1 00:00:01,718 --> 00:00:04,548 (Multicom jingle) 2 00:00:13,357 --> 00:00:16,107 (dramatic music) 3 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:23,130 - [Narrator] After traveling hundreds of millions 4 00:00:23,130 --> 00:00:24,790 of kilometers in deep space, 5 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:27,490 after surviving a blazing descent 6 00:00:27,489 --> 00:00:29,779 through a dangerously thin atmosphere, 7 00:00:30,791 --> 00:00:33,421 the humans have finally landed on Mars. 8 00:00:33,420 --> 00:00:35,130 It is the most dangerous mission 9 00:00:35,130 --> 00:00:37,410 in the history of space exploration, 10 00:00:37,410 --> 00:00:38,850 and the most compelling, 11 00:00:38,850 --> 00:00:41,620 the search for life on another planet. 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,380 - Are there others out there, and what are they like? 13 00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:47,240 Are we the descendants of microbes 14 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,740 that somehow traveled from Mars to the Earth? 15 00:00:49,740 --> 00:00:50,880 - [Narrator] Every minute on Mars 16 00:00:50,882 --> 00:00:53,482 will cost half a million dollars, 17 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:55,820 but the real price may be measured in lives. 18 00:00:57,300 --> 00:00:58,200 - If we're gonna find life on Mars, 19 00:00:58,203 --> 00:01:00,633 it's gonna be a very difficult search. 20 00:01:00,630 --> 00:01:02,620 We have to learn a lot more about life 21 00:01:02,620 --> 00:01:04,270 in extreme environments on Earth. 22 00:01:05,170 --> 00:01:06,090 - [Narrator] Around the globe, 23 00:01:06,090 --> 00:01:10,460 researchers hunt down the ultimate survivors, bacteria, 24 00:01:10,460 --> 00:01:13,120 clinging to life in the driest place on Earth. 25 00:01:14,010 --> 00:01:16,400 Or the desolate frozen rim of an arctic crater. 26 00:01:18,230 --> 00:01:21,710 Or deep underground in the far reaches of spectacular caves. 27 00:01:24,190 --> 00:01:27,150 - Bacteria can be very resilient. 28 00:01:27,150 --> 00:01:31,470 Could they survive in the lack of an atmosphere, 29 00:01:31,470 --> 00:01:34,080 in the high radiation, the very dry conditions 30 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:35,680 on the surface of Mars? 31 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,890 - [Narrator] Life forms we may not understand, 32 00:01:37,889 --> 00:01:39,869 and perhaps should fear. 33 00:01:39,868 --> 00:01:42,708 - Any bacterial life that might exist on Mars 34 00:01:42,708 --> 00:01:46,998 really could be hazardous to the human population. 35 00:01:48,460 --> 00:01:51,650 - [Narrator] Could Martian microbes wipe out humankind? 36 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,650 For the first humans on Mars, the race to find life 37 00:01:56,650 --> 00:01:59,390 may, in the end, threaten their own. 38 00:01:59,388 --> 00:02:02,138 (dramatic music) 39 00:02:31,430 --> 00:02:35,280 Every day on Mars has deadlines and mounting pressure. 40 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:39,080 Astronauts have to cover huge distances 41 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,790 in a merciless poisonous atmosphere. 42 00:02:41,790 --> 00:02:44,440 They must search for life on a seemingly dead planet. 43 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,990 Water is the key ingredient to sustaining life, 44 00:02:49,990 --> 00:02:50,940 but that disappeared 45 00:02:50,940 --> 00:02:53,290 from the surface of Mars billions of years ago. 46 00:02:54,750 --> 00:02:56,710 So astronauts will search the dry beds 47 00:02:56,713 --> 00:02:59,833 of ancient rivers and lakes. 48 00:02:59,830 --> 00:03:02,850 But where should they dig for those precious samples? 49 00:03:05,033 --> 00:03:07,513 That's what scientists are investigating 50 00:03:07,511 --> 00:03:09,991 in the Canadian Arctic near NASA's 51 00:03:09,990 --> 00:03:11,690 Haughton Crater research station. 52 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,260 They call this place Mars on Earth 53 00:03:16,260 --> 00:03:18,360 because it has so many similar features. 54 00:03:19,918 --> 00:03:22,238 A perfect stage to rehearse the search for life 55 00:03:22,239 --> 00:03:23,689 on the red planet. 56 00:03:25,612 --> 00:03:29,072 - One of the most exciting things that you experience 57 00:03:29,070 --> 00:03:31,030 in a place like Devon Island is that 58 00:03:31,030 --> 00:03:35,730 every step you take, you are faced with a Mars wonderland, 59 00:03:35,730 --> 00:03:39,180 catching insights into how you might explore Mars 60 00:03:39,180 --> 00:03:40,830 and how to search for life there. 61 00:03:42,580 --> 00:03:44,850 So Mars has a vast canyon system 62 00:03:44,852 --> 00:03:47,312 with many tributary canyons. 63 00:03:47,310 --> 00:03:50,190 It's still a mystery as to how they formed exactly. 64 00:03:51,660 --> 00:03:53,240 - [Narrator] One theory is that they were formed 65 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,130 just as they were on Devon Island, 66 00:03:55,130 --> 00:03:57,940 carved out by the movement of large bodies of ice. 67 00:03:59,730 --> 00:04:02,270 And there's another striking similarity. 68 00:04:02,270 --> 00:04:04,380 - We found astonishing resemblances 69 00:04:04,376 --> 00:04:06,876 between the valley networks on Mars 70 00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:09,729 and the valley networks that we see here on Devon Island 71 00:04:09,730 --> 00:04:14,180 formed a long time ago by the melting of a large ice sheet 72 00:04:14,180 --> 00:04:16,240 that covered all of this land. 73 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,550 And so, we are wondering now 74 00:04:18,550 --> 00:04:21,080 if some of the ancient valley networks that we see on Mars 75 00:04:21,076 --> 00:04:23,466 might have formed by ice sheets 76 00:04:23,473 --> 00:04:26,453 that are now gone from the surface of Mars. 77 00:04:28,676 --> 00:04:29,986 - [Narrator] But the most famous Martian feature 78 00:04:29,990 --> 00:04:32,500 of Devon Island is Haughton Crater, 79 00:04:32,495 --> 00:04:36,135 one of the best preserved large impact craters on Earth. 80 00:04:38,630 --> 00:04:40,390 If there's anything alive on Mars, 81 00:04:40,390 --> 00:04:42,570 odds are it's bacteria. 82 00:04:42,570 --> 00:04:47,570 Canadian Space Agency's geologist Gordon Osinski agrees. 83 00:04:47,700 --> 00:04:49,410 What he discovered here may change the way 84 00:04:49,410 --> 00:04:52,360 astronauts search for them in the thousands of craters 85 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,170 that pockmark the face of Mars. 86 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,140 At first glance, it seems impossible 87 00:04:59,135 --> 00:05:01,865 that anything could survive in this polar desert. 88 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,500 But under 90% of the rocks are colonies of green bacteria. 89 00:05:09,500 --> 00:05:11,950 - They're there because underneath this rock, 90 00:05:11,950 --> 00:05:14,730 they're protected from the intense UV radiation. 91 00:05:14,730 --> 00:05:16,880 It's a slightly warmer, wetter environment. 92 00:05:17,870 --> 00:05:19,760 - [Narrator] These bacteria are thriving today 93 00:05:19,759 --> 00:05:22,319 because 23 million years ago, 94 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,270 an asteroid struck Devon Island, 95 00:05:24,270 --> 00:05:27,740 exploding with the force of three million ton bombs. 96 00:05:27,737 --> 00:05:30,397 (intense music) 97 00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:38,940 It blasted a crater larger than the island of Manhattan, 98 00:05:38,940 --> 00:05:41,300 and deeper than the Grand Canyon. 99 00:05:41,300 --> 00:05:42,740 Boulders the size of buses 100 00:05:42,740 --> 00:05:46,230 were thrown 10 kilometers from the impact. 101 00:05:46,234 --> 00:05:49,794 Billions of tons of fractured rock were heaved up, 102 00:05:49,790 --> 00:05:51,990 forming these huge, gray hills. 103 00:05:53,180 --> 00:05:56,250 All life in the area was vaporized in a flash. 104 00:05:57,460 --> 00:06:00,290 Every Martian crater was created 105 00:06:00,290 --> 00:06:02,320 in the same catastrophic fashion. 106 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,680 But a few thousand years after the impact, 107 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,100 a crater may actually be more suitable for life 108 00:06:09,095 --> 00:06:12,155 than the surrounding land. 109 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,800 - Now this is a very interesting rock we have here. 110 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,710 The impact event basically bubbles into the rock 111 00:06:18,712 --> 00:06:20,312 so that life could invade there 112 00:06:20,311 --> 00:06:22,691 so that these bacteria could actually survive 113 00:06:22,690 --> 00:06:26,190 by living about a millimeter or two within the actual rock. 114 00:06:26,190 --> 00:06:28,900 On early Mars, the underside of rocks 115 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:30,910 and within the cracks of rocks, 116 00:06:30,910 --> 00:06:32,870 would be a great place for life to thrive 117 00:06:32,870 --> 00:06:34,730 where it's protected from the intense cold 118 00:06:34,732 --> 00:06:36,422 and the intense radiation. 