soil on mars the   regolith has the minerals and various compounds  we need in order to set up a colony on mars today mars is a frozen desert but photos taken by space probes show clear  evidence of erosion this means that not only   did mars at one time have water on its surface  but also that it may have once supported life   finding evidence of previous life  even microscopic organisms might make   the difference between whether we establish a  short-term base or a more permanent colony there long-range mission planning  is already underway at nasa   the space agency plans to return man to the moon  by 2020 as a stepping stone to a mars mission one of the major themes for the lunar exploration  is call forward to mars and within that theme   we'll be constantly thinking about how we will  operate on mars the astronauts will be involved   with studying how humans react to the planetary  environment how hard they can work how much sleep   they need how much entertainment they need how  they will relate to mission control we need to   learn to deal with all of these issues that come  with people living in far-reaching environments   an important step in preparing for a  long wilderness trip is testing the gear   setting up everything in a local spot  even in your backyard make sure you've   got everything you need and it all works in  that same way setting up a base on the moon   is a practice run for setting up a  base on mars we learn what to do we   learn all the equipment we need and how it  works we get everything working just right everything includes versatile robotic machines   like athlete which stands for all-terrain  hex-limbed extraterrestrial explorer athlete is designed to carry cargo on the moon or  mars the most important cargo we could carry would   be a habitat that's usually the largest single  piece of any human mission but athlete can do much   more than just haul cargo each side of the machine  is equipped with high definition cameras that give   a 360 degree view of the surroundings and display  it to an operator based either on the planet in an   orbiting spacecraft or back on earth and each limb  is like its own self-deploying swiss army knife one of the things it can do is take one of its  limbs and and grab a tool out of a tool holster   and use that tool to excavate so  we have built scoops and drills   and grippers and other tools one of  the most interesting things is that   if a leg were to fail on athlete the two  adjacent legs could in fact grab tools and   disconnect the one leg that's failed and  amputate it and leave it on the surface   with equipment like athlete astronauts will be  able to establish a long-term base on the moon   and test how self-sufficient they can be only  then according to nasa will we really know   if we're ready to go to mars the real acid test  of our understanding how to live in space will to   take a crew of say six people put them on the far  side of the moon where they cannot see the earth   and have the psychological disadvantage of not  being able to connect to the earth and see if they   can exist for a year on their own with the systems  that we design for them if we're able to actually   do that kind of a test and experiment then i think  we will have checked the box that yes we're ready   to move out into the solar system and settle  more difficult regimes such as the planet mars the moon's close proximity to earth about 240  000 miles only a three day trip makes it a   convenient proving ground but its environment is  vastly different from mars mars compares to the   moon as north america compared to greenland in the  previous age of human exploration i mean greenland   was closer to europe europeans got there first  but ultimately it was too poor an environment   for a new branch of human civilization to really  develop it same with the moon the moon is closer   to the earth we got there first but as a place  for settlement mars is a much better place to go   mars has more water and other useful  natural resources than the moon   it also has an earth-like day-night cycle that  lasts only about 40 minutes longer than ours   that's why the mars society an organization  of scientists researchers and nasa personnel   thinks we should skip the moon entirely  and head directly for a rendezvous with   the red planet mars direct is a plan for sending  humans to mars without the need for futuristic   science fiction spacecrafts and without  the need for a lunar base the mars direct   mission plan proposes two launches the first  sends an earth return vehicle or erv to mars land this on mars and then you run a pump and  you suck in the martian air which is mostly   carbon dioxide and we react that carbon dioxide  with a little bit of hydrogen that we brought   with us from earth to produce a large supply  of methane and oxygen rocket propellant so now   we got a fully fueled up earth return vehicle  sitting waiting for us on the surface of mars   the second launch sends a crew habitat module  to mars after conducting their mission on   the red planet the astronauts board the erv to  return home and leave behind the habitat module each time we do this we add another half module  to the base and after a few missions we've built   the beginning of the first human settlement on  a new world there is nothing in this that is   beyond