1
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(FAINT WINDS)
(CHIMES)
2
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(STATIC)
3
00:00:50,884 --> 00:00:54,263
(FAINT DISPATCH CHATTER)
4
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(ELECTRIC STATIC)
5
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(DEEP GROWLING)
6
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(STATIC)
7
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- It was more than a symbol.
8
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This was actually of our own creation.
9
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(HOWLING)
10
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(BEEPING)
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It is really true that
you can only explore
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the solar system for the first time once.
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Voyager did that.
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(LOUD SCREECHING)
15
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- How could one be so lucky?
16
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It's a dream and it came true.
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(LOUD INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
18
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- 50 years from now,
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Voyager will be the science project
20
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of the 20th century.
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The mission.
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The big mission.
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(UPBEAT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
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- We didn't imagine big enough
25
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and it opened our eyes to worlds,
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to real worlds.
27
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(SLOW INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
28
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(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
29
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(MONKEYS WHOOPING)
30
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- It was an unworldly
experience to fly through that
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small little window of space and time.
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It was absolutely astonishing that we
33
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were able to pull that off.
34
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(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
35
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(CRYING BABY)
36
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- [NARRATOR] Oh come on now.
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- We created an artificially
intelligent spacecraft
38
00:02:36,909 --> 00:02:38,866
that we hurled into space.
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(LOUD GUSTING WIND)
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- This may in the long run be
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the only evidence that we ever existed.
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When you know that about something
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you're working on,
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you treat it with great respect.
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- It's taking what you thought you knew
46
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and having it just spun around
47
00:02:59,721 --> 00:03:03,724
and you're in one universe in one moment,
48
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you're in a completely
different universe the next.
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(BEEPING)
50
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♫ I'm wishing on a star ♫
51
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♫ To follow where you are ♫
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00:03:18,073 --> 00:03:21,498
♫ I'm wishing on a dream ♫
53
00:03:23,370 --> 00:03:26,874
♫ To follow what it means ♫
54
00:03:28,709 --> 00:03:31,752
♫ And I wish on all the rainbows ♫
55
00:03:31,753 --> 00:03:33,796
♫ That I see ♫
56
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- [NARRATOR] When it was
just recently announced
57
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that Voyager One was interstellar space
58
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it was like humanity had just
59
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become an interstellar species.
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It was like knocking on eternity's door.
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- [NARRATOR] Voyager's on the
other side of the solar system
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and it's billions and billions
63
00:03:50,522 --> 00:03:53,822
of miles from the nearest
other human made object.
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♫ But Darwin knew would be ♫
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- [NARRATOR] Just think about the distance
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00:03:58,155 --> 00:03:59,655
that Voyager's gone
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and the years that it's
travelled to get there
68
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and it's still going.
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00:04:03,493 --> 00:04:05,828
♫ So far away from me ♫
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00:04:05,829 --> 00:04:07,126
- [NARRATOR] Voyager made it.
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00:04:07,127 --> 00:04:11,000
Accomplished something no
one dreamed it could do.
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- [NARRATOR] Every second
it goes to another place
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00:04:13,676 --> 00:04:16,505
where we have never been before.
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- [NARRATOR] It's all
an escape trajectory.
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It's not coming back.
76
00:04:19,386 --> 00:04:22,136
It's just gonna keep
going forever and ever,
77
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out into empty empty space.
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- [NARRATOR] Voyager takes the cake.
79
00:04:26,727 --> 00:04:28,102
It's the most audacious mission.
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Who'd have thought that
we'd actually be able
81
00:04:30,196 --> 00:04:31,780
to do that in 1977?
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00:04:33,148 --> 00:04:36,493
♫ I'm wishing on a star ♫
83
00:04:37,652 --> 00:04:41,828
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
(FAINT CLANKING)
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- [NARRATOR] We knew a little,
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00:04:49,539 --> 00:04:51,132
because you can't observe from the earth
86
00:04:51,133 --> 00:04:52,467
with telescopes.
87
00:04:54,836 --> 00:04:56,045
- It was big.
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00:04:56,046 --> 00:04:56,888
No.
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Let's see, what did we know?
90
00:04:59,676 --> 00:05:00,800
(CLANKING)
91
00:05:00,801 --> 00:05:03,260
We knew they were all gas giants.
92
00:05:03,261 --> 00:05:05,513
Mostly made up of hydrogen and helium
93
00:05:05,514 --> 00:05:07,973
and some methane on the outer planets.
94
00:05:07,974 --> 00:05:09,725
- We knew that there
were winds on Jupiter,
95
00:05:09,726 --> 00:05:11,477
we knew about the great
red spot on Jupiter,
96
00:05:11,478 --> 00:05:13,697
we knew that there was trapped radiation,
97
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so we knew there was a magnetic field.
98
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- We knew for example that Jupiter
99
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that there were four moons.
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Io, Europa, Ganymede, and
Callisto going around.
101
00:05:21,785 --> 00:05:25,956
That's what convinced Galileo
that Copernicus was right
102
00:05:27,202 --> 00:05:31,539
and that the Sun is the
centre of the solar system.
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- Satellites of the outer planets,
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we knew that they were there because
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we could see them orbiting.
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But I think everyone figured they would be
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just battered ice balls.
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Kind of like the highlands of the moon.
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Nothing but impact craters.
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That view was so pervasive that they
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didn't even think to add any geologists
112
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to the Voyager mission.
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- For Saturn we knew about the rings
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and we knew about the major satellites.
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But hardly anything more than that.
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And it was all very fuzzy.
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Nobody had ever been to the
outer planets to speak of.
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Pioneer had gone past Jupiter and Saturn
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but they had elementary camera.
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It didn't really show very many images.
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And instrumentation was not very advanced.
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- The Pioneer spacecraft were mostly"
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"Let's see, can we send something through
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"the asteroid belt, would it survive?"
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There were so many things
that we take for granted now
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we knew nothing about.
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And the same was true
for Uranus and Neptune.
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They're very far away.
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- [NARRATOR] I had been
staring at these planets
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through some of the best
telescopes on earth.
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And yet, all I could see was fuzzy blobs.
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- Uranus was a small bluish
green dot in the telescope
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and Neptune was an even
smaller bluish dot.
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And that's all.
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- Astronomers had worked
pretty hard to know
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what physical makeup was.
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There was some basic characteristics.
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But their real nature
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00:07:01,254 --> 00:07:04,798
in terms of weather, in
terms of distribution
140
00:07:04,799 --> 00:07:08,510
of mass inside, what
they were really made of,
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what the moons were like.
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We had none of that.
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Just little glimpses.
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- [NARRATOR] There's a
limit to what you can learn
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just looking through a
telescope from earth.
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There's theory but then there's unknowns.
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And we're researching the unknowns.
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- [NARRATOR] Human beings
are a curious bunch.
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We wanna know what's around the corner.
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We have to go past that
next bend in the road.
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So it's some sort of innate drive
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I think that we have as a species.
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- I think this innate desire to explore
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conveys an evolutionary advantage to us.
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We look to improve our circumstances.
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And I think that there is a feeling
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that our survival as a species
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is going to depend on our learning
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how to live on other worlds.
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- It's a very human
thing to ask questions.
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It's a very childlike thing
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to ask a million questions.
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(LAUGHTER)
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And some of us never grow up.
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(PERKY MUSIC)
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- One of the key things that
made this mission possible
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was gravity assist.
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That is when you fly by
Jupiter, you turn the corner,
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and you take a little bit of Jupiter's
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orbital speed with you.
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Like a slingshot.
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So you better make sure
Saturn's in the right place.
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- We were very fortunate
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that we had an alignment.
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- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
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would all line up.
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- It would go Jupiter boom, Saturn boom,
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Uranus boom, Neptune boom.
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- [NARRATOR] The planets
had to be lined up in
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just the right way to allow
one spacecraft to do that.
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- And that aligning up only occurs rarely.
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- It only happens like once
every more than 100 years.
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- 175 years, something like that.
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- Once every 176 years.
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- [NARRATOR] The previous time it happened
186
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exploration was wooden sailing ships.
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- It was named The Outer
Planets Grand Tour,
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and the cost of the
mission was estimated to be
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in excess of a billion dollars.
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The NASA administrator
went to the President,
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and he said "The last time the planets
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"were lined up like that,
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“President Jefferson was
sitting at your desk,
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"and he blew it.“
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So, Mr. Nixon laughed and
said "All right, just do two.“
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So, only two planets.
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And of course the price tag consequently
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was substantially less.
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But we all knew that
the launch was in 1977
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which would be after
Mr. Nixon's second term.
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And of course it turned out
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that his term ended a lot
sooner than even he thought.
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(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
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00:10:02,977 --> 00:10:04,650
- [NARRATOR] Voyager started as a project
205
00:10:04,651 --> 00:10:05,989
in July of 1972.
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00:10:06,898 --> 00:10:08,696
And we had 11 scientific instruments,
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11 different teams.
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00:10:09,984 --> 00:10:14,205
And the mission success was
one spacecraft past Saturn.
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00:10:15,115 --> 00:10:17,288
- [NARRATOR] But we knew
right from the get go
210
00:10:17,289 --> 00:10:20,619
that we were going to
try as hard as we could
211
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to extend the mission to
go to Uranus and Neptune.
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- [NARRATOR] We selected
trajectories to pick
213
00:10:26,427 --> 00:10:28,961
A target at Saturn that would give us
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00:10:28,962 --> 00:10:30,420
an assist to Uranus.
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00:10:30,421 --> 00:10:33,300
And so we designed that
in from the beginning.
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We knew that we were endowing Voyager
217
00:10:36,136 --> 00:10:39,763
with the option if the
chance was there to use it.
218
00:10:39,764 --> 00:10:42,313
(UPBEAT MUSIC)
219
00:11:00,660 --> 00:11:03,125
- We didn't want to build
anything into the design
220
00:11:03,126 --> 00:11:05,590
that would have prevented
us from going further.
221
00:11:05,591 --> 00:11:08,750
So it was a mission within a mission.
222
00:11:08,751 --> 00:11:10,836
(HEARTBEAT)
223
00:11:10,837 --> 00:11:13,590
(LOUD SPLASHING)
224
00:11:15,758 --> 00:11:18,386
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
225
00:11:20,221 --> 00:11:21,722
- The Golden Record really is the kind of
226
00:11:21,723 --> 00:11:24,641
heartbeat of the ship itself.
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00:11:24,642 --> 00:11:26,940
The reason why it's going
there, it's certainly exploring,
228
00:11:26,941 --> 00:11:30,065
but it's the lifeblood is that record.
229
00:11:32,692 --> 00:11:36,538
- I remember all the publicity
Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft
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00:11:36,539 --> 00:11:40,657
where they had some line drawings
of a male and female form.
231
00:11:40,658 --> 00:11:42,284
And some people went absolutely bonkers.
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00:11:42,285 --> 00:11:43,410
I don't know if you've seen it
233
00:11:43,411 --> 00:11:46,005
but it's the most innocent
thing you can imagine.
234
00:11:46,006 --> 00:11:47,956
It caused a lot of commotion.
235
00:11:47,957 --> 00:11:49,583
Well I thought that was great.
236
00:11:49,584 --> 00:11:52,336
- Would you expect someone to
find this record out there?
237
00:11:52,337 --> 00:11:54,004
Is there something out there?
238
00:11:54,005 --> 00:11:54,847
- Well nobody knows.
239
00:11:54,848 --> 00:11:56,929
One of the great unsolved
questions is whether
240
00:11:56,930 --> 00:11:58,302
we're alone or we're.
241
00:11:58,303 --> 00:12:00,395
- Carl Sagan has become probably the best
242
00:12:00,396 --> 00:12:03,680
known scientist of the late 20th century.
243
00:12:03,681 --> 00:12:05,479
He was a working scientist.
244
00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:07,517
He played a key role in many
245
00:12:07,518 --> 00:12:10,229
of the NASA missions to the planets.
246
00:12:10,230 --> 00:12:11,901
Including the Voyager One.
247
00:12:11,902 --> 00:12:14,526
He's one of the scientists
on the Voyager imaging team.
248
00:12:14,527 --> 00:12:16,696
But he also was the astronomer who was
249
00:12:16,697 --> 00:12:18,287
as much as any one person,
250
00:12:18,288 --> 00:12:21,907
made the study of
extraterrestrial life credible.
251
00:12:21,908 --> 00:12:25,577
- The comment by a Thomas Carlisle,
252
00:12:25,578 --> 00:12:27,876
a somewhat crusty old fellow
253
00:12:29,123 --> 00:12:33,299
who upon thinking about
the stars, a sad spectacle.
254
00:12:35,421 --> 00:12:40,259
“If they be inhabited, what
a scope for misery and folly.
255
00:12:40,260 --> 00:12:43,804
“If they be not inhabited,
what a waste of space.“
256
00:12:43,805 --> 00:12:44,930
(LAUGHTER)
257
00:12:44,931 --> 00:12:46,148
- Carl Sagan was a good friend of mine
258
00:12:46,149 --> 00:12:48,517
and I called him up and
said, "Hey, would you
259
00:12:48,518 --> 00:12:50,852
"be willing to undertake,
to come up with something
260
00:12:50,853 --> 00:12:52,479
"for us to put on the Voyager spacecraft?"
261
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,564
He says "Yes, sure."
262
00:12:54,565 --> 00:12:57,487
And he told me he could
it for 25,000 bucks.
263
00:12:57,488 --> 00:12:59,283
So I authorised him to go ahead and do it
264
00:12:59,284 --> 00:13:02,447
and I sort of was hands off at that point.
265
00:13:02,448 --> 00:13:04,416
The whole creation was his and this group
266
00:13:04,417 --> 00:13:06,535
that he put together.