119 00:06:39,810 --> 00:06:42,130 - [Narrator] Life probably reappeared in Haughton Crater 120 00:06:42,131 --> 00:06:45,281 around one of these strange orange mounds, 121 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,840 the remnants of hot springs which formed after the impact. 122 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:52,170 There, bacteria found two key ingredients for life. 123 00:06:52,170 --> 00:06:53,490 Water and warmth. 124 00:06:54,970 --> 00:06:57,370 The same might have happened in Martian craters. 125 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,130 - The structures that we see in here 126 00:07:01,132 --> 00:07:03,332 are indicative of life, 127 00:07:03,330 --> 00:07:06,310 and maybe on Mars, hydrothermal sites 128 00:07:06,310 --> 00:07:09,640 will also be some of the best candidates to search for life, 129 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,320 and one really great thing we've been able to do here 130 00:07:12,317 --> 00:07:16,097 was to map out where in the crater these vents are found. 131 00:07:16,100 --> 00:07:18,960 And amazingly enough, they're just around the crater rim. 132 00:07:21,260 --> 00:07:24,250 So on Mars, you could just send a rover, or human 133 00:07:24,249 --> 00:07:26,419 to the outer edge of these craters 134 00:07:26,420 --> 00:07:28,720 to look for signs of these hydrothermal vents. 135 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,610 The closer you look, you can find life surviving 136 00:07:31,610 --> 00:07:33,250 in all these places where you never 137 00:07:33,250 --> 00:07:35,210 would've thought it could survive. 138 00:07:35,212 --> 00:07:37,652 It's gonna be exactly the same 139 00:07:37,650 --> 00:07:39,560 as the first astronauts on Mars. 140 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:40,910 It's just gonna be amazing. 141 00:07:42,410 --> 00:07:44,820 - [Narrator] Most scientists believe Mars was warmer 142 00:07:44,820 --> 00:07:46,150 billions of years ago, 143 00:07:46,150 --> 00:07:48,460 and its craters filled with water. 144 00:07:48,460 --> 00:07:51,850 If so, they'd be an ideal place for life to take hold. 145 00:07:53,690 --> 00:07:56,880 Water has now disappeared from the surface of Mars, 146 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,500 but fossilized Martian life might be buried 147 00:07:59,495 --> 00:08:02,775 at the bottom of those dried up lakes. 148 00:08:02,780 --> 00:08:04,990 - What would be preserved at a site like this? 149 00:08:04,990 --> 00:08:07,500 What would we have to look out for 150 00:08:07,500 --> 00:08:09,450 if we were to search sediments on Mars? 151 00:08:11,540 --> 00:08:12,610 - [Narrator] The answer may lie 152 00:08:12,610 --> 00:08:15,970 at the bottom of British Columbia's Pavilion Lake. 153 00:08:15,972 --> 00:08:18,642 (ominous music) 154 00:08:21,050 --> 00:08:24,070 For years, researchers like Darlene Lim, 155 00:08:24,070 --> 00:08:26,430 a Canadian expert in ancient lake beds, 156 00:08:26,430 --> 00:08:28,850 have been diving here, studying some amazing 157 00:08:28,848 --> 00:08:32,388 10,000 year old carbonate formations. 158 00:08:33,370 --> 00:08:35,810 These coral-like spires could be living examples 159 00:08:35,808 --> 00:08:38,898 of some of the oldest forms of life on Earth, 160 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:40,820 and also possibly on Mars. 161 00:08:42,411 --> 00:08:43,611 - The first time I saw these structures, 162 00:08:43,610 --> 00:08:45,750 it was completely shocking. 163 00:08:45,750 --> 00:08:48,510 - [Narrator] Carbonate formations are found in many lakes, 164 00:08:48,510 --> 00:08:49,860 but those discovered here 165 00:08:49,860 --> 00:08:51,920 are among the largest in the world. 166 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,270 Structures like this can only form on a planet 167 00:08:54,270 --> 00:08:56,630 with large bodies of liquid water. 168 00:08:57,970 --> 00:09:00,210 Finding similar fossilized reefs on Mars 169 00:09:00,210 --> 00:09:04,620 would prove it was once warm and wet enough to sustain life. 170 00:09:04,620 --> 00:09:07,530 Problem is, so far, space probes 171 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:08,810 have been unable to detect 172 00:09:08,810 --> 00:09:11,310 large amounts of carbonate on Mars. 173 00:09:11,310 --> 00:09:15,020 - Maybe it is that we're just not looking for them properly. 174 00:09:15,020 --> 00:09:16,790 - [Narrator] So today for the first time, 175 00:09:16,793 --> 00:09:19,033 a large fragment of the carbonate reef 176 00:09:19,030 --> 00:09:20,680 is brought to the surface. 177 00:09:24,768 --> 00:09:28,108 - [Woman] Wow, that is so cool. 178 00:09:28,107 --> 00:09:29,467 - This one doesn't look like it's stirring up 179 00:09:29,466 --> 00:09:30,296 nearly as much. 180 00:09:30,299 --> 00:09:31,129 - Yeah. 181 00:09:32,850 --> 00:09:34,370 Oh beautiful. 182 00:09:34,370 --> 00:09:35,670 And it's an amazing piece. 183 00:09:36,630 --> 00:09:38,880 - [Narrator] Samples are taken for shipment to laboratories 184 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,930 where they'll be analyzed and scanned, 185 00:09:40,930 --> 00:09:44,250 so future space probes will know exactly what to look for. 186 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:47,270 The carbonates in Pavilion Lake 187 00:09:47,266 --> 00:09:49,596 may provide other clues as well. 188 00:09:51,860 --> 00:09:54,210 Researchers suspect these huge structures 189 00:09:54,205 --> 00:09:56,565 were built by microscopic organisms 190 00:09:56,568 --> 00:10:00,028 related to some of the most primitive life forms on Earth. 191 00:10:00,030 --> 00:10:01,610 Exactly the kind of bacteria 192 00:10:01,608 --> 00:10:05,138 that might have colonized ancient Martian lakes. 193 00:10:07,530 --> 00:10:10,760 Fossilized bacteria are tough to identify, 194 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:12,160 but the Pavilion Lake carbonates 195 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:16,090 reveal the tiny telltale signature they leave behind. 196 00:10:17,830 --> 00:10:20,650 If astronauts discover matching microscopic structures 197 00:10:20,650 --> 00:10:22,130 in Martian carbonates, 198 00:10:22,130 --> 00:10:24,990 they'll know bacteria once lived there. 199 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,050 And even more astonishing, that those Martian carbonates 200 00:10:29,050 --> 00:10:32,040 were built by the same microorganisms 201 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,430 as those found on Earth. 202 00:10:34,430 --> 00:10:38,740 It could mean that Mars and Earth are distant cousins, 203 00:10:38,740 --> 00:10:41,230 evolved from the same spark of life. 204 00:10:41,230 --> 00:10:44,080 - We would simply be members of the same family 205 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,000 just spread on two planets. 206 00:10:47,230 --> 00:10:49,000 - [Narrator] Billions of years ago, 207 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,940 Mars might even have looked like Earth, 208 00:10:51,940 --> 00:10:54,910 but now it's just a poisonous wasteland. 209 00:10:54,909 --> 00:10:58,749 Could any Martian life have survived that radical change? 210 00:11:00,650 --> 00:11:04,710 The answer might be buried in the driest desert on Earth. 211 00:11:04,706 --> 00:11:07,456 (dramatic music) 212 00:11:13,750 --> 00:11:17,920 The surface of Mars is blasted by life-destroying radiation. 213 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,270 The atmosphere is lethal and frigid, 214 00:11:20,270 --> 00:11:24,550 as cold as the lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth. 215 00:11:24,550 --> 00:11:28,270 How could any life survive in this barren soil? 216 00:11:28,269 --> 00:11:31,019 (dramatic music) 217 00:11:35,650 --> 00:11:38,710 When the Viking probes went to Mars in 1976, 218 00:11:38,710 --> 00:11:41,200 they found no evidence of life. 219 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,400 Were they right, or did they miss something? 220 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,400 The answer might be buried in the Atacama Desert 221 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,360 of Chile in South America. 