1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:03,420 --> 00:00:05,839 NARRATOR: A spacecraft is closing in on Mars 3 00:00:05,922 --> 00:00:07,924 at 12,000 miles an hour. 4 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 5 00:00:09,801 --> 00:00:10,844 In a few minutes, 6 00:00:10,927 --> 00:00:12,887 the Perseverance rover will be on the ground. 7 00:00:16,641 --> 00:00:19,185 It's on a mission like nothing ever done before. 8 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,860 Searching for traces of life in an ancient river delta. 9 00:00:31,114 --> 00:00:33,783 And collecting samples for return to Earth. 10 00:00:35,952 --> 00:00:39,956 To get this far, its creators have endured gut-wrenching setbacks, 11 00:00:40,081 --> 00:00:41,583 and a global pandemic. 12 00:00:47,464 --> 00:00:50,341 Thousands of people played a role to make this happen. 13 00:00:53,094 --> 00:00:56,973 But only a few have ever touched this marvel of human ingenuity. 14 00:00:59,434 --> 00:01:01,936 It takes great minds to build something like this. 15 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,523 It also takes great hands. 16 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:20,288 ADAM: A spacecraft. 17 00:01:20,830 --> 00:01:24,125 A NASA spacecraft of highfalutin, big ideas, 18 00:01:24,459 --> 00:01:26,961 but in the end, it is handmade. 19 00:01:29,923 --> 00:01:32,884 It's put together by technicians. 20 00:01:33,343 --> 00:01:38,056 And so, you have this great contrast between heady theoretical ideas, 21 00:01:38,139 --> 00:01:42,811 and engineering science, and craftsmanship, workmanship. 22 00:01:43,770 --> 00:01:46,106 And by the way, it's... that's a big deal. 23 00:01:46,481 --> 00:01:48,650 Because all the heady ideas don't go anywhere 24 00:01:48,775 --> 00:01:50,902 without it coming together the right way. 25 00:01:54,155 --> 00:01:56,032 We're gonna stick the spacecraft on a rocket, 26 00:01:56,658 --> 00:01:59,077 light it up, and hurl it off towards Mars. 27 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,163 There will be no intervention once we're done with this. 28 00:02:02,872 --> 00:02:05,375 We're gonna have what we have. And if something's not right, 29 00:02:05,458 --> 00:02:08,711 or if there's a little tiny machine screw rattling around in there... 30 00:02:09,963 --> 00:02:11,798 we're gonna... this... the whole mission can be lost. 31 00:02:15,218 --> 00:02:17,720 MOOGEGA: As you design and build a spacecraft, 32 00:02:17,846 --> 00:02:20,056 there are always hurdles that come up, it's never perfect, 33 00:02:20,140 --> 00:02:21,891 it's never exactly as you plan. 34 00:02:22,058 --> 00:02:26,437 So, engineers obviously are critical and pivotal to designing and testing. 35 00:02:26,729 --> 00:02:30,525 But the flight techs, they're the people making sure that what they put together 36 00:02:30,775 --> 00:02:32,735 is going to work on Mars. 37 00:02:33,653 --> 00:02:36,698 It's crucial to have everyone hand in hand, working together. 38 00:02:36,865 --> 00:02:38,366 -MALE TECH 1: Okay, crane ops. -MALE TECH 2: Crane ops. 39 00:02:38,449 --> 00:02:41,452 CHRISTIAN: You don't have to have a college degree to do this, 40 00:02:41,578 --> 00:02:43,621 but all us techs do have a role. 41 00:02:43,830 --> 00:02:46,833 It's not like you can go on Amazon and order one of these spacecraft. 42 00:02:47,375 --> 00:02:48,793 -MALE TECH 1: Good? -MALE TECH 2: Yeah, it sure is. 43 00:02:48,877 --> 00:02:52,589 JIM: Flight technicians are the only group that's allowed 44 00:02:52,755 --> 00:02:54,507 to handle flight hardware. 45 00:02:54,632 --> 00:02:56,467 MALE TECH 1: Okay. Zack wants to do the first. 46 00:02:56,634 --> 00:02:58,928 JIM: We're unlike any other place on the planet. 47 00:02:59,095 --> 00:03:02,182 We're not industry, we're not pushing the techs 48 00:03:02,265 --> 00:03:04,893 to get things done quickly, it's all about perfection. 49 00:03:05,727 --> 00:03:07,270 (RATTLING) 50 00:03:07,353 --> 00:03:10,273 LACK: We're mechanics, putting together a spacecraft. 51 00:03:11,024 --> 00:03:13,776 It might be a little bit more sophisticated than being 52 00:03:14,110 --> 00:03:16,321 a grease mechanic, you know, on an engine, 53 00:03:16,863 --> 00:03:19,574 but basically, we're, you know, just space mechanics. 54 00:03:19,949 --> 00:03:21,159 MALE TECH: You just tell me you... 55 00:03:21,242 --> 00:03:24,037 MICHAEL: We're good with our hands, so we're good with tools, you know. 56 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:25,163 This is what I do 57 00:03:25,330 --> 00:03:29,083 and if that leads to building a spacecraft, then that's what I build. 58 00:03:33,296 --> 00:03:36,299 JAMES: My understanding of theoretical and design elements is limited, 59 00:03:36,382 --> 00:03:39,761 but I'm the caretaker of many years of scientific effort. 60 00:03:40,303 --> 00:03:43,097 Countless man hours of mechanical engineers, 61 00:03:43,181 --> 00:03:44,182 the design engineers. 62 00:03:44,265 --> 00:03:47,477 So, behind that one piece could be hundreds of people. 63 00:03:47,977 --> 00:03:50,772 And we are entrusted with that system. 64 00:03:54,025 --> 00:03:56,361 NARRATOR: Perseverance has the same basic design 65 00:03:56,444 --> 00:03:59,989 as the curiosity rover that's been on Mars since 2012. 66 00:04:00,782 --> 00:04:02,617 But the payload is all new. 67 00:04:05,286 --> 00:04:07,830 The centerpiece is a complex robotic system 68 00:04:07,997 --> 00:04:10,500 to drill and cache samples of Martian rock 69 00:04:10,583 --> 00:04:12,669 for return to Earth by a future mission. 70 00:04:15,004 --> 00:04:17,507 WILLIFORD: The idea of sending spacecraft to Mars, 71 00:04:17,590 --> 00:04:20,093 grabbing some samples and bringing them back, 72 00:04:20,176 --> 00:04:23,179 this is something that scientists and engineers have wanted to do 73 00:04:23,304 --> 00:04:25,765 for a very long time, many decades, 74 00:04:25,932 --> 00:04:28,518 because they might hold signs of ancient life. 75 00:04:29,352 --> 00:04:30,979 (RUMBLING) 76 00:04:34,148 --> 00:04:37,318 NARRATOR: A device called MOXIE will attempt to extract oxygen 77 00:04:37,402 --> 00:04:40,321 from the thin, carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars, 78 00:04:40,571 --> 00:04:43,449 paving the way for future human missions, if it works. 79 00:04:43,533 --> 00:04:45,034 MALE TECH: One more above now. 80 00:04:46,953 --> 00:04:49,539 NARRATOR: There will also be an experimental helicopter. 81 00:04:50,081 --> 00:04:53,793 The first attempt to fly a rotor-driven aircraft on another planet. 82 00:04:55,044 --> 00:04:57,213 This team could be the Wright Brothers of Mars. 83 00:04:59,215 --> 00:05:02,260 MIMI: Flying a helicopter on Mars is a game changer. 84 00:05:02,385 --> 00:05:07,598 Introducing the entire aerial dimension to exploring a planet. 85 00:05:07,724 --> 00:05:10,518 (BLADES WHIRRING) 86 00:05:10,852 --> 00:05:13,938 I mean, how often do you get a chance in a lifetime, right? 87 00:05:14,105 --> 00:05:15,982 To go for first-of-a-kind? 88 00:05:20,278 --> 00:05:22,113 NARRATOR: Dozens of iconic spacecraft 89 00:05:22,196 --> 00:05:24,991 have come together at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 90 00:05:25,074 --> 00:05:27,076 over the past 60 years. 91 00:05:29,037 --> 00:05:32,623 Every one of them, born from the marriage of visionary engineering, 92 00:05:32,749 --> 00:05:34,751 and elite hands-on skills. 93 00:05:35,168 --> 00:05:36,544 MALE TECH: Uh, we're gonna go east. 94 00:05:37,712 --> 00:05:40,381 NARRATOR: At this level, some of those hands-on skills 95 00:05:40,548 --> 00:05:42,717 are as unique as the hardware they're building. 96 00:05:43,384 --> 00:05:46,596 ADAM: You can go to school to train to fix jet engines, 97 00:05:46,721 --> 00:05:49,349 because there's lots of jets, and they need jet engine technicians, 98 00:05:49,724 --> 00:05:52,602 but there's no school for spacecraft technicians that I know of. 99 00:05:54,937 --> 00:05:57,398 NARRATOR: The closest thing to a school for flight technicians 100 00:05:57,523 --> 00:06:00,068 is JPL's legendary Building 18. 101 00:06:01,110 --> 00:06:03,738 JIM: This is the hub for the flight technicians. 102 00:06:03,863 --> 00:06:05,698 One of the oldest buildings on the lab. 103 00:06:05,823 --> 00:06:08,910 It's been here about 60 years, and from here, 104 00:06:09,035 --> 00:06:10,995 we're dispersed all across the whole lab. 105 00:06:14,332 --> 00:06:18,127 NARRATOR: Jim Pearson started as a flight tech more than 25 years ago. 106 00:06:18,711 --> 00:06:21,589 Now, he's the boss, and head talent scout, 107 00:06:21,923 --> 00:06:25,176 recruiting people with the right stuff to work on spacecraft. 108 00:06:26,677 --> 00:06:28,388 JIM: I'm looking for an attitude. 109 00:06:29,138 --> 00:06:32,058 Somebody who's willing to dig deep. 110 00:06:32,392 --> 00:06:35,520 Somebody who can understand the importance 111 00:06:35,603 --> 00:06:36,687 of the work that we're doing. 112 00:06:38,981 --> 00:06:41,526 JAMES: If you can come in with the right mindset, 113 00:06:41,651 --> 00:06:44,654 then you can be trained how to work on spacecraft. 114 00:06:46,614 --> 00:06:49,409 I remember very clearly the first hole I drilled. 115 00:06:50,910 --> 00:06:54,455 Here I am, with a drill, in a clean room, with four people watching me, 116 00:06:54,580 --> 00:06:57,500 and I'm dealing with hardware that's worth millions of dollars. 117 00:06:58,126 --> 00:07:01,212 So, if I mess up, that could be catastrophic. 118 00:07:01,671 --> 00:07:04,173 So... and I was reminded of that before I did it, 119 00:07:04,257 --> 00:07:06,759 and I was sweating, I was sweating bullets. 120 00:07:08,803 --> 00:07:12,014 STEVE: Prior to JPL, I was working in a bike shop. 121 00:07:12,849 --> 00:07:16,561 You know, I'm used to having grease and dirt under my cuticles. 122 00:07:16,644 --> 00:07:18,354 So, coming into a clean room 123 00:07:18,438 --> 00:07:20,898 is a big eye-opener. It was a culture shock. 124 00:07:22,525 --> 00:07:24,610 You don't wanna be too fast moving. 125 00:07:24,735 --> 00:07:27,280 You don't wanna bump into anything. 126 00:07:27,363 --> 00:07:30,408 You don't wanna... drop something. 127 00:07:30,491 --> 00:07:32,243 You don't want to... 128 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:36,581 disturb this zen. 129 00:07:38,249 --> 00:07:40,084 IVAN: I've had nightmares about this. 130 00:07:40,418 --> 00:07:43,838 I do not wanna be the one person that's going to ruin this for everybody. 131 00:07:45,548 --> 00:07:49,635 ADAM: The technicians are a bit like... a surgeon. 132 00:07:50,595 --> 00:07:51,721 In that... 133 00:07:52,555 --> 00:07:55,808 a slip of the hand... um, a mistake, 134 00:07:55,975 --> 00:07:58,561 and you really can lose the patient. 135 00:07:58,853 --> 00:08:01,814 So, they have tremendous responsibility. 136 00:08:02,231 --> 00:08:03,608 PATRICIA: Gotta make sure there's room. 137 00:08:04,275 --> 00:08:06,527 NARRATOR: The stakes are high and everyone knows it. 138 00:08:07,236 --> 00:08:09,113 Even the veterans feel the pressure. 139 00:08:10,198 --> 00:08:13,409 PATRICIA: You have to be able to really kind of block it out, 140 00:08:13,493 --> 00:08:16,329 and not get nervous, even though they could say, 141 00:08:16,412 --> 00:08:19,832 "Oh, that's a two million dollar camera," you know. 142 00:08:19,999 --> 00:08:23,711 And so, you just say, "Don't tell me." (LAUGHS) 143 00:08:24,712 --> 00:08:27,173 MICHAEL: I put in six screws in one day, 144 00:08:27,256 --> 00:08:30,343 and come home exhausted because my level of focus 145 00:08:30,426 --> 00:08:32,470 on those six screws was so intense. 146 00:08:32,845 --> 00:08:35,181 They have to be so perfect, everything has to be so right 147 00:08:35,264 --> 00:08:38,017 and exact that you come home and go, "Why am I so tired? 148 00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:39,352 "All I did was six screws." 149 00:08:40,770 --> 00:08:43,231 It comes back to the complexity of what we're building. 150 00:08:43,773 --> 00:08:46,442 You can't do this and not have problems. 151 00:08:46,943 --> 00:08:48,110 It's not that simple. 152 00:08:52,615 --> 00:08:53,950 ADAM: Look, I'm an engineer. 153 00:08:54,575 --> 00:08:57,578 Up here, on this floor, in our offices where we engineer 154 00:08:57,662 --> 00:09:00,540 the spacecraft, it's intellectually collaborative. 155 00:09:00,748 --> 00:09:02,875 "Whoa, what's... that's an interesting idea you have. 156 00:09:02,959 --> 00:09:04,126 "I like that." Right? 157 00:09:04,293 --> 00:09:05,670 "Let's think about that." Blah, blah, blah. 158 00:09:05,878 --> 00:09:09,757 Down there, it's actual touch labor collaboration. 159 00:09:10,424 --> 00:09:13,386 It's arduous. It's amazingly complicated. 160 00:09:15,179 --> 00:09:16,722 When you design a spacecraft, 161 00:09:17,014 --> 00:09:20,351 one of its greatest challenges is actually being made. 162 00:09:20,643 --> 00:09:22,937 And that's the techs. 163 00:09:25,648 --> 00:09:29,151 NARRATOR: In March 2019, 16 months before launch, 164 00:09:29,485 --> 00:09:32,280 the spacecraft is in its final phase of construction 165 00:09:32,363 --> 00:09:34,991 in JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility. 166 00:09:38,286 --> 00:09:40,538 The rover is still a box full of wires. 167 00:09:40,955 --> 00:09:45,001 Three-and-a-half miles of it, with 22,000 wired contacts. 168 00:09:46,836 --> 00:09:50,298 It won't get its name, Perseverance, for another year. 169 00:09:50,631 --> 00:09:53,175 For now, it's just "The 2020 Rover," 170 00:09:53,467 --> 00:09:58,431 still waiting for its wheels, robotic arm, cameras, and all the rest of its toolkit. 171 00:10:01,475 --> 00:10:03,769 Meanwhile, it's filling up with the electronics 172 00:10:03,853 --> 00:10:06,272 that will run all the hardware still being built. 173 00:10:07,857 --> 00:10:10,818 ADAM: We have this phase of the mission called ATLO, 174 00:10:10,901 --> 00:10:14,238 which means, Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations. 175 00:10:14,572 --> 00:10:16,657 But along with being a phase of the mission, 176 00:10:16,782 --> 00:10:20,202 it's this army of people, it's like a Seal Teams almost, 177 00:10:20,286 --> 00:10:24,665 very carefully chosen, very select group of people, 178 00:10:24,832 --> 00:10:27,293 that physically build our spacecraft. 179 00:10:29,337 --> 00:10:31,922 JIM: ATLO is where everything comes together. 180 00:10:32,048 --> 00:10:34,842 The integration of all the major components. 181 00:10:35,468 --> 00:10:38,179 The ATLO team will eventually be on the launch pad. 182 00:10:38,262 --> 00:10:40,723 They'll be conducting launch pad operations. 183 00:10:42,642 --> 00:10:46,145 NARRATOR: The ATLO team is responsible not only for assembling the spacecraft, 184 00:10:46,354 --> 00:10:47,813 but for making sure that it works 185 00:10:47,897 --> 00:10:50,316 as a system when all the parts are put together. 186 00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:00,201 The rover doesn't fly to Mars by itself. 