our technology it's simply a question of  having a little bit of moxie a little bit of will   but to skeptics the mars direct mission plan is  a non-starter if we tried to go to mars directly   the first step would be something like 20 years  of preparation and testing and at that point   the public will get very bored  with the idea of going to mars   we believe that we can get to the moon in a  time frame where the public will be heavily   engaged in human exploration of space and that  will enable us to get to mars in some sense   faster because we'll have more confidence  and we'll have less risk to human life getting to mars whether by direct mission or only  after further lunar exploration is just the first   step towards colonizing the planet but getting  there will be as challenging as living there   surviving the journey will be the  ultimate test of human endurance the trip to mars is six months long that's  when the earth and mars are at their closest   alignment making it the best time to depart earth  and mars both go around the sun but they go around   at different rates and every two years earth and  mars are on the same side of the sun and so then   that's when it's close and then it only takes  six months to get there when earth and mars   are on opposite sides of the sun forget it  you're not going from one planet to another   not with the technologies we've got you got  to wait for warp drive or something like that   there are new hardware elements that need to be  developed to enable a human flight mission to   mars but no new technology everything we need to  make we know how to make we are much closer today   to being able to send humans to  mars than we were being able to send   men to the moon in 1961 when kennedy started the  moon program and we were there eight years later   the new hardware will include the aries the next  generation rocket that will launch man to the moon   and beyond the aries should be ready for  liftoff within a decade it's about the size   of the saturn v of apollo fame taller than a 36  story building the saturn v was the largest and   most powerful rocket ever launched capable of  delivering a 53-ton payload into lunar orbit   but the aries using boosters derived from  the space shuttle will be able to muscle an   extra 22 tons of cargo on each trip to the  moon so if you have very large rockets you   can have fewer launches in order to assemble the  spacecraft that goes to mars so the large rocket   is really a product of the desire to ultimately  look at mars in our exploration scenarios new hardware will also include orion the crew  vehicle it will be more than two and a half times   the volume of an apollo capsule on its missions  to the moon orion will dock with a lunar lander   sent into space on a separate launch unlike apollo  spacecraft orion will orbit the moon unmanned   while lunar explorations take place the astronauts  will re-dock with orion for the return to earth   this new crew vehicle will borrow much  of its hardware from the space station in 1997 retired astronaut jerry linninger spent  about five months nearly the length of time it   would take to get to mars aboard the russian  space station mir while on the long mission   he overcame many dangers including the most  severe fire ever on an orbiting spacecraft a chemical leak ignited a blaze that lasted  90 seconds threatening the crew a lot of the   things that i think pretty much saved our  lives are these uh oxygen breathing devices   and uh during the flyer of course that had  to go on quickly if anybody knows firsthand   how the hardware including life support systems  will work on the spacecraft taking man to mars   it's him down here on earth you take so much  for granted you know we're out here sunshine   the fresh air all around you you know in space  you have to make it you've got to make the oxygen   up there you're in a closed  ecosystem you have to recycle   you know whatever you can and the toilet itself  is over this way and it's a very simple design   for example we take the urine collect it using a  little funnel little suction device for the male   or female urination is this two viewers used we'd  collect that up we'd convert the urine into water   water to oxygen and we would breathe our  urine inside that closed ecosystem of the   space station mike i hope you've got a feel for  the space station uh as we flew you through it new hardware will also provide  power from clean reliable sources   we're going green to the red planet solar  panels will do the job on the return to the moon but the longer journey to mars  will require another power source   as we get off to mars the solar insulation  the intensity of sunlight at mars   is only about half that at the earth  so solar panels are less effective   we may have to think carefully about using  nuclear power sources in some of these spacecraft   and in fact people are thinking seriously about  nuclear power sources on the surface of the moon   in order to generate long-term power and not  have to worry about the periods of darkness   on the moon where you don't have sunlight and  you have to bring batteries up to store power but despite all the new hardware the journey  to mars will still have its share of potential   hazards like any trek to an unfamiliar place  imagine you're on a wilderness