267
00:13:06,536 --> 00:13:08,254
- They figured don't let
this opportunity pass.
268
00:13:08,255 --> 00:13:11,293
You're gonna throw a message
in a bottle into the ocean,
269
00:13:11,294 --> 00:13:12,586
put a message in it.
270
00:13:12,587 --> 00:13:16,213
And so they decided to put
time capsules in those bottles.
271
00:13:16,214 --> 00:13:18,088
- And at first Carl thought they'd simply
272
00:13:18,089 --> 00:13:20,716
do another plaque, maybe
with some more information.
273
00:13:20,717 --> 00:13:23,093
But Frank Drake, a brilliant man.
274
00:13:23,094 --> 00:13:25,267
Kind of a cross between Albert Einstein
275
00:13:25,268 --> 00:13:26,722
and Thomas Edison.
276
00:13:26,723 --> 00:13:28,976
Brilliant theoretical
physicist, but also a very
277
00:13:28,977 --> 00:13:31,228
hands on kind of guy who can solve
278
00:13:31,229 --> 00:13:33,312
practical kinds of problems.
279
00:13:33,313 --> 00:13:34,984
He came up with the idea that for
280
00:13:34,985 --> 00:13:37,359
the same amount of weight and space,
281
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:39,693
you could send a phonograph record.
282
00:13:39,694 --> 00:13:42,279
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
283
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:43,994
- The people who actually did the science
284
00:13:43,995 --> 00:13:45,866
part of Voyager are always jealous and mad
285
00:13:45,867 --> 00:13:48,082
because the Golden Record
gets more attention
286
00:13:48,083 --> 00:13:49,916
than all the wonderful things they did
287
00:13:49,917 --> 00:13:52,381
exploring the outer planets
of the solar system.
288
00:13:52,382 --> 00:13:54,374
Except Pluto and all that.
289
00:13:54,375 --> 00:13:58,128
But the main attention
goes to the Golden Record.
290
00:13:58,129 --> 00:14:00,969
Because of the aura that
surrounds anything to do
291
00:14:00,970 --> 00:14:03,467
with extraterrestrial intelligent life,
292
00:14:03,468 --> 00:14:04,970
any kind of effort to contact
293
00:14:04,971 --> 00:14:07,763
extraterrestrial life is more fascinating
294
00:14:07,764 --> 00:14:09,107
than knowing the chemical makeup
295
00:14:09,108 --> 00:14:11,433
of a mineral on Mars or something.
296
00:14:11,434 --> 00:14:13,185
(LAUGHS)
297
00:14:13,186 --> 00:14:15,776
- [NARRATOR] The record is
an old-style LP recording.
298
00:14:15,777 --> 00:14:17,862
The only difference is it's on metal,
299
00:14:17,863 --> 00:14:20,447
and that's so it will last a long time.
300
00:14:20,448 --> 00:14:22,069
- And it was recorded at half-speed
301
00:14:22,070 --> 00:14:24,863
so that gave us two hours of total time.
302
00:14:24,864 --> 00:14:26,740
An hour and a half of
it was devoted to music
303
00:14:26,741 --> 00:14:29,159
and the other half hour contains
304
00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,124
all of the other data on the record,
305
00:14:31,125 --> 00:14:34,373
the natural sounds of
Earth, the spoken greetings,
306
00:14:34,374 --> 00:14:37,417
and the encoded photographs of Earth.
307
00:14:37,418 --> 00:14:39,169
- [NARRATOR] One of the first
questions a lot of people ask
308
00:14:39,170 --> 00:14:41,423
is, well, they'll never
figure out how to play it.
309
00:14:41,424 --> 00:14:44,883
And in fact, we included
a cartridge and stylus
310
00:14:44,884 --> 00:14:46,431
in the package with the record,
311
00:14:46,432 --> 00:14:48,470
and the drawing on the cover
312
00:14:48,471 --> 00:14:50,064
of the record shows the method
313
00:14:50,065 --> 00:14:54,351
by which the stylus is to
be placed on the record.
314
00:14:54,352 --> 00:14:55,729
- Maybe what's written on it
315
00:14:55,730 --> 00:14:58,149
will seem like kindergarten
scribbles to them,
316
00:14:58,150 --> 00:15:00,399
but they should be able to figure it out
317
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:01,868
if they've got some smart minds
318
00:15:01,869 --> 00:15:03,819
or whatever's in their heads,
319
00:15:03,820 --> 00:15:05,570
if they even have heads.
320
00:15:05,571 --> 00:15:07,699
- The Voyager launched
at the 100th anniversary
321
00:15:07,700 --> 00:15:10,620
of the development of the
phonograph record by Edison.
322
00:15:10,621 --> 00:15:12,712
And so it was a natural medium to put
323
00:15:12,713 --> 00:15:14,413
the information on.
324
00:15:14,414 --> 00:15:15,711
But what I find interesting is
325
00:15:15,712 --> 00:15:19,209
to protect it from the
dust and tiny particles
326
00:15:19,210 --> 00:15:22,254
of the journey, they put a cover over it.
327
00:15:22,255 --> 00:15:24,678
And on the cover was engraved
328
00:15:26,050 --> 00:15:30,053
the location of earth, our solar system
329
00:15:30,054 --> 00:15:34,141
in terms of it's direction
from different pulsars.
330
00:15:34,142 --> 00:15:35,437
- A lot of people would say,
"Well why would you do that?"
331
00:15:35,438 --> 00:15:36,275
I said, "What do you mean?“
332
00:15:36,276 --> 00:15:38,237
They said “Well why would
you announce where you are?"
333
00:15:38,238 --> 00:15:39,855
'Cause there are aliens out there that
334
00:15:39,856 --> 00:15:42,234
probably raid planets
and use them for food,
335
00:15:42,235 --> 00:15:44,276
or eat the people, or make them slaves.
336
00:15:44,277 --> 00:15:46,075
If they find it, their
technology is probably
337
00:15:46,076 --> 00:15:47,112
more advanced than ours.
338
00:15:47,113 --> 00:15:48,328
They'll come here and destroy it.
339
00:15:48,329 --> 00:15:49,915
So why would you do something like that?
340
00:15:49,916 --> 00:15:52,576
So if somebody did find it
they would be thinking that way
341
00:15:52,577 --> 00:15:54,830
and they said, "Why would
these people expose themselves
342
00:15:54,831 --> 00:15:58,457
"to our veracious appetites
or whatever it is.
343
00:15:58,458 --> 00:16:01,007
"They must be very altruistic.“
344
00:16:04,380 --> 00:16:07,382
- The chance that advanced intelligence
345
00:16:07,383 --> 00:16:10,218
beyond us would detect "Oh, hey,
346
00:16:10,219 --> 00:16:14,556
"there is a radiating
body coming into our area,
347
00:16:14,557 --> 00:16:18,232
"let's go out and find out
what this bottle in the ocean,
348
00:16:18,233 --> 00:16:20,520
“what message it might have."
349
00:16:20,521 --> 00:16:22,899
Now is that a grand mystery?
350
00:16:24,442 --> 00:16:25,284
Whoa!
351
00:16:27,153 --> 00:16:29,076
- Well that brings up the whole question,
352
00:16:29,077 --> 00:16:31,948
is there anybody out there?
353
00:16:31,949 --> 00:16:32,791
Listen,
354
00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,703
there are give or take
355
00:16:36,704 --> 00:16:40,040
200 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
356
00:16:40,041 --> 00:16:42,715
There are about 200 billion
galaxies in the universe.
357
00:16:42,716 --> 00:16:45,921
Or at least in the universe we know about.
358
00:16:45,922 --> 00:16:48,215
- It's a pretty small spacecraft
359
00:16:48,216 --> 00:16:51,092
and it's a pretty big universe.
360
00:16:51,093 --> 00:16:53,303
If you take a piece of sky
361
00:16:53,304 --> 00:16:56,103
the size of a soda straw up there
362
00:16:57,558 --> 00:16:59,184
in the Big Dipper,
363
00:16:59,185 --> 00:17:02,485
in that tiny piece of what
we thought was blank sky
364
00:17:02,486 --> 00:17:04,940
was thousands of galaxies.
365
00:17:04,941 --> 00:17:06,942
And each one of those galaxies
366
00:17:06,943 --> 00:17:09,742
is filled with billions of stars.
367
00:17:10,780 --> 00:17:11,905
That's just the soda straw,
368
00:17:11,906 --> 00:17:13,996
and now you imagine the whole sky
369
00:17:13,997 --> 00:17:16,119
filled with thousands upon thousands
370
00:17:16,120 --> 00:17:17,582
upon thousands of galaxies.
371
00:17:17,583 --> 00:17:19,626
Each of which is billions
of billions of stars.
372
00:17:19,627 --> 00:17:22,876
There's a lot of possibility out there.
373
00:17:26,462 --> 00:17:29,428
- If you took a grain of
sand and put it on the table,
374
00:17:29,429 --> 00:17:31,675
and if that were the size of the Sun,
375
00:17:31,676 --> 00:17:33,891
then the earth would
be about an inch away.
376
00:17:33,892 --> 00:17:35,262
And it would be microscopic.
377
00:17:35,263 --> 00:17:37,357
And the entire solar
system would fit on a table
378
00:17:37,358 --> 00:17:38,691
six feet across.
379
00:17:39,559 --> 00:17:40,854
Think about the next star.
380
00:17:40,855 --> 00:17:42,897
The next star would be
another grain of sand.
381
00:17:42,898 --> 00:17:44,941
How far away from that solar system
382
00:17:44,942 --> 00:17:46,316
would you have to put that?
383
00:17:46,317 --> 00:17:50,032
And it turns out to be about
seven and a half miles away.
384
00:17:50,033 --> 00:17:52,529
It's absolutely remarkable how much space
385
00:17:52,530 --> 00:17:56,575
there is between the stars
and between the planets.
386
00:17:56,576 --> 00:17:59,578
- The distances are almost unfathomable.
387
00:17:59,579 --> 00:18:01,126
These were the fastest spacecraft
388
00:18:01,127 --> 00:18:04,499
that had ever been built
and launched and flown,
389
00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:05,968
and they're travelling
390
00:18:05,969 --> 00:18:07,883
at 10 miles per second.
391
00:18:09,797 --> 00:18:11,344
You wouldn't even see it, right?
392
00:18:11,345 --> 00:18:12,841
And yet, even at those
393
00:18:12,842 --> 00:18:16,553
unfathomable by Earth standard speeds,
394
00:18:16,554 --> 00:18:18,555
it takes decades,
395
00:18:18,556 --> 00:18:22,732
decades to get out there
into the outer solar system.
396
00:18:24,395 --> 00:18:25,520
- We don't have any problem putting
397
00:18:25,521 --> 00:18:26,896
the spacecraft through the Asteroid Belt
398
00:18:26,897 --> 00:18:28,319
and yet at one time people think god
399
00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,444
that you were gonna
crash into an asteroid.
400
00:18:30,445 --> 00:18:34,160
There's not very much chance
of crashing into an asteroid.
401
00:18:34,161 --> 00:18:36,374
It's just a lot of room out there.
402
00:18:36,375 --> 00:18:37,537
A lot of room.
403
00:18:39,076 --> 00:18:40,544
- If you wanna realise
how empty our galaxy is,
404
00:18:40,545 --> 00:18:42,829
the nearest galaxy to
our own is Andromeda,
405
00:18:42,830 --> 00:18:44,082
it's about two million light years away.
406
00:18:44,083 --> 00:18:46,833
It's on a collision
course with us right now.
407
00:18:46,834 --> 00:18:47,879
And in five billion years
408
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,967
that galaxy's going to
collide with our own.
409
00:18:49,968 --> 00:18:51,384
And you might say, oh, no, oh, no,
410
00:18:51,385 --> 00:18:52,802
but it turns out,
411
00:18:53,674 --> 00:18:56,473
space is, even in our galaxy,
it's mostly empty space.
412
00:18:56,474 --> 00:18:58,595
When our two galaxies collide,
413
00:18:58,596 --> 00:19:01,190
almost no stars will hit any other star.
414
00:19:01,191 --> 00:19:03,266
It's mostly empty space.
415
00:19:03,267 --> 00:19:05,315
So Voyager is likely
to continue throughout
416
00:19:05,316 --> 00:19:07,729
our galaxy for potentially millions
417
00:19:07,730 --> 00:19:11,858
or maybe even billions of
years without a collision.
418
00:19:11,859 --> 00:19:16,279
- I have a hard time with really
long geological timeframes.
419
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:20,033
You just can't get your hands around how
420
00:19:20,034 --> 00:19:22,503
10s of millions of years,
what that really means.
421
00:19:22,504 --> 00:19:25,497
And distances, astronomical distances.
422
00:19:25,498 --> 00:19:28,338
- Yeah, once you start getting
into the astronomical scales,
423
00:19:28,339 --> 00:19:30,210
our solar system is pretty tiny,
424
00:19:30,211 --> 00:19:32,754
and so this adventure of Voyager
425
00:19:32,755 --> 00:19:35,674
which seems so remote and distant
426
00:19:35,675 --> 00:19:38,176
for this little spacecraft to go out
427
00:19:38,177 --> 00:19:41,846
to the giant planets is
really just exploring
428
00:19:41,847 --> 00:19:44,849
the tiniest closest neighbourhood
429
00:19:44,850 --> 00:19:47,694
when you start thinking
about cosmic scales.
430
00:19:47,695 --> 00:19:49,781
(STATIC)
431
00:19:58,072 --> 00:19:59,119
- The spacecraft were built
432
00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:00,786
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
433
00:20:00,787 --> 00:20:02,456
It's a federal research centre
434
00:20:02,457 --> 00:20:06,581
that's part of Cal-Tech
and they build spacecraft.