187 00:11:02,495 --> 00:11:05,790 The cruise stage manages the journey from Earth to Mars. 188 00:11:06,791 --> 00:11:08,959 Then separates just before arrival. 189 00:11:12,129 --> 00:11:14,548 Then comes the "Seven minutes of terror..." 190 00:11:16,676 --> 00:11:20,429 as the spacecraft decelerates from 12,000 miles an hour 191 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:22,306 to a gentle touchdown. 192 00:11:24,100 --> 00:11:27,103 Radio commands at the speed of light will take 11 minutes 193 00:11:27,186 --> 00:11:30,564 from Earth to Mars, so the spacecraft is on its own. 194 00:11:33,901 --> 00:11:36,612 The aeroshell carries it through the fiery collision 195 00:11:36,696 --> 00:11:38,114 with the Martian atmosphere. 196 00:11:42,284 --> 00:11:45,621 Then, deploys the parachute from its mortar. 197 00:11:46,372 --> 00:11:47,540 (PARACHUTE FLUTTERS) 198 00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:51,335 NARRATOR: The heat shield drops off. 199 00:11:56,215 --> 00:11:59,802 And the rocket-powered descent stage takes it the rest of the way in. 200 00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:09,562 Finally, there's the acrobatic sky crane maneuver. 201 00:12:16,402 --> 00:12:18,362 And then, the rover is on Mars. 202 00:12:21,907 --> 00:12:24,702 FEMALE TECH: Let's start pushing north east. 203 00:12:25,536 --> 00:12:26,829 MALE ENGINEER: North east. 204 00:12:27,121 --> 00:12:28,164 Slowly. 205 00:12:30,332 --> 00:12:31,584 NARRATOR: Over the next few weeks, 206 00:12:31,959 --> 00:12:34,795 they'll be temporarily stacking all those parts together 207 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,299 for a brutal series of tests, simulating the trip to Mars. 208 00:12:41,761 --> 00:12:45,389 The rover's not ready yet, so they have a mass model dummy inside 209 00:12:45,473 --> 00:12:47,683 to get the correct weight and center of gravity. 210 00:12:50,102 --> 00:12:53,731 JIM: It's major work. It's heavy lifts, critical lifts, 211 00:12:54,231 --> 00:12:56,650 millions of dollars in hardware. 212 00:12:56,984 --> 00:13:01,697 So, the smallest little mistake can be huge. 213 00:13:01,947 --> 00:13:03,365 -MALE TECH 1: On the crane. -MALE TECH 2: Crane. 214 00:13:03,449 --> 00:13:06,702 -MALE TECH 1: East, slow. -MALE TECH 2: East, slow. 215 00:13:06,786 --> 00:13:07,828 (OBJECT CLACKING) 216 00:13:07,953 --> 00:13:09,789 NARRATOR: Engineers direct the lifts, 217 00:13:10,372 --> 00:13:11,749 but only technicians, 218 00:13:11,832 --> 00:13:14,710 and only the most experienced can operate the crane. 219 00:13:14,794 --> 00:13:16,754 -TONI: Okay, stop. -MALE TECH: Stop. 220 00:13:16,837 --> 00:13:18,923 DAVID: It's a potentially dangerous situation. 221 00:13:19,131 --> 00:13:21,258 And so, doing it safely, making sure you have 222 00:13:21,342 --> 00:13:22,468 everything hooked up right, 223 00:13:22,551 --> 00:13:25,346 making sure you haven't missed something is key, 224 00:13:25,471 --> 00:13:28,140 and that's a place where experience comes into play. 225 00:13:34,021 --> 00:13:36,732 MICHAEL: You're now swinging a few tons in the air. 226 00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:38,734 And there are hazards there. 227 00:13:39,276 --> 00:13:42,822 By the sheer size of the spacecraft, you can't see all around it. 228 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:46,909 You have to trust that that person on the other side is doing their job. 229 00:13:47,034 --> 00:13:48,452 MALE TECH: Down on, slow. 230 00:13:49,370 --> 00:13:50,830 TONI: Okay. 231 00:13:55,417 --> 00:13:57,086 JAMES: There are certain key moments that... 232 00:13:57,419 --> 00:13:58,838 it just takes your breath away. 233 00:13:59,046 --> 00:14:01,674 Seeing the spacecraft stacked for the first time, 234 00:14:02,258 --> 00:14:04,844 you're reminded that this is real, this is happening, 235 00:14:04,969 --> 00:14:06,554 this massive collaboration. 236 00:14:06,762 --> 00:14:09,223 And I have all of that work in my hands. 237 00:14:10,057 --> 00:14:11,767 At that point, you saw 238 00:14:12,268 --> 00:14:14,311 the complete spacecraft that's gonna fly to Mars. 239 00:14:22,444 --> 00:14:24,530 NARRATOR: The stacked spacecraft is now ready 240 00:14:24,655 --> 00:14:26,824 for its first major system test. 241 00:14:30,411 --> 00:14:34,540 Over the next 12 days, inside a space simulation chamber, 242 00:14:34,957 --> 00:14:37,710 it will have to prove it can function in the frigid vacuum 243 00:14:37,877 --> 00:14:41,505 of deep space on its seven-month journey to Mars. 244 00:14:48,095 --> 00:14:51,140 WILLIFORD: Has life ever existed beyond Earth? 245 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:53,767 Does it today? Has it ever? 246 00:14:54,226 --> 00:14:56,896 Has life ever emerged on another planet? 247 00:14:57,479 --> 00:15:00,107 You know, as astrobiologists, we believe it must have. 248 00:15:00,232 --> 00:15:01,817 But right now, we have no evidence. 249 00:15:02,818 --> 00:15:03,944 So, we're going to Mars, 250 00:15:04,028 --> 00:15:06,488 we're collecting the first samples from another planet, 251 00:15:06,572 --> 00:15:09,033 with the intention of, one day, bringing them back 252 00:15:09,241 --> 00:15:11,660 to our most powerful laboratories on Earth, 253 00:15:11,869 --> 00:15:14,538 and we can analyze them for signs of ancient life 254 00:15:14,622 --> 00:15:18,626 with instruments that are way too big to ever fly to Mars. 255 00:15:20,628 --> 00:15:23,047 We're headed to a place called Jezero Crater. 256 00:15:23,714 --> 00:15:26,216 The big signpost is the delta. 257 00:15:26,717 --> 00:15:28,427 Up in the northwest corner, 258 00:15:28,510 --> 00:15:30,930 we see this beautiful fan-shaped feature, 259 00:15:31,013 --> 00:15:34,224 and a delta really only forms on Earth 260 00:15:34,475 --> 00:15:38,395 where you get a river flowing into a standing body of water. 261 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,067 That tells us very clearly that three some billion years ago, 262 00:15:43,192 --> 00:15:45,653 there was a lake in Jezero Crater. 263 00:15:45,736 --> 00:15:50,491 A great place for life to survive and thrive, if it ever emerged on Mars. 264 00:15:52,242 --> 00:15:57,039 We know exactly where we're going now. And it's an incredibly exciting time. 265 00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:00,417 NARRATOR: A lot of 2020 scientists, 266 00:16:00,542 --> 00:16:03,462 like Ken Williford, trained as field geologists, 267 00:16:03,754 --> 00:16:06,590 exploring landscapes and unraveling stories 268 00:16:06,674 --> 00:16:08,425 rocks can tell about the past. 269 00:16:09,510 --> 00:16:12,680 With a rover on Mars, though, they'll have to work from home. 270 00:16:16,809 --> 00:16:19,061 They've been practicing remote geology. 271 00:16:19,687 --> 00:16:22,606 One team out in the desert, playing the rover on Mars. 272 00:16:22,815 --> 00:16:24,024 And we got all these cables here. 273 00:16:24,108 --> 00:16:25,859 NARRATOR: Pointing cameras at rock formations, 274 00:16:25,985 --> 00:16:28,195 and streaming the images back to JPL. 275 00:16:29,488 --> 00:16:31,490 Another team at JPL, 276 00:16:31,949 --> 00:16:34,201 practicing how they'll interpret images from Mars, 277 00:16:34,284 --> 00:16:36,453 and make decisions about what to do next. 278 00:16:38,580 --> 00:16:41,583 Then, they visit the site to see what it looks like in person. 279 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:44,753 KATIE: Everyone was looking at the images on their computer, 280 00:16:44,878 --> 00:16:48,424 looking at the data, you know, very remotely, just like we do on Mars. 281 00:16:48,549 --> 00:16:50,509 But it's really a different kind of experience 282 00:16:50,592 --> 00:16:52,177 when you can come out here as a person, 283 00:16:52,386 --> 00:16:54,430 and look at the rocks yourself with your own eyes, 284 00:16:54,805 --> 00:16:58,392 and point the instrument at the outcrop, and get that data back real time. 285 00:16:58,851 --> 00:17:00,019 And I think it just gives people 286 00:17:00,102 --> 00:17:03,522 a new perspective on the observations that come down from a rover. 287 00:17:04,606 --> 00:17:07,609 It reminds you that when you are looking at the images that are on Mars, 288 00:17:07,693 --> 00:17:09,194 there's a whole field site there. 289 00:17:09,278 --> 00:17:10,529 So, that's why it... 290 00:17:15,826 --> 00:17:17,536 NARRATOR: They have to travel a bit farther 291 00:17:17,619 --> 00:17:20,122 to see what the jackpot on Mars might look like. 292 00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:25,711 KEN: The key reason we came to this locality 293 00:17:25,794 --> 00:17:28,672 in the middle of the outback is rocks like this. 294 00:17:28,797 --> 00:17:30,758 Rocks like this are extremely rare. 295 00:17:31,633 --> 00:17:33,594 What's very special about them is they have evidence 296 00:17:33,677 --> 00:17:36,096 of the earliest life on Earth. 297 00:17:36,263 --> 00:17:39,808 And they tell us what we should be looking for on Mars. 298 00:17:41,060 --> 00:17:44,146 WILLIFORD: When we say with Mars 2020, we're seeking the signs 299 00:17:44,271 --> 00:17:45,564 of ancient life on Mars, 300 00:17:46,190 --> 00:17:50,194 this is precisely the kinds of signs of life that we'll be seeking. 301 00:17:50,736 --> 00:17:54,156 These wrinkly layered structures that we call stromatolites, 302 00:17:54,323 --> 00:17:58,077 which represent, basically, fossilized pond scum, in a sense. 303 00:17:59,078 --> 00:18:01,705 This is what we would call a bio-signature. 304 00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:04,583 Sign of life, observable to the naked eye, 305 00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:08,087 and therefore, observable to say, the mast-mounted cameras on a rover. 306 00:18:08,629 --> 00:18:11,548 If we see something like this on Mars, it is a very, very good day. 307 00:18:11,632 --> 00:18:13,967 It would be a very important scientific discovery. 308 00:18:14,093 --> 00:18:17,513 We would characterize it using the instruments that are on the rover. 309 00:18:17,763 --> 00:18:21,141 And then we would sample it, and prepare it for return to Earth. 310 00:18:24,853 --> 00:18:27,272 NARRATOR: Now it's up to the engineers to make it happen, 311 00:18:27,815 --> 00:18:29,733 starting with Jezero Crater. 312 00:18:30,109 --> 00:18:33,320 The most dangerous place they've ever attempted to land on Mars. 313 00:18:34,655 --> 00:18:36,156 AL: Landing on Mars is always very difficult. 314 00:18:36,615 --> 00:18:39,034 I mean, the vehicle has to do everything on its own, right? 315 00:18:39,118 --> 00:18:42,329 We have no ability to joystick the spacecraft as it's coming in. 316 00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:45,249 But at Jezero Crater, I see a lot of dangers 317 00:18:45,332 --> 00:18:48,085 that we have to deal with. There are rock fields to the east. 318 00:18:48,752 --> 00:18:50,838 We need to avoid steep slopes as well. 319 00:18:51,255 --> 00:18:54,133 There's a 60 to 80-meter cliff that we definitely don't want to land on. 320 00:18:54,216 --> 00:18:55,634 That would definitely be a bad day. 321 00:18:55,843 --> 00:18:57,052 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 322 00:18:57,136 --> 00:19:00,222 NARRATOR: To improve the odds, they're developing a new camera system 323 00:19:00,347 --> 00:19:03,475 to help the lander detect and avoid hazards on its own. 324 00:19:05,561 --> 00:19:08,480 (BLADES WHIRRING) 325 00:19:13,902 --> 00:19:15,779 AL: We're deep into the second week of testing. 326 00:19:15,904 --> 00:19:19,616 This critical piece of new technology, for helping us land safely at Jezero. 327 00:19:20,367 --> 00:19:23,287 This gives the vehicle the ability to figure out where it is, 328 00:19:23,370 --> 00:19:26,248 using a camera to take pictures on the way down, 329 00:19:26,373 --> 00:19:28,917 and to compare the pictures to pictures we've taken from orbiters, 330 00:19:29,042 --> 00:19:30,752 kind of a map of the place we're trying to go. 331 00:19:30,836 --> 00:19:33,255 And then, we can use our engines to steer the vehicle 332 00:19:33,380 --> 00:19:34,923 to safe spots that we can reach, 333 00:19:35,048 --> 00:19:36,550 because we know where we are finally. 334 00:19:36,842 --> 00:19:38,886 Everything still has to go right for us to make it. 335 00:19:39,928 --> 00:19:42,097 You know, it's my job to be nervous about everything. 336 00:19:42,264 --> 00:19:44,474 But, you know, what we've been doing this week 337 00:19:44,558 --> 00:19:46,018 has given me a lot of confidence. 338 00:19:49,146 --> 00:19:51,565 NARRATOR: Landing on Mars is never a sure thing. 339 00:19:51,982 --> 00:19:56,278 But it has been accomplished before by some of these same JPL engineers. 340 00:19:58,155 --> 00:20:00,365 And apart from the new hazard avoidance system, 341 00:20:00,616 --> 00:20:03,952 the descent stage is pretty much the same as it was for curiosity, 342 00:20:04,203 --> 00:20:06,663 built by many of these same techs. 343 00:20:09,416 --> 00:20:11,460 The biggest risks on any mission 344 00:20:11,543 --> 00:20:14,213 are the things that have never been done before. 345 00:20:15,005 --> 00:20:19,218 We want to bring samples from Mars back to Earth. 346 00:20:20,302 --> 00:20:23,430 It takes three missions to make that happen. 347 00:20:23,805 --> 00:20:26,975 One mission, to core into the rocks of Mars, 348 00:20:27,059 --> 00:20:32,773 take core samples, seal them in inhumanly clean vessels, 349 00:20:33,106 --> 00:20:35,651 and leave those vessels on the surface of Mars. 350 00:20:36,068 --> 00:20:39,196 The second mission, to take those sealed samples, 351 00:20:39,279 --> 00:20:42,449 put them in a small rocket, and put them in orbit around Mars. 352 00:20:45,494 --> 00:20:48,205 The third mission, to scoop them out of orbit, 353 00:20:48,288 --> 00:20:49,748 and bring them back to Earth. 354 00:20:50,832 --> 00:20:53,877 And our mission, Mars 2020, is the first of those missions. 355 00:20:54,920 --> 00:21:00,259 I think that almost everybody on this project shares my personal anxiety 356 00:21:00,425 --> 00:21:02,427 that it's that sampling system 357 00:21:02,678 --> 00:21:06,765 that is our greatest challenge on this mission. 358 00:21:11,812 --> 00:21:13,772 I'm the Chief Engineer for the project. 359 00:21:14,314 --> 00:21:17,150 And I try to be able to span the range 360 00:21:17,276 --> 00:21:19,486 of all the different elements of the spacecraft, 361 00:21:19,611 --> 00:21:24,324 and then find the holes in our defense against mistakes 362 00:21:24,449 --> 00:21:26,410 and our defense against risk. 363 00:21:27,536 --> 00:21:31,915 Prior to having this job, I developed the sampling system. 364 00:21:32,833 --> 00:21:36,712 This incredibly challenging set of mechanisms that we use 365 00:21:36,962 --> 00:21:40,382 to core rocky samples, and keep them clean, 366 00:21:40,465 --> 00:21:43,844 and move them through, and process them, and collect them. 367 00:21:45,762 --> 00:21:52,436 We have a sample tube... that sits inside this drill. 