camping trip you   leave home the familiar surroundings that  you're used to you go out on a long trip   potential dangers hazards rock slides  avalanches getting lost equipment   breakdown all sorts of possible problems but  you want to go anywhere you prepare you go out it could be an adventure it could be a disaster  going to the moon and mars is going to be like   that too leave the familiar surroundings of earth  you go out in space potential problems issues   equipment breakdown many of the same kind of  problems that you might have on a camping trip   the astronauts might face on mars it could be  a challenge it could also be a disaster a major   hazard the crew will encounter will be prolonged  weightlessness in the zero gravity environment oh yes it's true relieved of bearing its usual  load the human skeleton starts to deteriorate   there's a loss of calcium phosphate a  chemical critical to the rigidity of bones   and the number of bone cells actually decreases  for 24 hours a day you're floating and your body   very smartly starts physiologically  to adapt to that new circumstance   so in order to counter that try to keep your  strength up and get on a treadmill a 2-1 hour   periods a day it's about all you can muster up  there inspire that you know came back at about   65 percent of my pre-flight strength level a lot  of muscle atrophy and more significantly about a   14 bone loss you know hips lower spine you get  up in space you're floating effortlessly the   bone just keeps dumping calcium and that could  be a show stopper on a long duration flight   it was only through intense physical  training after his return to earth   that lineager was able to reduce his bone  loss from 14 to 2 percent the debilitating   effects of weightlessness remain an issue that  must be addressed before we set foot on mars   let alone colonize it research  continues on a possible solution a lot of people have looked towards artificial  gravity which means you spin the spacecraft up   and you end up with a gravity and that would  sort of help load your bones because when you're   in weightlessness your fluids are shifting  your bones are unloaded and you lose about   two percent of your bone mass per month it would  be a large hurdle because in order for crews to   be healthy when they arrive on mars they need to  be strong for the entire trip nobody's ever built   a rotating spacecraft before so nobody wants to  be the first person but most people believe that   some kind of artificial gravity with a rotating  spacecraft on the way to mars is actually the   way to do the mission headed for mars also face  danger from solar storms high-energy particle   bursts unleashed from the sun could wipe out a  crew if they aren't prepared for the onslaught   so radiation is one of the largest showstoppers  in terms of technology that needs to be developed   for a future vehicle the easiest way to deal  with that is just make a storm shelter so that   if you can somehow predict when the solar  storms are approaching which you would do   with various navigation satellites and  relaying them from earth then you could   get into the shelter and wait it out and  then be able to go back into the spacecraft   and then similarly on mars when you know that  there's a storm coming you would go into a shelter the journey along will make colonizing mars an  unprecedented challenge but the enormous risks   come with historic rewards no decision is more  important than who gets to go think you have   what it takes to be a space pioneer get in line  there are people already training for the job   colonizing mars will require a special breed of  people with missions that could last more than two   years selecting those with the right stuff to be  planetary pioneers will be critical to the success two one we have ignition the cost of a  launch in the billions of dollars and the   tight quarters of the spacecraft will keep  the number of crew people to a bare minimum   i believe that number is four it's the  smallest number you can send and divide   the crew up into two groups and have no one  be alone and it's the smallest number that   you can send in which you have the two primary  skills of the mission both multiply backed up a crew of that size would consist of  two ace mechanics who can fix anything   and in doing so save lives joining them would  be two field scientists the intellectual payload so in star trek terminology i  want two scotties and two spocks mars colonists will need more  than just these vital skill sets   they also need to be mentally tough people think that astronauts are tough they  will just always obey commands and will   operate according to plan but they are human  and humans in these situations do develop   strange psychological reactions we really have to  understand that because that's part of the crew   selection process all right i'm gonna fly into  the uh into the node astronauts will have to   adapt to the confined space of the crew vehicle  or habitat if you're claustrophobic forget it   and we actually test for that we put you in  sort of a ball zip it up it's totally dark   you're crammed in the thing inside the  sleep cabin there's also a little window   sleeping bag sitting right here this happens to be  the commander's sleep station and they have heart   monitors on you in my case i