222 00:11:51,450 --> 00:11:53,930 - This is the only place on Earth that the Viking lander 223 00:11:53,932 --> 00:11:56,712 could've landed, scooped up some soil, 224 00:11:56,711 --> 00:11:58,811 and not detected evidence of life. 225 00:12:01,890 --> 00:12:03,580 - [Narrator] NASA researchers like Chris Mckay 226 00:12:03,580 --> 00:12:05,730 know there are traces of life here, 227 00:12:05,730 --> 00:12:07,470 but those illusive bacteria 228 00:12:07,473 --> 00:12:10,823 are as tough to find here as on Mars. 229 00:12:13,130 --> 00:12:14,410 - Way I like to describe it 230 00:12:14,410 --> 00:12:17,390 is we have a little patch of Mars here on Earth. 231 00:12:21,970 --> 00:12:23,950 - [Narrator] About 2/3 the size of Italy, 232 00:12:23,950 --> 00:12:28,950 the Atacama is the oldest, driest desert on our planet. 233 00:12:29,890 --> 00:12:31,600 Hardly any rain has fallen here 234 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,290 for the last 10 million years. 235 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,410 - The Atacama Desert is 50 times drier than Death Valley. 236 00:12:40,410 --> 00:12:43,910 Mars is more than 50 times drier than the Atacama, 237 00:12:43,910 --> 00:12:46,250 but in the past, Mars was maybe 238 00:12:46,250 --> 00:12:47,700 wetter than the Atacama even. 239 00:12:48,770 --> 00:12:50,060 - [Narrator] Most scientists now believe 240 00:12:50,060 --> 00:12:51,670 there were bodies of water on Mars 241 00:12:51,671 --> 00:12:53,511 billions of years ago, 242 00:12:53,510 --> 00:12:56,220 maybe giving life an opportunity to take hold. 243 00:12:57,860 --> 00:12:59,350 Just as it does now, 244 00:12:59,350 --> 00:13:03,650 around the few oases that defy the Atacama. 245 00:13:03,650 --> 00:13:06,310 But the further we travel away from these oases, 246 00:13:06,309 --> 00:13:08,619 the more the desert takes back, 247 00:13:08,620 --> 00:13:10,310 so it's a kind of living portrait 248 00:13:10,306 --> 00:13:14,286 of what happened on Mars as the water disappeared. 249 00:13:14,290 --> 00:13:17,790 This offers clues about how life might have adapted 250 00:13:17,790 --> 00:13:20,410 as the red planet became a desert. 251 00:13:20,412 --> 00:13:23,082 (ominous music) 252 00:13:25,830 --> 00:13:28,570 - So we have little islands of life that are surviving, 253 00:13:28,570 --> 00:13:32,010 and one of our goals is to try to see 254 00:13:32,010 --> 00:13:33,650 how those islands are shaped, 255 00:13:33,650 --> 00:13:36,400 and also see if we can recognize it from space. 256 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:38,550 And we'll use that knowledge to map out Mars 257 00:13:38,550 --> 00:13:40,790 and search for life on Mars. 258 00:13:42,340 --> 00:13:45,030 - [Narrator] As a guide, researchers map out life 259 00:13:45,030 --> 00:13:47,770 in the Atacama by checking the organic content 260 00:13:47,768 --> 00:13:50,218 of thousands of soil samples. 261 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,610 - So we will collect samples that are meters apart. 262 00:13:55,610 --> 00:13:57,040 Then we'll collect samples 263 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,200 that are hundreds of meters apart, 264 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,160 kilometers, hundreds of kilometers, 265 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,730 and we'll try to see soils that have life, 266 00:14:03,730 --> 00:14:05,830 soils that don't have life. 267 00:14:05,830 --> 00:14:08,990 - [Narrator] Soils rich in life are easier to find at night. 268 00:14:08,990 --> 00:14:11,750 That's because some bacteria and organic material 269 00:14:11,747 --> 00:14:14,647 turn fluorescent in ultraviolet light. 270 00:14:14,650 --> 00:14:16,230 - [Chris] Let's turn off the lights. 271 00:14:16,228 --> 00:14:17,588 Wow, look at all these colors. 272 00:14:17,588 --> 00:14:18,758 This is really beautiful. 273 00:14:18,762 --> 00:14:19,962 - [Woman] Look at that brilliant orange. 274 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,510 - [Chris] We might imagine this being used on Mars. 275 00:14:23,630 --> 00:14:24,850 A rover going out at night 276 00:14:24,850 --> 00:14:26,340 and turning on its UV headlights 277 00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:28,560 and searching for fluorescent minerals 278 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,340 and maybe even organic material in the Martian rocks. 279 00:14:32,340 --> 00:14:33,490 Okay, well that looks like-- 280 00:14:33,490 --> 00:14:35,490 On Earth, we find little oases of death 281 00:14:35,490 --> 00:14:37,000 in a planet that's alive. 282 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,480 On Mars we'd be searching for little oases of life 283 00:14:39,478 --> 00:14:41,828 on a planet that's dead. 284 00:14:41,830 --> 00:14:44,650 The boundary between alive and dead is the same. 285 00:14:46,140 --> 00:14:48,170 - [Narrator] The instruments astronauts will need 286 00:14:48,170 --> 00:14:50,410 to locate pockets of life on Mars 287 00:14:50,410 --> 00:14:52,400 can be tested in the Atacama. 288 00:14:56,790 --> 00:14:58,440 That's where this place comes in. 289 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,410 The Yungay Research Station 290 00:15:01,410 --> 00:15:03,600 doesn't quite look like a science lab. 291 00:15:07,980 --> 00:15:10,090 But inside is state of the art equipment 292 00:15:10,090 --> 00:15:11,990 for detecting life. 293 00:15:11,990 --> 00:15:15,250 Scientists hope these probes will soon be flown to Mars. 294 00:15:18,270 --> 00:15:20,730 But first, they will be given a test run 295 00:15:20,730 --> 00:15:23,690 with the seemingly lifeless soil of the Atacama. 296 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:26,590 The dirt samples go into 297 00:15:26,590 --> 00:15:28,390 what looks like an espresso machine, 298 00:15:28,390 --> 00:15:31,300 except this one operates at huge pressure, 299 00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:34,800 flushing out the tiniest trace of organic material. 300 00:15:36,050 --> 00:15:38,660 - Those biological molecules you're looking for 301 00:15:38,660 --> 00:15:40,260 won't be released from the rocks 302 00:15:40,260 --> 00:15:43,140 unless you do those extreme things with water. 303 00:15:43,140 --> 00:15:45,350 - [Narrator] Canadian chemist Alison Skelley 304 00:15:45,350 --> 00:15:47,410 then puts the droplets into a probe 305 00:15:47,410 --> 00:15:50,630 which can identify the chemical building blocks of life. 306 00:15:50,630 --> 00:15:53,560 - So we're targeting the amino acids hoping that 307 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,450 if there was life on Mars, even though it's dead, 308 00:15:56,450 --> 00:15:59,210 we'll be able to see that amino acid signature. 309 00:15:59,210 --> 00:16:01,760 - [Narrator] The probe, 1,000 times more sensitive 310 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,800 than Viking, manages the impossible. 311 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:09,070 It finds life where none was detectable before. 312 00:16:10,530 --> 00:16:14,150 If a Martian soil sample produces a spike like this, 313 00:16:14,150 --> 00:16:15,440 it could be the first sign 314 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,020 the astronauts have discovered life. 315 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,710 The data will probably show this organic material 316 00:16:23,710 --> 00:16:25,480 to be millions of years old, 317 00:16:25,478 --> 00:16:28,828 but there's a slim chance the astronauts 318 00:16:28,830 --> 00:16:33,830 might have found the ultimate prize, live bacteria. 319 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:39,720 It's an idea that comes once again 320 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,740 from studying death in the Atacama. 321 00:16:42,660 --> 00:16:44,420 - In this desert, we find something 322 00:16:44,420 --> 00:16:46,430 that we think is also occurring on Mars, 323 00:16:46,430 --> 00:16:49,400 which is the production by sunlight of chemicals 324 00:16:49,398 --> 00:16:52,708 which are constantly attacking the organic material. 325 00:16:52,710 --> 00:16:54,380 The bacteria that we find in the soil here 326 00:16:54,379 --> 00:16:56,049 have developed mechanisms 327 00:16:56,050 --> 00:16:59,170 to repair that damage very efficiently. 328 00:16:59,170 --> 00:17:02,340 So on Earth, we have a bug that we think is the super bug, 329 00:17:02,340 --> 00:17:04,100 very resistant to dehydration 330 00:17:04,102 --> 00:17:06,802 and also resistant to radiation. 331 00:17:06,797 --> 00:17:09,447 But it may be that we go to Mars, 332 00:17:09,450 --> 00:17:13,140 and find real super bugs that have learned to survive 333 00:17:13,140 --> 00:17:16,060 the dryness and radiation on Mars. 334 00:17:16,060 --> 00:17:17,530 This might be very exciting. 335 00:17:18,590 --> 00:17:20,500 - [Narrator] But those bugs will be well hidden. 