368 00:21:53,061 --> 00:21:55,314 The drill bit's put into a corer, 369 00:21:55,689 --> 00:21:58,400 and the corer goes... (MIMICS DRILL WHIRRING) 370 00:21:59,109 --> 00:22:00,736 And as it does that, 371 00:22:00,819 --> 00:22:05,073 it shoves that column of rock into the sample tube. 372 00:22:06,074 --> 00:22:09,244 We then, bring the sample tube out. 373 00:22:09,411 --> 00:22:11,496 We're doing this with the sample handling arm 374 00:22:11,705 --> 00:22:13,498 on the inside of the spacecraft. 375 00:22:15,042 --> 00:22:19,713 And we move that tube... to a station that assesses the volume, 376 00:22:19,796 --> 00:22:21,465 to a station that takes images. 377 00:22:21,631 --> 00:22:23,842 We put a seal on it... 378 00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:27,471 and then, we put that tube back in storage. 379 00:22:28,055 --> 00:22:30,932 I got 43 of these tubes inside the spacecraft. 380 00:22:31,016 --> 00:22:32,684 We can do that 43 times. 381 00:22:34,811 --> 00:22:38,190 A rocky core... this is what it's all about. 382 00:22:38,482 --> 00:22:40,359 We want to bring a sample like this. 383 00:22:40,859 --> 00:22:45,822 We want to bring 30 samples like this back from Mars. 384 00:22:47,574 --> 00:22:48,992 And so, we're putting our system together, 385 00:22:49,076 --> 00:22:51,453 this behemothly complicated thing. 386 00:22:52,287 --> 00:22:56,792 It outstrips the complexity of anything that's been created by humans, 387 00:22:56,875 --> 00:22:58,668 and put into space, ever. 388 00:23:00,337 --> 00:23:01,588 KELLY: This equipment is not going to Mars. 389 00:23:01,713 --> 00:23:04,174 This is our engineering model, so it's built to be 390 00:23:04,257 --> 00:23:05,717 as flight-like as possible, 391 00:23:05,926 --> 00:23:07,469 with the same functionality as everything in Mars. 392 00:23:08,678 --> 00:23:10,389 So, we're in a very dirty environment here, 393 00:23:10,472 --> 00:23:13,558 and we're gonna drill rocks with it, we're going to cover it in dust, 394 00:23:13,642 --> 00:23:16,144 and really run it through its paces, and wear it out. 395 00:23:16,311 --> 00:23:18,021 That a pretty good-looking core. 396 00:23:18,438 --> 00:23:20,690 NARRATOR: This dirty testing version of the hardware 397 00:23:20,774 --> 00:23:23,068 will take a beating over the next few years. 398 00:23:23,318 --> 00:23:25,737 Eventually moving to a space simulation chamber 399 00:23:25,821 --> 00:23:29,658 to prove it can function in the frigid, low pressure environment of Mars. 400 00:23:36,164 --> 00:23:39,376 Two flight versions, one of which will actually go to Mars, 401 00:23:39,584 --> 00:23:42,629 are still being built at this point, under very different conditions. 402 00:23:43,839 --> 00:23:47,509 WILLIFORD: One of our key concerns with Mars 2020 is keeping it clean. 403 00:23:48,009 --> 00:23:52,222 So, we're going to Mars, we're spending a lot of resources 404 00:23:52,347 --> 00:23:53,682 to collect these samples. 405 00:23:53,890 --> 00:23:56,685 We don't wanna be analyzing bits of Earth. 406 00:23:58,478 --> 00:24:01,189 NARRATOR: On a good day, the air outside JPL, 407 00:24:01,314 --> 00:24:04,526 just north of Los Angeles, is a soup of hydrocarbons, 408 00:24:04,609 --> 00:24:08,071 and millions of microscopic particles in every cubic foot of air. 409 00:24:09,072 --> 00:24:11,950 On a bad day, it can be in the hundreds of millions. 410 00:24:14,828 --> 00:24:17,122 The spacecraft clean room is filtered to no more 411 00:24:17,247 --> 00:24:20,625 than 10,000 microscopic particles per cubic foot. 412 00:24:22,043 --> 00:24:24,588 The ultraclean rooms, where the flight sampling hardware 413 00:24:24,671 --> 00:24:27,674 is built, have no more than one hundred per cubic foot. 414 00:24:29,676 --> 00:24:33,305 LACK: About two and a half years ago, they came to me and said, 415 00:24:33,972 --> 00:24:36,475 "We need to set up some clean rooms that could handle 416 00:24:36,558 --> 00:24:37,934 "this cleanliness level. 417 00:24:38,101 --> 00:24:40,562 "It's something that we've never done here at JPL before, 418 00:24:40,687 --> 00:24:42,230 "and we don't know how to do it." 419 00:24:43,732 --> 00:24:46,193 Everything inside the clean room had to be brand new, 420 00:24:46,318 --> 00:24:51,198 which means brand-new flow wrenches, brand new toolboxes, with brand-new tools. 421 00:24:51,740 --> 00:24:54,951 All the computer systems are brand new. Everything. 422 00:24:55,076 --> 00:24:58,497 Right out of the box, and born into the clean room. 423 00:24:58,872 --> 00:25:01,875 It took a year for me to get them up and running. 424 00:25:02,209 --> 00:25:06,421 No... no joke. It took a year. (CHUCKLES) It was... it was crazy. 425 00:25:07,547 --> 00:25:10,133 ADAM: The technicians have been part of the team 426 00:25:10,217 --> 00:25:13,470 from the get-go, sort of, authored this approach, 427 00:25:14,012 --> 00:25:16,348 and verified that we could actually pull it off. 428 00:25:17,641 --> 00:25:20,143 NARRATOR: The rules for the ultraclean rooms go way beyond 429 00:25:20,227 --> 00:25:23,063 what's required in any other cleanrooms at JPL. 430 00:25:25,065 --> 00:25:28,109 They start with the same gloves, masks, and bunny suits. 431 00:25:29,236 --> 00:25:31,571 There's the same air shower on the way in. 432 00:25:32,781 --> 00:25:35,867 But in these ultraclean rooms, that's just the beginning. 433 00:25:37,619 --> 00:25:40,205 BRIANNA: I work with the bits and corer team, 434 00:25:40,372 --> 00:25:43,250 and these needs to capture what's coming from Mars, 435 00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:44,626 not what's coming from Earth. 436 00:25:44,709 --> 00:25:47,337 So, we have to take extraordinary measures. 437 00:25:48,046 --> 00:25:50,799 JIM: I've got technicians over in the ultraclean rooms 438 00:25:50,924 --> 00:25:54,719 that are wearing double bunny suits, double gloves. 439 00:25:55,428 --> 00:25:57,097 JENNA: Anything that can produce a particle 440 00:25:57,180 --> 00:26:00,183 that can cause contamination is not allowed. 441 00:26:00,892 --> 00:26:03,228 No scented shampoo or conditioner, no perfume, 442 00:26:03,311 --> 00:26:05,814 no cologne, no makeup, things like that. 443 00:26:06,815 --> 00:26:09,276 BRIANNA: The rule is, if we smell you before you go in, 444 00:26:09,401 --> 00:26:11,152 you... you can't come in. 445 00:26:11,528 --> 00:26:14,406 You can't smoke. Oh, few people needed to quit that. 446 00:26:15,198 --> 00:26:18,368 SETH: Yeah, it kind of became like JPL urban mythology 447 00:26:18,451 --> 00:26:21,246 double bunny suiting and all stainless steel tools. 448 00:26:21,371 --> 00:26:23,540 You'd hear these incredible things they were doing, 449 00:26:23,623 --> 00:26:25,584 kind of on the bleeding edge of technology. 450 00:26:26,710 --> 00:26:30,422 JAMES: We rarely see them. They're almost the ghosts of lab. 451 00:26:31,006 --> 00:26:32,924 I honestly don't even know what to expect. 452 00:26:36,219 --> 00:26:38,930 (RATTLING) 453 00:26:39,598 --> 00:26:42,392 THORA: We are working on something that is the cleanest 454 00:26:42,475 --> 00:26:44,978 we've ever really attempted to send into space. 455 00:26:45,729 --> 00:26:46,938 So, we've had to rethink, 456 00:26:47,105 --> 00:26:51,318 how do we do this as cleanly as possible, and keep all those particles off the rest 457 00:26:51,401 --> 00:26:52,861 of the surface of the flight hardware? 458 00:26:54,154 --> 00:26:56,781 NARRATOR: Cleanest of all are the titanium sample tubes 459 00:26:56,948 --> 00:27:00,035 that will preserve Martian rock cores from the moment they're drilled 460 00:27:00,118 --> 00:27:01,578 until they return to Earth. 461 00:27:03,538 --> 00:27:07,584 By the time they go to Mars, they'll be the cleanest things ever made. 462 00:27:08,710 --> 00:27:10,962 That is not hyperbole. 463 00:27:11,713 --> 00:27:14,341 Literally, cleaner than anything humans have ever made. 464 00:27:15,717 --> 00:27:18,970 NARRATOR: Even gloved hands can't touch the tubes during cleaning. 465 00:27:19,387 --> 00:27:23,058 In hands-free cages, they'll go through a barrage of chemical solvents. 466 00:27:25,977 --> 00:27:28,688 They've been through a complex manufacturing process. 467 00:27:29,064 --> 00:27:34,402 Machining, polishing, special coatings, often sterilized between steps. 468 00:27:36,196 --> 00:27:39,282 And now, before they go to the techs for mechanical assembly, 469 00:27:39,449 --> 00:27:40,867 they're cleaned again. 470 00:27:42,202 --> 00:27:46,247 Multiple soaks in solvent tanks agitated with high frequency sound, 471 00:27:46,373 --> 00:27:48,833 strip away more particles and organics. 472 00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:52,629 THORA: No particle's thicker than a strand of hair. 473 00:27:53,088 --> 00:27:55,507 A fingerprint can weigh around 50 micrograms. 474 00:27:55,632 --> 00:27:58,218 We are trying to hit less than point one micrograms 475 00:27:58,343 --> 00:27:59,636 for organic contaminations. 476 00:28:01,179 --> 00:28:03,765 NARRATOR: Then, they get baked in a high temperature oven 477 00:28:03,848 --> 00:28:05,392 to burn off whatever is left. 478 00:28:08,269 --> 00:28:10,480 They're building 200 of these tubes. 479 00:28:10,939 --> 00:28:14,651 In the end, 43 of the most pristine will go to Mars. 480 00:28:16,069 --> 00:28:17,946 In the meantime, the technicians have to add 481 00:28:18,029 --> 00:28:20,740 mechanical parts without contaminating them. 482 00:28:22,409 --> 00:28:24,786 That happens in an even cleaner room, 483 00:28:25,203 --> 00:28:27,247 with sterile gloves, sterile smocks, 484 00:28:27,539 --> 00:28:29,833 and sterile goggles on top of everything else. 485 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,294 They call it Area 151. 486 00:28:36,005 --> 00:28:37,298 -FEMALE ENGINEER: You ready? -MALE ENGINEER: Yeah. 487 00:28:37,382 --> 00:28:38,550 FEMALE ENGINEER: You can go in now. 488 00:28:45,181 --> 00:28:48,560 ADAM: To put all of these very, very clean elements together, 489 00:28:48,977 --> 00:28:50,854 is a tremendous amount of handwork. 490 00:28:51,312 --> 00:28:54,399 And you have to do it in these very, very clean environments 491 00:28:54,524 --> 00:28:57,485 using aseptic assembly protocols. 492 00:28:57,819 --> 00:28:59,362 You're not touching a lot of surfaces, 493 00:28:59,446 --> 00:29:02,282 you want your hands to be sterile, you want your tools to be sterile. 494 00:29:02,824 --> 00:29:05,493 It's required all of our flight technicians 495 00:29:05,577 --> 00:29:08,830 to retrain their minds about how they build the flight hardware. 496 00:29:09,497 --> 00:29:12,208 JENNA: You have to be very, very conscious of your hands. 497 00:29:12,584 --> 00:29:16,171 You can't rest your hands on the table, you can't rest them on your gown. 498 00:29:18,131 --> 00:29:20,508 ADAM: It's all about the handwork. 499 00:29:21,342 --> 00:29:24,471 There's a tremendous demand on the physical control 500 00:29:24,971 --> 00:29:28,933 of the people with touch labor on the hardware 501 00:29:29,267 --> 00:29:31,853 to make this cleanliness all come to pass. 502 00:29:31,936 --> 00:29:34,189 They can get it right or they can get it wrong. 503 00:29:35,356 --> 00:29:37,984 NARRATOR: Everything about this has been more difficult, 504 00:29:38,109 --> 00:29:39,778 and taken longer than expected. 505 00:29:41,029 --> 00:29:43,114 ADAM: One thing that we didn't appreciate 506 00:29:43,698 --> 00:29:47,452 was that there were enough piece parts, enough special things, 507 00:29:47,577 --> 00:29:50,330 special surface treatments, special processes... 508 00:29:51,372 --> 00:29:53,750 that we have slipped our schedule. 509 00:29:55,126 --> 00:30:00,173 We really wanted to be in the position that we're in now about six months ago. 510 00:30:01,925 --> 00:30:04,969 So, the sampling system is what wakes me up 511 00:30:05,053 --> 00:30:06,888 in the middle of the night most frequently. 512 00:30:15,188 --> 00:30:17,607 NARRATOR: "Up the hill," as they say, at JPL, 513 00:30:17,857 --> 00:30:23,446 is a legendary spacecraft torture chamber called the 25-foot Space Simulator. 514 00:30:26,574 --> 00:30:30,537 This relic from the early 1960s, declared a National Historic Landmark, 515 00:30:30,703 --> 00:30:33,039 is still the state of the art for recreating 516 00:30:33,122 --> 00:30:35,375 the punishing environments of space on Earth. 517 00:30:38,628 --> 00:30:40,839 THEODORE: After the whole spacecraft's been assembled, 518 00:30:41,005 --> 00:30:44,384 we'll roll it through the high bay here, and load it into the chamber. 519 00:30:44,968 --> 00:30:47,762 The primary function of this is to simulate space 520 00:30:47,971 --> 00:30:50,014 as the spacecraft is actually flying. 521 00:30:50,598 --> 00:30:53,977 It simulates the extreme cold of space and the extreme hot 522 00:30:54,269 --> 00:30:55,728 from the Sun to the shade, 523 00:30:55,895 --> 00:30:58,690 as well as the high vacuum, the lack of pressure. 524 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:00,859 We're gonna light up D-5. 525 00:31:01,025 --> 00:31:02,402 MALE VOICE: (OVER RADIO) Copy that. D-5. 526 00:31:02,735 --> 00:31:05,822 THEODORE: The walls and the floor of the chamber 527 00:31:05,905 --> 00:31:10,702 are flooded with liquid nitrogen, which cools it to about negative 180 C. 528 00:31:11,661 --> 00:31:14,998 NARRATOR: That's 292 below zero Fahrenheit. 529 00:31:15,915 --> 00:31:18,251 THEODORE: We can then use the solar simulator 530 00:31:18,501 --> 00:31:20,795 to heat up the top of the spacecraft. 531 00:31:21,087 --> 00:31:23,590 The light that you see here is actually coming 532 00:31:23,673 --> 00:31:26,968 from a Xenon arc lamp that's two floors down, 533 00:31:27,677 --> 00:31:31,514 shining up through a lens assembly on the second floor. 534 00:31:32,015 --> 00:31:34,767 Right now, we have one arc lamp running. 535 00:31:34,893 --> 00:31:36,769 We'll run about 18 lamps 536 00:31:37,270 --> 00:31:39,689 during the actual hot case for the spacecraft. 537 00:31:41,107 --> 00:31:44,527 NARRATOR: The hot case can reach 212 degrees above zero 538 00:31:44,611 --> 00:31:46,613 on the sunny side of the spacecraft. 539 00:31:47,030 --> 00:31:48,531 (CHAIN RATTLING) 540 00:31:50,241 --> 00:31:52,827 NARRATOR: Exploring this building is a bit like going back 541 00:31:52,911 --> 00:31:55,121 in time to the beginning of the space age. 542 00:31:56,289 --> 00:31:59,709 The Mariner 2 Venus Probe, NASA's first spacecraft 543 00:31:59,792 --> 00:32:03,504 to visit another planet, was tested here in 1962, 544 00:32:03,796 --> 00:32:07,425 followed by just about every interplanetary traveler since then. 545 00:32:11,930 --> 00:32:13,556 So, this is the end bell of the chamber. 546 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,558 This is the bottom of the pressure vessel. 547 00:32:15,850 --> 00:32:17,310 This is where the vacuum's held. 548 00:32:17,602 --> 00:32:20,563 Most of the electronics for the spacecraft are passed through these ports. 