435
00:20:07,832 --> 00:20:09,628
One of the things I just admire most
436
00:20:09,629 --> 00:20:11,671
about the engineers who built Voyager
437
00:20:11,672 --> 00:20:13,342
is that they're always thinking about
438
00:20:13,343 --> 00:20:16,339
the most improbable things happening.
439
00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:17,340
You know, you want to take those people
440
00:20:17,341 --> 00:20:18,508
on a camping trip with you
441
00:20:18,509 --> 00:20:19,556
because they will think of.
442
00:20:19,557 --> 00:20:20,891
Well, you've got to bring,
443
00:20:20,892 --> 00:20:22,011
what if these bugs come out,
444
00:20:22,012 --> 00:20:23,226
what if the tent gets flooded,
445
00:20:23,227 --> 00:20:24,893
what if you run out of gas,
446
00:20:24,894 --> 00:20:26,891
what if you can't start
the fire, you know.
447
00:20:26,892 --> 00:20:28,438
They're the what if people.
448
00:20:28,439 --> 00:20:31,527
And when you're sending
something out into space
449
00:20:31,528 --> 00:20:33,240
you can't go do a service call,
450
00:20:33,241 --> 00:20:34,858
you can't bring it back,
451
00:20:34,859 --> 00:20:36,192
so your what if list
452
00:20:36,193 --> 00:20:38,570
had better be like that long
453
00:20:38,571 --> 00:20:41,740
or you're not going to be able to survive.
454
00:20:41,741 --> 00:20:43,835
(STATIC)
455
00:20:47,371 --> 00:20:49,247
- These projects begin
456
00:20:49,248 --> 00:20:52,459
with a conceptualization period.
457
00:20:52,460 --> 00:20:56,880
How feasible is it for
us to do thus and so?
458
00:20:56,881 --> 00:21:00,304
We didn't know what the
spacecraft was gonna look like.
459
00:21:00,305 --> 00:21:01,974
How do we arrange a spacecraft?
460
00:21:01,975 --> 00:21:05,513
How do we take the communications system,
461
00:21:05,514 --> 00:21:09,350
this large 12-foot diameter fixed antenna,
462
00:21:09,351 --> 00:21:13,730
and arrange it relative
to the propulsion system?
463
00:21:13,731 --> 00:21:17,110
The spacecraft took on the
dimension of being a child,
464
00:21:17,111 --> 00:21:20,612
and our design teams, you know,
were like kind of parents.
465
00:21:20,613 --> 00:21:24,365
This was actually a nurturing process.
466
00:21:24,366 --> 00:21:25,950
Bringing that child,
467
00:21:25,951 --> 00:21:28,124
if you will, into reality.
468
00:21:31,957 --> 00:21:34,378
- All spacecraft were made
basically of the same things.
469
00:21:34,379 --> 00:21:36,716
Silicon and aluminium, that's about it.
470
00:21:36,717 --> 00:21:38,463
You know, that's probably 95% of it.
471
00:21:38,464 --> 00:21:40,387
Silicon and aluminium is cheap
472
00:21:40,388 --> 00:21:44,260
until you start making
stuff out if it, you know.
473
00:21:44,261 --> 00:21:46,137
- The spacecraft of
course is quite primitive
474
00:21:46,138 --> 00:21:47,230
by modern day standards.
475
00:21:47,231 --> 00:21:49,682
We have three computers on board.
476
00:21:49,683 --> 00:21:51,893
Their total memory is about,
477
00:21:51,894 --> 00:21:55,730
240,000 times less than
in your smartphone.
478
00:21:55,731 --> 00:21:58,280
- 1972 was when you had
the technology freeze.
479
00:21:58,281 --> 00:22:00,109
Remember we launched in 77.
480
00:22:00,110 --> 00:22:02,450
So you freeze technology
several years earlier,
481
00:22:02,451 --> 00:22:05,198
and at the time the biggest
computers in the world
482
00:22:05,199 --> 00:22:07,038
were comparable to the kinds of things
483
00:22:07,039 --> 00:22:08,785
we have in our pockets today.
484
00:22:08,786 --> 00:22:11,005
And I'm not talking about a cell phone.
485
00:22:11,006 --> 00:22:13,790
I'm actually talking about a key fob.
486
00:22:13,791 --> 00:22:15,418
- What's wrong with 70s technology?
487
00:22:15,419 --> 00:22:20,129
I mean, you're looking at me,
I'm a 30s technology, right?
488
00:22:20,130 --> 00:22:21,676
I don't apologise for the limitations
489
00:22:21,677 --> 00:22:23,972
that we were working with at the time.
490
00:22:23,973 --> 00:22:28,888
We milked the technology for
what we could get from it.
491
00:22:28,889 --> 00:22:31,307
- Voyager is about 800 kilograms.
492
00:22:31,308 --> 00:22:34,269
It's main antenna is 12 feet in diameter,
493
00:22:34,270 --> 00:22:36,396
which was the largest we could launch.
494
00:22:36,397 --> 00:22:37,364
- There's this body,
495
00:22:37,365 --> 00:22:40,608
this 10 sided can called the bus,
496
00:22:40,609 --> 00:22:43,488
and that's got all the
electronics and the computers.
497
00:22:43,489 --> 00:22:45,032
And that's got these arms and
498
00:22:45,033 --> 00:22:46,744
these appendages that stick out.
499
00:22:46,745 --> 00:22:49,205
It has these feet that
connected it to the rocket
500
00:22:49,206 --> 00:22:50,872
and then a really long arm
501
00:22:50,873 --> 00:22:53,166
with a magnetic field
sensor on it over here
502
00:22:53,167 --> 00:22:56,210
and another arm over there with
this plutonium power supply
503
00:22:56,211 --> 00:22:57,375
to give it its electricity.
504
00:22:57,376 --> 00:22:58,719
You can't keep that too
close to the spacecraft
505
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:00,712
because it will radiate the spacecraft.
506
00:23:00,713 --> 00:23:02,465
And another arm with this device
507
00:23:02,466 --> 00:23:04,510
that had the cameras and
other instruments on it
508
00:23:04,511 --> 00:23:06,761
that could point around,
kind of like the eyes,
509
00:23:06,762 --> 00:23:10,221
and the big antenna was the ears.
510
00:23:10,222 --> 00:23:12,061
When everything is fully extended
511
00:23:12,062 --> 00:23:13,855
to its greatest dimensions,
512
00:23:13,856 --> 00:23:18,187
it's comparable in size to
sort of a small school bus.
513
00:23:18,188 --> 00:23:20,523
It really is graceful,
514
00:23:20,524 --> 00:23:23,526
despite the kind of gangly appearance.
515
00:23:23,527 --> 00:23:26,487
A strange-looking being for our planet,
516
00:23:26,488 --> 00:23:28,615
but perfectly happy in space.
517
00:23:28,616 --> 00:23:31,665
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
518
00:23:50,596 --> 00:23:53,190
(TRIBAL MUSIC)
519
00:23:56,477 --> 00:23:59,649
- I became the producer of
only one record in my career,
520
00:23:59,650 --> 00:24:01,737
and only two copies of it were made,
521
00:24:01,738 --> 00:24:03,653
and they were both hurled off the earth,
522
00:24:03,654 --> 00:24:05,745
so I don't know if that's
a credential or not.
523
00:24:05,746 --> 00:24:07,070
(RECORD SCRATCHING)
524
00:24:07,071 --> 00:24:09,035
The launch window for Voyager was set.
525
00:24:09,036 --> 00:24:11,953
It had to do with an alignment
of the outer planets.
526
00:24:11,954 --> 00:24:13,669
You have to launch in that window.
527
00:24:13,670 --> 00:24:18,247
And they sure as hell weren't
going to wait for the record.
528
00:24:18,248 --> 00:24:20,208
- We had six weeks to do it.
529
00:24:20,209 --> 00:24:21,548
And when I talk about the record
530
00:24:21,549 --> 00:24:24,253
I think that's what always
draws the biggest gasp.
531
00:24:24,254 --> 00:24:25,505
That you had to figure out a way
532
00:24:25,506 --> 00:24:27,095
to explain the world to aliens,
533
00:24:27,096 --> 00:24:29,310
and by the way it has to
be finished in six weeks.
534
00:24:29,311 --> 00:24:32,180
(SLOW JAZZ MUSIC)
535
00:24:34,181 --> 00:24:36,853
- We had two goals in
making the Voyager record,
536
00:24:36,854 --> 00:24:37,976
in terms of the music.
537
00:24:37,977 --> 00:24:41,270
The first was we wanted
the music to represent
538
00:24:41,271 --> 00:24:43,442
many different cultures around the world
539
00:24:43,443 --> 00:24:45,659
and not just the culture of the society
540
00:24:45,660 --> 00:24:48,736
that had built and
launched the spacecraft.
541
00:24:48,737 --> 00:24:51,081
(DEEP BASS)
542
00:24:52,574 --> 00:24:54,409
The other criterion was we
543
00:24:54,410 --> 00:24:57,036
wanted it to be a good record.
544
00:24:57,037 --> 00:24:59,664
- [NARRATOR] It's a very
idiosyncratic message.
545
00:24:59,665 --> 00:25:01,963
It doesn't seem like
something made by a committee.
546
00:25:01,964 --> 00:25:03,668
It's too quirky.
547
00:25:03,669 --> 00:25:04,589
(OPERA MUSIC)
548
00:25:04,590 --> 00:25:06,179
- Nowadays you work a lot on the internet
549
00:25:06,180 --> 00:25:08,214
than those days, it was more,
550
00:25:08,215 --> 00:25:10,058
sitting in the dark
listening to pieces of music,
551
00:25:10,059 --> 00:25:11,592
making notes.
552
00:25:11,593 --> 00:25:13,136
(♫ OPERA MUSIC)
553
00:25:13,137 --> 00:25:14,434
It takes a long time to go through
554
00:25:14,435 --> 00:25:17,434
a stack of records that's that high.
555
00:25:20,644 --> 00:25:22,233
If you listen to the Voyager record,
556
00:25:22,234 --> 00:25:23,521
it would be remarkable if you
557
00:25:23,522 --> 00:25:24,774
didn't hear some pieces of music
558
00:25:24,775 --> 00:25:26,193
that were quite unlike anything
559
00:25:26,194 --> 00:25:27,530
you had heard before.
560
00:25:27,531 --> 00:25:29,027
The Japanese shakuhachi piece
561
00:25:29,028 --> 00:25:32,238
or the 16 year-old pygmy girl singing
562
00:25:32,239 --> 00:25:33,707
what's called an initiation song,
563
00:25:33,708 --> 00:25:35,283
a kind of puberty song,
564
00:25:35,284 --> 00:25:37,660
In the Ituri forest of Africa
565
00:25:37,661 --> 00:25:40,289
is just unbelievably beautiful.
566
00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:45,261
The Javanese gamelan
piece is just beautiful.
567
00:25:46,128 --> 00:25:48,381
The Chinese ch'in piece
was the sort of thing
568
00:25:48,382 --> 00:25:50,599
that will never leave you.
569
00:25:53,093 --> 00:25:56,688
It was a terrific mind
expanding adventure.
570
00:25:58,348 --> 00:26:00,271
There was a certain amount of hunting up
571
00:26:00,272 --> 00:26:03,144
rare records here and there.
572
00:26:03,145 --> 00:26:05,354
I remember the back of an Indian
573
00:26:05,355 --> 00:26:07,482
appliance store in New York
574
00:26:07,483 --> 00:26:09,484
where they had some Indian records,
575
00:26:09,485 --> 00:26:11,575
and there was one copy of a raga
576
00:26:11,576 --> 00:26:14,119
that we ended up putting on the record.
577
00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:17,325
(RAGA MUSIC)
578
00:26:17,326 --> 00:26:19,044
- Always the criterion was that we were
579
00:26:19,045 --> 00:26:21,662
trying to describe our culture.
580
00:26:21,663 --> 00:26:23,961
So it would include folk
music, and primitive music
581
00:26:23,962 --> 00:26:28,252
and Bach and Beethoven,
and jazz, and all of that.
582
00:26:28,253 --> 00:26:29,800
And something we wanted very much
583
00:26:29,801 --> 00:26:31,923
was the music of the Beatles.
584
00:26:31,924 --> 00:26:34,258
And they said “No way."
585
00:26:34,259 --> 00:26:36,728
And we said “Well this is
all going in outer space,
586
00:26:36,729 --> 00:26:39,138
"it will never be heard on earth.
587
00:26:39,139 --> 00:26:40,812
"No we don't do it.“
588
00:26:42,851 --> 00:26:44,649
They don't licence for outer space.
589
00:26:44,650 --> 00:26:46,898
(LAUGHTER)
590
00:26:47,815 --> 00:26:49,613
- I would have loved to
have had a Bob Dylan piece
591
00:26:49,614 --> 00:26:51,526
but really there's only room
592
00:26:51,527 --> 00:26:55,404
for at most one contemporary rock piece.
593
00:26:55,405 --> 00:26:56,697
(ELECTRIC GUITAR)
594
00:26:56,698 --> 00:26:57,698
But you know you're up against
595
00:26:57,699 --> 00:26:59,075
Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Geode,
596
00:26:59,076 --> 00:27:00,043
which Bob Dylan himself would
597
00:27:00,044 --> 00:27:02,203
admit is an awfully good single.
598
00:27:02,204 --> 00:27:04,457
- It may be just four simple words
599
00:27:04,458 --> 00:27:06,502
but it is the first positive proof
600
00:27:06,503 --> 00:27:09,344
that other intelligent
beings inhabit the universe.
601
00:27:09,345 --> 00:27:11,546
- What are the four words Cocuwa?
602
00:27:11,547 --> 00:27:13,798
- Send more Chuck Berry.