336 00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:23,000 As the surface of Mars turned to dust, 337 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,600 bathed in radiation, bacteria probably migrated underground. 338 00:17:28,770 --> 00:17:32,140 - My guess is that in any case, when we find life on Mars, 339 00:17:32,140 --> 00:17:35,160 or evidence of life on Mars, it'll be underground. 340 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,130 Moving below ground, there's a zone in the subsurface 341 00:17:39,130 --> 00:17:42,380 where there might be water, and there might be life. 342 00:17:42,380 --> 00:17:44,120 - [Narrator] To find living cells, 343 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,050 astronauts will have to drill deep 344 00:17:46,050 --> 00:17:48,130 under the surface of Mars. 345 00:17:48,130 --> 00:17:51,730 They'll also need vehicles to get them to and from the site. 346 00:17:51,730 --> 00:17:54,820 Will their technology be up to the challenge? 347 00:17:54,822 --> 00:17:57,572 (dramatic music) 348 00:18:00,350 --> 00:18:02,660 Mars has a surface area as big 349 00:18:02,660 --> 00:18:05,670 as all of Earth's continents combined. 350 00:18:05,670 --> 00:18:09,000 Astronauts will have no choice but to make long range, 351 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,400 and therefore perilous expeditions. 352 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,500 On Devon Island, a research team is trying to figure out 353 00:18:15,500 --> 00:18:18,320 the logistics of those hazardous missions. 354 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,960 So Pascal Lee and two former NASA astronauts, 355 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,660 Mario Runco and Jeffrey Hoffman are planning an expedition 356 00:18:30,660 --> 00:18:33,640 to the unexplored North Coast of Devon Island. 357 00:18:34,700 --> 00:18:37,190 They want to take a closer look at the Mars-like gullies 358 00:18:37,190 --> 00:18:39,150 that have long intrigued scientists. 359 00:18:40,530 --> 00:18:43,820 Were those channels on Mars also carved by running water? 360 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,880 Extraordinary new pictures released by NASA 361 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:48,090 show that some of these gullies 362 00:18:48,094 --> 00:18:51,424 appear to have been created as recently as a few years ago. 363 00:18:53,380 --> 00:18:56,350 And where there was water, there might still be life. 364 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,140 Tests done on Devon Island established that an astronaut 365 00:19:04,140 --> 00:19:05,740 wearing a cumbersome spacesuit 366 00:19:05,737 --> 00:19:07,967 with a limited supply of oxygen 367 00:19:07,970 --> 00:19:11,120 can't roam more than a few kilometers from his landing site, 368 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:13,690 even with the help of an open vehicle. 369 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:16,860 That's why the team will travel 370 00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:18,870 on board this modified Humvee, 371 00:19:18,870 --> 00:19:21,900 simulating a trip in a pressurized rover. 372 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,350 Inside a pressurized rover, the astronauts can travel 373 00:19:31,350 --> 00:19:33,360 for days in a short sleeve environment. 374 00:19:37,570 --> 00:19:39,260 Only when they reach their destination 375 00:19:39,260 --> 00:19:41,360 will they need to put on their spacesuits. 376 00:19:46,790 --> 00:19:49,540 During the trial, the team learns an important lesson. 377 00:19:51,610 --> 00:19:54,220 To prevent the large Humvee from getting stuck, 378 00:19:54,220 --> 00:19:57,110 it needs to be guided by at least two scouts. 379 00:19:59,530 --> 00:20:02,380 One is way out in front, breaking trail. 380 00:20:02,380 --> 00:20:06,170 The second's closer, showing the exact path to follow, 381 00:20:06,167 --> 00:20:07,427 and in this case, 382 00:20:07,430 --> 00:20:10,110 keeping an eye out for roaming polar bears. 383 00:20:13,290 --> 00:20:16,110 On Mars, robotic rovers could do the job 384 00:20:16,110 --> 00:20:18,680 identifying landmarks and obstacles 385 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,070 with the help of satellites. 386 00:20:20,071 --> 00:20:23,071 (satellite beeping) 387 00:20:30,317 --> 00:20:32,747 Nearing the gullies, terrain becomes so rough 388 00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:36,320 the explorers will have to proceed on individual rovers. 389 00:20:41,111 --> 00:20:44,231 (astronauts murmuring) 390 00:20:44,230 --> 00:20:45,870 And there's another problem. 391 00:20:45,870 --> 00:20:48,620 They can't be sure exactly where they are. 392 00:20:49,540 --> 00:20:51,530 - That's the small lake in front of us, 393 00:20:51,527 --> 00:20:53,387 and there's the gullies which we can't see. 394 00:20:53,390 --> 00:20:55,190 - [Narrator] Compasses don't work on Devon Island 395 00:20:55,190 --> 00:20:58,040 because it's too close to the magnetic North Pole, 396 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,600 so the team must rely on aerial photographs. 397 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:01,970 - Yep, sounds about right. 398 00:21:01,970 --> 00:21:03,550 Gullies are two kilometers away. 399 00:21:03,550 --> 00:21:05,420 - [Narrator] A compass would be just as useless on Mars 400 00:21:05,420 --> 00:21:07,380 because there's no magnetic field. 401 00:21:07,380 --> 00:21:10,820 Astronauts will eventually rely on GPS. 402 00:21:10,820 --> 00:21:13,970 And if that fails, they'll resort to satellite pictures. 403 00:21:13,969 --> 00:21:16,719 (dramatic music) 404 00:21:34,826 --> 00:21:37,956 Four hours after leaving the research station, 405 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:39,770 our explorers finally get to the ridge 406 00:21:39,769 --> 00:21:41,489 of the massive gullies. 407 00:21:43,690 --> 00:21:45,660 They look just like the ones on Mars, 408 00:21:45,660 --> 00:21:47,230 with a triangular crevice on top 409 00:21:47,230 --> 00:21:50,600 and a narrow channel that runs down to a heap of debris. 410 00:21:53,130 --> 00:21:55,370 Devon gullies were cut slowly over time 411 00:21:55,369 --> 00:21:57,739 by melting snow and ice. 412 00:21:57,740 --> 00:22:02,530 That water created little oases of life for bacteria. 413 00:22:02,530 --> 00:22:06,220 Maybe the same thing happened in the gullies on Mars. 414 00:22:07,930 --> 00:22:09,850 - [Researcher] So an early result from this project, 415 00:22:09,850 --> 00:22:11,880 it seems like what's at the bottom of the gully 416 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:13,190 is richer in microbial life, 417 00:22:13,190 --> 00:22:14,440 than what's near the top. 418 00:22:15,630 --> 00:22:18,250 - [Narrator] So when astronauts search the gullies on Mars, 419 00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:19,800 this is where they should look. 420 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,320 Another lesson is learned from this trial. 421 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,520 - The idea that we'd be able to go 100 kilometers 422 00:22:26,515 --> 00:22:31,225 in your spacesuit in one day is just not gonna happen. 423 00:22:31,230 --> 00:22:33,670 - [Narrator] A pressurized rover may be needed for trips 424 00:22:33,670 --> 00:22:35,360 as short as 10 kilometers. 425 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,770 As the team is about to leave, a spectacular find. 426 00:22:40,770 --> 00:22:42,120 - We're walking around, 427 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:45,400 and one of the people in the group, Pascal, 428 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,150 just happened to see this pattern. 429 00:22:48,150 --> 00:22:50,340 This is an incredible fossil! 430 00:22:50,340 --> 00:22:52,550 You don't send robots out to find fossils, 431 00:22:52,553 --> 00:22:54,923 because they don't have the situational awareness 432 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:56,200 that a person does. 433 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,670 So, when we finally do get people on Mars, 434 00:22:59,670 --> 00:23:04,670 the rate of discovery is gonna go up just immeasurably. 435 00:23:07,260 --> 00:23:09,060 - [Researcher] Everywhere there is liquid water on Earth, 436 00:23:09,060 --> 00:23:10,400 there is life. 437 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,760 Might there have been life on Mars? 438 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,210 Might there even be still life on Mars today 439 00:23:15,210 --> 00:23:18,460 wherever liquid water might be present, perhaps deeper down? 440 00:23:18,460 --> 00:23:20,380 - [Narrator] Since Mars is so cold, 441 00:23:20,380 --> 00:23:22,270 liquid water will most likely be found 442 00:23:22,270 --> 00:23:24,380 thousands of meters underground. 