549 00:32:20,813 --> 00:32:23,650 (MACHINE WHIRRING) 550 00:32:28,196 --> 00:32:30,865 This is a 32-kilowatt arc lamp. 551 00:32:31,449 --> 00:32:33,743 Right now, it's running about 20 kilowatts. 552 00:32:34,118 --> 00:32:35,119 This is just one. 553 00:32:35,203 --> 00:32:39,248 We would usually use 18 of them for our warm case on the spacecraft. 554 00:32:43,461 --> 00:32:45,964 NARRATOR: The 2020 spacecraft, minus the rover, 555 00:32:46,089 --> 00:32:49,550 is now in the chamber for its first major system test. 556 00:32:52,470 --> 00:32:56,891 Over the next 12 days, it will experience most of the extreme deep space conditions 557 00:32:56,975 --> 00:32:59,102 it has to survive on the way to Mars. 558 00:33:02,438 --> 00:33:05,566 The simulator can also replicate the thin, dry atmosphere 559 00:33:05,650 --> 00:33:08,444 and wide temperature swings on the surface of Mars. 560 00:33:13,241 --> 00:33:16,995 This is where the ingenuity helicopter proved it could both fly and control 561 00:33:17,078 --> 00:33:18,746 itself in that environment. 562 00:33:19,789 --> 00:33:22,291 (BLADES WHIRRING) 563 00:33:23,710 --> 00:33:26,379 NARRATOR: It had to be very light, just under four pounds. 564 00:33:26,796 --> 00:33:30,299 But powerful enough to spin the rotors at 2,400 RPM 565 00:33:30,466 --> 00:33:32,969 to generate lift in an atmosphere less than one percent 566 00:33:33,094 --> 00:33:34,512 as dense as Earth. 567 00:33:36,848 --> 00:33:38,725 (BLADES WHIRRING) 568 00:33:39,684 --> 00:33:41,019 (CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING) 569 00:33:42,437 --> 00:33:44,647 MIMI: It was an amazing feeling. 570 00:33:44,856 --> 00:33:49,360 We've been working for four and a half, almost five years. 571 00:33:49,777 --> 00:33:51,112 It's a huge milestone for us. 572 00:33:52,947 --> 00:33:54,032 NARRATOR: It will travel to Mars 573 00:33:54,115 --> 00:33:57,827 attached to the bottom of the rover and drop free when it's time to fly. 574 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:02,582 (BLADES WHIRRING) 575 00:34:02,665 --> 00:34:04,500 NARRATOR: It will only fly a few times. 576 00:34:05,460 --> 00:34:08,963 The goal is to prove itself as a technology for future missions. 577 00:34:10,590 --> 00:34:13,885 MIMI: We'll be able to get high definition images 578 00:34:14,135 --> 00:34:17,388 of places that we want to send rovers to. 579 00:34:17,889 --> 00:34:21,642 So, we'll have a scout to inform before long traverses, 580 00:34:22,101 --> 00:34:25,688 and then we'll be able to have a totally new way 581 00:34:25,772 --> 00:34:28,399 to get to places we simply cannot get to, today. 582 00:34:28,691 --> 00:34:32,153 And to be able to sit here and say, "Yes, it's working," 583 00:34:32,236 --> 00:34:34,030 is a huge deal. It's a huge deal. 584 00:34:35,114 --> 00:34:39,494 But, there's always gonna be a "but" until we do it at Mars. 585 00:34:42,121 --> 00:34:43,706 NARRATOR: Of course, not everything can be tested 586 00:34:43,790 --> 00:34:44,916 in the simulator. 587 00:34:46,209 --> 00:34:48,169 To test the parachute under Mars conditions, 588 00:34:48,586 --> 00:34:50,421 they had to launch a supersonic rocket 589 00:34:50,546 --> 00:34:53,049 and deploy the chute one hundred thousand feet up, 590 00:34:53,299 --> 00:34:56,719 where the atmosphere on Earth is as thin as Mars near the surface. 591 00:35:00,556 --> 00:35:03,810 But even that doesn't tell them everything they need to know. 592 00:35:05,019 --> 00:35:07,355 IAN: In order to get that parachute out behind the vehicle, 593 00:35:07,438 --> 00:35:10,024 we have to shoot it out of a cannon, called a mortar, 594 00:35:10,149 --> 00:35:11,859 at about a hundred miles an hour. 595 00:35:12,235 --> 00:35:15,655 So, we're out here getting ready to do a test of that cannon. 596 00:35:17,073 --> 00:35:19,534 We've got lots and lots of high-speed imagery, 597 00:35:19,617 --> 00:35:22,078 recording it up to 20,000 frames per second 598 00:35:22,203 --> 00:35:24,914 because we're witnessing and monitoring and watching things 599 00:35:24,997 --> 00:35:27,959 that are occurring in microseconds or at least milliseconds. 600 00:35:28,626 --> 00:35:32,463 We've got a parachute pack that's loaded into this canister behind me. 601 00:35:33,506 --> 00:35:35,133 This is the 14th test. 602 00:35:35,299 --> 00:35:37,844 There are a number of small changes that we've made along the way. 603 00:35:37,927 --> 00:35:40,805 This is hopefully the final test to see that all those changes worked. 604 00:35:41,639 --> 00:35:42,849 It's a pretty exciting test. 605 00:35:43,057 --> 00:35:46,018 That's about two hundred feet high that this thing has to travel 606 00:35:46,269 --> 00:35:48,354 in an, you know, a fraction of a second. 607 00:35:48,521 --> 00:35:52,817 And when this goes off it's a... it's a pretty spectacular boom. (CHUCKLES) 608 00:35:53,276 --> 00:35:54,527 -(GASPS) -Whoa! 609 00:35:58,990 --> 00:36:01,367 IAN: It's 108 grams of black powder. 610 00:36:04,787 --> 00:36:06,873 You know, we study, we analyze, we predict, 611 00:36:06,998 --> 00:36:08,749 we model all of these behaviors, 612 00:36:08,958 --> 00:36:11,043 but it's not till we actually do a test like this 613 00:36:11,127 --> 00:36:13,045 that we get to see if it works the way that we need it to. 614 00:36:15,047 --> 00:36:16,924 NARRATOR: That's true of pretty much every element 615 00:36:17,008 --> 00:36:18,050 of the spacecraft. 616 00:36:19,969 --> 00:36:21,804 A near twin of the flight rover, 617 00:36:21,888 --> 00:36:25,308 designed for hard testing, is spun up to 18 Gs 618 00:36:25,391 --> 00:36:28,895 on a centrifuge to simulate the crushing gravitational stress 619 00:36:28,978 --> 00:36:30,354 of launch and landing. 620 00:36:32,273 --> 00:36:34,859 That's about six times more than astronauts experience 621 00:36:34,942 --> 00:36:36,360 on launch from Earth. 622 00:36:39,405 --> 00:36:43,117 The wheels and suspension have to survive the shock of landing. 623 00:36:43,451 --> 00:36:45,453 (CLANKS) 624 00:36:45,870 --> 00:36:50,875 (RATTLES) 625 00:36:53,127 --> 00:36:56,339 NARRATOR: And then endless hours of driving in the Mars Yard, 626 00:36:56,464 --> 00:36:59,008 using a stripped-down rover to approximate its weight 627 00:36:59,091 --> 00:37:00,218 in Mars gravity. 628 00:37:03,012 --> 00:37:06,641 The Perseverance wheels are more rugged than the ones on the Curiosity rover, 629 00:37:07,099 --> 00:37:10,228 which took an unexpected beating in the early days after landing. 630 00:37:12,772 --> 00:37:14,273 When the problem first appeared, 631 00:37:14,357 --> 00:37:18,361 they built a test track in the Mars Yard to get an idea of how much longer 632 00:37:18,486 --> 00:37:20,529 Curiosity's wheels might last. 633 00:37:22,573 --> 00:37:24,909 Helping to build that track was James Bailey's 634 00:37:24,992 --> 00:37:28,371 introduction to the elite world of spacecraft development. 635 00:37:29,914 --> 00:37:31,916 I went up to what is known as the Mars Yard, 636 00:37:31,999 --> 00:37:34,043 and I was handed a 20-pound sledgehammer 637 00:37:34,168 --> 00:37:36,963 and a bucket of rocks, and they said, "You're gonna break some rocks." 638 00:37:37,588 --> 00:37:41,384 (CLANKS) 639 00:37:41,968 --> 00:37:44,428 JAMES: My first couple months here at JPL learning about spacecraft 640 00:37:44,845 --> 00:37:47,640 and the Mars mission. This is my first dose of it. 641 00:37:48,057 --> 00:37:51,894 And coming from the army, yeah, it was the easiest money I ever got. 642 00:37:52,561 --> 00:37:54,730 So, this is my beginning at JPL. 643 00:37:56,816 --> 00:38:00,778 NARRATOR: The Mars Yard rock pile can test the attitude of new flight techs. 644 00:38:01,737 --> 00:38:04,323 Those who pass, move on to work where the stakes 645 00:38:04,448 --> 00:38:07,118 and the expectations are much higher. 646 00:38:12,790 --> 00:38:15,167 The team building the rover's mobility system, 647 00:38:15,418 --> 00:38:18,879 wheels and suspension, has been at it for three and a half years. 648 00:38:19,714 --> 00:38:22,842 In a little over a month, they'll deliver it to the flight rover. 649 00:38:25,052 --> 00:38:29,974 Today, they're drilling holes through the titanium suspension, by hand. 650 00:38:33,352 --> 00:38:35,146 PATRICK: They've got about 30 plus 651 00:38:35,479 --> 00:38:37,982 high precision holes that they're drilling. 652 00:38:38,566 --> 00:38:42,069 It's titanium, so it's very difficult to drill on its own. 653 00:38:42,236 --> 00:38:44,322 But then, irrespective of the material, 654 00:38:44,405 --> 00:38:46,699 it's still difficult to hit the kinda size tolerances 655 00:38:46,782 --> 00:38:48,951 that we're after. We're talking ten thousandths of an inch. 656 00:38:49,910 --> 00:38:52,955 But we don't get to mount our suspension to a drill press 657 00:38:53,039 --> 00:38:54,957 or to a mill to make these holes. 658 00:38:55,750 --> 00:38:58,294 PASAN: Everything has a feel to it, 659 00:38:58,377 --> 00:39:01,881 whether it's the drill speed, the temperature of the material. 660 00:39:03,049 --> 00:39:06,385 You're communicating with the hardware. All the techs have that sense. 661 00:39:07,595 --> 00:39:10,222 PATRICK: I think some of the engineers at the beginning of this would have said, 662 00:39:10,306 --> 00:39:12,350 "You can't achieve this kinda precision by hand. 663 00:39:12,433 --> 00:39:16,062 "Starting from a really small hole, making it a little bigger each time." 664 00:39:16,145 --> 00:39:19,231 But now we can hit hole after hole to that level of precision. 665 00:39:25,404 --> 00:39:27,990 NARRATOR: A few days later, they're installing the electric drive 666 00:39:28,115 --> 00:39:30,242 and steering motors into the suspension struts 667 00:39:30,326 --> 00:39:31,952 where they'll be mounting the wheels. 668 00:39:37,041 --> 00:39:39,794 It's some of the most critical hardware on the rover 669 00:39:39,877 --> 00:39:42,296 and some of the trickiest to handle. 670 00:39:43,798 --> 00:39:47,551 These actuators have to be rugged enough to work for years on Mars, 671 00:39:47,676 --> 00:39:51,389 at temperatures that can swing 100 degrees in a single day. 672 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:55,267 But they're vulnerable in human hands. 673 00:39:58,562 --> 00:40:00,231 The rover has ten of them. 674 00:40:00,689 --> 00:40:04,860 It took years to build and perfect 12, giving them two spares. 675 00:40:05,152 --> 00:40:08,656 That makes them worth about one million dollars apiece. 676 00:40:10,741 --> 00:40:16,831 PASAN: It's definitely a moment where you need to be extremely focused. 677 00:40:17,248 --> 00:40:18,624 There's no room for error. 678 00:40:18,874 --> 00:40:20,918 You kind of have to drown everything else out 679 00:40:21,001 --> 00:40:23,170 and at the same time, not be afraid. 680 00:40:25,256 --> 00:40:27,758 PATRICK: You know, we're at a phase now where the stakes are really high, 681 00:40:27,883 --> 00:40:31,429 and it's not so much about, like, monetary value of something. 682 00:40:31,512 --> 00:40:34,723 It's really about irrecoverable schedule at this point. 683 00:40:35,641 --> 00:40:38,602 We're looking at years and years of another team's work, 684 00:40:38,811 --> 00:40:40,771 and now it's our responsibility 685 00:40:40,855 --> 00:40:43,399 to see it safely on to its next destination. 686 00:40:47,862 --> 00:40:49,530 NARRATOR: The electrical cabling harness, 687 00:40:49,905 --> 00:40:53,242 another system representing years of work by another team... 688 00:41:06,422 --> 00:41:08,382 powered up for the first time. 689 00:41:10,217 --> 00:41:11,635 Everything works. 690 00:41:12,344 --> 00:41:13,721 PATRICK: That looks pretty good. 691 00:41:14,013 --> 00:41:15,890 NARRATOR: Now, it's ready for wheels. 692 00:41:16,348 --> 00:41:19,393 (MACHINE WHIRS) 693 00:41:21,854 --> 00:41:24,106 NARRATOR: They've been in production for more than a year. 694 00:41:27,359 --> 00:41:29,111 They have 43 altogether. 695 00:41:30,196 --> 00:41:31,947 Only six will go to Mars. 696 00:41:32,573 --> 00:41:36,452 The rest will stay behind as spares for the test rovers in the Mars Yard. 697 00:41:39,121 --> 00:41:43,125 -(MACHINE WHIRRING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER) 698 00:41:43,584 --> 00:41:46,670 NARRATOR: Now, just days away from delivery to the flight rover, 699 00:41:46,879 --> 00:41:50,007 they're in the hands of the mobility team for the first time. 700 00:42:00,851 --> 00:42:03,229 PATRICK: This stuff looks beautiful 701 00:42:03,812 --> 00:42:06,482 because it's a product of functional design 702 00:42:06,815 --> 00:42:09,109 kind of being taken to the nth degree. 703 00:42:10,444 --> 00:42:13,239 I find that complex designs are usually complex 704 00:42:13,405 --> 00:42:14,657 because they haven't had enough time 705 00:42:14,740 --> 00:42:16,951 to cook and distill down to something elegant. 706 00:42:18,285 --> 00:42:19,328 MALE TECH: Okay. 707 00:42:21,539 --> 00:42:22,873 -MALE TECH 1: Voila! -MALE TECH 2: Ta-da! 708 00:42:32,925 --> 00:42:35,177 PATRICK: You know, it feels really high pressure now, 709 00:42:36,428 --> 00:42:38,347 because it's not a few different piece parts 710 00:42:38,430 --> 00:42:39,932 in different people's hands. 711 00:42:42,726 --> 00:42:44,603 You know, it's one big installation. 712 00:42:45,688 --> 00:42:48,023 So, we feel a great sense of responsibility, I think, 713 00:42:48,274 --> 00:42:51,360 to really not mess it up in these final stages. 714 00:42:57,449 --> 00:43:00,327 NARRATOR: A few days later, the rover mobility system 715 00:43:00,411 --> 00:43:03,038 is leaving its birthplace in Building 18. 716 00:43:04,623 --> 00:43:06,709 It's a venerable tradition at JPL, 717 00:43:07,459 --> 00:43:10,421 the procession of finished flight hardware down the hill 718 00:43:10,588 --> 00:43:12,756 to the Spacecraft Assembly Facility. 719 00:43:15,801 --> 00:43:18,846 This is where the people who built it say goodbye to hardware 720 00:43:18,971 --> 00:43:21,640 they've been working on for the past three or four years 721 00:43:21,724 --> 00:43:23,434 and hand it over to ATLO, 722 00:43:23,684 --> 00:43:26,729 the Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations team. 723 00:43:27,229 --> 00:43:28,272 (CHUCKLES) 724 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:34,612 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 725 00:43:35,321 --> 00:43:37,448 ADAM: It's not in the handbooks of engineering 726 00:43:37,531 --> 00:43:38,907 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 727 00:43:39,033 --> 00:43:42,828 You run into it when you build your first piece of spaceflight hardware, 728 00:43:42,911 --> 00:43:43,954 and you... 729 00:43:44,872 --> 00:43:47,499 go to deliver it to the rest of the spacecraft, 730 00:43:47,666 --> 00:43:51,795 and you watch this group grab it and carry it away from you, you're like, 731 00:43:51,879 --> 00:43:53,797 "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second." 