The Mars Generation Page #9

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is using the SLS

Space Launch System rocket.

The SLS crew compartment will go to space.

And then the Orion capsule,

which will be on top,

will separate and start heading

towards the trajectory of Mars.

[Heather McKay]

When you look at the Orion crew module,

you notice that it looks like

the shape of the Apollo capsule.

But the reason that shape is used

is because the physics haven't changed.

We're going to Mars.

It'll be in the decade of the 2030s.

And we're building the systems,

the hardware, that will get us there.

[Obama] By the mid 2030s,

I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars

and return them safely to Earth.

And a landing on Mars will follow.

And I expect to be around to see it.

[applause]

[instructor] Let's have one person

from each engineering team

come and get your tray.

Right now, NASA is working

on the Orion capsule

which is going to take us to Mars.

Two things of aluminum foil,

a cork, and some spackle.

OK, so this is how thick we have.

Can I take this for a minute?

We'll come back to that when we spackle.

-Yeah. Do we just spackle it right here?

-[camper] Is that everything we have?

[camper] That's everything.

[Victoria] People have been talking

about going to Mars

pretty much since we landed on the Moon

and discovered that Mars

is another solid surface.

-Thanks. OK. Great.

-Build this thing, baby!

A little color. Liven it up!

Ablative shielding is a very basic

demonstration of thermodynamics.

Do you want to go get it?

-I got it!

-OK. Have fun.

The pasta actually works pretty well.

And I'm not sure why.

[Jace] There are different materials

that work in different ways,

things that you'd never even think of.

Who thinks of using a sponge

to stop a 3,500 degree Fahrenheit flame

from burning through a spaceship?

Who thinks of that?

I feel like this is very sturdy.

[Victoria] On Orion you're going to Mars,

so not only are you entering and exiting

the atmosphere in the Earth,

but you're also entering and exiting

the atmosphere on Mars.

So it's twice as important

that you have it

because you need to be safe!

I feel like NASA's gonna call us...

[laughter]

-...after this.

-[Victoria] Future rocket scientists.

[Mark Kirasich]

The reason the heat shield is so important

is because when you go to Mars

the heat generated is very intense.

So, a lot of care

goes into the heat shield.

[McKay] The heat shield

gets almost 4,000 degrees,

as it ablates all of that energy.

Yet inside the crew module

it's room temperature.

It's just like in here.

[camper]

I think we're feeling pretty confident.

Ours is destined to survive.

Failure is not an option for us.

[laughter]

[camper] Hey, I believe in it.

-So far so good!

-That's how good ours is!

-Propane's afraid to start.

-Yeah, really!

[Victoria]

My team this year is really amazing.

I could not have asked

to be put with a better group of kids.

The vast commonology of space

does bring us together.

OK...

Oh, man.

-Ooh, it's very concentrated!

-[camper] It's cooking.

Look at that heat dispersion. See that?

[all chat at once]

I'm seeing some smoke!

At school I do sometimes feel like

the odd man out,

because I'm very much into space.

Come on, come on...

-Yikes!

-We're hitting steel.

I was bullied since third grade,

and that has definitely taken a toll.

Don't jinx it!

[camper] The foil is starting to come out,

like the heat.

One time, we were doing

an experiment in science class

and my partner picked me because

she said apparently I looked smart.

I wound up doing all the work.

-[camper] Oh, that's not good.

-That's not good.

When I would ask her about something,

she would just be like,

"Don't fail me and I'll be fine."

[murmurs of uncertainty]

No. That's how much we've gone.

-I was like--

-It's only been 46?! Wow!

-Wow!

-[Victoria] Wow!

But then I come here

and I just meet these people

and it's like you can just be yourself

and be goofy and be funny,

while still learning about space.

[Ferdowsi] I am definitely a space nerd.

It's just this weird love and excitement

and, you know, geeking out about

certain details of space exploration.

You know, being impressed

and excited by it.

I think that's what

being a space nerd means to me.

It's a real honor

to be recognized by your peers.

And, honestly, to be recognized

by this group of people

and the entire Space Camp community

is... It's pretty awesome.

So I went to Space Camp

in the summer of 1995

and it was, you know,

definitely a life changing experience.

So I'll begin with a story.

I had my first kiss at Space Camp.

[laughter]

One of the amazing things about Space Camp

was finding all these other space nerds,

finding my, you know,

my group, my people.

Honestly, you know, like so many things,

being here helped open the path for me

to do things that I really wanted to do,

to be, you know, the engineer

that I am today,

to work with the amazing team of people

that I get to work with.

To have this community is great,

and so thank you so much.

And to that girl that I kissed,

I'm a lot better kisser

and engineer nowadays, so thank you.

[laughter and applause]

[campers] Eight, seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one!

[camper] Parachutes deploy! Reentry!

Success!

-We didn't land in the swamp!

-[camper] Wait

He's alive!

-Whoo! Way to go, Egbert!

-Did it burn through the shield?

-Are they going to crack it to see?

-It didn't even burn through the shield.

Pretty cool to the touch.

-[camper] The yolk even survived!

-[instructor] Yes, you're good. Good job.

[all cheer]

-All right!

-What layer did it get through?

-High fives all around.

-High fives all around!

[camper] Where was your...

what was your second layer?

[Victoria] The coolest thing about space?

I don't exactly know.

It's really hard to say

the coolest thing about space.

One of my favorite things to do

is sometimes when I'm out late at night,

is to look up at the night sky

and try to find the little red planet

in the sky if I can.

[Dr. Kaku] When I look at Mars,

in some sense I see our future.

Because it's practically a law of physics

that one day the Earth will no longer

be able to sustain life as we know it.

The Earth is not a safe place.

On a scale of millions of years,

there could be a killer asteroid.

And just remember, the dinosaurs

did not have a space program.

On a scale of thousands of years,

there could be another ice age,

another ice age that will force humanity

to live, perhaps, deep underground,

or even leave the Earth itself.

[Urban] Our entire species

is contained to Earth.

If something happens to Earth...

Poof, we're gone.

Think about what that means.

That means all music is gone.

All laughter is forever gone.

Shakespeare's gone. Mozart's gone.

Basketball's gone.

Everything that has to do with humanity

is just gone forever. That's it.

[Weir] We as a species

need to live on multiple planets.

As it sits, we're all on one planet.

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