443 00:23:29,230 --> 00:23:31,230 On the barren rim of Haughton Crater, 444 00:23:31,230 --> 00:23:34,420 a prototype Martian drill is already being tested. 445 00:23:34,420 --> 00:23:37,010 The roughnecks are researcher Brian Glass 446 00:23:37,010 --> 00:23:38,990 and his team of scientists. 447 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:42,840 On Mars, power will be precious, 448 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,270 so this drill uses only as much energy 449 00:23:45,267 --> 00:23:47,537 as a couple of light bulbs. 450 00:23:47,540 --> 00:23:50,540 Of course, no one promised it would be fast. 451 00:23:50,540 --> 00:23:52,590 - How deep are we at the moment? 452 00:23:52,587 --> 00:23:54,097 - 206.1 centimeters. 453 00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:56,210 - My drill took three days 454 00:23:56,210 --> 00:23:59,260 to go two meters into frozen, broken rock, 455 00:23:59,264 --> 00:24:02,154 but we're already more than double the depth 456 00:24:02,150 --> 00:24:04,190 of the hole in the we drilled last season, 457 00:24:04,190 --> 00:24:05,660 so that's a step forward. 458 00:24:05,660 --> 00:24:08,340 - [Narrator] Drilling on Mars will be a slow process, 459 00:24:08,340 --> 00:24:11,090 so the next challenge is to design a rig 460 00:24:11,090 --> 00:24:12,970 that can operate on its own 461 00:24:12,970 --> 00:24:15,160 without astronauts watching over it. 462 00:24:17,820 --> 00:24:20,070 - [Brian] What my project does is in some sense 463 00:24:20,070 --> 00:24:22,890 it replicates a human drilling team. 464 00:24:22,890 --> 00:24:24,510 So we have software that does that. 465 00:24:24,510 --> 00:24:26,420 It listens to the drill, 466 00:24:26,420 --> 00:24:27,650 what noises is it making, 467 00:24:27,650 --> 00:24:29,270 how the shaft wiggles as it goes down, 468 00:24:29,270 --> 00:24:30,820 just like a human would. 469 00:24:31,711 --> 00:24:33,761 - [Narrator] When the drill detects a problem 470 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,510 it can't handle, it calls for help. 471 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,540 Overall, the drill performs better than the team had hoped. 472 00:24:42,540 --> 00:24:47,400 A small victory that may help unlock Mars' deepest secrets. 473 00:24:50,740 --> 00:24:52,630 Space probes have already detected 474 00:24:52,630 --> 00:24:55,570 large amounts of underground ice on Mars. 475 00:24:55,573 --> 00:24:57,853 There might even be pockets of liquid water 476 00:24:57,850 --> 00:25:01,250 about two kilometers below the Martian polar caps. 477 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,350 - It's the sort of environment one might actually find 478 00:25:05,354 --> 00:25:09,694 living creatures, if we are going to find them there. 479 00:25:09,690 --> 00:25:10,950 - [Narrator] If the drill hits water, 480 00:25:10,950 --> 00:25:13,540 it could gush out in a snowy spray, 481 00:25:13,540 --> 00:25:16,760 freezing instantly in the Martian super cold air. 482 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,910 - The most appealing argument for life on Mars 483 00:25:21,910 --> 00:25:23,980 is that it would've followed the water. 484 00:25:24,830 --> 00:25:26,330 - So we have to make this work. 485 00:25:26,330 --> 00:25:29,280 Find out what's there, find out if there's life, 486 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,720 help figure out our own place in the cosmos. 487 00:25:33,510 --> 00:25:36,410 - [Narrator] If the drill fails, the astronauts will set out 488 00:25:36,410 --> 00:25:39,030 on their boldest expedition to find life 489 00:25:39,034 --> 00:25:41,214 at the bottom of a Martian cave. 490 00:25:41,210 --> 00:25:43,960 (dramatic music) 491 00:25:50,780 --> 00:25:52,680 The burning lava fields of New Mexico. 492 00:25:54,340 --> 00:25:58,650 5,000 square kilometer maze of razor sharp volcanic rock. 493 00:26:03,010 --> 00:26:05,780 For microbiologist Penelope Boston, 494 00:26:05,780 --> 00:26:07,240 this is where we can learn more 495 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:09,530 about Martian underground life. 496 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,300 - We know that Mars is not internally dead, 497 00:26:14,300 --> 00:26:17,250 although it's a less active planet than Earth, 498 00:26:17,250 --> 00:26:20,060 and there may very well be volcanic hot spots 499 00:26:20,060 --> 00:26:23,300 spread in many places around the planet. 500 00:26:23,300 --> 00:26:26,690 - [Narrator] Volcanoes can spawn underground rivers of lava 501 00:26:26,692 --> 00:26:29,512 that leave behind huge tunnel-like caves. 502 00:26:29,510 --> 00:26:31,290 They're called lava tubes. 503 00:26:31,290 --> 00:26:33,720 - So we're standing here on this lava bridge, 504 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:38,090 which is the remains of the roof of this tube 505 00:26:38,090 --> 00:26:40,020 that once filled this entire area. 506 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,520 On Mars because of the low gravity, 507 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,110 the tubes are between two and 10 times 508 00:26:47,110 --> 00:26:49,060 the size of these tubes. 509 00:26:49,060 --> 00:26:50,410 - [Narrator] Martian lava tubes 510 00:26:50,410 --> 00:26:52,850 can be over 60 kilometers long, 511 00:26:52,852 --> 00:26:55,622 and wide enough to accommodate a city block. 512 00:26:57,210 --> 00:26:59,270 - [Penelope] Those tubes may actually 513 00:26:59,270 --> 00:27:01,290 contain organic chemicals, 514 00:27:01,290 --> 00:27:04,920 and most significantly possibly organisms. 515 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,100 - [Narrator] Penelope Boston and her party 516 00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:10,530 finally reach the most impressive lava tube in the area. 517 00:27:12,790 --> 00:27:15,260 - [Penelope] All right, watch your footing, kids. 518 00:27:15,260 --> 00:27:17,400 A lot of loose breakdown here. 519 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,540 - [Narrator] As our explorers descend, 520 00:27:19,540 --> 00:27:21,520 the air gets colder with every step. 521 00:27:23,250 --> 00:27:24,230 - [Penelope] At the minute we get into 522 00:27:24,230 --> 00:27:25,250 the entrance of the cave, 523 00:27:25,250 --> 00:27:27,280 it's almost like going to another planet. 524 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:29,150 The walls are saturated with water. 525 00:27:29,153 --> 00:27:32,743 The temperature is hovering around the freezing mark. 526 00:27:33,630 --> 00:27:34,560 - [Narrator] But there are life forms 527 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:35,970 that call this place home. 528 00:27:37,787 --> 00:27:39,727 - [Penelope] The bacteria are just everywhere. 529 00:27:39,730 --> 00:27:41,510 All of this white material on the walls 530 00:27:41,513 --> 00:27:43,433 shining with water droplets, 531 00:27:43,430 --> 00:27:45,260 you can see it all over the ceiling, 532 00:27:45,260 --> 00:27:49,040 all over above us, and it's easy to get to. 533 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:50,950 - [Narrator] Using sterilized tools, 534 00:27:50,950 --> 00:27:54,430 the researchers take small samples of the bacteria. 535 00:27:54,430 --> 00:27:57,840 - When we actually look at them with electron microscopy, 536 00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,590 each one of these little dots on the wall 537 00:27:59,593 --> 00:28:03,013 is like a major metropolitan city for people. 538 00:28:03,010 --> 00:28:05,920 It's really an entire civilization, if you will, 539 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:07,280 of these little tiny guys. 540 00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:11,380 And these organisms can derive their food 541 00:28:11,376 --> 00:28:13,536 from the bare rock surfaces, 542 00:28:13,540 --> 00:28:16,170 so they're essentially acting as rock eaters. 543 00:28:16,170 --> 00:28:19,640 It gives us a fresh perspective on what to look for on Mars. 544 00:28:19,636 --> 00:28:22,516 (dramatic music) 545 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,370 - [Narrator] Exploring a lava tube on Earth is dangerous. 546 00:28:25,370 --> 00:28:27,580 On Mars, it could be suicidal. 547 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,420 Many rovers equipped with cameras 548 00:28:31,420 --> 00:28:32,730 and life-detecting sensors 549 00:28:32,730 --> 00:28:34,620 could be sent in first, 550 00:28:34,620 --> 00:28:37,850 establishing an underground communication network. 