732 00:43:54,048 --> 00:43:55,132 "You know, I understand 733 00:43:55,215 --> 00:43:57,801 "this piece of hardware, and how do..." You know, 734 00:43:57,885 --> 00:44:00,095 "Why do you think you understand?" As soon as you hand it over to them, 735 00:44:00,179 --> 00:44:01,221 they're like, "Whatever, dude." 736 00:44:03,390 --> 00:44:07,853 MICHAEL: Now, ATLO owns it. So, it's no longer their responsibility. 737 00:44:08,479 --> 00:44:09,647 Now, we control it, 738 00:44:09,772 --> 00:44:11,690 and we will be the ones to put it on the spacecraft. 739 00:44:12,024 --> 00:44:14,485 We'll take care of this, we'll get it inside with QA, 740 00:44:14,610 --> 00:44:16,070 and then we'll section it all off. 741 00:44:16,153 --> 00:44:17,905 -Appreciate it, sir. -And we'll secure it for ya. 742 00:44:18,030 --> 00:44:21,617 PATRICK: It's like taking a kid to college, I imagine. (CHUCKLES) 743 00:44:21,867 --> 00:44:26,330 (WHIRRING) 744 00:44:33,754 --> 00:44:35,589 ADAM: You deliver to ATLO... 745 00:44:36,423 --> 00:44:39,635 then it kind of becomes possessed by this group of people. 746 00:44:40,386 --> 00:44:42,805 They take tremendous ownership 747 00:44:43,097 --> 00:44:45,557 of the elements of the spacecraft that come into them. 748 00:44:46,392 --> 00:44:47,726 And I think that that's... 749 00:44:48,894 --> 00:44:50,979 the perfect perspective for them to have, 750 00:44:51,355 --> 00:44:54,024 because once they have those pieces of spaceflight hardware... 751 00:44:54,858 --> 00:44:57,903 it's all in their hands. Literally in their hands. 752 00:44:58,654 --> 00:45:03,325 If you make mistakes at that point, they can be very, very, very costly. 753 00:45:03,742 --> 00:45:06,620 They can conceivably cost the mission. 754 00:45:09,957 --> 00:45:11,875 MALE TECH: All right. Move this up. 755 00:45:12,042 --> 00:45:14,169 NARRATOR: The stacked spacecraft has served its time 756 00:45:14,253 --> 00:45:16,880 in the Space Simulator with no major problems. 757 00:45:17,673 --> 00:45:19,675 From here it goes back to the clean room 758 00:45:19,758 --> 00:45:22,553 to be taken apart again and given its final tune-up. 759 00:45:24,972 --> 00:45:27,975 From now on, it's going to be all about the rover. 760 00:45:31,228 --> 00:45:33,731 First up, the Remote Sensing Mast. 761 00:45:35,357 --> 00:45:39,153 Essentially the rover's head, with high resolution color cameras, 762 00:45:39,445 --> 00:45:42,364 navigation cameras, and the SuperCam laser. 763 00:45:48,746 --> 00:45:51,123 Installations are meticulously planned, 764 00:45:51,498 --> 00:45:54,418 closely supervised, and inherently risky. 765 00:45:54,918 --> 00:45:57,463 -ENGINEER 1: Okay. Up, slow. -ENGINEER 2: Up, slow. 766 00:45:57,963 --> 00:45:59,548 (MACHINE WHIRRING) 767 00:46:00,007 --> 00:46:02,217 ENGINEER 1: Stop. Okay. 768 00:46:02,634 --> 00:46:03,677 South, slow. 769 00:46:03,844 --> 00:46:05,012 NARRATOR: Engineers direct... 770 00:46:05,345 --> 00:46:07,264 ENGIRNEER 2: South, slow. 771 00:46:07,765 --> 00:46:10,559 ...and the techs handle the crane and flight hardware. 772 00:46:11,101 --> 00:46:12,352 ENGINEER 1: East. 773 00:46:12,436 --> 00:46:14,146 SETH: Most other places I've worked at are just like, 774 00:46:14,229 --> 00:46:16,648 "Shut up and turn the wrench," but here it's very different. 775 00:46:17,191 --> 00:46:20,736 Everyone is valued for the insight that they bring to things. 776 00:46:21,278 --> 00:46:22,279 ENGINEER 1: Slow. 777 00:46:22,946 --> 00:46:24,990 ADAM: It's more than just having the skills. 778 00:46:25,532 --> 00:46:27,326 There's a mindset to those guys. 779 00:46:28,035 --> 00:46:29,203 -ENGINEER 1: Stop. -ENGINEER 2: Stop. 780 00:46:29,369 --> 00:46:32,122 ADAM: The work is very demanding. There's a lot of pressure. 781 00:46:33,290 --> 00:46:35,083 The hours, you know, we're working two shifts. 782 00:46:35,334 --> 00:46:37,336 There'll be times when we'll be working three shifts. 783 00:46:37,878 --> 00:46:39,630 You're working over weekends. 784 00:46:40,214 --> 00:46:42,174 SETH: Like in any work site, when you're in the middle of it, 785 00:46:42,257 --> 00:46:44,009 you're just like, "Oh, why do I do this?" 786 00:46:44,259 --> 00:46:47,554 But everyone comes back. (CHUCKLES) We're like the mafia. 787 00:46:47,638 --> 00:46:48,764 Everyone comes back. 788 00:46:48,931 --> 00:46:50,808 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 789 00:46:55,103 --> 00:46:56,647 MALE TECH: I must be nervous, my sweaty hands 790 00:46:56,772 --> 00:46:58,315 won't go into these gloves. 791 00:46:58,398 --> 00:46:59,441 (MALE TECH 1 LAUGHING) 792 00:46:59,525 --> 00:47:01,860 NARRATOR: A week later, it's time for the wheels. 793 00:47:02,277 --> 00:47:04,279 MALE TECH: I guess, by the end of the day, both sides should be on. 794 00:47:04,696 --> 00:47:07,115 -MALE TECH 2: No pressure. -(MALE TECH 1 LAUGHING) 795 00:47:07,366 --> 00:47:09,493 -MALE TECH: Okay, let's charge on. -(MALE TECH 1 CHUCKLING) 796 00:47:09,576 --> 00:47:10,661 MALE TECH: It's show time! 797 00:47:21,213 --> 00:47:23,507 NARRATOR: This will be an all-day operation 798 00:47:23,590 --> 00:47:26,009 with two precision lifts on the crane. 799 00:47:26,677 --> 00:47:30,222 -ENGINEER 1: West, slow. -ENGINEER 2: West. Slow. 800 00:47:34,059 --> 00:47:35,811 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 801 00:47:35,894 --> 00:47:37,062 -ENGINEER 1: Stop. -ENGINEER 2: Stop. 802 00:47:37,271 --> 00:47:38,522 MALE TECH: Hey, you gotta see this. 803 00:47:38,605 --> 00:47:40,732 NARRATOR: It's a delicate balancing act, 804 00:47:40,941 --> 00:47:43,902 lining it up precisely to mate to the body of the rover... 805 00:47:45,028 --> 00:47:48,532 matching two pins to corresponding holes on the chassis. 806 00:47:50,367 --> 00:47:51,785 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 807 00:47:57,374 --> 00:47:59,376 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 808 00:48:00,502 --> 00:48:04,715 NARRATOR: The tolerance of the pinholes is one one-thousandth of an inch. 809 00:48:04,798 --> 00:48:05,799 ENGINEER 1: Stop. 810 00:48:07,384 --> 00:48:08,468 ENGINEER 2: Okay. 811 00:48:10,220 --> 00:48:13,515 NARRATOR: The lead mobility tech makes the final connections. 812 00:48:15,726 --> 00:48:17,728 ENGINEER: In line, 340. Correct. 813 00:48:22,524 --> 00:48:26,236 PASAN: Everybody put so much work and effort into it, 814 00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:29,197 a little bit of their soul is in the rover. 815 00:48:29,948 --> 00:48:34,244 The hand touching the work is what creates it. 816 00:48:35,579 --> 00:48:38,332 It's... it's a great experience. 817 00:48:42,836 --> 00:48:43,879 ENGINEER: Slow. 818 00:48:47,799 --> 00:48:50,636 LACK: Pretty cool. Starting to look like a rover now. 819 00:48:51,345 --> 00:48:52,429 ENGINEER 2: One more, one more. 820 00:48:53,639 --> 00:48:55,599 MALE TECH 1: I wanna hug it and kiss it, then... 821 00:48:55,682 --> 00:48:57,601 -MALE TECH 2: Whatever. -(MALE TECH 1 CHUCKLES) 822 00:49:03,815 --> 00:49:05,609 NARRATOR: The robotic arm is next. 823 00:49:08,654 --> 00:49:11,239 A seven-foot long, five-jointed limb 824 00:49:11,365 --> 00:49:14,117 that will carry the drill turret and two science instruments 825 00:49:14,201 --> 00:49:15,285 to analyze rocks. 826 00:49:17,621 --> 00:49:20,624 It connects to the rover through a single mounting plate. 827 00:49:21,375 --> 00:49:24,378 And because this mission is looking for signs of ancient life, 828 00:49:24,836 --> 00:49:27,464 the mating surfaces, which won't come apart again, 829 00:49:27,631 --> 00:49:29,633 have to be as clean as possible. 830 00:49:32,052 --> 00:49:34,805 MOOGEGA: It's my job to make sure that as we build this rover 831 00:49:35,055 --> 00:49:37,683 that we do it in a clean way so that we don't contaminate Mars 832 00:49:37,766 --> 00:49:39,101 with our Earth bacteria. 833 00:49:39,977 --> 00:49:41,687 Because we're bringing samples back, 834 00:49:41,770 --> 00:49:45,315 we also have to make sure that we don't find any dead bodies 835 00:49:45,399 --> 00:49:49,736 of Earth bacteria that may be mistaken for ancient fossilized microbial life. 836 00:49:51,863 --> 00:49:53,490 NARRATOR: They sample for certain microbes 837 00:49:53,573 --> 00:49:55,867 that could potentially survive both the cleaning 838 00:49:55,951 --> 00:49:57,911 and the lethal environment of space. 839 00:49:59,204 --> 00:50:00,914 MOOGEGA: The spacecraft isn't sterile 840 00:50:00,998 --> 00:50:04,167 but we have a maximum limit based on this whole journey. 841 00:50:04,292 --> 00:50:07,254 It can still be a certain level of "dirty" 842 00:50:07,337 --> 00:50:10,424 and still be clean enough so that it doesn't contaminate Mars, 843 00:50:10,507 --> 00:50:12,134 because it goes through these harsh environments. 844 00:50:20,434 --> 00:50:22,561 -(MACHINE WHIRS) -ENGINEER: Stop. 845 00:50:22,644 --> 00:50:23,729 -(OBJECT CLACKING) -ENGINEER 1: Stop. 846 00:50:27,774 --> 00:50:29,359 ENGINEER: Yeah. Just close to this side. 847 00:50:29,443 --> 00:50:30,777 MALE TECH: Yeah. 848 00:50:31,069 --> 00:50:32,863 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 849 00:50:36,783 --> 00:50:39,703 NARRATOR: The turret, the business end of the robotic arm, 850 00:50:40,037 --> 00:50:43,623 holds the rock-coring drill and two science instruments. 851 00:50:48,336 --> 00:50:53,508 ADAM: As the spacecraft goes from an idea to reality, 852 00:50:54,217 --> 00:50:58,180 there are less and less opportunities to catch mistakes. 853 00:50:58,388 --> 00:51:02,517 And people have got to be willing to call out when something's not right. 854 00:51:02,768 --> 00:51:04,644 Because it... you can't sort of fake it. 855 00:51:04,728 --> 00:51:05,896 ENGINEER: We need to pop a little. 856 00:51:06,021 --> 00:51:08,982 IVAN: You have to make sure it's done 100 percent right. 857 00:51:09,357 --> 00:51:13,737 The rhythm, the movement, that also has to be perfect. 858 00:51:14,237 --> 00:51:16,031 You're holding out the torque wrench. 859 00:51:16,114 --> 00:51:19,242 You're turning it. "Click." Ah, perfect. 860 00:51:19,451 --> 00:51:22,370 Now, that's been torqued. Now, you have to get the tool out. 861 00:51:22,537 --> 00:51:25,082 Make sure it's coming out straight. Don't hit anything. 862 00:51:25,957 --> 00:51:29,503 JIM: Trying to cover up or hide a mistake is totally taboo. 863 00:51:30,003 --> 00:51:32,464 Let's say you dropped a fastener. 864 00:51:33,507 --> 00:51:34,883 "Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink." 865 00:51:35,717 --> 00:51:37,761 If you don't tell anybody, 866 00:51:38,095 --> 00:51:41,723 there is a possibility that that fastener could 867 00:51:41,973 --> 00:51:43,934 stop something from working properly. 868 00:51:44,518 --> 00:51:47,813 It's just understood, you make a mistake, you come talk to us. 869 00:51:50,649 --> 00:51:53,944 ADAM: So, hand labor at the point of the spear 870 00:51:54,027 --> 00:52:00,742 where a mistake can mean two billion dollars, is very unusual 871 00:52:00,867 --> 00:52:04,371 and very intense and demands tremendous integrity 872 00:52:04,579 --> 00:52:05,789 of the people doing it. 873 00:52:08,792 --> 00:52:13,880 NARRATOR: Now, the fiendishly complex, unearthly clean sampling handling system. 874 00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:16,967 They're building two potential flight versions, 875 00:52:17,134 --> 00:52:19,052 one of which will go to Mars. 876 00:52:20,011 --> 00:52:23,265 Neither is ready yet but one of them has to go into the rover now 877 00:52:23,348 --> 00:52:25,517 to make sure it fits and connects properly. 878 00:52:27,144 --> 00:52:29,437 So, this one will be coming back out eventually. 879 00:52:32,899 --> 00:52:35,277 The bit carousel is another intricate part 880 00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:38,530 of the sampling system that delivers bits to the drill. 881 00:52:39,573 --> 00:52:41,491 And another challenge to keep clean. 882 00:52:42,367 --> 00:52:45,704 SETH: It is all about being a contortionist with this thing. 883 00:52:45,787 --> 00:52:49,207 And you have to be a sterile contortionist on top of it. 884 00:52:50,041 --> 00:52:52,127 It is a very tight area. 885 00:52:55,172 --> 00:52:57,257 It's definitely like nothing else we've dealt with. 886 00:52:59,509 --> 00:53:02,470 NARRATOR: Finally, the Ingenuity helicopter. 887 00:53:03,138 --> 00:53:06,391 It will ride to Mars mounted on the belly pan underneath the rover 888 00:53:06,808 --> 00:53:08,852 and drop free when it's time to fly. 889 00:53:17,110 --> 00:53:19,988 CHRISTIAN: This is something that not very many people get to do... 890 00:53:22,616 --> 00:53:24,743 build these spacecraft with their bare hands. 891 00:53:26,912 --> 00:53:29,623 So being a part of this is pretty amazing. 892 00:53:31,208 --> 00:53:32,459 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 893 00:53:32,626 --> 00:53:36,296 WILLIFORD: One of the most incredible things about being at JPL as a scientist 894 00:53:36,379 --> 00:53:39,382 is putting together this scientific way of thinking, 895 00:53:39,549 --> 00:53:43,595 that is really trying to understand how natural systems work, 896 00:53:43,803 --> 00:53:46,514 next to these engineers who are thinking about, 897 00:53:46,681 --> 00:53:50,644 how can we build something that allows scientists 898 00:53:50,727 --> 00:53:52,854 to answer these questions? 899 00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:56,691 And then you have these incredibly talented technicians 900 00:53:56,900 --> 00:54:01,404 who are out there really on the frontlines putting things together. 901 00:54:01,571 --> 00:54:04,074 And it really is astounding. I mean, just the artistry. 902 00:54:04,491 --> 00:54:08,620 The level of detail and complexity is mind-blowing. 903 00:54:09,871 --> 00:54:13,083 We have these wiring systems that are all bundled together. 904 00:54:13,541 --> 00:54:16,503 And then that whole bundle is tied together with string. 905 00:54:16,753 --> 00:54:21,049 And that has always just struck me as just such a beautiful thing that we do. 906 00:54:21,132 --> 00:54:24,970 This incredibly hi-tech enterprise and operation, 907 00:54:25,053 --> 00:54:29,432 and you see little bits of string, you know, holding it together just so. 908 00:54:29,557 --> 00:54:30,767 It's really wonderful. 909 00:54:33,144 --> 00:54:36,648 NARRATOR: Perseverance is now ready for its most demanding test, 910 00:54:36,815 --> 00:54:40,110 the Space Simulator, where the gloves come off, 911 00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:43,530 and it will have to prove itself under Mars conditions. 912 00:54:44,739 --> 00:54:46,616 MICHAEL: That is a biggie. If we get through that, 913 00:54:46,700 --> 00:54:48,576 you can really have a good determination 914 00:54:48,660 --> 00:54:50,787 of, "Are we gonna go or not go?" 915 00:54:54,708 --> 00:54:56,751 NARRATOR: Before it goes to the Space Simulator, 916 00:54:56,835 --> 00:55:00,797 the rover has to pass another test, mated to the descent stage. 917 00:55:02,465 --> 00:55:04,968 Mounted together the way they'll fly to Mars, 918 00:55:05,218 --> 00:55:08,179 they're going to experience some of the stress of launch. 