The Mars Generation Page #6

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[all] ...five, four, three, two, one...

-Zero!

-[instructor] Stop all your robots!

[Jace] Programming error.

Bot didn't function properly

as how it was intended to.

It didn't perform

as it did during testing.

It was really kind of down to me,

and I kind of failed at the last second.

[Josh] The best thing about Mars

and why everybody wants to go to Mars

is because we have rovers there.

We have machines, examples,

everything from it that says,

"Hey come, come to Mars, come to Mars."

[general chatter]

[camper] Can this be one of our layers?

[instructor] Yeah! You can use that

as one of your layers!

[Josh] OK, we're naming it

Neil Applestrong.

Applenaut training, so that's where

we have an astronaut that's a green apple

and we make a space suit for it.

[Jace] A really good way

to look at a space suit

is it has to keep you alive

with oxygen and pressure.

So a one-minute test.

When it comes out

you're gonna blot it dry.

We'll walk over to the hot box.

Go. Down, down, down.

When it comes to space, I know a lot.

[instructor] Stop! Hold them up.

Oh, no!

This is unfortunate.

-What?

-[Jace] I think there's water inside.

[Josh] People living in space for a year

now, that's huge for me. I love it.

And it's like, whoa! I want to

live in space for five years now!

[Abby] To apply to become an astronaut,

all you have to do

is go to the NASA website

and you'll find a PDF that you can

download, fill out, send back in.

The basic requirements to be an astronaut

are not actually

that difficult to achieve.

You need to have a four-year degree

in a related field of STEM:

Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Math.

You need to have things

such as general good health,

reasonably good eyesight,

hearing, those types of things.

But it's when you look at

the requirements that aren't stated

that things become more difficult.

[Dr. Bob Behnken]

The original group of seven folks,

they were all military background

when they came into the office.

But of course the mission

of actually going on to Mars

really requires

a wide range of experiences,

and so that includes medical doctors,

it includes scientists,

pretty much everything under the sun.

I think I get smarter as I get older!

My time here as an astronaut

and my ability

to have gone to space two times

has helped taken some baby steps

to take that next generation

of space explorers even further.

[Dr. Thomas]

I'm way too old to go to Mars.

25, 30 years from now,

I'm gonna be 85, 90 years-old.

No way is NASA sending me to Mars.

[Dr. Kaku] The Mars Generation,

is the generation of today.

It's in their DNA to become

the astronauts, to explore the red planet.

[Abby] Ever since I was a little kid,

I've wanted to be an astronaut.

Going to Mars is definitely something that

would help NASA to draw public interest

and to reignite

that fire we have for space travel.

[Ian] We were born

at exactly the right time.

We will be in our early 30s around the

time we are predicted to set foot on Mars.

And Neil Armstrong was only 38

when he set foot on the Moon.

[Alyssa] The age you should really

start focusing more

and becoming really serious

about becoming an astronaut

is for me,

would probably be now,

so around 14.

Mainly because I'm starting to get

those certifications that I'll need

in the future,

such as SCUBA diving certification,

pilot's license

and sky diving certification.

[Rachel] When I got into space heavily,

I was probably about 13.

If I had the chance to go to Mars,

I would absolutely take it.

Like, I wouldn't even think about it.

[Zoe] I love space. I want to be

an astronaut one day.

If I died on Mars,

it would be sad, obviously.

But at least I would have died

achieving my lifelong dream!

[Kluger] It takes

a certain kind of person.

Most of us aren't those people.

We are fortunate, we've always been

fortunate as a species,

that there are people like that.

[Dr. Kaku] We have to be honest

with the young generation of astronauts.

And that is, yes, there are dangers,

dangers that can be quantified,

but nonetheless dangers that will involve

perhaps injury, perhaps even death.

[instructor] All pilots learn how to

escape from a crashed helicopter.

Because if you crash,

what's gonna come save you?

A helicopter.

What rescued the Apollo

and, before, astronauts out of the ocean?

-[camper] A helicopter.

-[instructor] A helicopter.

When you go in, you'll receive a number,

like you were told before:

one, two, three, four, five, six.

You will exit in the reverse order:

six, five, four, three, two, one.

There's only one place that you will exit.

[Jace] We do water survival

so that we can learn what to do

if something goes horribly wrong.

[instructor] We're going down!

[Jace] If something happens and the hatch

blows off of our spacecraft,

it starts flooding,

you have to learn how to get out

and get out fast.

Thank you, Instructor!

[Josh] If you're in a dangerous situation

where you're inside of a metal cage

and it starts filling up with water,

you better know how to swim

and you better know how to get out.

Because you're gonna die.

Metal doesn't float.

-[instructor] Everybody out!

-[Josh] Six out! Five, go!

You have to rely on your team to swim out

before it goes all the way under.

And it's all about

getting people to work together.

Because nobody can

go to space alone on their own.

Nobody has so far,

and I don't believe anybody will.

-You all ready for this?

-[Raj] Yeah, I'm pumped.

I would definitely be willing to die

to go to Mars.

My life is worth all the things that the

human race as a whole gain from that.

[Senator Bill Nelson]

When we went to the Moon,

we lost three astronauts

before we ever got off the ground

in the Apollo 1 fire on the pad.

[newscaster] It was all over

in one stunned, horrifying second.

An electrical spark apparently shot out

and ignited the 100% oxygen in the cabin

that they were breathing,

as in a real spaceflight.

The crewmen never had a chance.

[Senator Nelson]

Now we come into the Space Shuttle,

and it's supposed to be routine.

And it's supposed to be this low incident.

Well, it almost happened to us

on the 24th flight.

Four scrubs, any one of which,

had we launched,

it would have not been a good day.

But then it happened to the 25th flight.

[mission control]

Three, two, one, and liftoff.

Liftoff of the 25th Space Shuttle mission

and it has cleared the tower.

[newscaster] So the 25th Space Shuttle

mission is now on the way,

after more delays

than NASA cares to count.

This morning it looked as though

they were not going to be able to get off.

[mission control] 1 minute 15 seconds,

velocity 2,900 feet per second.

Altitude 9 nautical miles,

downrange just at 7 nautical miles.

[Ronald Reagan] I want to say something

to the school children of America

who were watching the live coverage

of the Shuttle's takeoff.

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