fell asleep they  finally came open the thing up said you're fine   but if you don't fall asleep in a  closed space you're not the right person   dealing with being the only  life forms on an otherwise   lifeless planet will be another  major psychological challenge   out there in space you truly are just removed  from mankind and you know the interactions we   have in life with the colleagues friends family uh  you just sort of take them for granted down here   but up there all of a sudden it is isolation  like i've never felt before if you're not   totally comfortable with yourself you're gonna  have some very very difficult times up there so it's been four months four months  simulated mars mission everyone's   doing great to train people for  this extreme mission the mars   society has built two mars analog research  stations to practice simulated missions   crews consisting of as many as six  people mostly university scientists   and nasa personnel operate under many of the same  constraints that astronauts will endure on mars   they don't go outside without wearing space  suits they live on martian time 37 minutes   longer than an earth day their communication with  mission control in denver is on a 20-minute delay   to simulate the time it takes for a  radio signal to go from mars to earth   maybe most challenging they must coexist  in a habitat with minimal personal space   by doing that you find out what works on mars  and what doesn't and what kind of uh skill mix   what character mix you need in the crew what  technologies are likely to be most useful to   the crew how to organize the crew who should  command the crew how tight you can race in the   water and still sustain morale while you're  doing this kind of work this is not like a   lunar mission which only lasts a week where you  can get three test pilots and they can just suck   up the fact that they don't really like each  other for that duration time and get along   crews first go to the desert research  station located outside hanksville utah   to conduct short-term missions lasting two weeks during that time they perform  evas extra-vehicular activities   such as collecting soil  samples for geological study after completing their desert work the  crews are ready to join longer missions   lasting up to four months at the research  station on devon island in the canadian arctic   devon island is one of the key places that you  can conduct mars research because of its isolation   it's the largest uninhabited island in the world  there are no signs of life around maybe some   bacteria and algae growing on the rocks and also  because the crater formation that the research   station is located on is similar to a crater that  you would typically find on any planet there's a   lot of permafrost up in the arctic and drilling  into there looking for microbial life could be   a similar experiment to what you would do  on the surface of mars we're going on our   radiation slash weather station eva we'll  be taking readings of the surrounding area   in addition to conducting field research  scientists at both stations also study each   other as part of what they call human factors the  human factors research looks at the interactions   between humans and computers the interactions  between humans and their environment and with   each other by learning how we're gonna react  with each other in different situations we   can then learn how a crew will react together  on the way to mars or on the surface of mars   a lot of our findings sound very obvious but  they have not really been paid attention to   before for example the very first thing you learn  is that this activity a field exploration while   wearing a spacesuit is a physical activity the  amount of exploration is very much contingent   upon your physical fitness so what is this  saying it's saying you don't want to go to   mars in zero gravity if you want to actually  get anything done because you'd be deconditioned another key finding was determining how  little water humans need to survive it's   a drop in the bucket compared to the  125 gallons a day the average person   we have found that with careful rationing and with  the right kind of crew we can limit water use down   to about three gallons a day per person taking  sponge baths every other day instead of showers   every day and carefully rationing it yeah but  if we try to cut the water down much below that   then it does in fact start interfering morale in  a serious way and this is a very important number   to know from the point of view of the engineer  designing the mission and how much mass you need   to ship the mars society shares data from its  arctic and desert research stations with nasa   the space agency will study the findings  as it plans a future base on mars   the next step to colonizing  the planet see you soon space the year is 2040 the destination mars  after decades of careful study and research   the first human explorers are on their way to  the red planet after completing the six-month   journey from earth the longest manned space  trip in history it's time to land on mars   but where's the best place to touch down you  want areas that are geologically diverse where   there's a lot of different things to explore  within a reasonably small radius of action   you want to definitely include