603
00:27:13,799 --> 00:27:15,633
(LAUGHTER)
604
00:27:15,634 --> 00:27:18,136
- The world is full of fantastic music,
605
00:27:18,137 --> 00:27:19,102
and it goes without saying
606
00:27:19,103 --> 00:27:20,268
there's a lot more great music
607
00:27:20,269 --> 00:27:21,857
that's not on the Voyager record
608
00:27:21,858 --> 00:27:24,016
than there is on it.
609
00:27:24,017 --> 00:27:25,268
Which is a good thing, too,
610
00:27:25,269 --> 00:27:27,190
I mean, if you imagine living on a planet
611
00:27:27,191 --> 00:27:29,939
that was so pathetic that
it only had 90 minutes
612
00:27:29,940 --> 00:27:31,899
of decent music.
613
00:27:31,900 --> 00:27:33,901
- [NARRATOR] Flight
control to launch enable.
614
00:27:33,902 --> 00:27:34,822
- [NARRATOR] Roger.
615
00:27:34,823 --> 00:27:36,821
- [NARRATOR] A countdown
will begin in 10 minutes
616
00:27:36,822 --> 00:27:38,281
before midnight tonight.
617
00:27:38,282 --> 00:27:39,534
- [NARRATOR] A journey about to begin
618
00:27:39,535 --> 00:27:41,331
which will take the technology of earth
619
00:27:41,332 --> 00:27:43,119
out of our solar system.
620
00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,293
- When it was launched, it
was of course all folded up,
621
00:27:45,294 --> 00:27:46,916
it was like origami.
622
00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:50,835
- Here was this almost
623
00:27:50,836 --> 00:27:52,930
unexpected encapsulation.
624
00:27:54,715 --> 00:27:56,132
I mean, we knew that we were
625
00:27:56,133 --> 00:27:57,133
going to be encapsulated,
626
00:27:57,134 --> 00:27:58,807
but the emotional effect on that
627
00:27:58,808 --> 00:28:00,511
was kind of surprising.
628
00:28:00,512 --> 00:28:04,432
I noticed that in just looking around me.
629
00:28:04,433 --> 00:28:08,144
I realised that this was
the last time any of us
630
00:28:08,145 --> 00:28:11,740
were going to see the
spacecraft with eyes.
631
00:28:17,988 --> 00:28:20,832
That's a fairly moving experience.
632
00:28:23,785 --> 00:28:24,957
- [NARRATOR] Environmental control, ready?
633
00:28:24,958 --> 00:28:26,045
- [NARRATOR] Roger.
634
00:28:26,046 --> 00:28:29,415
- We actually launched Voyager Two first.
635
00:28:29,416 --> 00:28:31,418
And this gave the media,
636
00:28:32,961 --> 00:28:34,378
drove them nuts.
637
00:28:34,379 --> 00:28:36,464
We launched Voyager One later,
638
00:28:36,465 --> 00:28:39,093
but it was launched on
a faster trajectory.
639
00:28:39,094 --> 00:28:43,179
So it overtook Voyager
Two in December of 1977.
640
00:28:43,180 --> 00:28:44,807
From that point on, Voyager One
641
00:28:44,808 --> 00:28:47,353
always got to the planet
before Voyager Two,
642
00:28:47,354 --> 00:28:49,941
and the press was happy,
they understood it.
643
00:28:49,942 --> 00:28:51,938
- Most of the press release drawings
644
00:28:51,939 --> 00:28:53,940
show the other side of the spacecraft
645
00:28:53,941 --> 00:28:55,987
so you can't see the Voyager record.
646
00:28:55,988 --> 00:28:57,735
But when the reporters came to the launch,
647
00:28:57,736 --> 00:29:00,615
they all wanted to know
more about the record.
648
00:29:00,616 --> 00:29:03,411
There was always a lot of
ambiguity in NASA about this.
649
00:29:03,412 --> 00:29:05,877
There's no question that the
Voyager record is useless
650
00:29:05,878 --> 00:29:07,912
from a scientific standpoint,
651
00:29:07,913 --> 00:29:11,133
and the officials reluctantly
arranged a press conference.
652
00:29:11,134 --> 00:29:14,219
(UPBEAT POLKA MUSIC)
653
00:29:15,587 --> 00:29:17,510
The press conference was a joke really.
654
00:29:17,511 --> 00:29:19,882
It was held in a hotel room
655
00:29:19,883 --> 00:29:21,259
separated by one of those
656
00:29:21,260 --> 00:29:23,556
accordion folding barriers that you pull
657
00:29:23,557 --> 00:29:26,600
across to make one room
into two smaller rooms.
658
00:29:26,601 --> 00:29:28,942
From what was literally,
as memory serves me,
659
00:29:28,943 --> 00:29:31,686
a Polish wedding reception.
660
00:29:31,687 --> 00:29:32,984
We did the whole press conference
661
00:29:32,985 --> 00:29:35,064
with the oompah sound of
662
00:29:35,065 --> 00:29:37,233
a wedding reception next door.
663
00:29:37,234 --> 00:29:38,827
But I think the public seemed to get it.
664
00:29:38,828 --> 00:29:41,322
(POLKA MUSIC)
665
00:29:43,156 --> 00:29:44,328
- [NARRATOR] We have just had a report
666
00:29:44,329 --> 00:29:47,785
from John Casani, the
Voyager Project Manager
667
00:29:47,786 --> 00:29:51,256
that we'll be able to countdown at 10:25.
668
00:29:52,624 --> 00:29:55,628
- [NARRATOR] They were launched
on a Titan launch vehicle.
669
00:29:55,629 --> 00:29:57,755
Which were intercontinental
ballistic missiles
670
00:29:57,756 --> 00:29:58,921
for a long time.
671
00:29:58,922 --> 00:30:01,387
And some of them as
they were decommissioned
672
00:30:01,388 --> 00:30:03,761
were turned into rockets
to launch spacecraft
673
00:30:03,762 --> 00:30:05,553
out to the planets.
674
00:30:05,554 --> 00:30:07,022
- [NARRATOR] Five, four,
675
00:30:07,023 --> 00:30:08,311
three, two, one.
676
00:30:10,892 --> 00:30:14,061
We have ignition, and we have liftoff.
677
00:30:14,062 --> 00:30:16,355
- You see those solids ignite
678
00:30:16,356 --> 00:30:17,699
and you're really not prepared
679
00:30:17,700 --> 00:30:19,650
for what's about to occur.
680
00:30:19,651 --> 00:30:21,819
(GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC)
681
00:30:21,820 --> 00:30:24,530
(LOW RUMBLING)
682
00:30:24,531 --> 00:30:26,954
The sound waves then catch up
683
00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:29,544
and then this
684
00:30:31,038 --> 00:30:35,416
forceful shaking, the
body is actually moved
685
00:30:35,417 --> 00:30:37,920
in resonance with this energy.
686
00:30:38,795 --> 00:30:40,796
Shaking it, right.
687
00:30:40,797 --> 00:30:42,882
(LOW RUMBLING)
688
00:30:42,883 --> 00:30:45,509
- We jumped up and down.
689
00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:46,761
Big hugs you know.
690
00:30:46,762 --> 00:30:49,805
We're so happy to have
gotten away with it.
691
00:30:49,806 --> 00:30:50,773
And the rocket worked.
692
00:30:50,774 --> 00:30:53,059
You never know about that either.
693
00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:54,232
- We were sitting in bleachers
694
00:30:54,233 --> 00:30:57,106
and they keep you pretty
far from the launch vehicle
695
00:30:57,107 --> 00:30:58,525
because they can explode, and
696
00:30:58,526 --> 00:31:00,316
it's basically, it's a big bomb.
697
00:31:00,317 --> 00:31:02,285
- So there was a little bit
of holding your breath and
698
00:31:02,286 --> 00:31:03,903
wanting to make sure you see it,
699
00:31:03,904 --> 00:31:06,530
get that first little motion
700
00:31:06,531 --> 00:31:09,408
off the pad starting into space.
701
00:31:09,409 --> 00:31:11,369
- We saw that going off into space,
702
00:31:11,370 --> 00:31:12,667
we were all thinking this thought.
703
00:31:12,668 --> 00:31:13,996
There it goes
704
00:31:13,997 --> 00:31:16,045
and it's gonna be out
there to represent us
705
00:31:16,046 --> 00:31:18,709
for the next five billion years.
706
00:31:18,710 --> 00:31:20,963
- I was a seven year
old child watching it go
707
00:31:20,964 --> 00:31:23,339
and thinking like “Oh
I had some small thing
708
00:31:23,340 --> 00:31:24,507
"to do on that."
709
00:31:24,508 --> 00:31:26,260
Like there's some part of me on that.
710
00:31:26,261 --> 00:31:28,177
But no real significance.
711
00:31:28,178 --> 00:31:30,852
But it was like, yeah okay, bye.
712
00:31:31,765 --> 00:31:35,941
(FAINT CHEERING)
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
713
00:31:37,687 --> 00:31:40,190
- There were outbursts of joy.
714
00:31:41,066 --> 00:31:42,693
We were on our way.
715
00:31:44,611 --> 00:31:45,611
- And then we launched it
716
00:31:45,612 --> 00:31:48,365
and then other things went crazy.
717
00:31:50,367 --> 00:31:51,960
The spacecraft began to do things
718
00:31:51,961 --> 00:31:55,454
that we had no expectation
that it would have done.
719
00:31:55,455 --> 00:31:57,248
- Us poor people on Earth,
720
00:31:57,249 --> 00:31:59,917
we're like "What is it doing?"
721
00:31:59,918 --> 00:32:01,841
- And as the launch vehicle
leaves the launchpad,
722
00:32:01,842 --> 00:32:04,258
it has to roll through a certain angle
723
00:32:04,259 --> 00:32:07,096
to get to the right
direction for departure.
724
00:32:07,097 --> 00:32:09,764
And the rate that it rolls
at is a much higher rate
725
00:32:09,765 --> 00:32:12,977
than the spacecraft would ever
normally experience flying.
726
00:32:12,978 --> 00:32:14,771
And so the gyro hits the stops.
727
00:32:14,772 --> 00:32:16,142
It saturates.
728
00:32:16,143 --> 00:32:17,732
- Voyager was not in control of itself.
729
00:32:17,733 --> 00:32:19,478
It's just riding this big rocket,
730
00:32:19,479 --> 00:32:21,230
and that was shaking it in such a way
731
00:32:21,231 --> 00:32:23,357
that it thought it was failing,
732
00:32:23,358 --> 00:32:25,573
and so it started switching
off various boxes,
733
00:32:25,574 --> 00:32:26,777
changing to the back-up this,
734
00:32:26,778 --> 00:32:27,778
to the back-up that.
735
00:32:27,779 --> 00:32:30,326
Trying to figure out why all
this stuff was happening.
736
00:32:30,327 --> 00:32:32,413
- For a couple of days
it was a real nail-biter.
737
00:32:32,414 --> 00:32:33,748
People were asking us,
738
00:32:33,749 --> 00:32:34,994
"Have you lost the spacecraft"
739
00:32:34,995 --> 00:32:36,996
and we would say "We don't know for sure,"
740
00:32:36,997 --> 00:32:39,582
because we didn't know for sure.
741
00:32:39,583 --> 00:32:42,793
- And the headline read “Mutiny in Space...
742
00:32:42,794 --> 00:32:44,715
The Voyager spacecraft had decided
743
00:32:44,716 --> 00:32:47,053
it just didn't want to
follow the instructions
744
00:32:47,054 --> 00:32:49,013
that its human controllers were giving it
745
00:32:49,014 --> 00:32:51,556
and it was going to do
what it wanted to do.
746
00:32:51,557 --> 00:32:54,477
- Fortunately, the person
who had written that code
747
00:32:54,478 --> 00:32:56,765
was able to say "This is okay.
748
00:32:56,766 --> 00:32:58,437
"It's doing this, it tried that,
749
00:32:58,438 --> 00:32:59,812
“it's doing this, it tried that,"
750
00:32:59,813 --> 00:33:02,480
and calm everyone else down.
751
00:33:02,481 --> 00:33:04,940
(BIRD SCREECHING)
752
00:33:04,941 --> 00:33:06,614
- [NARRATOR] All the time it
was doing that crazy stuff
753
00:33:06,615 --> 00:33:08,819
it was doing exactly what we had
754
00:33:08,820 --> 00:33:10,404
designed it to do along.
755
00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:11,405
(LAUGHTER)
756
00:33:11,406 --> 00:33:13,407
- The limits were set simply too tight.
757
00:33:13,408 --> 00:33:15,242
It needed to be able
758
00:33:15,243 --> 00:33:18,204
to wiggle more and vibrate more.
759
00:33:18,205 --> 00:33:21,300
And the telemetry length wasn't gonna
760
00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:24,793
be a solid as people expected.
761
00:33:24,794 --> 00:33:26,170
So all of those things
762
00:33:26,171 --> 00:33:28,923
that had caused issues with Voyager Two
763
00:33:28,924 --> 00:33:31,677
then were solved for Voyager One.
764
00:33:32,677 --> 00:33:33,802
- [NARRATOR] Titan Centaur 6
765
00:33:33,803 --> 00:33:35,179
has lifted off at 8:56 from here
766
00:33:35,180 --> 00:33:36,976
at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
767
00:33:36,977 --> 00:33:38,894
- [NARRATOR] When Voyager One lifted off,
768
00:33:38,895 --> 00:33:40,606
we're thinking everything's okay.
769
00:33:40,607 --> 00:33:42,273
And then we begin to hear this,
770
00:33:42,274 --> 00:33:44,318
we call it chatter over
the launch vehicle net
771
00:33:44,319 --> 00:33:46,440
that something wasn't right.