551 00:28:37,850 --> 00:28:40,760 But sooner or later, the astronauts will want to see 552 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:41,900 with their own eyes. 553 00:28:43,090 --> 00:28:46,370 - Lava tubes dating back to the time when Mars was very wet 554 00:28:46,370 --> 00:28:50,320 might be really excellent locations to search for life. 555 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,780 These protected from the harsh radiation exposure, 556 00:28:53,780 --> 00:28:57,210 warm because of the activity of volcanism nearby, 557 00:28:57,210 --> 00:29:00,270 would work really well for the proliferation 558 00:29:00,270 --> 00:29:02,910 of some form of microscopic life. 559 00:29:03,770 --> 00:29:07,280 - Those organisms may even in fact be alive today 560 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:11,960 because abundant biology can be run with energy sources 561 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:13,960 that are disconnected from the sun, 562 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,060 and so that's a very exciting possibility. 563 00:29:17,570 --> 00:29:19,380 - [Narrator] The first extraterrestrials 564 00:29:19,380 --> 00:29:23,790 the human race encounters might live in a drop of water, 565 00:29:23,790 --> 00:29:27,130 eating rock on a Martian cave wall. 566 00:29:27,130 --> 00:29:29,910 It would be the most stunning discovery 567 00:29:29,910 --> 00:29:32,370 in the history of space exploration, 568 00:29:32,370 --> 00:29:34,520 especially if this life turns out 569 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:36,420 to be different from life on Earth. 570 00:29:37,337 --> 00:29:40,467 - Then we would be in the presence of a form of life 571 00:29:40,473 --> 00:29:43,223 that would have started independently of life on Earth. 572 00:29:44,410 --> 00:29:47,560 - So then we know that in our own solar system, 573 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:49,390 life started twice. 574 00:29:49,390 --> 00:29:52,020 And if it started twice in our own backyard, 575 00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:55,440 then we know that the galaxy is full of life. 576 00:29:55,438 --> 00:29:58,188 (soothing music) 577 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,140 - [Narrator] But any form of alien life taken back to Earth 578 00:30:05,140 --> 00:30:08,850 could be a biological time bomb. 579 00:30:09,998 --> 00:30:12,438 - [Paul] If we bring back a rock sample 580 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:13,960 from Mars to analyze, 581 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,530 we will wanna be extremely careful 582 00:30:16,530 --> 00:30:19,940 to make sure that nothing associated with that rock 583 00:30:19,940 --> 00:30:24,140 really could be hazardous to the human population. 584 00:30:24,137 --> 00:30:27,137 (suspenseful music) 585 00:30:28,940 --> 00:30:31,690 - We don't know if Martian life and Earth life 586 00:30:31,690 --> 00:30:34,090 can live together, so we have to be careful 587 00:30:34,090 --> 00:30:36,050 until we understand better. 588 00:30:36,050 --> 00:30:38,240 - Let's make sure that we protect ourselves 589 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:39,750 as best we practically can. 590 00:30:39,750 --> 00:30:41,800 Let's isolate, and be cautious. 591 00:30:42,940 --> 00:30:45,560 - [Narrator] After an epic 18 months stay on Mars, 592 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,640 the anxious crew prepares to come back home. 593 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,060 There is one last challenge, Martian weather. 594 00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:55,460 If satellite pictures reveal a major dust storm 595 00:30:55,460 --> 00:30:57,220 is brewing, they're in trouble. 596 00:30:58,830 --> 00:31:02,040 Fueled by hundreds of giant dust tornadoes, 597 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:06,140 Martian storms can whip up 400 kilometer per hour winds. 598 00:31:08,250 --> 00:31:11,510 Quickly spreading over areas the size of continents. 599 00:31:13,380 --> 00:31:15,840 And generating as much electrical activity 600 00:31:15,839 --> 00:31:18,049 as 2,000 thunderstorms. 601 00:31:19,860 --> 00:31:22,120 - A dust storm can wreak havoc 602 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,930 for the last generator, the last solar panel, 603 00:31:25,930 --> 00:31:30,040 the last chip that controls your computer system. 604 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,640 You can imagine all sorts of irrevocable damage. 605 00:31:34,095 --> 00:31:37,335 (wind whistling) 606 00:31:37,335 --> 00:31:38,835 (thunder booms) 607 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:40,090 - Comm link's down again. 608 00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:43,870 - [Narrator] A monster storm could rage for months, 609 00:31:43,867 --> 00:31:47,617 but the astronauts must blast off Mars as scheduled. 610 00:31:47,620 --> 00:31:50,320 Any delay could be disastrous. 611 00:31:50,316 --> 00:31:53,756 - If you don't launch within that launch window, 612 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,490 you can't catch up with the Earth. 613 00:31:55,490 --> 00:31:56,900 It's as simple as that. 614 00:31:56,895 --> 00:31:59,555 (ominous music) 615 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:01,890 - [Narrator] Leaving the astronauts 616 00:32:01,890 --> 00:32:03,880 stranded on Mars for another two years 617 00:32:03,883 --> 00:32:06,703 is effectively a death sentence. 618 00:32:09,498 --> 00:32:11,058 Whatever the Martian weather is like, 619 00:32:11,060 --> 00:32:13,610 the ascent vehicle must work perfectly. 620 00:32:14,830 --> 00:32:18,460 Or it may become the most expensive tomb in history. 621 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,150 56 million kilometers from Earth, 622 00:32:28,150 --> 00:32:32,640 six pioneers get set for the long journey home. 623 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:34,540 And they know that leaving Mars 624 00:32:34,536 --> 00:32:38,266 will be far more dangerous than it was getting here. 625 00:32:40,870 --> 00:32:42,360 For the last 18 months, 626 00:32:42,356 --> 00:32:45,426 the lander has been parked in a deep freeze 627 00:32:45,430 --> 00:32:49,470 with an average temperature of minus 63 degrees Celsius. 628 00:32:49,470 --> 00:32:52,780 Cold starting the engine may be almost impossible, 629 00:32:52,780 --> 00:32:54,670 risky at the very least. 630 00:32:56,751 --> 00:32:59,631 - [Announcer] Liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission, 631 00:32:59,634 --> 00:33:01,094 and it has cleared the tower. 632 00:33:01,090 --> 00:33:04,230 - [Narrator] In January 1986, unusually cold weather 633 00:33:04,230 --> 00:33:07,380 in Florida contributed to the failure of a seal 634 00:33:07,380 --> 00:33:10,210 in one of the solid rockets attached to the Challenger, 635 00:33:10,210 --> 00:33:12,740 causing an explosion shortly after liftoff. 636 00:33:16,140 --> 00:33:18,270 With the same type of oxygen-hydrogen engine 637 00:33:18,273 --> 00:33:20,683 in the bitter cold on Mars, 638 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,440 the ascent vehicle could suffer the same fate. 639 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,820 - You've gotta make sure that the system is, if you will, 640 00:33:28,820 --> 00:33:33,330 contained and resilient to the local environment. 641 00:33:33,330 --> 00:33:36,000 (ominous music) 642 00:33:37,812 --> 00:33:39,552 - [Narrator] The extreme cold is just one of the problems. 643 00:33:39,550 --> 00:33:43,520 Martian dust is 10 times as fine as talcum powder, 644 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,150 which means it can easily contaminate 645 00:33:46,150 --> 00:33:49,700 sensitive computer systems and compromise pressure seals. 646 00:33:51,780 --> 00:33:53,750 Problems only the crew can fix, 647 00:33:53,750 --> 00:33:56,540 because there's no back up on Mars. 648 00:34:00,020 --> 00:34:04,150 Dr. Jim Longuski, nine year veteran with NASA's JPL 649 00:34:04,150 --> 00:34:07,250 now teaches astronautics at Purdue University. 650 00:34:08,780 --> 00:34:10,630 - When you compare say the launch of the shuttle, 651 00:34:10,630 --> 00:34:12,850 or even the Saturn V to the launch of the Apollos, 652 00:34:12,850 --> 00:34:14,470 we had hundreds of people on the ground 653 00:34:14,474 --> 00:34:16,354 monitoring all the systems, 654 00:34:16,351 --> 00:34:19,141 giving all the computer support, 655 00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:20,630 and if anything went wrong, 656 00:34:20,630 --> 00:34:22,000 they could always shut down the launch 657 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:23,910 and run a few technicians over there 658 00:34:23,910 --> 00:34:27,620 to examine the vehicle, replace a part, and get it going. 659 00:34:27,620 --> 00:34:30,230 - [Narrator] Alone, and often out of touch, 660 00:34:30,230 --> 00:34:32,830 a message from Mission Control to the Mars crew 661 00:34:32,830 --> 00:34:34,900 takes up to 11 minutes just to get there. 