areas that  had had water in them in the past because   that is where there could have been life on the  surface that's where you want to hunt for life you want to go to places that are either in  the temperate or tropical regions of the planet   because you don't want to go to a place where  it's going to be dark for 12 months at a time by these criteria the best place to land would be  just north of the valles marineris within driving   range of runoff areas not far from where space  probe's pathfinder and viking one touch down it's also the best place to establish a base camp   that will function much like  one in the wilderness on earth here in a remote wilderness area we can establish  a base camp because we have everything we need we also rely on the environment we get  oxygen from the environment we get water we get wood for fire from the environment well now let's imagine colonizing mars  on mars we also rely on the environment colonizing mars is going to  require using the oxygen from   the mars atmosphere that we could  derive from the carbon dioxide growing food on marsh getting  water from the atmosphere on mars   the same mix of resources from the  environment and material that we   brought with us is what's required to  allow us to successfully colonize space once the base has been established the  primary objective of early missions   is to search for evidence of  life in the past and the present using radar astronauts attempt to locate  groundwater within a few hundred yards   of the surface then bring it up with  drilling rigs samples will be studied   under microscopes in the crew habitat  to see if they contain evidence of life if the planet proves capable of supporting  life then it would be viable for astronauts   to construct greenhouses and cultivate  crops using martian water soil and sunlight as they search for life these pioneering  astronauts will have to contend with   the one force that could bring the lofty  ambition to colonize mars back down to earth that's gravity the gravity on mars  is one-third the gravity on earth   we don't know if that's enough gravity to allow  for healthy bones and muscles if mars gravity is   not suitable for human long-term survival then we  may it may become the place we visit may go there   for a week or so to tourist attraction but it's  not a home so that's a fundamental question that   needs to be answered is one-third gravity enough  gravity for us to live biologically fit lives my   guess is the answer is yes but we have  no direct data so we can only guess so will communicating it to earth the  lag time in radio communication between   the mars crew and mission control as much as  40 minutes depending on planetary alignments will affect how the astronauts  conduct their research   it certainly means that the mars crew is  going to have to be a lot more autonomous   than you could have with a human  crews an earth orbiter on the moon you're not going to be talking to the  mars crew okay now step two steps to   the left and head towards the rock they are  going to have to make their own decisions   and i think more generally the boris mission  is going to have to be led from the front   and that the commander of the mars mission will  be in the mars mission and rather than have   mission control we will have mission support on  earth back to work now back to work all you guys the habitat that will house the astronauts offers   a preview of structures that could  form the first settlement on mars as proposed in the mars society's direct plan the  initial habitat will be the crew vehicle itself   the tuna can as its proponents call it is  about 20 feet tall and 27 feet in diameter   it has two decks the upper level for cabins and  a common area the lower one for lab and workspace we have found in our field work that while  these are tighter quarters than most americans   are used to working living in they're not  that bad you don't really feel that crowded   we tend to keep the private bunks very small  so that we can maximize the public space   uh you know the wardroom where people hang out  if you've got a healthy crew where the people   want to associate with each other then this is  clearly the best way to ration the available space as more pioneers settle on mars it may be  safer to move the growing community underground because it's a terribly dangerous place  there are sandstorms that can pit and   knock over any surface establishment this  horrible ultraviolet cosmic rays effects   you're going to want to save people's  lives save their reproductive abilities   you're going to want to have a  place where you can raise children   you're not going to do that at the martian  surface you're going to be doing that underground   under those circumstances it would  be more like vast urban malls   probably very nicely lit nuclear and solar power  it shouldn't be a terrible life providing that   they get to a tipping point in technology a  tipping point in support from the outside world early missions to mars if conducted during optimal  planetary alignment will last approximately two   and a half years that includes the six months to  get there a year and a half stay on the surface   and the six-month return trip to earth during that  time we will know whether mars can support life   if it can that opens the door to  the ultimate