772
00:33:46,441 --> 00:33:47,818
- I looked over at him and he looked like
773
00:33:47,819 --> 00:33:48,862
he was a little worried.
774
00:33:48,863 --> 00:33:50,574
And I said "What's the matter, Charley?"
775
00:33:50,575 --> 00:33:51,822
And he says "I don't know,
776
00:33:51,823 --> 00:33:55,074
"I don't think we're going
to make it, you know."
777
00:33:55,075 --> 00:33:56,951
There was a leak in the propellant line,
778
00:33:56,952 --> 00:33:58,829
and we were losing propellant overboard.
779
00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:00,454
So while it was burning,
780
00:34:00,455 --> 00:34:02,456
propellant was escaping
from the launch vehicle.
781
00:34:02,457 --> 00:34:04,175
And that's why second stage never got
782
00:34:04,176 --> 00:34:05,918
to deliver its full thrust
783
00:34:05,919 --> 00:34:07,590
because it ran out of fuel.
784
00:34:07,591 --> 00:34:09,885
- And so the upper which was a Centaur,
785
00:34:09,886 --> 00:34:12,383
liquid, hydrogen, and oxygen stage
786
00:34:12,384 --> 00:34:14,009
had to make up for that.
787
00:34:14,010 --> 00:34:15,224
- And the Centaur is the stage
788
00:34:15,225 --> 00:34:16,559
that's doing the guidance.
789
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:18,774
So the Centaur knows
that it's not reaching
790
00:34:18,775 --> 00:34:20,266
the required velocity.
791
00:34:20,267 --> 00:34:23,310
And when it separates
from the second stage
792
00:34:23,311 --> 00:34:25,109
it knows it has to burn longer
793
00:34:25,110 --> 00:34:27,147
to add more velocity.
794
00:34:27,148 --> 00:34:30,150
- The Centaur, to achieve parking orbit,
795
00:34:30,151 --> 00:34:33,904
had to use 1,200 pounds
of extra propellant.
796
00:34:33,905 --> 00:34:35,157
Now we're all thinking,
797
00:34:35,158 --> 00:34:37,250
is it going to have
enough left in the tanks
798
00:34:37,251 --> 00:34:39,201
to make a normal injection?
799
00:34:39,202 --> 00:34:41,330
Or is it going to run out of fuel?
800
00:34:41,331 --> 00:34:43,789
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
801
00:34:43,790 --> 00:34:47,376
Fortunately, it had
three and a half seconds
802
00:34:47,377 --> 00:34:50,927
of thrusting left before it
had run to fuel depletion.
803
00:34:50,928 --> 00:34:52,923
Three and a half seconds,
804
00:34:52,924 --> 00:34:56,010
so Voyager One just barely made it.
805
00:34:56,011 --> 00:34:57,228
- It wouldn't have gotten enough velocity
806
00:34:57,229 --> 00:34:58,762
to get to Jupiter, you know.
807
00:34:58,763 --> 00:35:00,481
So instead of getting
to Jupiter, you know,
808
00:35:00,482 --> 00:35:02,062
we'd have gotten almost to Jupiter
809
00:35:02,063 --> 00:35:03,976
and then we'd come back toward the Sun,
810
00:35:03,977 --> 00:35:05,102
which would not have been good.
811
00:35:05,103 --> 00:35:07,271
(LAUGHTER)
812
00:35:07,272 --> 00:35:11,859
♫ I watch the distant ♫
♫ lights go down a long way ♫
813
00:35:11,860 --> 00:35:16,530
♫ Disappear into the evening sky ♫
814
00:35:16,531 --> 00:35:18,574
♫ Oh you know I'm with you ♫
815
00:35:18,575 --> 00:35:21,577
♫ On your journey ♫
816
00:35:21,578 --> 00:35:24,330
♫ Never could say goodbye ♫
817
00:35:24,331 --> 00:35:26,004
- And then of course, you know,
818
00:35:26,005 --> 00:35:29,793
there's the thought that
it's out of our hands.
819
00:35:29,794 --> 00:35:32,713
Now the major reason for this
820
00:35:32,714 --> 00:35:35,341
mission was about to unfold,
821
00:35:35,342 --> 00:35:37,426
that is the science.
822
00:35:37,427 --> 00:35:38,428
But our role
823
00:35:40,388 --> 00:35:41,310
as keepers,
824
00:35:42,682 --> 00:35:44,025
as progenitors,
825
00:35:46,519 --> 00:35:48,772
our role had been finished.
826
00:35:49,856 --> 00:35:54,026
♫ It's just a phase you're going through ♫
827
00:35:54,027 --> 00:35:55,694
♫ No I won't stop you ♫
828
00:35:55,695 --> 00:35:57,488
That was moving.
829
00:35:57,489 --> 00:36:02,451
(LOUD EXPLOSION)
♫ Break away ♫
830
00:36:02,452 --> 00:36:06,497
♫ Fly across your ocean ♫
831
00:36:06,498 --> 00:36:08,921
♫ Break away ♫
832
00:36:11,461 --> 00:36:15,339
♫ Time has come for you ♫
833
00:36:15,340 --> 00:36:17,809
♫ Break away ♫
834
00:36:20,345 --> 00:36:24,014
♫ Fly across your ocean ♫
835
00:36:24,015 --> 00:36:26,438
♫ Break away ♫
836
00:36:29,270 --> 00:36:31,944
♫ Time has come ♫
837
00:36:33,066 --> 00:36:35,319
- It's what realising
that a human life ago,
838
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:37,491
less than 100 years ago, 87 years ago,
839
00:36:37,492 --> 00:36:40,489
the universe consisted of one galaxy,
840
00:36:40,490 --> 00:36:41,990
our Milky Way Galaxy.
841
00:36:41,991 --> 00:36:45,786
In a static eternal universe
with eternal empty space.
842
00:36:45,787 --> 00:36:48,006
We didn't know about the
other hundred billion galaxies
843
00:36:48,007 --> 00:36:50,290
a single human lifetime ago.
844
00:36:50,291 --> 00:36:52,089
And we didn't know the
universe was expanding
845
00:36:52,090 --> 00:36:55,921
and it was born in a big
bang 13.7 billion years ago.
846
00:36:55,922 --> 00:36:57,469
But even stranger things like
847
00:36:57,470 --> 00:36:58,924
the things I work on.
848
00:36:58,925 --> 00:37:01,303
The fact that most of the mass
of our galaxies invisible.
849
00:37:01,304 --> 00:37:03,053
It's made of stuff other than you or me.
850
00:37:03,054 --> 00:37:05,055
We think it's made of some
new elementary particle
851
00:37:05,056 --> 00:37:06,890
that is actually going right through you
852
00:37:06,891 --> 00:37:08,689
and me right now and
right through the earth
853
00:37:08,690 --> 00:37:10,187
without even noticing it was there.
854
00:37:10,188 --> 00:37:11,904
Even stranger than that is the fact
855
00:37:11,905 --> 00:37:14,565
that empty space weighs something.
856
00:37:14,566 --> 00:37:16,694
You get rid of all the
particles and the radiation,
857
00:37:16,695 --> 00:37:19,194
you have nothing there
and it weighs something.
858
00:37:19,195 --> 00:37:21,196
And moreover, it's the
dominant energy in the universe
859
00:37:21,197 --> 00:37:23,699
and we don't have the slightest
idea why it's there.
860
00:37:23,700 --> 00:37:27,671
(FAST PACED INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
861
00:37:39,632 --> 00:37:41,634
- You can never imagine.
862
00:37:42,510 --> 00:37:44,353
You can try, but you
can never really imagine
863
00:37:44,354 --> 00:37:47,264
what mother nature will actually
864
00:37:47,265 --> 00:37:49,099
have in store
865
00:37:49,100 --> 00:37:50,642
when you get there.
866
00:37:50,643 --> 00:37:54,819
(STATIC)
(FAST PACED MUSIC)
867
00:37:57,650 --> 00:38:00,244
It seems like time really flew.
868
00:38:02,864 --> 00:38:06,118
- I don't think we really
fully understood (LAUGHS)
869
00:38:06,119 --> 00:38:07,868
before the first Jupiter encounter,
870
00:38:07,869 --> 00:38:09,667
just how intense it was going to be.
871
00:38:09,668 --> 00:38:10,834
No, we didn't.
872
00:38:12,832 --> 00:38:13,832
We found out.
873
00:38:13,833 --> 00:38:16,086
(LAUGHTER)
874
00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:18,462
- It's an interesting phenomena that you
875
00:38:18,463 --> 00:38:21,298
start working on a mission in 1972,
876
00:38:21,299 --> 00:38:23,467
you launch in 1977.
877
00:38:23,468 --> 00:38:25,928
All of that, there's no science.
878
00:38:25,929 --> 00:38:27,596
It's all getting ready.
879
00:38:27,597 --> 00:38:30,682
And then March 79, the flood.
880
00:38:30,683 --> 00:38:33,277
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
881
00:38:45,740 --> 00:38:50,118
- [NARRATOR] The encounters,
they creep up on you.
882
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:52,463
We started what we call
the observatory phase
883
00:38:52,464 --> 00:38:54,581
with our long telephoto camera,
884
00:38:54,582 --> 00:38:57,334
and that's when we
started seeing day by day
885
00:38:57,335 --> 00:39:00,087
larger and larger Jupiter.
886
00:39:00,088 --> 00:39:01,964
- [NARRATOR] When we were
approaching, every picture
887
00:39:01,965 --> 00:39:05,425
was the greatest picture
ever taken of Jupiter.
888
00:39:05,426 --> 00:39:08,178
- [NARRATOR] In the beginning,
it would be just a little dot
889
00:39:08,179 --> 00:39:10,307
getting bigger on the screen every day.
890
00:39:10,308 --> 00:39:13,225
And as we would get closer and closer,
891
00:39:13,226 --> 00:39:15,945
the images became more dramatic.
892
00:39:16,938 --> 00:39:19,111
- [NARRATOR] Incredibly
strange, and beautiful,
893
00:39:19,112 --> 00:39:23,283
and now by Voyager revealed
in all of it's splendour.
894
00:39:25,947 --> 00:39:27,665
- [NARRATOR] We were trying to get as much
895
00:39:27,666 --> 00:39:29,199
detail as possible.
896
00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,955
So a narrow angle camera
was 1500 millimetres
897
00:39:33,788 --> 00:39:37,634
and the wide angle camera
was 200 millimetres.
898
00:39:38,668 --> 00:39:40,088
- Would someone care to speculate
899
00:39:40,089 --> 00:39:42,507
what you would say to Galileo Galilei
900
00:39:42,508 --> 00:39:44,631
if he walked into the room today?
901
00:39:44,632 --> 00:39:45,474
(FAINT LAUGHTER)
902
00:39:45,475 --> 00:39:47,968
- How are you able to live so long?
903
00:39:47,969 --> 00:39:50,188
(LAUGHTER)
904
00:39:54,183 --> 00:39:55,517
- I think Galileo.
905
00:39:55,518 --> 00:39:57,441
- Jupiter is more than 10
times the diameter of earth.
906
00:39:57,442 --> 00:39:58,687
It's huge!
907
00:39:58,688 --> 00:39:59,940
And it's mainly hydrogen and helium.
908
00:39:59,941 --> 00:40:01,815
There are no solid
surface on these planets.
909
00:40:01,816 --> 00:40:05,527
These planets are liquid
gas and liquid deep inside.
910
00:40:05,528 --> 00:40:08,122
- The gas is compressed
the farther down you go
911
00:40:08,123 --> 00:40:10,458
and it gets very hot indeed.
912
00:40:12,285 --> 00:40:14,620
You would melt, vaporise in fact,
913
00:40:14,621 --> 00:40:17,539
if you tried to fly through Jupiter.
914
00:40:17,540 --> 00:40:19,416
- Let me first modify your statement.
915
00:40:19,417 --> 00:40:20,509
Not that it was wrong.
916
00:40:20,510 --> 00:40:22,502
- The atmospheric scientists
917
00:40:22,503 --> 00:40:25,177
got long-range views
because we weren't looking
918
00:40:25,178 --> 00:40:29,176
at tiny moons, we were
looking at the big planet,
919
00:40:29,177 --> 00:40:31,053
and so we could see things going on
920
00:40:31,054 --> 00:40:34,556
before the other groups could see things.
921
00:40:34,557 --> 00:40:38,437
And we were always the
first to start shouting.
922
00:40:39,479 --> 00:40:43,815
- [NARRATOR] Even to this day
we don't fly colour detectors.
923
00:40:43,816 --> 00:40:45,984
You get a much higher-resolution
924
00:40:45,985 --> 00:40:47,736
image in black and white.
925
00:40:47,737 --> 00:40:49,529
And so when we want to make colour,
926
00:40:49,530 --> 00:40:50,998
we take them through different filters
927
00:40:50,999 --> 00:40:52,741
and then on the ground you put it together
928
00:40:52,742 --> 00:40:55,619
and make a colour image out of it.
929
00:40:55,620 --> 00:40:57,873
- That acceleration as
you're approaching encounters
930
00:40:57,874 --> 00:41:00,290
is really something that
becomes very, very exciting.
931
00:41:00,291 --> 00:41:02,337
We called it drinking out
of a fire hose, you know,
932
00:41:02,338 --> 00:41:03,587
you're trying to take a little sip,
933
00:41:03,588 --> 00:41:06,055
and this torrent of data is coming out.
934
00:41:06,056 --> 00:41:08,715
(FAST PACED MUSIC)
935
00:41:08,716 --> 00:41:11,218
- You go to Jupiter and you
have a storm that's been
936
00:41:11,219 --> 00:41:13,220
around for more than 300 years,
937
00:41:13,221 --> 00:41:14,894
that's the Great Red Spot.
938
00:41:14,895 --> 00:41:18,141
You could fit two or
three Earths inside it.