919 00:55:11,141 --> 00:55:14,477 This is the vibration table, and its job is to simulate 920 00:55:14,602 --> 00:55:19,274 the experience of sitting upside down on an Atlas V rocket during lift off. 921 00:55:22,819 --> 00:55:24,487 Just one of the many indignities 922 00:55:24,612 --> 00:55:26,781 they will have to endure on the way to Mars. 923 00:55:31,745 --> 00:55:33,538 A few days later, the rover moves on alone 924 00:55:33,705 --> 00:55:35,999 to the 25-foot Space Simulator. 925 00:55:39,919 --> 00:55:43,631 For the first time, it carries its weight on its own wheels. 926 00:55:43,757 --> 00:55:46,051 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 927 00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:50,430 NARRATOR: Now, comes two weeks of virtual Mars, 928 00:55:50,597 --> 00:55:53,308 a critical test of survival for the journey ahead, 929 00:55:53,516 --> 00:55:56,019 and at least two Earth years on the surface. 930 00:56:02,484 --> 00:56:03,943 MICHAEL: That is a major milestone 931 00:56:04,027 --> 00:56:06,279 because that's where we actually get to run the rover 932 00:56:06,363 --> 00:56:09,366 through all its functions as if it was sitting on Mars. 933 00:56:10,116 --> 00:56:13,745 You know, so, everyone's excited to get it in the chamber, start that testing. 934 00:56:14,788 --> 00:56:16,039 We get through that, 935 00:56:16,247 --> 00:56:18,666 now we're on the downhill side towards launch. 936 00:56:23,380 --> 00:56:26,883 We have the Mars rover in the chamber 937 00:56:26,966 --> 00:56:29,552 right now, doing her system thermal test. 938 00:56:29,928 --> 00:56:34,182 Over in this room, over here, we have the ATLO team, 939 00:56:34,265 --> 00:56:37,394 the ATLO systems team, who's controlling the spacecraft right now 940 00:56:37,519 --> 00:56:38,978 as she's powered on. 941 00:56:40,230 --> 00:56:42,023 We're working 24 hours a day, 942 00:56:42,148 --> 00:56:45,068 seven days a week for 14 days on this test, 943 00:56:45,193 --> 00:56:49,948 and we haven't killed anybody yet. (CHUCKLES) Not from lack of trying. 944 00:56:51,574 --> 00:56:52,742 (INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO) 945 00:56:52,826 --> 00:56:56,913 ART: That's our baby in the chamber, getting ready to go. 946 00:56:57,539 --> 00:57:02,377 To think that in about ten months, it's actually on her way to Mars. Yeah. 947 00:57:02,627 --> 00:57:06,172 And just over a year, about 15 months, she'll actually be on Mars. 948 00:57:06,464 --> 00:57:07,632 That's pretty amazing. 949 00:57:08,675 --> 00:57:11,177 Yeah. When you're in the heat of battle, 950 00:57:11,261 --> 00:57:14,013 sometimes you forget and it gets frustrating, 951 00:57:14,180 --> 00:57:16,558 but you gotta take a step back periodically and go, 952 00:57:16,641 --> 00:57:19,394 "I'm building something that's going to Mars, again." 953 00:57:19,519 --> 00:57:20,770 They've been wanting... 954 00:57:21,396 --> 00:57:22,397 -ART: Was it? -Yeah. 955 00:57:23,273 --> 00:57:26,025 MICHAEL: This is by far our biggest test, and so far, 956 00:57:26,109 --> 00:57:28,653 everything is working as expected. 957 00:57:29,446 --> 00:57:32,282 We have now hit a point where the smallest little thing 958 00:57:32,365 --> 00:57:36,995 that you wouldn't even think of can basically end the mission, 959 00:57:37,162 --> 00:57:40,498 and it could be something so small as just dropping a screw. 960 00:57:41,416 --> 00:57:44,502 Once we get through this test, we do not have the time anymore 961 00:57:44,586 --> 00:57:47,797 to react to any kind of large mistake. 962 00:57:48,256 --> 00:57:49,799 Point of no return, I call it. 963 00:57:51,259 --> 00:57:53,136 NARRATOR: The launch deadline is firm. 964 00:57:53,344 --> 00:57:55,763 Earth and Mars line up close enough to make it happen 965 00:57:55,847 --> 00:57:58,057 just once every 26 months. 966 00:57:59,267 --> 00:58:00,685 Miss that opportunity, 967 00:58:00,852 --> 00:58:03,771 and the next one is another 26 months away. 968 00:58:07,025 --> 00:58:09,861 The rover has now finished its time in the chamber. 969 00:58:10,069 --> 00:58:11,362 Everything is working. 970 00:58:13,239 --> 00:58:16,534 From here, it goes back to the cleanroom for its final tune-up. 971 00:58:18,912 --> 00:58:22,624 In a little over two months, the entire spacecraft and JPL team 972 00:58:22,707 --> 00:58:26,211 will move to Cape Canaveral, Florida to prepare for launch in July. 973 00:58:28,421 --> 00:58:31,925 The one thing that's not quite ready yet is the centerpiece of the mission, 974 00:58:32,467 --> 00:58:35,303 the robotic system to drill and cache Martian rock samples 975 00:58:35,637 --> 00:58:37,597 for eventual return to Earth. 976 00:58:37,805 --> 00:58:39,766 (WHIRS) 977 00:58:39,933 --> 00:58:43,520 ADAM: It is an amazingly daunting, 978 00:58:43,770 --> 00:58:47,941 complex system that we needed to assemble to get this job done. 979 00:58:48,024 --> 00:58:52,654 So complicated that it took us longer to get it together 980 00:58:52,987 --> 00:58:55,698 than we ever dreamed it would. 981 00:58:55,990 --> 00:58:57,450 (WHIRS) 982 00:58:57,575 --> 00:58:59,827 NARRATOR: Now, only ten months before launch, 983 00:58:59,994 --> 00:59:03,706 this dirty testing version of the hardware is running a full sampling sequence, 984 00:59:03,831 --> 00:59:06,125 end-to-end, for the first time. 985 00:59:08,253 --> 00:59:11,464 Awesome. Not bad. 986 00:59:12,423 --> 00:59:13,466 NARRATOR: Success. 987 00:59:14,008 --> 00:59:17,303 But now it has to do the same thing under Mars conditions. 988 00:59:19,264 --> 00:59:22,850 So, as Perseverance finishes up in the big Space Simulator, 989 00:59:23,059 --> 00:59:26,521 the sampling system is moving into a smaller chamber next door. 990 00:59:27,814 --> 00:59:31,401 The entire rig, robotic arm, drill turret, 991 00:59:31,568 --> 00:59:34,362 sampling handling system, and an assortment of rocks to drill, 992 00:59:34,445 --> 00:59:36,990 will be lifted into the vertical vacuum chamber. 993 00:59:41,786 --> 00:59:45,081 Once sealed inside, the system will have to prove itself, 994 00:59:45,164 --> 00:59:48,251 repeatedly drilling cores and handling samples 995 00:59:48,334 --> 00:59:52,005 exactly as it will happen on the frigid, airless surface of Mars. 996 00:59:55,133 --> 00:59:58,303 And the first attempt does not go well. 997 01:00:01,889 --> 01:00:06,769 ADAM: The very first time we went up the hill to our vacuum chamber 998 01:00:06,978 --> 01:00:11,733 that allows us to core in the conditions that we expect to see on Mars. 999 01:00:13,067 --> 01:00:15,320 The very first tube we put into the coring bit, 1000 01:00:15,486 --> 01:00:18,239 we put that bit. We took a corer... (MIMICS DRILL WHIRRING) 1001 01:00:18,406 --> 01:00:21,909 We broke it off. Click. We brought it back into the rover. 1002 01:00:22,201 --> 01:00:25,038 We took our little sample handling arm, reached up, 1003 01:00:25,413 --> 01:00:27,123 and went to pull out the tube... 1004 01:00:28,166 --> 01:00:30,752 and the tube was stuck inside the bit. 1005 01:00:31,711 --> 01:00:33,796 We're now calling that Excalibur. 1006 01:00:34,172 --> 01:00:37,759 The sword is stuck in the stone. The tube is stuck in the bit. 1007 01:00:38,217 --> 01:00:39,969 What's the significance of that? 1008 01:00:40,970 --> 01:00:44,474 Well, that means that if we can't get that tube out of the bit, 1009 01:00:44,599 --> 01:00:46,726 this bit is no longer of any use to us. 1010 01:00:47,060 --> 01:00:49,228 We have six of these bits all in. 1011 01:00:49,646 --> 01:00:52,607 So, we could stick a tube in a bit six times 1012 01:00:52,732 --> 01:00:54,984 before it would be game over for taking corers. 1013 01:00:56,527 --> 01:00:58,905 We start to look in detail at some of the mechanisms 1014 01:00:59,030 --> 01:01:00,365 that could be involved. 1015 01:01:01,407 --> 01:01:03,493 There is another set of tubes that have gone through 1016 01:01:03,576 --> 01:01:05,995 our final flight cleaning process. 1017 01:01:06,954 --> 01:01:08,998 We're starting to exercise those tubes, 1018 01:01:09,082 --> 01:01:11,834 not in the dirty testing, but in another vacuum chamber. 1019 01:01:13,378 --> 01:01:16,297 And there we see things that don't look that great. 1020 01:01:16,923 --> 01:01:19,801 Those mechanisms are showing us stickiness 1021 01:01:20,093 --> 01:01:23,971 that's very close to locking the mechanism up and making it unusable. 1022 01:01:25,014 --> 01:01:27,266 And some of them, if they failed... 1023 01:01:28,601 --> 01:01:30,144 essentially the mission is over. 1024 01:01:34,023 --> 01:01:36,275 NARRATOR: That stickiness, friction, 1025 01:01:36,651 --> 01:01:40,405 turns out to be an unintended consequence of the extreme cleaning regimen 1026 01:01:40,571 --> 01:01:42,907 the tubes and their mechanisms have gone through 1027 01:01:43,408 --> 01:01:46,661 to prevent them from contaminating samples collected on Mars. 1028 01:01:49,163 --> 01:01:51,708 Powerful solvents and a high temperature bake out 1029 01:01:51,833 --> 01:01:54,001 drove off every trace of hydrocarbons... 1030 01:01:55,002 --> 01:01:59,841 including a microscopic layer that remains on conventionally sterilized surfaces. 1031 01:02:02,260 --> 01:02:03,511 Interesting thing. 1032 01:02:04,095 --> 01:02:07,515 Our engineers... do tests about friction, 1033 01:02:07,598 --> 01:02:12,019 understand how to design mechanisms based entirely on data... 1034 01:02:12,979 --> 01:02:16,399 of materials that have that thin layer of the hydrocarbons on them. 1035 01:02:17,275 --> 01:02:23,781 No mechanisms, no devices, no robots have ever been made 1036 01:02:23,865 --> 01:02:25,908 or conceived of to be this clean. 1037 01:02:26,242 --> 01:02:28,911 So, all of our understanding about friction, 1038 01:02:28,995 --> 01:02:31,831 about ways metals mate and don't mate, 1039 01:02:32,290 --> 01:02:36,753 is all based on metals that have this very thin coating of hydrocarbons. 1040 01:02:37,795 --> 01:02:40,465 This isn't an issue of workmanship. 1041 01:02:40,673 --> 01:02:44,969 It is really an issue of creating mechanisms 1042 01:02:45,219 --> 01:02:49,724 that are unearthly in their cleanliness and their function 1043 01:02:49,974 --> 01:02:53,311 is changed by that unearthly cleanliness. 1044 01:02:53,853 --> 01:02:56,063 Reasonably, we should have expected that. 1045 01:02:56,189 --> 01:02:59,859 But we didn't really have a finished flight design 1046 01:02:59,942 --> 01:03:04,155 to put through those tests four years ago when we committed to this. 1047 01:03:04,489 --> 01:03:06,699 And so now, it's only now when we're done 1048 01:03:07,158 --> 01:03:08,951 that we put it through the tests and we're like, 1049 01:03:09,035 --> 01:03:10,536 "Well, there's some problems here." 1050 01:03:11,704 --> 01:03:12,955 NARRATOR: The question now is, 1051 01:03:13,039 --> 01:03:16,626 can the hardware be made reliable enough to launch in July 2020, 1052 01:03:16,876 --> 01:03:18,169 just eight months away? 1053 01:03:19,003 --> 01:03:20,671 Or should they buy more time 1054 01:03:20,755 --> 01:03:23,966 and slip launch the next opportunity in 2022? 1055 01:03:24,050 --> 01:03:25,968 (RATTLING) 1056 01:03:26,052 --> 01:03:28,888 What is good enough, right? We... 1057 01:03:31,599 --> 01:03:33,267 None of us really know. 1058 01:03:33,851 --> 01:03:36,687 My previous experience has been landing. 1059 01:03:37,188 --> 01:03:39,023 Landing's very binary. 1060 01:03:39,357 --> 01:03:41,692 Good enough is safely landing the vehicle. 1061 01:03:41,776 --> 01:03:42,944 (ALL CHEERING) 1062 01:03:43,402 --> 01:03:44,445 Done. 1063 01:03:47,782 --> 01:03:50,910 If our sampling system successfully gets 30 samples 1064 01:03:50,993 --> 01:03:53,412 and then fails, well, okay, that's good enough. 1065 01:03:54,747 --> 01:03:55,790 Twenty? 1066 01:03:57,124 --> 01:03:59,252 Maybe that's good enough. Ten? 1067 01:04:00,419 --> 01:04:01,587 Not good enough. 1068 01:04:04,173 --> 01:04:05,967 NARRATOR: To miss the launch deadline, 1069 01:04:06,217 --> 01:04:08,636 putting everything on hold for 26 months, 1070 01:04:09,011 --> 01:04:11,973 would cost at least five hundred million dollars 1071 01:04:12,223 --> 01:04:15,059 and complicate planning for the sample return mission. 1072 01:04:15,935 --> 01:04:19,272 But launching on schedule and failing to collect enough samples 1073 01:04:19,397 --> 01:04:20,523 would be worse. 1074 01:04:22,358 --> 01:04:24,694 ADAM: Because this sampling mission is the first 1075 01:04:24,777 --> 01:04:27,280 in a three-mission program 1076 01:04:27,905 --> 01:04:29,824 spanning over a decade, 1077 01:04:30,199 --> 01:04:34,370 resulting in samples from Mars being returned to Earth, 1078 01:04:34,871 --> 01:04:38,082 some of our sampling system mechanisms, if they failed, 1079 01:04:38,332 --> 01:04:40,626 could not only kill this mission, 1080 01:04:41,127 --> 01:04:45,756 they kill the follow up missions. The stakes are kind of unbelievably high. 1081 01:04:46,883 --> 01:04:49,343 NARRATOR: By mid-February, six weeks away, 1082 01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:51,762 they have to decide whether to move the spacecraft 1083 01:04:51,971 --> 01:04:53,723 to Florida and prepare for launch... 1084 01:04:54,599 --> 01:04:56,475 or punt to 2022. 1085 01:04:57,643 --> 01:05:00,479 Between now and then, the project will focus on getting 1086 01:05:00,563 --> 01:05:02,565 the evidence they need to make that decision. 1087 01:05:02,732 --> 01:05:05,067 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1088 01:05:05,735 --> 01:05:07,111 ADAM: We launch in July. 1089 01:05:07,320 --> 01:05:10,865 We're December, we won't be done with this assessment in January. 1090 01:05:11,073 --> 01:05:13,826 We won't be done with this assessment in February. 1091 01:05:14,243 --> 01:05:16,787 But you don't wanna pack the thing up and ship it to the Cape 1092 01:05:16,871 --> 01:05:18,956 if you're not gonna then launch it. 1093 01:05:24,503 --> 01:05:27,924 NARRATOR: It's not unusual for Mars missions to flirt with disaster. 1094 01:05:28,299 --> 01:05:30,217 In fact, it's almost routine. 1095 01:05:30,718 --> 01:05:33,763 Since each new mission is trying to do something 1096 01:05:34,055 --> 01:05:35,765 that hasn't been done before. 1097 01:05:37,099 --> 01:05:40,519 ADAM: There is an escalation there due to the arms race 1098 01:05:40,728 --> 01:05:45,399 between exploration technology and that which demands to be explored. 1099 01:05:46,442 --> 01:05:51,781 I mean, this is so much more incredibly intense than Curiosity, 1100 01:05:52,031 --> 01:05:56,118 which slipped because it was so much more incredibly intense 1101 01:05:56,535 --> 01:05:57,912 than Spirit and Opportunity, 1102 01:05:58,079 --> 01:06:00,790 which were... I mean, each time, right, our ambitions, 1103 01:06:00,915 --> 01:06:03,501 we step up to a bigger plate. 1104 01:06:04,126 --> 01:06:07,213 We take a swing at it and we come very close to not making it. 1105 01:06:10,508 --> 01:06:13,260 I think that that's good in some regards. 