662 00:34:36,750 --> 00:34:39,870 The question is not if there will be trouble, but when. 663 00:34:41,070 --> 00:34:43,060 - Copy that, verify ignition procedure. 664 00:34:44,060 --> 00:34:46,120 - You try as you might, you train as you might, 665 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,180 you build as you can to try and mitigate that risk. 666 00:34:49,180 --> 00:34:50,830 However, let's face it, 667 00:34:50,830 --> 00:34:53,830 things can go terribly, terribly wrong. 668 00:34:54,692 --> 00:34:55,532 - [Narrator] A last minute snag 669 00:34:55,525 --> 00:34:58,485 almost stranded Apollo 11 crew on the moon. 670 00:34:58,490 --> 00:35:00,990 - Well, I was down there on the floor, 671 00:35:00,990 --> 00:35:04,480 I was looking around and I saw a broken circuit breaker. 672 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,410 So I started looking along here 673 00:35:06,410 --> 00:35:10,100 and it was the engine arm circuit breaker. 674 00:35:10,100 --> 00:35:12,180 Now that's the one that has to be in 675 00:35:12,182 --> 00:35:14,672 to get power to the descent engine, 676 00:35:14,670 --> 00:35:16,400 and power to the ascent engine, 677 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:18,250 which we needed to get home. 678 00:35:18,250 --> 00:35:20,100 - [Narrator] And without an ignition switch, 679 00:35:20,100 --> 00:35:21,500 they weren't going anywhere. 680 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,300 Houston's solution was to use an ordinary ballpoint pen 681 00:35:26,300 --> 00:35:28,770 to toggle the switch, and ignite the engine. 682 00:35:31,268 --> 00:35:32,978 - [Man] You're cleared for takeoff. 683 00:35:34,340 --> 00:35:35,740 - [Man] Roger. 684 00:35:35,740 --> 00:35:37,350 - When it came to the Apollo program, 685 00:35:37,350 --> 00:35:40,540 we had to consider what happens if something goes wrong, 686 00:35:40,540 --> 00:35:42,220 and we can't get them back? 687 00:35:42,223 --> 00:35:47,223 (rockets roaring) (intense music) 688 00:35:59,030 --> 00:36:01,630 - [Narrator] Getting airborne is just the beginning. 689 00:36:02,910 --> 00:36:05,480 The timing must be perfect to make the rendezvous 690 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,720 with the Earth return spacecraft waiting in orbit. 691 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:11,860 The mothership will be shooting around the planet 692 00:36:11,858 --> 00:36:14,208 in a makeshift orbit at speeds 693 00:36:14,210 --> 00:36:18,020 varying from 1,600 to 16,000 kilometers an hour. 694 00:36:19,580 --> 00:36:22,580 That's up to 17 times the speed of a jumbo jet. 695 00:36:23,990 --> 00:36:26,100 Everything has to work the first time. 696 00:36:27,090 --> 00:36:30,300 The lives of the crew will be riding on it. 697 00:36:30,300 --> 00:36:32,290 - If that rendezvous should fail, 698 00:36:32,290 --> 00:36:35,400 not only does the mission lost, the crew is lost. 699 00:36:35,399 --> 00:36:37,979 (somber music) 700 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:44,680 - [Narrator] If they make the rendezvous, 701 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,710 the crew then sets off on the final leg of a journey 702 00:36:47,710 --> 00:36:49,810 that started nearly 24 months ago. 703 00:36:52,895 --> 00:36:54,515 But they're still not free and clear. 704 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,550 There's always the danger of a microscopic, 705 00:36:57,550 --> 00:37:00,020 but deadly stowaway. 706 00:37:00,020 --> 00:37:03,680 - We really don't know if bacteria have existed, 707 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,190 or do exist there, can they cause disease in humans? 708 00:37:07,190 --> 00:37:10,390 Can radiation affect the bacteria that we bring with us 709 00:37:10,390 --> 00:37:13,760 in a manner that non-disease causing bacteria 710 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:16,550 all of a sudden become disease-causing bacteria? 711 00:37:16,550 --> 00:37:18,830 All of that's unknown, so we need to protect that, 712 00:37:18,830 --> 00:37:23,090 and then ultimately we need to protect Earth. 713 00:37:23,090 --> 00:37:26,330 - [Narrator] If the astronauts find microbial life on Mars, 714 00:37:26,330 --> 00:37:28,920 it must be handled with extreme caution. 715 00:37:31,540 --> 00:37:34,870 The spacecraft interior makes an ideal breeding ground 716 00:37:34,870 --> 00:37:37,700 if a rogue organism gets loose. 717 00:37:37,700 --> 00:37:39,840 - If they run into something alive on Mars, 718 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:41,730 you're not surprised by it later on 719 00:37:41,730 --> 00:37:44,380 only after they come back to the Earth. 720 00:37:46,110 --> 00:37:48,420 - [Narrator] After the moon landing in 1969, 721 00:37:48,420 --> 00:37:49,890 NASA worried that the astronauts 722 00:37:49,890 --> 00:37:51,850 might bring back an exotic microbe. 723 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,180 So they developed the mobile quarantine facility, 724 00:37:56,180 --> 00:37:58,240 a highly modified vacation trailer, 725 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:00,670 with an elaborate air filtration system. 726 00:38:03,470 --> 00:38:05,940 Recovery engineer John Hirasaki 727 00:38:05,940 --> 00:38:08,050 handled the moon dust cleanup. 728 00:38:08,050 --> 00:38:12,350 - The fear was that if you had 729 00:38:12,350 --> 00:38:14,520 extraterrestrial sources of 730 00:38:15,470 --> 00:38:19,130 possible biological contamination, you could have 731 00:38:19,130 --> 00:38:23,450 a runaway contamination of the Earth's biosphere. 732 00:38:23,450 --> 00:38:27,760 You can get some very hostile invasive species occurring 733 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,290 that you really do not want. 734 00:38:32,270 --> 00:38:33,500 - [Narrator] This quarantine facility 735 00:38:33,500 --> 00:38:35,230 was state of the art in its day, 736 00:38:35,230 --> 00:38:36,770 but the crew returning from Mars 737 00:38:36,772 --> 00:38:39,212 will undergo much tougher scrutiny. 738 00:38:39,210 --> 00:38:41,010 - As a planetary protection officer, 739 00:38:41,010 --> 00:38:42,460 you have to be a bio cop. 740 00:38:42,460 --> 00:38:44,610 You're making sure we don't take Earth microbes 741 00:38:44,610 --> 00:38:47,310 to other places, where they might grow and thrive, 742 00:38:47,310 --> 00:38:48,470 and if we bring something back 743 00:38:48,470 --> 00:38:51,750 we wanna make sure it doesn't contain the Andromeda strain. 744 00:38:51,750 --> 00:38:54,360 - [Narrator] Even so close to home, the Mars explorers 745 00:38:54,364 --> 00:38:56,734 are still not out of the woods. 746 00:38:56,730 --> 00:38:58,850 - If the crew members pose 747 00:38:58,847 --> 00:39:02,217 an unsupportable threat to the Earth, 748 00:39:02,220 --> 00:39:05,020 then they would have to agree 749 00:39:05,020 --> 00:39:09,250 that returning to the Earth in that condition is impossible. 750 00:39:09,250 --> 00:39:11,690 - [Narrator] The astronauts would wait in Earth's orbit, 751 00:39:11,690 --> 00:39:14,640 or in a quarantine facility on the moon 752 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,160 until doctors were certain they posed no threat. 753 00:39:18,730 --> 00:39:20,560 - [Astronaut] Oh that view is tremendous. 754 00:39:21,637 --> 00:39:23,227 - [Narrator] Then, having survived 755 00:39:23,230 --> 00:39:25,990 the mental and physical strain of an epic journey, 756 00:39:25,989 --> 00:39:29,579 the astronauts face one final challenge, 757 00:39:29,580 --> 00:39:33,260 picking up the pieces of the life they left behind. 758 00:39:33,260 --> 00:39:36,290 - Three years of your life you've been away from Earth. 759 00:39:36,290 --> 00:39:38,690 If your kids were 10 years old when you left, 760 00:39:38,690 --> 00:39:41,380 they're gonna be 13 when you come back. 761 00:39:41,380 --> 00:39:44,370 Leaving your family, your loved ones, 762 00:39:44,368 --> 00:39:46,908 the whole environment of the Earth, 763 00:39:46,910 --> 00:39:49,280 the impact of that is gonna be huge. 764 00:39:50,949 --> 00:39:52,479 - [Narrator] The costs of a mission to Mars, 765 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,780 both financial and perhaps personal 766 00:39:54,780 --> 00:39:55,880 will be staggering. 767 00:39:59,610 --> 00:40:01,560 But that's the inevitable price 768 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,250 of becoming an interplanetary species. 769 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,280 The real question is whether the red planet 770 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,280 can support a human colony, 771 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:12,690 and a new way of life. 772 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,310 So begins the most dangerous and exciting adventure 773 00:40:18,309 --> 00:40:21,149 in the history of human exploration. 