939
00:41:18,142 --> 00:41:19,860
So here's the Great Red
Spot and here's an earth
940
00:41:19,861 --> 00:41:21,561
and here's an earth.
941
00:41:21,562 --> 00:41:23,814
It's always going around.
942
00:41:23,815 --> 00:41:27,401
And I sort of assumed that the flow around
943
00:41:27,402 --> 00:41:29,486
these giant things would be
944
00:41:29,487 --> 00:41:31,655
smooth like honey.
945
00:41:31,656 --> 00:41:35,200
But, when Voyager started
getting close-up images,
946
00:41:35,201 --> 00:41:37,619
we realised that it was very active.
947
00:41:37,620 --> 00:41:39,621
And that deepened the mystery
948
00:41:39,622 --> 00:41:42,541
of how these big storms could even exist
949
00:41:42,542 --> 00:41:43,634
with all this
950
00:41:44,961 --> 00:41:46,670
turbulence going on.
951
00:41:46,671 --> 00:41:50,549
- It was swallowing up clouds
and spitting out others.
952
00:41:50,550 --> 00:41:52,843
We knew that it was a vortex,
953
00:41:52,844 --> 00:41:55,063
but to see it in action...
954
00:41:58,433 --> 00:41:59,433
- [NARRATOR] Every day you're wondering
955
00:41:59,434 --> 00:42:01,061
"Did we build the spacecraft well enough?
956
00:42:01,062 --> 00:42:03,404
"Did we anticipate all the possible things
957
00:42:03,405 --> 00:42:05,239
"that could go wrong?"
958
00:42:07,025 --> 00:42:09,198
- Pioneer 10 had to measure
the radiation environment
959
00:42:09,199 --> 00:42:11,361
which was much greater than our
960
00:42:11,362 --> 00:42:13,739
earth based interpretation suggested.
961
00:42:13,740 --> 00:42:16,459
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
962
00:42:19,704 --> 00:42:22,125
- You're approaching
this monster essentially.
963
00:42:22,126 --> 00:42:23,712
This monster magnetic field,
964
00:42:23,713 --> 00:42:26,630
this monster radiation
environment on purpose,
965
00:42:26,631 --> 00:42:28,170
because you need to get close
966
00:42:28,171 --> 00:42:29,639
because you want to see
all the little moons,
967
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:31,381
and the clouds, and the storms,
968
00:42:31,382 --> 00:42:33,759
and you want to slingshot on to Saturn.
969
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:37,054
But you just don't know if
you're going to survive.
970
00:42:37,055 --> 00:42:38,272
Thing gets fried, you lose the mission.
971
00:42:38,273 --> 00:42:40,107
Still out there physically
intact probably,
972
00:42:40,108 --> 00:42:44,019
but unable to communicate
with it, the mission's over.
973
00:42:44,020 --> 00:42:47,606
- Two months before shipping
to the Cape for launch,
974
00:42:47,607 --> 00:42:49,775
the scientists were predicting
975
00:42:49,776 --> 00:42:52,861
that the magnetic fields around Jupiter
976
00:42:52,862 --> 00:42:54,455
were intense enough that they
977
00:42:54,456 --> 00:42:57,365
would accelerate particles.
978
00:42:57,366 --> 00:43:00,869
Whoa, we were hearing
initially 40,000 volts,
979
00:43:00,870 --> 00:43:04,081
that would be the end of our spacecraft.
980
00:43:04,082 --> 00:43:07,125
Cabling on these
appendages were conductors
981
00:43:07,126 --> 00:43:09,220
that would take these destroying pulses
982
00:43:09,221 --> 00:43:12,964
and just feed them right
into our systems and kill us,
983
00:43:12,965 --> 00:43:15,809
so we needed to ground everything.
984
00:43:16,677 --> 00:43:17,599
We didn't have time
985
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,305
to go through the normal design reviews,
986
00:43:20,306 --> 00:43:22,099
so in order to get this
987
00:43:22,100 --> 00:43:24,101
protection done quickly enough,
988
00:43:24,102 --> 00:43:26,770
an ad hoc team was formed
989
00:43:26,771 --> 00:43:29,115
and we did some things that
were out of the ordinary,
990
00:43:29,116 --> 00:43:31,775
very out of the ordinary.
991
00:43:31,776 --> 00:43:33,995
I can remember asking
one of the technicians
992
00:43:33,996 --> 00:43:36,705
to go out and buy aluminium foil.
993
00:43:37,573 --> 00:43:40,167
It was the only material
that was available to us.
994
00:43:40,168 --> 00:43:43,537
Normally our procurement of spacecraft
995
00:43:43,538 --> 00:43:47,293
hardware supplies,
materials, are a much more
996
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:50,803
sophisticated process.
997
00:43:51,712 --> 00:43:53,635
We're all in bunny suits actually
998
00:43:53,636 --> 00:43:55,924
cutting continuous strips
999
00:43:55,925 --> 00:43:59,386
and then cleaning them
with wipes and alcohol.
1000
00:43:59,387 --> 00:44:01,981
And then finally wrapping these on all of
1001
00:44:01,982 --> 00:44:04,099
our exterior cabling.
1002
00:44:04,100 --> 00:44:08,728
But yeah, same materials
in your Christmas turkey.
1003
00:44:08,729 --> 00:44:11,151
I don't think we created
any shortage per se.
1004
00:44:11,152 --> 00:44:13,026
It may have been a local shortage
1005
00:44:13,027 --> 00:44:15,699
in the local grocery store for a few days
1006
00:44:15,700 --> 00:44:17,737
until they reordered right.
1007
00:44:17,738 --> 00:44:19,990
Your turkey wrapping
is protecting Voyager,
1008
00:44:19,991 --> 00:44:23,034
and now fast forward, you know,
1009
00:44:23,035 --> 00:44:26,037
did we know whether we had done enough?
1010
00:44:26,038 --> 00:44:29,292
(HIGH PITCHED BEEPING)
1011
00:44:34,463 --> 00:44:37,215
- Amazingly we hear all kinds of sounds.
1012
00:44:37,216 --> 00:44:39,593
It's a very curious phenomenon.
1013
00:44:39,594 --> 00:44:41,346
You don't expect the molecules up in the
1014
00:44:41,347 --> 00:44:43,564
corner of a room to suddenly get together
1015
00:44:43,565 --> 00:44:45,640
and start whistling at you.
1016
00:44:45,641 --> 00:44:48,986
But in a plasma, in this radiation belt,
1017
00:44:50,188 --> 00:44:52,230
that can happen.
1018
00:44:52,231 --> 00:44:53,904
- [NARRATOR] I'm gonna call
them radio sounds because
1019
00:44:53,905 --> 00:44:56,240
we have to detect them with antennas.
1020
00:44:56,241 --> 00:44:58,782
- If you had the right kind
of antennas on your ears
1021
00:44:58,783 --> 00:45:00,577
you could go out and hear what we record.
1022
00:45:00,578 --> 00:45:02,701
(BEEPING)
1023
00:45:03,784 --> 00:45:05,202
- Whistlers.
1024
00:45:05,203 --> 00:45:09,206
These things that go,
(IMITATES WHISTLE) like that.
1025
00:45:09,207 --> 00:45:10,916
Yeah, whistlers mean lightning.
1026
00:45:10,917 --> 00:45:12,544
That was the first detection of lightning
1027
00:45:12,545 --> 00:45:14,836
on a planet other than Earth.
1028
00:45:14,837 --> 00:45:15,882
Much more intense.
1029
00:45:15,883 --> 00:45:17,881
There are lightning flashes at Jupiter
1030
00:45:17,882 --> 00:45:20,226
that would go halfway from the east coast
1031
00:45:20,227 --> 00:45:22,844
of the United States to the west coast.
1032
00:45:22,845 --> 00:45:26,348
So it's fascinating
what you hear in space.
1033
00:45:26,349 --> 00:45:29,273
(FAST PACED MUSIC)
1034
00:45:30,561 --> 00:45:32,404
- [NARRATOR] When you're
on a flyby mission
1035
00:45:32,405 --> 00:45:35,148
there ain't no second chance.
1036
00:45:35,149 --> 00:45:36,441
- We were getting pictures,
1037
00:45:36,442 --> 00:45:37,864
they were getting better and better.
1038
00:45:37,865 --> 00:45:39,736
And you could begin to see detail
1039
00:45:39,737 --> 00:45:41,780
as these moons got bigger.
1040
00:45:41,781 --> 00:45:42,906
You know the dread you have
1041
00:45:42,907 --> 00:45:44,534
is that you don't want to see
1042
00:45:44,535 --> 00:45:46,534
a lot of worlds that
look like Earth's moon.
1043
00:45:46,535 --> 00:45:48,912
Let's face it, it's dull.
1044
00:45:48,913 --> 00:45:51,712
- Our mind's eye was oh
yeah, we're gonna see
1045
00:45:51,713 --> 00:45:54,381
battered ice balls and so forth.
1046
00:45:55,419 --> 00:45:59,092
When we saw Callisto, basically
it's totally hammered right?
1047
00:45:59,093 --> 00:46:01,011
Saturated with impact craters.
1048
00:46:01,012 --> 00:46:03,227
Ganymede shows a lot of interesting
1049
00:46:03,228 --> 00:46:05,136
grooves and ridges.
1050
00:46:05,137 --> 00:46:07,856
But it's pretty blasted
with impact craters.
1051
00:46:07,857 --> 00:46:11,068
And then as we went into the inner two.
1052
00:46:12,186 --> 00:46:15,026
- You could not see craters
on either one of them.
1053
00:46:15,027 --> 00:46:16,442
Well this was encouraging,
1054
00:46:16,443 --> 00:46:18,738
because now we think maybe this mission
1055
00:46:18,739 --> 00:46:22,028
is going to find a lot of diversity.
1056
00:46:22,029 --> 00:46:26,825
- Discovering this billiard
ball, smooth, icy crust
1057
00:46:26,826 --> 00:46:28,868
of Europa with cracks in it
1058
00:46:28,869 --> 00:46:31,084
and what looked like plates of ice
1059
00:46:31,085 --> 00:46:33,545
that might be moving
relative to each other,
1060
00:46:33,546 --> 00:46:34,793
the best explanation for that
1061
00:46:34,794 --> 00:46:36,293
is that there's a thick ocean
1062
00:46:36,294 --> 00:46:37,921
of liquid water, salty water
1063
00:46:37,922 --> 00:46:40,093
underneath that icy crust.
1064
00:46:41,340 --> 00:46:43,717
More ocean water than on the entire Earth,
1065
00:46:43,718 --> 00:46:44,970
probably two or three times.
1066
00:46:44,971 --> 00:46:46,845
It's the largest ocean in the solar system
1067
00:46:46,846 --> 00:46:49,014
in a moon going around Jupiter.
1068
00:46:49,015 --> 00:46:51,143
- And then of course, you
know, kind of the showstopper
1069
00:46:51,144 --> 00:46:54,019
for Voyager, we get to Io.
1070
00:46:54,020 --> 00:46:54,896
- [NARRATOR] Io, of course,
1071
00:46:54,897 --> 00:46:56,363
Io was the star of the show
1072
00:46:56,364 --> 00:46:58,106
and we didn't learn that
1073
00:46:58,107 --> 00:47:00,280
until after the encounter.
1074
00:47:01,736 --> 00:47:03,329
- [NARRATOR] Everyone had gone home,
1075
00:47:03,330 --> 00:47:06,740
and Linda Morabito, an engineer whose job
1076
00:47:06,741 --> 00:47:08,867
was to find out the positioning
1077
00:47:08,868 --> 00:47:10,586
and the orbit of the spacecraft,
1078
00:47:10,587 --> 00:47:13,457
noticed some bumps on images of Io.
1079
00:47:14,957 --> 00:47:16,458
- I was on the mission
1080
00:47:16,459 --> 00:47:18,668
as a mission navigator,
1081
00:47:18,669 --> 00:47:21,629
and our job involved just looking back
1082
00:47:21,630 --> 00:47:24,299
over the shoulder of the spacecraft
1083
00:47:24,300 --> 00:47:27,804
to say, "Okay, one more picture
of the realm of Jupiter."
1084
00:47:27,805 --> 00:47:30,805
So it wasn't high-priority work.
1085
00:47:30,806 --> 00:47:33,850
- It was an optical navigation image,
1086
00:47:33,851 --> 00:47:37,606
and Linda saw this
strange thing on the limb.
1087
00:47:38,731 --> 00:47:42,609
- An enormous object emerged, enormous.
1088
00:47:42,610 --> 00:47:45,830
And the first thing I said
to myself, "What is that?!"
1089
00:47:45,831 --> 00:47:49,542
And I'm like it looks
like another satellite
1090
00:47:50,785 --> 00:47:54,746
in the picture emerging from behind Io.
1091
00:47:54,747 --> 00:47:56,790
An object that size,
1092
00:47:56,791 --> 00:47:58,543
at that range, at that distance,
1093
00:47:58,544 --> 00:47:59,885
would have been seen from Earth,
1094
00:47:59,886 --> 00:48:02,379
it was sufficiently large.
1095
00:48:02,380 --> 00:48:03,922
I felt with certainty,
1096
00:48:03,923 --> 00:48:05,011
it's the only thing I knew,
1097
00:48:05,012 --> 00:48:08,637
that I was seeing something
that had never been seen before.
1098
00:48:08,638 --> 00:48:11,389
This was an umbrella-shaped plume
1099
00:48:12,598 --> 00:48:14,350
rising 250 kilometres
1100
00:48:16,060 --> 00:48:18,228
above the surface of Io
1101
00:48:18,229 --> 00:48:20,522
with volcanic activity.