1106 01:06:13,344 --> 01:06:15,513 I believe that one of the things that we're doing here 1107 01:06:15,596 --> 01:06:19,600 is performance art in The Art of the Possible. 1108 01:06:19,684 --> 01:06:22,311 We're asked... this lab is a place where we do things 1109 01:06:22,395 --> 01:06:24,397 that people don't think can be done. 1110 01:06:24,730 --> 01:06:29,068 But that means you're very close to doing something that can't be done! 1111 01:06:31,570 --> 01:06:33,322 NARRATOR: To understand what they're up against, 1112 01:06:33,572 --> 01:06:35,241 they'll need all the sample system hardware 1113 01:06:35,324 --> 01:06:36,534 for new testing. 1114 01:06:37,994 --> 01:06:41,455 So, the version installed in the rover a few months ago is coming out. 1115 01:06:43,541 --> 01:06:45,835 The other flight unit, the one that's been struggling 1116 01:06:45,960 --> 01:06:48,713 in the clean vacuum chamber, is also coming out. 1117 01:06:50,006 --> 01:06:52,049 Both are headed back to the ultraclean room 1118 01:06:52,133 --> 01:06:55,094 while the team comes up with a plan to save the mission. 1119 01:06:58,597 --> 01:07:00,224 The rover is ready to go. 1120 01:07:01,684 --> 01:07:05,438 It survived the Space Simulator and passed its first driving test. 1121 01:07:07,898 --> 01:07:09,358 FEMALE VOICE: Whoo! 1122 01:07:09,442 --> 01:07:12,111 -MALE VOICE: It's moving! -FEMALE VOICE 1: Oh, my gosh! 1123 01:07:13,446 --> 01:07:15,948 NARRATOR: The JPL crew is preparing to take it to Florida 1124 01:07:16,032 --> 01:07:17,783 for the final push to launch. 1125 01:07:20,619 --> 01:07:24,623 But with the sampling system in trouble and the launch deadline in jeopardy, 1126 01:07:24,790 --> 01:07:27,251 no one really knows what's going to happen next. 1127 01:07:29,545 --> 01:07:32,381 SETH: At this point, usually the guts of the rover are set. 1128 01:07:33,174 --> 01:07:35,051 Once it's closed up, this is where everything is gonna live 1129 01:07:35,134 --> 01:07:36,302 and it's not like that anymore. 1130 01:07:37,803 --> 01:07:40,431 There's always kind of a straggler, there's always a problem and like, 1131 01:07:40,514 --> 01:07:42,308 "Oh, we'll deal with it in Florida," 1132 01:07:42,391 --> 01:07:43,809 but not on this scale. 1133 01:07:45,019 --> 01:07:46,771 ADAM: It has not been easy. 1134 01:07:47,605 --> 01:07:50,483 I've never felt as much uncertainty. 1135 01:07:50,900 --> 01:07:53,235 But we haven't played all the cards yet. 1136 01:08:00,951 --> 01:08:04,580 NARRATOR: The Perseverance rover, the spacecraft that takes it to Mars, 1137 01:08:04,789 --> 01:08:06,665 and the team that put it all together, 1138 01:08:06,874 --> 01:08:09,376 are supposed to move to Florida in just about a month 1139 01:08:09,502 --> 01:08:11,462 to prepare for launch in July. 1140 01:08:14,090 --> 01:08:17,051 The primary mission is to drill Martian rock cores, 1141 01:08:17,301 --> 01:08:18,969 cache them in sterile tubes, 1142 01:08:19,136 --> 01:08:21,305 and leave them on Mars for a future mission 1143 01:08:21,388 --> 01:08:23,432 to pick up and return to Earth. 1144 01:08:24,683 --> 01:08:28,395 The rover and the rest of the spacecraft have been tested, proven, 1145 01:08:28,521 --> 01:08:29,814 and are ready to go. 1146 01:08:33,400 --> 01:08:36,445 But problems with the rover's crucial sample handling system 1147 01:08:36,570 --> 01:08:40,074 have forced a last minute scramble to meet the launch deadline. 1148 01:08:41,659 --> 01:08:46,997 We'd been working on this for a long time and we followed every protocol. 1149 01:08:47,081 --> 01:08:50,334 We did everything that had been outlined for us to do. 1150 01:08:51,043 --> 01:08:54,755 But a lot of people were worried that when we got to Mars 1151 01:08:54,880 --> 01:08:58,384 something would get stuck, and mission over, 1152 01:08:58,467 --> 01:09:00,803 and we wouldn't be able to take any samples. 1153 01:09:00,970 --> 01:09:04,723 So, they decided that we needed to take a step back 1154 01:09:04,807 --> 01:09:07,059 and try to figure out what we're doing. 1155 01:09:07,810 --> 01:09:09,812 ADAM: We are in the middle of a suite of testing. 1156 01:09:10,521 --> 01:09:14,942 Both dirty testing up the hill in a vacuum chamber 1157 01:09:15,067 --> 01:09:18,529 where we're simulating Mars' environments, and dirtiness, 1158 01:09:18,612 --> 01:09:23,200 and coring, and looking where dust moves, and how it gets into trouble or not. 1159 01:09:23,742 --> 01:09:25,828 And also very clean hardware. 1160 01:09:26,453 --> 01:09:28,080 The hardware that we want to take to Mars, 1161 01:09:28,581 --> 01:09:30,541 testing in a very clean vacuum chamber. 1162 01:09:31,375 --> 01:09:36,297 Long days, nights and weekends, some folks are running 24/7. 1163 01:09:36,797 --> 01:09:40,342 And we've had... problems. 1164 01:09:40,634 --> 01:09:42,136 (WHIRS) 1165 01:09:42,303 --> 01:09:43,470 NARRATOR: Two months ago, 1166 01:09:43,679 --> 01:09:45,306 the first time they tried to core a rock 1167 01:09:45,389 --> 01:09:47,683 in the Space Simulator under Mars' conditions, 1168 01:09:48,058 --> 01:09:50,644 the sample tube got stuck in the bit. 1169 01:09:52,438 --> 01:09:54,356 They called it Excalibur. 1170 01:09:54,773 --> 01:09:58,110 Since then, they've learned that's not their biggest problem. 1171 01:09:58,527 --> 01:10:00,237 ADAM: So, we have that Excalibur that got stuck, 1172 01:10:00,321 --> 01:10:03,282 and the analysis suggests we've got a piece of dirt 1173 01:10:03,365 --> 01:10:06,368 or debris just in an awkward position. 1174 01:10:06,577 --> 01:10:09,997 We've continued to successfully take cores in dirty testing. 1175 01:10:10,080 --> 01:10:11,665 We're now up to core 13. 1176 01:10:13,250 --> 01:10:14,501 NARRATOR: That's the good news. 1177 01:10:14,668 --> 01:10:17,296 But the investigation into why Excalibur got stuck 1178 01:10:17,421 --> 01:10:20,507 has uncovered other, more serious problems. 1179 01:10:21,050 --> 01:10:22,343 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1180 01:10:22,551 --> 01:10:23,677 ADAM: The new things that have happened 1181 01:10:23,802 --> 01:10:25,888 is in our thermal vacuum chamber 1182 01:10:26,013 --> 01:10:27,890 with the clean hardware that's going to Mars, 1183 01:10:28,098 --> 01:10:29,516 at cold temperatures, 1184 01:10:29,642 --> 01:10:33,646 we saw lots of failures to get tubes just to go into the bits. 1185 01:10:34,563 --> 01:10:37,650 A piece that worked every time in dirty testing, 1186 01:10:37,733 --> 01:10:40,069 was working almost zero times 1187 01:10:40,277 --> 01:10:43,364 in our cold temperature thermal vacuum chamber. 1188 01:10:44,198 --> 01:10:47,493 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1189 01:10:47,868 --> 01:10:49,995 ADAM: We now have a war room. 1190 01:10:50,579 --> 01:10:52,706 For a vast majority of the hours of day, 1191 01:10:52,831 --> 01:10:55,417 there's people in that war room working those problems. 1192 01:10:55,501 --> 01:10:56,919 FEMALE VOICE: Flight stuff is good. 1193 01:10:57,962 --> 01:11:01,298 ADAM: As each issue comes up, we work to knock it down, 1194 01:11:01,507 --> 01:11:06,053 to understand it, to figure out if we can live with it. 1195 01:11:07,263 --> 01:11:10,099 (SIGHS) 1196 01:11:10,391 --> 01:11:16,897 Every morning... I come in... ready to kick the butt 1197 01:11:17,189 --> 01:11:19,608 of every problem we've got on our list, 1198 01:11:19,733 --> 01:11:21,652 and every evening I leave... 1199 01:11:23,904 --> 01:11:28,409 feeling a little discouraged that maybe we're not gonna kick all of the butts. 1200 01:11:28,575 --> 01:11:31,287 The good news is the next morning, I've reset 1201 01:11:31,620 --> 01:11:32,621 and I'm ready to kick them. 1202 01:11:36,959 --> 01:11:38,836 NARRATOR: Even if all the butts get kicked 1203 01:11:38,919 --> 01:11:41,505 and they proceed with plans to launch in July, 1204 01:11:41,797 --> 01:11:43,716 the sample handling system still won't be ready 1205 01:11:43,799 --> 01:11:45,301 to install on the rover 1206 01:11:45,384 --> 01:11:48,220 until after the spacecraft has moved to Florida. 1207 01:11:51,515 --> 01:11:53,976 LACK: I think it's going to be a little hectic 1208 01:11:54,059 --> 01:11:57,563 because there's a lot more to do, but we're gonna figure this out. 1209 01:11:57,646 --> 01:12:02,067 So, let's do what we always do, let's relax, 1210 01:12:02,192 --> 01:12:05,404 look at the problem, solve it, and move forward. 1211 01:12:05,904 --> 01:12:07,698 The job that the flight techs do, 1212 01:12:07,906 --> 01:12:10,951 a lot of times we're dealing with people that are under a lot of stress, 1213 01:12:11,035 --> 01:12:14,455 and we need to know how to deal with that person 1214 01:12:14,580 --> 01:12:16,665 to really get to what they wanna do. 1215 01:12:18,083 --> 01:12:20,044 LACK: Everybody's still doing their thing. 1216 01:12:20,127 --> 01:12:21,837 (CHUCKLES) They can't stop. 1217 01:12:21,920 --> 01:12:26,342 At this point, everybody is so driven to take this to its completion 1218 01:12:26,508 --> 01:12:29,011 and make a really good product 1219 01:12:29,178 --> 01:12:31,555 that nothing's gonna stand in their way. 1220 01:12:41,857 --> 01:12:43,150 -ADAM: It's February. -(DOOR LOCK BEEPS) 1221 01:12:43,484 --> 01:12:46,111 ADAM: Three and a half months have passed 1222 01:12:46,612 --> 01:12:50,032 all in since things got a little sideways. 1223 01:12:51,575 --> 01:12:53,285 Quite literally nights and weekends, 1224 01:12:53,494 --> 01:12:57,539 full team working through a lot of testing. 1225 01:12:58,123 --> 01:13:00,959 God, we are beating the bejesus out of this thing. 1226 01:13:01,251 --> 01:13:05,130 We are really working the system very hard. 1227 01:13:06,673 --> 01:13:08,717 The big thing that we've struggled with 1228 01:13:08,842 --> 01:13:12,513 over the last three months has been our sampling tubes. 1229 01:13:12,805 --> 01:13:15,391 You know, the sample tubes go into the bits... 1230 01:13:15,474 --> 01:13:18,018 -(CLINKING) -...inside the be... the beast. 1231 01:13:18,519 --> 01:13:21,688 Getting them in the bits, we really struggled with, 1232 01:13:22,189 --> 01:13:25,275 and we really struggled with it because of friction. 1233 01:13:25,609 --> 01:13:27,361 And because when we make these... 1234 01:13:28,278 --> 01:13:30,531 items unearthly clean, 1235 01:13:31,281 --> 01:13:35,285 the friction that arises between these metals is much stickier. 1236 01:13:36,370 --> 01:13:41,041 So, our strategy has been to change the way we clean these tubes. 1237 01:13:41,208 --> 01:13:43,836 We're only doing the unearthly clean 1238 01:13:44,044 --> 01:13:47,256 on the piece of the sample tube that matters, 1239 01:13:47,506 --> 01:13:49,299 where the sample will come in contact. 1240 01:13:51,343 --> 01:13:53,679 NARRATOR: The tubes get another barrage of solvent bath 1241 01:13:53,762 --> 01:13:55,139 like they got before. 1242 01:13:58,976 --> 01:14:02,396 But now, there's a final rinse with another solvent called hexane... 1243 01:14:03,397 --> 01:14:06,650 carefully applied just to the parts of the tube that would come in contact 1244 01:14:06,775 --> 01:14:08,318 with the sample on Mars. 1245 01:14:12,364 --> 01:14:16,201 All this makes it possible to do the final bake out at a lower temperature, 1246 01:14:16,368 --> 01:14:19,288 making things a bit less clean to reduce the friction 1247 01:14:19,455 --> 01:14:21,665 but still clean enough to protect the samples. 1248 01:14:25,878 --> 01:14:29,631 We were driving the cleanliness of the mechanism piece 1249 01:14:30,007 --> 01:14:33,343 to as clean as the sample, the part that the sample has to go into. 1250 01:14:34,052 --> 01:14:39,099 And now we are letting this be, still, cleanest thing that ever goes into space. 1251 01:14:40,350 --> 01:14:43,020 But only the business end of the sample tube 1252 01:14:43,187 --> 01:14:45,689 gets this final set of solvent rinses 1253 01:14:45,856 --> 01:14:49,234 which takes it to that unearthly... level of cleanliness. 1254 01:14:49,693 --> 01:14:50,694 That's helped. 1255 01:14:51,236 --> 01:14:54,781 Second thing we've done is done a lot of practice 1256 01:14:54,865 --> 01:14:57,743 of getting these... these tubes into bits 1257 01:14:57,868 --> 01:15:00,621 and discovered methods with our little robot arm 1258 01:15:00,871 --> 01:15:04,666 inside the vehicle to be successful even in the presence 1259 01:15:04,791 --> 01:15:07,669 of these higher frictions than we've hoped for. 1260 01:15:09,004 --> 01:15:10,047 Okay. 1261 01:15:10,881 --> 01:15:11,924 Sweet. 1262 01:15:12,549 --> 01:15:14,927 ADAM: And when we do that, it works. 1263 01:15:15,719 --> 01:15:18,889 So, I think we'll be probably more successful 1264 01:15:19,306 --> 01:15:21,350 because of our... 1265 01:15:22,184 --> 01:15:25,604 challenges than we would have been if we hadn't had them. 1266 01:15:26,188 --> 01:15:31,860 We've kind of emerged out the other side with a deeper understanding 1267 01:15:31,944 --> 01:15:34,905 of the complexities of this thing that we created. 1268 01:15:35,239 --> 01:15:37,574 Some of which we love, and some of which we hate... 1269 01:15:38,742 --> 01:15:41,078 but all of which we think we can fly. 1270 01:15:41,328 --> 01:15:44,289 All of which we think will be successful at Mars. 1271 01:15:53,048 --> 01:15:54,967 LACK: So far, everything that they came up with 1272 01:15:55,050 --> 01:15:56,802 has worked pretty well. 1273 01:15:57,177 --> 01:16:00,222 And here we are. We're a little late but we're still gonna make it. 1274 01:16:01,515 --> 01:16:03,559 NARRATOR: The flight bits have had their final cleaning. 1275 01:16:03,892 --> 01:16:06,979 Once installed in the carousel that transfers bits to the drill, 1276 01:16:07,104 --> 01:16:10,357 they won't see daylight again until the rover is on Mars. 1277 01:16:12,943 --> 01:16:13,944 ENGINEER: Okay. 1278 01:16:14,820 --> 01:16:17,239 NARRATOR: They have to be kept as clean as the tubes, 1279 01:16:17,406 --> 01:16:20,284 so this is an operation with sterile gloves, masks, 1280 01:16:20,450 --> 01:16:21,952 gowns, and goggles. 1281 01:16:25,581 --> 01:16:29,626 Even so, there's no way to eliminate all hydrocarbons in the air. 1282 01:16:30,586 --> 01:16:34,756 Those signatures of life are slowly but steadily coating the hardware. 1283 01:16:35,257 --> 01:16:38,260 So, the action is choreographed to unfold as quickly, 1284 01:16:38,343 --> 01:16:39,928 but carefully, as possible. 1285 01:16:40,304 --> 01:16:41,430 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1286 01:16:42,848 --> 01:16:44,808 NARRATOR: It may look like a sacred ceremony, 1287 01:16:45,100 --> 01:16:47,185 but it's just contamination control. 1288 01:16:47,728 --> 01:16:49,980 THORA: It's a good way to make sure your fingers don't touch anything else 1289 01:16:50,063 --> 01:16:51,815 -besides the hardware. -MALE TECH: Yeah. 1290 01:16:51,940 --> 01:16:54,026 THORA: Everyone's got different methods, like this. They do this, sometimes... 