form of colonization terraforming the planet to  make it more like the earth once humans establish a self-sufficient base on  mars the next major advance in space colonization   say advocates will be to terraform the planet  a process that will make mars earth-like wherever humans have settled they've remade  the environment to suit their needs mars   may not be any different terraforming is perhaps  the ultimate way to create a new garden of eden   in outer space and how would we do it take  a look at mars mars is a frozen desert   first we would have to raise the temperature we  know how to warm up planets we're doing it right   here on earth where it's not a good thing whereas  on mars it would be a good thing so in fact we   could do the same things we're doing on earth  putting in the atmosphere greenhouse gases which   would cause the planet to warm on earth that would  be pollution on mars it's medicine calculations   have shown that the amount of greenhouse gases  that we need to introduce to mars are reasonable   they're not really way beyond what we can imagine  to produce but the amount is also too large for   us to bring it from the earth to mars that  means that those gases have to be produced on   mars we would need to set up factories to produce  those gases and release them into the environment   these factories would combine elements  taken from the martian environment   convert them to non-toxic fluorocarbon  gases and vent them into the atmosphere   experts estimate in about a hundred  years these greenhouse gases will   have terraformed a cold dry dead planet  into a warm wet life-supporting world   it's interesting to think about what would  mars look like after 100 years of warming   it would be bluer than it is today you'd see  large patches of water you start seeing little   fringes of green around the margins of these blue  areas and then with time this infestation of green   would move away and up and into the mountains and  eventually you'd see a world of blue and green   with little islands of red that remain almost  like national parks preserved then in the first   stages of terraforming the temperature will rise  and also the atmospheric pressure will rise that   will mean that humans will actually be able to  go out just in suits that really press down on   their skin in order to recreate some pressure and  with an air mask and that would really make it   much easier to go outside it would probably take  quite a while for mars to become really a place   like this where we're in a greenhouse at the los  angeles arboretum it would definitely take a while   before we have such a paradise as this but we can  start from very basic algae mosses maybe grasses   while this is going on genetic engineering of  the people themselves could also be taking place   so that you are breeding in either through  selection of your offspring or possibly even   genetic manipulation generations of citizens  who need less gear when they go out on the   martian surface their skin is less fragile to  the ultraviolet to the low density atmosphere   and eventually they they just need  their respirators less and less   as the atmosphere increases so does their ability  to meet the atmosphere halfway and these would be   the beginnings of the true martians the people  who could actually make this world their own   nasa itself is not interested in terraforming  planets partly because it sounds very science   fictiony but partly because there are real  ethical questions involved you will find   a lot of people who believe that human beings  should not go into space because we will just   destroy things in the way that we've destroyed  our own planet and that we need to preserve   the moon and mars and the other planets the  way they are for scientific investigations   whether we should terraform mars is an  issue for future generations to resolve   it's a very distant point on a space colonization  timeline that could begin with this generation the one thing that we can probably predict is that  we will see ourselves in other places of the solar   system than the planet earth space colonization  will be driven by the normal processes we've   seen over human history of expansion of  people from one place to another across   frontiers space is another kind of frontier it's a  technologically challenging frontier but the human   species has been extraordinarily resourceful  over its history and its ability to adapt and   to overcome challenges like the frontier of space  son maybe someday he'll follow in dad's footsteps   and i would be awful proud knowing  that you plays the trail and uh   you know he can do it you know next  generation who knows where they'll be face colonization will be the ultimate  camping trip it'll test our equipment   it'll test our planning it'll  test us but it'll be worth it   we'll learn a lot about space about  our own earth and about ourselves whether it happens on mars or somewhere  else maybe even beyond our solar system   space colonization won't be driven by the desire  to plant a flag but rather a seed in the future   when we gaze into the heavens and ask is anybody  out there the answer just might be yes it's us you

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Length: 44min 27sec (2667 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 22 2021