1102
00:48:20,523 --> 00:48:23,447
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC)
1103
00:48:24,402 --> 00:48:26,861
I found the very first evidence
1104
00:48:26,862 --> 00:48:29,197
of active volcanism
1105
00:48:29,198 --> 00:48:31,576
on a world beyond the Earth.
1106
00:48:35,454 --> 00:48:37,544
- It was so hard to
believe that a little moon
1107
00:48:37,545 --> 00:48:39,668
could have 10 times the
volcanic activity of Earth,
1108
00:48:39,669 --> 00:48:41,418
which was the only known active volcanoes
1109
00:48:41,419 --> 00:48:43,509
in the solar system were here on Earth.
1110
00:48:43,510 --> 00:48:44,676
And then there's Io.
1111
00:48:44,677 --> 00:48:47,048
Suddenly we had realised
1112
00:48:47,049 --> 00:48:49,467
this was a different journey we were on.
1113
00:48:49,468 --> 00:48:50,513
- I wanted to say one other thing.
1114
00:48:50,514 --> 00:48:51,888
We've been saying that
perhaps there's some
1115
00:48:51,889 --> 00:48:53,638
funny way in which Jupiter gobbles up
1116
00:48:53,639 --> 00:48:55,140
all the things that are coming in
1117
00:48:55,141 --> 00:48:57,109
and it doesn't let Io be hit by any.
1118
00:48:57,110 --> 00:49:00,728
Well, we aimed a spacecraft
and went very close.
1119
00:49:00,729 --> 00:49:02,318
Had we missed we would have made
1120
00:49:02,319 --> 00:49:03,611
the first impact crater.
1121
00:49:03,612 --> 00:49:05,358
(LAUGHTER)
1122
00:49:05,359 --> 00:49:07,361
- The flyby is basically
1123
00:49:08,404 --> 00:49:12,282
a week-long affair that's 24 hours a day.
1124
00:49:12,283 --> 00:49:13,741
It's intense.
1125
00:49:13,742 --> 00:49:15,994
- [NARRATOR] There will
be a Voyager report
1126
00:49:15,995 --> 00:49:17,829
in 30 seconds.
1127
00:49:17,830 --> 00:49:20,299
(ROCK MUSIC)
1128
00:49:26,422 --> 00:49:28,265
- [NARRATOR] Instant science
because there's gonna be
1129
00:49:28,266 --> 00:49:29,471
a press conference that night.
1130
00:49:29,472 --> 00:49:30,637
This picture comes down,
1131
00:49:30,638 --> 00:49:32,010
and you've got three hours
1132
00:49:32,011 --> 00:49:33,431
to figure out what's going on
1133
00:49:33,432 --> 00:49:35,180
and then tell the world about it.
1134
00:49:35,181 --> 00:49:37,140
Oh, no pressure there, right?
1135
00:49:37,141 --> 00:49:38,475
(HEAVY GUITAR MUSIC)
1136
00:49:38,476 --> 00:49:40,768
- [NARRATOR] The confines
of being a piece of biology
1137
00:49:40,769 --> 00:49:41,689
got in the way of that.
1138
00:49:41,690 --> 00:49:42,563
I mean, you got hungry,
1139
00:49:42,564 --> 00:49:43,771
you got tired, you know,
1140
00:49:43,772 --> 00:49:44,864
you had to go to the bathroom,
1141
00:49:44,865 --> 00:49:46,653
I mean, you're going to miss something!
1142
00:49:46,654 --> 00:49:48,196
You don't want to miss anything
1143
00:49:48,197 --> 00:49:50,663
because every 48 seconds a
new image would come down.
1144
00:49:50,664 --> 00:49:53,749
(♫ ROCK MUSIC)
1145
00:49:55,242 --> 00:49:56,493
- [NARRATOR] No one got any sleep
1146
00:49:56,494 --> 00:49:58,087
during one of these flybys
1147
00:49:58,088 --> 00:50:00,997
when the spacecraft would go zooming past.
1148
00:50:00,998 --> 00:50:04,459
The photo labs were working day and night,
1149
00:50:04,460 --> 00:50:07,086
and people were sleeping in their cars.
1150
00:50:07,087 --> 00:50:10,182
(HEAVY GUITAR MUSIC)
1151
00:50:13,010 --> 00:50:16,930
- [NARRATOR] It was just
way too exciting to sleep.
1152
00:50:16,931 --> 00:50:20,026
(HEAVY GUITAR MUSIC)
1153
00:50:47,169 --> 00:50:48,421
- [NARRATOR] This is the first picture
1154
00:50:48,422 --> 00:50:50,338
every of Jupiter's ring.
1155
00:50:50,339 --> 00:50:53,218
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1156
00:50:56,512 --> 00:50:58,810
- [NARRATOR] Jupiter was
really just wonderful.
1157
00:50:58,811 --> 00:51:01,980
It was just discovery after discovery.
1158
00:51:03,435 --> 00:51:05,311
- You don't get something for free.
1159
00:51:05,312 --> 00:51:07,564
Energy and momentum have to be conserved.
1160
00:51:07,565 --> 00:51:11,818
So when Voyager picked up
35,000 miles an hour of speed,
1161
00:51:11,819 --> 00:51:15,154
you actually, during that swingby,
1162
00:51:15,155 --> 00:51:17,699
slowed Jupiter in it's orbit
1163
00:51:17,700 --> 00:51:20,294
by one foot per trillion years.
1164
00:51:22,413 --> 00:51:23,583
- Jupiter was a game-changer.
1165
00:51:23,584 --> 00:51:25,549
Jupiter reset all the registers.
1166
00:51:25,550 --> 00:51:28,543
Now we're really up for something.
1167
00:51:28,544 --> 00:51:30,217
And to know that this was just the very,
1168
00:51:30,218 --> 00:51:32,505
very beginning of this journey.
1169
00:51:32,506 --> 00:51:34,007
If we're blown away by Jupiter,
1170
00:51:34,008 --> 00:51:36,509
just wait until we get to Saturn.
1171
00:51:36,510 --> 00:51:40,221
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1172
00:51:40,222 --> 00:51:43,016
- Voyager to me was Homeric.
1173
00:51:43,017 --> 00:51:44,940
It was years of passing
1174
00:51:45,811 --> 00:51:48,358
across the solar system
from one planet to the other
1175
00:51:48,359 --> 00:51:50,073
and then it was a week or two
1176
00:51:50,074 --> 00:51:54,277
of frenzied activity, and
discovery, and conquest,
1177
00:51:54,278 --> 00:51:56,372
and then it was, well, back in the boats,
1178
00:51:56,373 --> 00:52:00,074
oars in the water and then
on to the next conquest.
1179
00:52:00,075 --> 00:52:02,874
(FAINT HEARTBEAT)
1180
00:52:09,710 --> 00:52:11,461
- My father was Carl Sagan,
1181
00:52:11,462 --> 00:52:14,005
and my mother is Linda Salzman Sagan,
1182
00:52:14,006 --> 00:52:16,304
and she's a writer and an
artist and she designed
1183
00:52:16,305 --> 00:52:18,259
the iconic Pioneer plaque.
1184
00:52:18,260 --> 00:52:19,555
She actually drew it,
1185
00:52:19,556 --> 00:52:21,647
and she's the one who
got all the greetings
1186
00:52:21,648 --> 00:52:24,140
for the Voyager Golden Record.
1187
00:52:24,141 --> 00:52:25,017
I like to think of her,
1188
00:52:25,018 --> 00:52:26,142
that she kind of put together
1189
00:52:26,143 --> 00:52:30,563
a kind of a choir of voices
of greetings to the stars.
1190
00:52:30,564 --> 00:52:32,737
(CHATTER)
1191
00:52:38,072 --> 00:52:39,864
My parents wanted a child
1192
00:52:39,865 --> 00:52:42,080
to have a voice of one of the voices.
1193
00:52:42,081 --> 00:52:43,534
And they just came to me one day
1194
00:52:43,535 --> 00:52:45,411
and said, "Nick, if you'd
like to leave a message
1195
00:52:45,412 --> 00:52:47,251
"to aliens if they happen to exist,
1196
00:52:47,252 --> 00:52:49,466
"what would you like to say to them?"
1197
00:52:49,467 --> 00:52:52,627
(LOUD THUDS)
(CLANKING)
1198
00:52:52,628 --> 00:52:55,797
Hello from the children of planet earth.
1199
00:52:55,798 --> 00:52:57,300
"Oh, hello from the
children of planet earth."
1200
00:52:57,301 --> 00:53:00,051
That's what I would say to aliens.
1201
00:53:00,052 --> 00:53:04,389
They loved that and so they
said, "Great, let's record you."
1202
00:53:04,390 --> 00:53:06,432
It's a bit of a blur.
1203
00:53:06,433 --> 00:53:07,772
Like the only thing that I know
1204
00:53:07,773 --> 00:53:08,981
that I remember from that time
1205
00:53:08,982 --> 00:53:10,978
is those knobs and the
little recording level
1206
00:53:10,979 --> 00:53:13,198
that goes into the red
if you speak too much.
1207
00:53:13,199 --> 00:53:15,441
This 70s, kind of...
1208
00:53:15,442 --> 00:53:17,281
So I remember that,
and I remember watching
1209
00:53:17,282 --> 00:53:19,946
the needle move as I spoke
and seeing where it got.
1210
00:53:19,947 --> 00:53:20,992
Oh, that got close to the red
1211
00:53:20,993 --> 00:53:21,990
but actually didn't go into the red,
1212
00:53:21,991 --> 00:53:23,458
okay, that's probably good.
1213
00:53:23,459 --> 00:53:27,245
And this not so great
handwriting from age six.
1214
00:53:27,246 --> 00:53:28,371
Not that it's so much better now.
1215
00:53:28,372 --> 00:53:30,623
It says "Hello from the
children of Plan-et Earth."
1216
00:53:30,624 --> 00:53:32,092
I think I have a little hyphen because
1217
00:53:32,093 --> 00:53:33,923
I ran out of space for planet.
1218
00:53:33,924 --> 00:53:35,795
And the I was drawing something that
1219
00:53:35,796 --> 00:53:37,672
I think I thought later was a tree
1220
00:53:37,673 --> 00:53:39,141
but other people told
me it was a rocket ship.
1221
00:53:39,142 --> 00:53:42,011
And I think I was more
focused on my crappy drawing
1222
00:53:42,012 --> 00:53:44,183
than I was in whatever performance
1223
00:53:44,184 --> 00:53:46,978
of how I was gonna say this line.
1224
00:53:47,808 --> 00:53:48,650
And that was that.
1225
00:53:48,651 --> 00:53:50,059
And then I, you know,
1226
00:53:50,060 --> 00:53:54,105
drank my apple juice and
went back to my books.
1227
00:53:54,106 --> 00:53:56,196
It was really not till considerably later
1228
00:53:56,197 --> 00:53:57,442
that the kind of enormity of
1229
00:53:57,443 --> 00:54:00,027
what that meant actually hit me.
1230
00:54:00,028 --> 00:54:03,703
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
1231
00:54:11,123 --> 00:54:13,124
- The reason I was chosen was that because
1232
00:54:13,125 --> 00:54:14,625
I'm something special.
1233
00:54:14,626 --> 00:54:16,878
I happen to be there at the right time
1234
00:54:16,879 --> 00:54:18,051
at the right place.
1235
00:54:18,052 --> 00:54:21,007
And people knew that I speak Arabic.
1236
00:54:21,008 --> 00:54:22,925
So I was lucky.
1237
00:54:22,926 --> 00:54:23,768
- I said "Why me?"
1238
00:54:23,769 --> 00:54:27,221
They said “Because you
speak fluent Portuguese."
1239
00:54:27,222 --> 00:54:29,270
- [NARRATOR] I didn't get any instructions
1240
00:54:29,271 --> 00:54:31,184
about what to say.
1241
00:54:31,185 --> 00:54:33,269
Except that it needs to be short.
1242
00:54:33,270 --> 00:54:35,146
- The greetings to the
universe are almost like
1243
00:54:35,147 --> 00:54:37,315
proto tweets, the first tweets.
1244
00:54:37,316 --> 00:54:39,284
Keep it short, keep it simple.
1245
00:54:39,285 --> 00:54:42,320
And I had about 5 minutes warning
1246
00:54:42,321 --> 00:54:44,164
before I was recorded.
1247
00:54:45,073 --> 00:54:47,617
They said, "We're making a record
1248
00:54:47,618 --> 00:54:49,619
"to go aboard a spacecraft.“
1249
00:54:49,620 --> 00:54:52,288
And that was very intimidating.
1250
00:54:52,289 --> 00:54:55,919
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
1251
00:54:57,836 --> 00:54:59,337
It's not like there's a rule book
1252
00:54:59,338 --> 00:55:00,551
for what you should say
1253
00:55:00,552 --> 00:55:02,799
when you're greeting the universe.
1254
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:06,475
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
1255
00:55:09,556 --> 00:55:12,642
Which means peace and
happiness to everybody.
1256
00:55:12,643 --> 00:55:15,102
It seemed like a safe thing to say
1257
00:55:15,103 --> 00:55:17,396
if you ran across some aliens.
1258
00:55:17,397 --> 00:55:21,573
Rather than saying take me
to your leader or whatever.
1259
00:55:22,528 --> 00:55:26,203
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
1260
00:55:29,535 --> 00:55:31,953
- Because equipment is cold,
1261
00:55:31,954 --> 00:55:34,497
the spaceship is inanimate.
1262
00:55:34,498 --> 00:55:37,500
Even the record itself is metal.
1263
00:55:37,501 --> 00:55:40,545
I just wanted my voice to convey warmth
1264
00:55:40,546 --> 00:55:42,264
and to make contact.
1265
00:55:49,346 --> 00:55:53,850
And it means greetings to
our friends in the sky.