1291 01:16:54,151 --> 01:16:55,319 Sometimes like this. 1292 01:16:55,819 --> 01:16:57,613 NARRATOR: This is another one of those moments 1293 01:16:57,696 --> 01:16:59,865 when people say goodbye to their hardware. 1294 01:17:00,907 --> 01:17:01,950 MALE TECH: Oh, my gosh. 1295 01:17:02,034 --> 01:17:04,536 I was telling them, it's like giving away all your puppies. 1296 01:17:04,703 --> 01:17:06,580 (BOTH CHUCKLE) 1297 01:17:06,705 --> 01:17:08,081 MALE TECH: They all find a new home. 1298 01:17:11,293 --> 01:17:12,711 NARRATOR: In the room next door, 1299 01:17:12,878 --> 01:17:16,548 they're selecting the final 43 tubes that will go to Mars. 1300 01:17:19,051 --> 01:17:21,136 ADAM: There's a lot of inspection steps. 1301 01:17:21,762 --> 01:17:24,931 We wanna choose the most pristine, the cleanest, 1302 01:17:25,015 --> 01:17:26,683 the best-looking sample tubes. 1303 01:17:27,100 --> 01:17:31,647 A part of our inspection is baroscopic microscopy down 1304 01:17:31,730 --> 01:17:35,692 into the bore to make sure we've looked at every single speck, 1305 01:17:35,901 --> 01:17:40,197 fleck, slight reflection, then clean 'em again. 1306 01:17:41,531 --> 01:17:46,078 We put our sterile flight tubes in special sheaths, 1307 01:17:46,453 --> 01:17:50,248 and then that assembly goes into a bake out for sterilization, 1308 01:17:50,457 --> 01:17:52,751 and it's inserted in the flight vehicle... 1309 01:17:53,669 --> 01:17:56,129 just prior to buttoning the vehicle up 1310 01:17:56,213 --> 01:17:58,674 inside the aero shell and on top of the rocket. 1311 01:18:03,387 --> 01:18:09,351 This is just the start of the journey, literally, for these pieces of hardware 1312 01:18:09,851 --> 01:18:12,187 which will be the first pieces of hardware... 1313 01:18:13,980 --> 01:18:19,319 in history to go to another planet and come back. 1314 01:18:19,903 --> 01:18:22,864 Their trip is just about to start. 1315 01:18:37,462 --> 01:18:40,382 The rover will fly to Florida in a C17. 1316 01:18:43,969 --> 01:18:47,305 It'll never come home unless something terrible goes wrong. 1317 01:18:49,599 --> 01:18:52,185 It's essentially starting its way to Mars. 1318 01:18:53,895 --> 01:18:55,939 So, we're moving forward. 1319 01:18:57,774 --> 01:19:00,569 NARRATOR: The core JPL team is moving with it, 1320 01:19:00,652 --> 01:19:02,696 and they'll spend the next five months in Florida 1321 01:19:02,863 --> 01:19:04,948 getting the spacecraft ready for launch. 1322 01:19:05,031 --> 01:19:07,409 -MALE TECH 1: Come on, come on. Let's go. -MALE TECH 2: Very good. 1323 01:19:09,619 --> 01:19:11,621 SETH: We were moving everything out to the Cape... 1324 01:19:13,498 --> 01:19:16,793 and the people that were loading on the C17's were like, 1325 01:19:16,877 --> 01:19:18,378 "How much is this box worth?" 1326 01:19:18,962 --> 01:19:21,131 -"Two and a half billion." -(FORKLIFT BEEPING) 1327 01:19:21,256 --> 01:19:23,633 "How much is that box worth?" "Two and a half billion." 1328 01:19:24,509 --> 01:19:27,053 "And how much is that worth?" "Two and a half billion." 1329 01:19:27,846 --> 01:19:29,973 The entire project is worth two and half billion. 1330 01:19:30,098 --> 01:19:32,309 If that falls off a forklift, that ends it. 1331 01:19:32,392 --> 01:19:35,020 So, everything from here on out is worth two and a half billion. 1332 01:19:38,023 --> 01:19:39,941 We know what we're getting into a bit. 1333 01:19:40,150 --> 01:19:43,028 We know physically how everything is supposed to happen. 1334 01:19:43,195 --> 01:19:46,573 It's just when you're at the Cape, you no longer have home field advantage. 1335 01:19:48,033 --> 01:19:49,743 You can tell people how it's going to be, 1336 01:19:49,826 --> 01:19:51,745 but they don't know until they get out there. 1337 01:19:53,205 --> 01:19:55,749 NARRATOR: In fact, no one knows what they're getting into 1338 01:19:55,874 --> 01:19:57,626 in late February 2020. 1339 01:19:59,002 --> 01:20:03,548 Soon after they arrive in Florida, so does the COVID-19 pandemic. 1340 01:20:03,924 --> 01:20:05,717 (THUNDER RUMBLES) 1341 01:20:07,302 --> 01:20:09,179 NARRATOR: With the mission and crew at risk, 1342 01:20:09,387 --> 01:20:13,058 NASA locks down the spacecraft cleanroom to essential personnel. 1343 01:20:14,100 --> 01:20:16,603 Documentary cameras are now in the hands of techs. 1344 01:20:18,522 --> 01:20:21,900 Until launch, the JPL team is on its own. 1345 01:20:29,366 --> 01:20:31,952 A multibillion-dollar eight-year production 1346 01:20:32,035 --> 01:20:34,955 with a cast of thousands is down to just the handful 1347 01:20:35,038 --> 01:20:37,082 of people who know how to assemble the spacecraft, 1348 01:20:37,415 --> 01:20:40,126 test it, and get it to the Launchpad. 1349 01:20:43,463 --> 01:20:46,132 ADAM: The crew that went down to Florida... 1350 01:20:46,967 --> 01:20:50,011 that had signed up for, well, being away from home 1351 01:20:50,095 --> 01:20:54,516 and only seeing them maybe once a month, have found themselves isolated, 1352 01:20:54,599 --> 01:20:56,893 cut off from friends and family... 1353 01:20:57,894 --> 01:21:01,231 and with the pressure of the entire project on them. Right? 1354 01:21:01,314 --> 01:21:04,776 No real relief in sight except for launching this thing. 1355 01:21:04,901 --> 01:21:07,279 (MACHINE BEEPING) 1356 01:21:07,445 --> 01:21:09,656 NARRATOR: Just before the pandemic hit in Florida, 1357 01:21:09,739 --> 01:21:12,075 NASA revealed the winning entry in the contest 1358 01:21:12,200 --> 01:21:14,327 to name the Mars 2020 rover... 1359 01:21:15,829 --> 01:21:17,038 Perseverance. 1360 01:21:18,081 --> 01:21:20,041 ADAM: You know, when we got the name Perseverance... 1361 01:21:21,084 --> 01:21:23,128 we got that on the 5th of March. 1362 01:21:24,087 --> 01:21:28,592 What appeared at the first week of March like a good name 1363 01:21:28,842 --> 01:21:30,427 has ended up being... 1364 01:21:32,512 --> 01:21:33,889 prophetic, really. 1365 01:21:34,139 --> 01:21:38,310 I mean, I cannot think of a more perfect name 1366 01:21:38,393 --> 01:21:42,772 for this moment in our project, for this moment in NASA, 1367 01:21:42,939 --> 01:21:45,567 and perhaps in this moment for the world. 1368 01:21:46,484 --> 01:21:47,944 We're gonna have to persevere. 1369 01:21:52,657 --> 01:21:53,909 NARRATOR: Toward the end of May, 1370 01:21:54,492 --> 01:21:57,454 the final pieces of the spacecraft arrive in Florida. 1371 01:22:00,081 --> 01:22:02,959 Those unearthly clean sample tubes that nearly scuttled 1372 01:22:03,043 --> 01:22:04,836 the mission a few months before. 1373 01:22:07,172 --> 01:22:11,176 The sampling system is so complex, and so vulnerable to contamination, 1374 01:22:11,718 --> 01:22:13,720 the team that built it traveled with the hardware 1375 01:22:13,803 --> 01:22:16,681 from JPL to do the final installation. 1376 01:22:18,975 --> 01:22:23,647 LACK: At some point, it becomes personal. That's my hardware. 1377 01:22:25,982 --> 01:22:29,027 My hands have put it all together. I've built it from nothing. 1378 01:22:32,864 --> 01:22:34,240 If something goes wrong, 1379 01:22:34,324 --> 01:22:37,452 you feel an emotional attachment to the hardware. 1380 01:22:40,163 --> 01:22:42,707 All the folks that have been building, all the technicians, 1381 01:22:42,832 --> 01:22:45,877 and other folks, they kind of share that same attitude. 1382 01:22:48,129 --> 01:22:51,174 They're really involved in it and they're really taking ownership 1383 01:22:51,257 --> 01:22:52,509 of what they're doing. 1384 01:22:54,469 --> 01:22:56,012 NARRATOR: They made hundreds of tubes. 1385 01:22:56,763 --> 01:22:59,057 Only 43 are going to Mars. 1386 01:23:00,308 --> 01:23:01,851 What happens to the rest? 1387 01:23:03,395 --> 01:23:07,399 They have looked at the internals and they've estimated 1388 01:23:07,482 --> 01:23:09,859 that it's just shy of a shot. 1389 01:23:10,068 --> 01:23:13,697 So, somebody may fill one of those and take a shot out of it, 1390 01:23:13,780 --> 01:23:16,449 and not a flight one, but we'll see. 1391 01:23:16,533 --> 01:23:17,617 -(CHUCKLES) -(CAMERAMAN CHUCKLING) 1392 01:23:24,207 --> 01:23:27,502 NARRATOR: The spacecraft will soon be on its way to the Launchpad. 1393 01:23:30,046 --> 01:23:32,966 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1394 01:23:51,484 --> 01:23:53,445 NARRATOR: The rover has a nuclear power supply 1395 01:23:53,528 --> 01:23:55,447 that will charge its batteries on Mars. 1396 01:23:56,698 --> 01:23:59,993 The very last job for the techs is to install it 1397 01:24:00,243 --> 01:24:02,412 when the rover is on top of the rocket. 1398 01:24:04,122 --> 01:24:08,043 JAMES: We are on top of an Atlas V rocket. Everything is ready to go. 1399 01:24:08,585 --> 01:24:10,920 And this rocket is swaying. (MUMBLES) 1400 01:24:11,337 --> 01:24:15,008 And so, we have this nuclear power source 1401 01:24:15,133 --> 01:24:18,386 that we have on this fixture to shove it in the rover 1402 01:24:18,553 --> 01:24:21,723 and then bolt it down before we close it out 1403 01:24:21,848 --> 01:24:24,059 and then put the door on the rocket, and that's it. 1404 01:24:24,142 --> 01:24:25,602 It's off to the Launchpad after that. 1405 01:24:26,394 --> 01:24:30,065 (HORN BLARING) 1406 01:24:36,488 --> 01:24:39,032 SETH: It is a very unique experience. 1407 01:24:39,282 --> 01:24:43,036 You start having nightmares about everything going wrong. 1408 01:24:43,787 --> 01:24:47,123 You have trouble sleeping because once it's taken out to Launchpad, 1409 01:24:47,415 --> 01:24:49,250 there's not a lot else you can do. 1410 01:24:51,377 --> 01:24:53,838 LACK: You've buttoned everything up, and it's ready to launch. 1411 01:24:54,130 --> 01:24:56,841 So now, you're, like, "Are we gonna launch? 1412 01:24:56,925 --> 01:24:58,885 "Is everything okay? Is the rocket okay?" 1413 01:25:01,387 --> 01:25:04,182 JIM: Do you realize how many things have to go right 1414 01:25:04,516 --> 01:25:05,975 for this to actually work? 1415 01:25:11,523 --> 01:25:14,984 We've gone through a set of worries, gotten those behind us. 1416 01:25:15,527 --> 01:25:18,530 The vehicle's fueled. It's powered. 1417 01:25:19,405 --> 01:25:20,907 It's rolled out on the pad. 1418 01:25:22,408 --> 01:25:23,535 We're ready to go. 1419 01:25:23,743 --> 01:25:27,831 So hopefully, fingers crossed, tomorrow morning, we leave Earth. 1420 01:25:31,167 --> 01:25:33,461 (BIRDS SQUAWKING) 1421 01:25:36,506 --> 01:25:37,590 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) NASA CE. 1422 01:25:37,674 --> 01:25:39,092 MALE VOICE 2: (OVER RADIO) NASA CE is go. 1423 01:25:39,551 --> 01:25:42,137 -MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) SMA. -MALE VOICE 3: (OVER RADIO) SMA is go. 1424 01:25:42,470 --> 01:25:43,721 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) SMD. 1425 01:25:43,805 --> 01:25:46,516 CHRISTIAN: As soon as that spacecraft leaves the planet, 1426 01:25:47,016 --> 01:25:50,145 this Earth, I think that's really when it's gonna set in. 1427 01:25:50,228 --> 01:25:52,230 -MALE VOICE 4: (OVER RADIO) Go Atlas. -MALE VOICE 5: (OVER RADIO) Go Centaur. 1428 01:25:52,438 --> 01:25:53,815 MALE VOICE 6: (OVER RADIO) Go Mars 2020. 1429 01:25:54,399 --> 01:25:56,609 BRIANNA: That's all I wanna do is watch it take off 1430 01:25:56,693 --> 01:25:59,946 and do exactly what it's been made for. 1431 01:26:00,238 --> 01:26:01,614 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) Launch Director. 1432 01:26:01,698 --> 01:26:02,824 LAUNCH DIRECTOR: (OVER RADIO) LD is go 1433 01:26:02,907 --> 01:26:04,075 and you have permission to launch. 1434 01:26:04,159 --> 01:26:07,078 IVAN: Man, mind blowing! This is to me like a dream. 1435 01:26:07,203 --> 01:26:09,414 That I'm part of this team. 1436 01:26:09,873 --> 01:26:11,499 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) Proceeding with the count. 1437 01:26:11,708 --> 01:26:15,086 ALC verified T-0-set for 1150 Zulu. 1438 01:26:15,211 --> 01:26:17,672 MICHAEL: Now it's on that rocket, the countdown is happening, 1439 01:26:17,755 --> 01:26:19,340 and you can't do a thing about it. 1440 01:26:19,424 --> 01:26:22,802 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) Eight, seven, six, five, four. 1441 01:26:22,886 --> 01:26:24,679 MICHAEL: Crossing your fingers going, "Don't blow up!" 1442 01:26:24,762 --> 01:26:27,724 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) Engine ignition, two, one, zero. 1443 01:26:28,892 --> 01:26:33,563 Release, and liftoff... as the countdown to Mars continues. 1444 01:26:33,688 --> 01:26:36,941 JIM: I can't tell you the feeling that you get 1445 01:26:37,025 --> 01:26:39,235 when you see that rocket light up. 1446 01:26:40,069 --> 01:26:41,863 (RUMBLING) 1447 01:26:43,281 --> 01:26:47,869 JENNA: That's something that we did, that's something we created, and it's... 1448 01:26:48,494 --> 01:26:50,914 it's like nothing else to be part of that. 1449 01:26:54,292 --> 01:26:57,712 SETH: You hear about that Mars rover, that's something that I built. 1450 01:26:59,631 --> 01:27:03,009 PATRICIA: Hey, I worked on that. You know, I had a hand in that. 1451 01:27:03,259 --> 01:27:04,886 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) And Atlas TU has gone 1452 01:27:04,969 --> 01:27:06,054 to closed loop control. 1453 01:27:06,137 --> 01:27:08,431 PASAN: Everybody touches it and a little bit of their soul 1454 01:27:08,514 --> 01:27:09,474 goes into it. 1455 01:27:09,557 --> 01:27:11,267 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) Coming up on 30 seconds into flight 1456 01:27:11,351 --> 01:27:14,020 the RD-180 is throttling down as expected, engine response... 1457 01:27:14,103 --> 01:27:17,732 DELLON: You see it launching... and then the sound is hitting you. 1458 01:27:18,983 --> 01:27:21,319 And you're realizing that this thing is going. 1459 01:27:21,778 --> 01:27:23,321 -MALE VOICE 1: There it is! -MALE VOICE 2: There it is! 1460 01:27:23,404 --> 01:27:24,989 -FEMALE VOICE: Yeah. -ALL: Whoo! 1461 01:27:25,073 --> 01:27:27,492 -MALE VOICE 3: Yeah! Whoo! -MALE VOICE 4: All right! 1462 01:27:27,659 --> 01:27:31,162 -(RUMBLING) -Wow, listen to that. 1463 01:27:31,663 --> 01:27:34,332 It's just incredible that it was here one day and now, 1464 01:27:34,415 --> 01:27:35,416 (LAUGHS) ...now it's gone! 1465 01:27:35,500 --> 01:27:38,503 FEMALE VOICE: And now it's gone! Your baby... your baby is gone! 1466 01:27:39,003 --> 01:27:40,004 Jesus. 1467 01:27:43,258 --> 01:27:48,096 LACK: You devote your entire life to this, you know, years of it, 1468 01:27:48,263 --> 01:27:52,141 and all of a sudden, it's gone. 1469 01:27:53,768 --> 01:27:55,687 MALE VOICE: (OVER RADIO) Burnout pressure signatures look good. 1470 01:27:55,770 --> 01:27:57,939 Standing by for SRV jettison shortly. 1471 01:28:00,692 --> 01:28:03,236 LACK: We're trying to branch out into the universe, 1472 01:28:03,319 --> 01:28:06,447 and this is one of those steps. 1473 01:28:06,531 --> 01:28:08,199 MALE VOICE 1: (OVER RADIO) The vehicle is 50 miles 1474 01:28:08,283 --> 01:28:10,118 in altitude, 85 miles. 1475 01:28:10,201 --> 01:28:13,037 LACK: It's time for it to do what it's supposed to do.