Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets Page #3

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We have to keep a close eye on it.

It's not exciting, it's hard work.

I keep looking down and expecting to see Earth.

It's a fantastic-looking planet.

John, I can see our landing site crystal clear.

(TOM) I don't see any X function at all.

(NINA) Coming up on three metres.

- It's doing fine.

- (YVAN) Looking good, Aries.

(NARRATOR) Three astronauts

will pilot the lander Aries

in a descent with its own particular dangers.

Instead of a hundred times

the atmosphere of Earth, on Mars it's 100th,

which presents its own unique set of problems

when you wanna try and land.

There's not a whole lot to slow you down.

(DIST0RTED, GARBLED V0ICES)

(TOM) How ya doin' back there?

Everyone still with us?

(JOHN) 10 metres...down at two.

(TOM) Lost visual on the ground.

There's a lot of dust.

(TOM) All right, I got it.

Stand by for touchdown.

Three metres, down at one.

One metre.

- Contact.

- (CHEERING)

(TOM) Pressure on. Check yours.

- (JOHN) Pressure integrity check.

- 500 pep gauge to 4.0 on the forward dumbbell.

And she's opened and latched.

The hatch is open...and Kirby is on the porch.

(TOM) We stand at the edge of a new frontier

and we vow that we shall not see it governed

by a hostile flag of conquest...

..but by a banner of freedom and peace.

My footprints are crisp

and the dust clings to my boots.

Wind's picking up.

Dust is increasing at your 10 o'clock position.

(T0M) The sky's a kind of butterscotch colour.

(NINA) There's dust devil activity.

- Which way is it heading?

- I don't know.

- (TOM) Guess I'll stay here, then.

- Pegasus, we've got a problem.

(NINA) Scrub the EVA.

(ZO) Get Tom inside.

(T0M) Seal the hatch, John.

Will you look at that!

(H0WLING WIND )

(INAUDIBLE TRANSMISSI0N FR0M NINA)

(NINA) Are you OK?

(T0M) Say again, Aries.

You sound a little breathless in there.

- (NINA) Are you OK?

- Think so.

(ZO) Control want Tom inside now.

I don't care how you break it to him.

- That's what I call a Martian welcome!

- Want to run through a few suit checks?

(TOM) I think that's a good idea. Why not?

(JOHN) It's not as tough as it looks.

Martian dust is easily sucked up

into a dust devil.

Luckily, the Martian atmosphere

is a pale imitation of ours.

Pressures rarely climb above 100th of Earth's.

Although it may look like a whirlwind,

it's a breeze.

(T0M) I could get used to this.

(NINA) Eight weeks will be over before we know it.

(NARRATOR) The astronauts set up camp

close to Valles Marineris,

a vast canyon which could unlock

the mystery to life on Mars.

(MAN) Geologists are going crazy

over those sulphate salts.

Valles Marineris is basically a vast tear

in the Martian crust. It's over 4,000km long.

It runs so far round the planet that one end

is in daylight while the other is in dark.

(Z0) There's a big temperature difference

between the day and the night,

so strong winds surge up through the canyon

from the west, which brings up a lot of dust.

That could be a problem. Nobody wants

to work in zero visibility next to a 7km drop.

(NARRATOR) This is where they hope

to achieve their mission objective.

Not just evidence of life, but maybe life itself.

(NINA) There's evidence water once flowed

on Mars. Most of it's long gone.

But in the lowest parts, it might still be there

a metre below the surface.

0n Earth, everywhere we find liquid water,

we find life.

This is MEP-14. It's our drilling robot.

It gets to the floor of Marineris by balloon.

A HydroSensor at this end sniffs out the water,

then a drilling probe this end

goes in for the sample.

Then another balloon brings it back up

on the surface with evidence of life on Mars.

(J0HN) Two feet. This is definitely better.

It's more controllable.

I'm gonna patent this. The Mars bunny hop!

(NINA) John, give it a rest!

I'm trying to do a presentation here.

Big day today. We're conducting a robot descent

the seven vertical kilometres down to the floor

of Valles Marineris to search for liquid water.

Charlie here has volunteered.

Ah, here's our ride.

Someone order a cab?

(NINA) Shall we dust off first?

(J0HN) Yes, let's not mess up this vehicle.

- No names, Kirby!

- We're on a dusty planet, guys!

(NARRATOR) Dust devils are harmless,

but global storms have wrecked

previous robotic missions.

Pegasus will be keeping a close eye

on the surface.

- You're very quiet back there.

- (NINA) 0h, John!

(P0P MUSIC PLAYS)

- (NINA) Take it easy, John.

- (P0P MUSIC C0NTINUES)

(J0HN) I think I see the edge.

(T0M) Famous last words!

- Let's park up here. We can walk the rest.

- Keep the handbrakes on.

(T0M) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- God!

- (J0HN) Yep.

(NINA) Look at those layers.

Millions of years of Martian history.

(J0HN) Makes the Grand Canyon

look like a scratch.

(TOM) How do you read, Pegasus?

(YVAN) Loud and clear. Pictures are great.

Zo's going a nice shade of green up here.

Tell her, if it's any consolation,

we're gonna name these cliffs after her.

She says that makes all the difference!

- Tell 'em to get back to work!

- Did you read that?

4,000 kilometres long, seven kilometres deep.

It's a geological heaven and I'm not going!

But, still, I don't think there'll be any clouds.

I'll have a ringside seat.

(TOM) Ready for descent.

(ZO) Copy that, Tom...

(NARRATOR) 150 million miles away,

Mission Control monitors

another serious health hazard - the sun.

We have a solar weather warning. Hazard class.

We should get them under cover.

Capcom, tell them there's a solar flare

heading their way...

(NARRATOR) Solar flares

send storms of charged particles

blasting across the solar system.

Unlike Earth, Mars has no magnetic field

to deflect the lethal radiation.

It'll take 10 minutes for the warning

to reach the astronauts

and another 90 minutes

before they can reach shelter.

(T0M) Beautiful day, isn't it?

(J0HN) Roger that.

(CAPCOM) You have a solar flare heading your

way. ETA four minutes behind this message.

- (ALARM BLEEPS)

- Affect immediate evacuation of the cockpit.

Tell Tom to abort the EVA. Get back to Aries.

Surgeon wants dosimeter readings

before the solar storm reaches you.

- That's two minutes behind this message.

- (ALARM BLEEPS)

(NINA) Can't this heap go any faster?

(J0HN) 25 hours. Radiation levels are falling.

- Won't be much longer.

- (GEIGER C0UNTER CRACKLES)

(JOHN) Looks just the same out there.

You wouldn't think it was lethal.

(GEIGER C0UNTER CRACKLES)

Nothing.

- I've never felt more awake in my life.

- (GEIGER C0UNTER CRACKLES)

(NINA) Good luck, Charlie.

(NARRATOR) Once the solar storm passes,

the astronauts pick up where they left off

at the cliffs of Valles Marineris.

(NINA) Wind speed 9.5 metres per second.

080 degrees.

(NARRATOR) It will take six hours for their robot

Charlie to reach the floor of the canyon.

(NINA) Altitude 6520, down at 12.

(J0HN) Looks like

he's drifting up the alluvial fans.

(NINA) Confirm lateral drift.

(T0M) 0K, John enough pictures already.

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