774 00:40:21,150 --> 00:40:25,910 Engineers and astronauts have overcome monumental obstacles, 775 00:40:25,910 --> 00:40:29,600 but the next job will make those seem like child's play. 776 00:40:30,830 --> 00:40:33,010 - At a certain point, the question is gonna open up, 777 00:40:33,008 --> 00:40:37,508 can we make Mars a fully living planet? 778 00:40:37,510 --> 00:40:39,430 Can we transform this desert 779 00:40:39,430 --> 00:40:42,260 into a fully living world like the Earth? 780 00:40:42,260 --> 00:40:43,790 - [Narrator] It sounds like science fiction, 781 00:40:43,790 --> 00:40:45,940 but a growing number of researchers believe 782 00:40:45,940 --> 00:40:47,860 it just might be possible 783 00:40:47,860 --> 00:40:51,130 to turn the Martian desert into an oasis. 784 00:40:52,810 --> 00:40:54,540 - Terraforming is a word 785 00:40:54,540 --> 00:40:57,170 that was defined first in science fiction, 786 00:40:57,170 --> 00:40:59,620 and it means just what it sounds like, terraforming, 787 00:40:59,620 --> 00:41:01,150 making like the Earth. 788 00:41:01,150 --> 00:41:04,130 But now we realize actually that for Mars, 789 00:41:04,130 --> 00:41:05,870 terraforming is possible. 790 00:41:05,870 --> 00:41:09,600 The fundamental challenge in making Mars a planet for life 791 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,090 is warming it up. 792 00:41:11,090 --> 00:41:12,900 Well, we know how to warm up planets. 793 00:41:12,900 --> 00:41:14,820 - [Narrator] There are two big theories 794 00:41:14,820 --> 00:41:16,520 on planetary warming. 795 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:18,960 The first, we've already stumbled on, 796 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,860 using greenhouse gases to heat up the atmosphere. 797 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:25,560 - What we have to do no Mars is what we're doing on Earth, 798 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:28,420 produce these gases in factories. 799 00:41:28,420 --> 00:41:30,600 - [Narrator] Hundreds of solar powered factories 800 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:32,070 would be set up on Mars, 801 00:41:32,070 --> 00:41:33,430 and could begin to drive up 802 00:41:33,430 --> 00:41:35,160 the temperature within 100 years. 803 00:41:38,670 --> 00:41:41,050 The second theory on warming up Mars 804 00:41:41,050 --> 00:41:43,560 is literally out of this world. 805 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:46,530 Gigantic mirrors the size of Texas, 806 00:41:46,530 --> 00:41:51,310 floating in space to redirect and magnify the sun's rays. 807 00:41:51,310 --> 00:41:52,810 - [Chris] That sunlight would add energy 808 00:41:52,810 --> 00:41:54,470 to the polar regions, 809 00:41:54,470 --> 00:41:56,010 warm them up, which would in turn 810 00:41:56,010 --> 00:41:58,320 produce carbon dioxide gas, 811 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,020 which would add to the atmosphere and make it thicker. 812 00:42:01,940 --> 00:42:04,270 - [Narrator] It will be a painfully slow process. 813 00:42:04,270 --> 00:42:07,420 Just melting the ground ice could take several centuries. 814 00:42:09,850 --> 00:42:12,230 And even when Mars is finally warmed up, 815 00:42:12,226 --> 00:42:16,786 the atmosphere will still be poisonous carbon dioxide. 816 00:42:18,250 --> 00:42:20,230 To sustain human life, 817 00:42:20,230 --> 00:42:23,400 Mars will need a massive dose of oxygen. 818 00:42:25,580 --> 00:42:27,240 - The only way we know how to make oxygen 819 00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:29,620 over a whole planet is with plants. 820 00:42:29,620 --> 00:42:31,670 So one of my interests is finding the plants 821 00:42:31,669 --> 00:42:34,539 that will be the first Martian pioneers. 822 00:42:34,540 --> 00:42:36,370 These little guys growing under the stone 823 00:42:36,370 --> 00:42:37,970 are actually making oxygen. 824 00:42:37,968 --> 00:42:40,418 These organisms can change a world. 825 00:42:40,420 --> 00:42:43,410 Billions of years ago, Earth didn't have any oxygen. 826 00:42:43,410 --> 00:42:45,930 It was organisms like these that produced the oxygen 827 00:42:45,930 --> 00:42:48,050 that got biology started on Earth. 828 00:42:48,050 --> 00:42:50,690 I think they could do the same thing on Mars. 829 00:42:50,690 --> 00:42:51,960 - [Narrator] If humankind finds a way 830 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:55,350 to transform Mars into a living, breathing planet, 831 00:42:55,350 --> 00:42:58,040 it may become the new world for the first wave 832 00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:00,760 of trans-planetary immigrants. 833 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:02,710 - And this can happen once we have mastered 834 00:43:02,710 --> 00:43:04,090 the use of Martian resources. 835 00:43:04,090 --> 00:43:05,960 We'll be able to build more habitats. 836 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:08,810 We'll be able to build domes perhaps 100 meters in diameter 837 00:43:08,810 --> 00:43:10,210 in which people can live in. 838 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:13,800 - I think Mars is a place we could go and live. 839 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:16,090 I think we can build the systems to be safe. 840 00:43:16,090 --> 00:43:18,310 We can learn to make it a habitable environment 841 00:43:18,310 --> 00:43:20,050 the way we've started to learn 842 00:43:20,050 --> 00:43:22,300 in the Antarctic at the South Pole. 843 00:43:22,300 --> 00:43:24,240 - [Narrator] Eventually, colonists might even be able 844 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:26,110 to live comfortably without spacesuits 845 00:43:26,106 --> 00:43:28,046 or breathing equipment. 846 00:43:28,050 --> 00:43:30,870 It sounds far fetched now, but the day may come 847 00:43:30,869 --> 00:43:35,429 when Mars will serve as Earth's lifeboat. 848 00:43:35,430 --> 00:43:38,410 - The dinosaurs were wiped out by a planetary impact, 849 00:43:38,410 --> 00:43:40,900 probably a comet or an asteroid. 850 00:43:40,900 --> 00:43:44,190 And when you see the devastation that was caused by 851 00:43:44,190 --> 00:43:46,580 that wiped out god knows how many percentage 852 00:43:46,580 --> 00:43:48,730 of the species on the planet, 853 00:43:48,730 --> 00:43:50,950 those sort of things can happen again. 854 00:43:50,950 --> 00:43:53,220 And so if you want to look at the noble image 855 00:43:53,220 --> 00:43:55,730 and trying to have the species survive 856 00:43:55,730 --> 00:43:58,110 beyond just our children and grandchildren, 857 00:43:58,106 --> 00:44:01,166 a lot of people would say we have to get off this planet 858 00:44:01,170 --> 00:44:03,460 and establish a foothold somewhere else. 859 00:44:05,170 --> 00:44:06,670 - [Narrator] Since the beginning of time, 860 00:44:06,670 --> 00:44:09,520 humankind has felt compelled to explore, 861 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:11,690 driven to open new frontiers. 862 00:44:11,685 --> 00:44:14,435 (dramatic music) 863 00:44:15,870 --> 00:44:20,400 No single nation or people can hope to reach Mars alone. 864 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,430 It will take an international effort 865 00:44:22,430 --> 00:44:24,990 by governments all over the world. 866 00:44:25,890 --> 00:44:28,570 The quest for the red planet is the first page 867 00:44:28,565 --> 00:44:31,545 in a new chapter of human history. 868 00:44:31,550 --> 00:44:34,150 - A thousand years from now, people will remember 869 00:44:34,150 --> 00:44:36,420 the late 20th century, early 21st century, 870 00:44:37,290 --> 00:44:38,920 in ways we can't imagine now. 871 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:41,060 But they will remember the big things. 872 00:44:41,060 --> 00:44:43,170 They will remember if people got their act together 873 00:44:43,170 --> 00:44:44,710 and got to Mars. 874 00:44:44,710 --> 00:44:47,870 They will remember we found life around another star. 875 00:44:47,870 --> 00:44:49,240 Those are the things worthy 876 00:44:49,242 --> 00:44:51,722 of the space programs of the world. 877 00:44:51,722 --> 00:44:55,102 (dramatic music) 878 00:44:55,100 --> 00:44:56,820 - [Narrator] In the future, we may look back 879 00:44:56,820 --> 00:44:58,950 on the early Mars explorers 880 00:44:58,950 --> 00:45:02,890 as the pioneers of a new frontier in space. 881 00:45:02,890 --> 00:45:06,660 And the red planet that once seemed so cold and distant 882 00:45:06,660 --> 00:45:08,260 will be full of promise. 883 00:45:08,260 --> 00:45:12,230 A place, like Earth, we may one day call home. 884 00:45:13,346 --> 00:45:16,096 (dramatic music) 885 00:46:04,707 --> 00:46:07,617 (Multicom jingle)