1266
00:55:53,851 --> 00:55:56,229
We long to meet you some day.
1267
00:55:59,147 --> 00:56:01,991
(FOREIGN CHATTER)
1268
00:56:05,195 --> 00:56:07,118
- [NARRATOR] There is some piece of me
1269
00:56:07,119 --> 00:56:09,448
that is a traveller on that ship.
1270
00:56:09,449 --> 00:56:11,370
It's just gone, it's just going.
1271
00:56:11,371 --> 00:56:12,961
Continues to go, it's gonna keep going.
1272
00:56:12,962 --> 00:56:15,913
When I'm long long gone it'll keep going.
1273
00:56:15,914 --> 00:56:18,085
And it's like a little piece of magic.
1274
00:56:18,086 --> 00:56:21,428
(RECORDING) Hello
from the children of planet Earth
1275
00:56:23,130 --> 00:56:24,380
♫ In your mind ♫
1276
00:56:24,381 --> 00:56:28,306
♫ You have capacities you know ♫
1277
00:56:29,553 --> 00:56:32,138
♫ To telepath messages ♫
1278
00:56:32,139 --> 00:56:35,266
♫ Through the vast unknown ♫
1279
00:56:35,267 --> 00:56:36,934
♫ Please close your eyes ♫
1280
00:56:36,935 --> 00:56:38,769
♫ And concentrate ♫
1281
00:56:38,770 --> 00:56:43,399
♫ With every thought you think ♫
1282
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:45,902
♫ Upon the recitation ♫
1283
00:56:45,903 --> 00:56:49,123
♫ We're about to sing ♫
1284
00:56:52,117 --> 00:56:54,410
♫ Calling occupants ♫
1285
00:56:54,411 --> 00:56:56,621
♫ Of interplanetary craft ♫
1286
00:56:56,622 --> 00:56:57,839
- [NARRATOR] I'd like to know the answer.
1287
00:56:57,840 --> 00:56:58,873
Are we alone?
1288
00:56:58,874 --> 00:57:01,464
I'd like to know the
answer to that question.
1289
00:57:01,465 --> 00:57:03,633
- There has to be other civilizations.
1290
00:57:03,634 --> 00:57:06,255
The numbers just compel it.
1291
00:57:06,256 --> 00:57:07,974
But it would be almost
statistically impossible
1292
00:57:07,975 --> 00:57:09,513
for there not to be
1293
00:57:10,510 --> 00:57:12,683
other life forms and other life forms
1294
00:57:12,684 --> 00:57:16,855
that have evolved to a state
of intelligence and beyond.
1295
00:57:18,310 --> 00:57:19,232
- The bigger you think space is,
1296
00:57:19,233 --> 00:57:22,647
the more probability there
is that they're there.
1297
00:57:22,648 --> 00:57:24,821
The less probable it is
you're gonna find them
1298
00:57:24,822 --> 00:57:29,236
'cause they're needles
in infinite haystacks.
1299
00:57:29,237 --> 00:57:31,697
♫ And one night we'll make ♫
1300
00:57:31,698 --> 00:57:34,700
♫ A contact with you ♫
1301
00:57:34,701 --> 00:57:37,045
- I tell you, I think
that intelligent life,
1302
00:57:37,046 --> 00:57:39,622
if we can include ourselves in it.
1303
00:57:39,623 --> 00:57:40,840
In that categorization.
1304
00:57:40,841 --> 00:57:42,541
Is so prevalent that I'll
1305
00:57:42,542 --> 00:57:44,669
bet you at this very instant
1306
00:57:44,670 --> 00:57:46,337
there are two people.
1307
00:57:46,338 --> 00:57:48,547
Probably one male and one female
1308
00:57:48,548 --> 00:57:50,299
having exactly the same conversation
1309
00:57:50,300 --> 00:57:52,394
that you and I are having right now.
1310
00:57:52,395 --> 00:57:56,562
I think that's how prevalent
life is in the universe.
1311
00:58:00,018 --> 00:58:03,818
- They're probably trying to
contact us at this very minute.
1312
00:58:03,819 --> 00:58:07,024
I predict passing through
this room right now
1313
00:58:07,025 --> 00:58:10,152
radio messages that we could detect
1314
00:58:10,153 --> 00:58:11,826
with equipment we could build
1315
00:58:11,827 --> 00:58:14,991
if we knew where to aim that detector
1316
00:58:14,992 --> 00:58:17,495
and what frequency to tune to.
1317
00:58:19,079 --> 00:58:20,547
And it's right here in this room.
1318
00:58:20,548 --> 00:58:22,790
And it's mind boggling.
1319
00:58:22,791 --> 00:58:25,715
They're here, they're right
in the room right now.
1320
00:58:25,716 --> 00:58:29,380
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1321
00:58:29,381 --> 00:58:31,429
- [NARRATOR] The big division
with extraterrestrial life
1322
00:58:31,430 --> 00:58:33,348
is not space it's time.
1323
00:58:36,054 --> 00:58:39,058
- [NARRATOR] It depends
ultimately on how long
1324
00:58:39,059 --> 00:58:40,975
our civilization lasts.
1325
00:58:40,976 --> 00:58:43,978
And how long civilizations last because
1326
00:58:43,979 --> 00:58:45,231
you've got to get them to overlap
1327
00:58:45,232 --> 00:58:47,073
for us to communicate.
1328
00:58:49,109 --> 00:58:51,906
- In our galaxy, our
Sun is relatively young.
1329
00:58:51,907 --> 00:58:53,904
He's about 12 million years old,
1330
00:58:53,905 --> 00:58:55,120
our Sun is four and a
half billion years old.
1331
00:58:55,121 --> 00:58:56,660
There are many stars that are a lot older.
1332
00:58:56,661 --> 00:58:58,001
Therefore you could have imagined some
1333
00:58:58,002 --> 00:58:59,789
civilization around such a star that might
1334
00:58:59,790 --> 00:59:01,328
have watched our Earth form
1335
00:59:01,329 --> 00:59:02,670
over the last four and
a half billion years.
1336
00:59:02,671 --> 00:59:04,507
Well, over that last four
and a half billion years,
1337
00:59:04,508 --> 00:59:06,917
the only evidence of intelligent life
1338
00:59:06,918 --> 00:59:08,511
would have been in the last 50 or 60 years
1339
00:59:08,512 --> 00:59:10,254
by watching Star Trek or I Love Lucy
1340
00:59:10,255 --> 00:59:12,089
or whatever signals we sent out.
1341
00:59:12,090 --> 00:59:13,090
So even if you knew,
1342
00:59:13,091 --> 00:59:15,888
even if someone told
you look at that star,
1343
00:59:15,889 --> 00:59:17,807
and then look at the
third rock from that star,
1344
00:59:17,808 --> 00:59:18,929
and that's where you're
going to find life.
1345
00:59:18,930 --> 00:59:21,645
Even if they knew which
object to look for,
1346
00:59:21,646 --> 00:59:23,187
there's only a 50-year period
1347
00:59:23,188 --> 00:59:25,061
over five billion years almost
1348
00:59:25,062 --> 00:59:28,862
where you'd be able to
find intelligent life.
1349
00:59:30,484 --> 00:59:32,953
- If we're alone then we're truly unique,
1350
00:59:32,954 --> 00:59:35,321
and how did that happen and why us
1351
00:59:35,322 --> 00:59:36,867
and how are we so special
1352
00:59:36,868 --> 00:59:38,911
and yet in such a kind of far-flung
1353
00:59:38,912 --> 00:59:41,037
kind of humdrum part of the universe?
1354
00:59:41,038 --> 00:59:43,583
And if we're not alone,
how did we all get here
1355
00:59:43,584 --> 00:59:44,919
and can we learn about ourselves
1356
00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:46,836
by these other groups out there?
1357
00:59:46,837 --> 00:59:49,177
What are they like and
are they the creatures
1358
00:59:49,178 --> 00:59:52,546
of our dreams or our nightmares?
1359
00:59:52,547 --> 00:59:54,298
- I think what's gonna save us is that
1360
00:59:54,299 --> 00:59:57,265
interstellar travel is
much harder than we think.
1361
00:59:57,266 --> 01:00:00,184
And we're safe for quite a
long time from the aliens
1362
01:00:00,185 --> 01:00:03,808
'cause they don't know how
to travel very far either.
1363
01:00:03,809 --> 01:00:07,311
We're all sort of stuck
on the planets we've got.
1364
01:00:07,312 --> 01:00:09,986
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
1365
01:00:17,614 --> 01:00:19,036
- The thing about the Voyager mission
1366
01:00:19,037 --> 01:00:21,450
from Jupiter to Saturn was the short
1367
01:00:21,451 --> 01:00:23,619
space between those.
1368
01:00:23,620 --> 01:00:25,496
Jupiter to Saturn went just like that.
1369
01:00:25,497 --> 01:00:26,997
It was really quick.
1370
01:00:26,998 --> 01:00:29,922
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1371
01:00:35,132 --> 01:00:37,430
It's easy to think of
Jupiter as the bully,
1372
01:00:37,431 --> 01:00:40,261
it's the alpha male of the solar system.
1373
01:00:40,262 --> 01:00:41,554
No question.
1374
01:00:41,555 --> 01:00:45,015
I think Saturn is majestic with rings
1375
01:00:45,016 --> 01:00:48,853
giving that sense of beauty and serenity.
1376
01:00:48,854 --> 01:00:52,022
And the moon's sort of subservient
1377
01:00:52,023 --> 01:00:54,196
and somewhat pushed aside.
1378
01:00:55,277 --> 01:00:56,904
- [NARRATOR] We started
off with images that were
1379
01:00:56,905 --> 01:00:59,738
probably no better than what
you can get from the ground.
1380
01:00:59,739 --> 01:01:01,582
And then it keeps getting
better and better and better
1381
01:01:01,583 --> 01:01:03,659
as you get closer and closer.
1382
01:01:03,660 --> 01:01:07,246
What are we going to see
when we get really close?
1383
01:01:07,247 --> 01:01:08,998
- [NARRATOR] Having seen
Saturn in a telescope
1384
01:01:08,999 --> 01:01:11,218
with the rings just looking
like these little tiny ears
1385
01:01:11,219 --> 01:01:13,752
on either side, to now seeing detail
1386
01:01:13,753 --> 01:01:15,588
and the beauty of Saturn's rings.
1387
01:01:15,589 --> 01:01:17,387
You know, looking like,
almost like the grooves
1388
01:01:17,388 --> 01:01:19,133
on a phonograph record.
1389
01:01:19,134 --> 01:01:21,886
[BELL] The rings of Saturn, what are they?
1390
01:01:21,887 --> 01:01:23,637
Billions of icy particles,
1391
01:01:23,638 --> 01:01:25,890
some the size of a house.
1392
01:01:25,891 --> 01:01:26,983
They're enormous, much wider
1393
01:01:26,984 --> 01:01:29,069
than many Earths strung together
1394
01:01:29,070 --> 01:01:32,188
but less than a kilometre thick.
1395
01:01:32,189 --> 01:01:34,942
- We get there and we
find that it's a blizzard
1396
01:01:34,943 --> 01:01:36,989
of features throughout the rings,
1397
01:01:36,990 --> 01:01:39,653
and it got very complex.
1398
01:01:39,654 --> 01:01:42,578
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1399
01:01:52,125 --> 01:01:54,460
We become junkies (LAUGHS).
1400
01:01:54,461 --> 01:01:55,838
Who, this is how you become
1401
01:01:55,839 --> 01:01:58,380
a planetary flyby junkie,
1402
01:01:58,381 --> 01:01:59,596
it's because you've gone through
1403
01:01:59,597 --> 01:02:01,264
one of them and you just know
it's the greatest feeling
1404
01:02:01,265 --> 01:02:04,428
and you want to keep
doing it again and again.
1405
01:02:04,429 --> 01:02:05,772
- At some point,
1406
01:02:06,890 --> 01:02:08,103
perhaps a year or so from now
1407
01:02:08,104 --> 01:02:09,646
it may be possible to put all this
1408
01:02:09,647 --> 01:02:11,065
into perspective.
1409
01:02:12,145 --> 01:02:14,438
But right at the moment,
1410
01:02:14,439 --> 01:02:16,941
I cannot recall being in such a
1411
01:02:16,942 --> 01:02:21,862
state euphoria for any
previous planetary encounter.
1412
01:02:21,863 --> 01:02:24,657
Including our two remarkable
1413
01:02:24,658 --> 01:02:27,368
Voyager encounters at Jupiter.
1414
01:02:27,369 --> 01:02:30,293
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1415
01:02:57,482 --> 01:02:58,779
- [NARRATOR] The largest moon of Saturn,
1416
01:02:58,780 --> 01:03:01,153
Titan's the most extraordinary place.
1417
01:03:01,154 --> 01:03:03,821
There's a dense methane atmosphere
1418
01:03:03,822 --> 01:03:06,325
where a complex organic
chemistry has been going on
1419
01:03:06,326 --> 01:03:07,917
for perhaps billions of years,
1420
01:03:07,918 --> 01:03:12,830
and we are in a moment of
extraordinary discovery.
1421
01:03:12,831 --> 01:03:15,129
- We had both spacecraft programmed
1422
01:03:15,130 --> 01:03:17,584
to do identical missions at Saturn,
1423
01:03:17,585 --> 01:03:19,258
and that was the prime mission
1424
01:03:19,259 --> 01:03:21,097
and it involved Titan.
1425
01:03:22,215 --> 01:03:23,592
- There's a huge amount
amount of scientific interest
1426
01:03:23,593 --> 01:03:25,217
in Titan because many people think
1427
01:03:25,218 --> 01:03:26,513
that early in our own history,
1428
01:03:26,514 --> 01:03:28,184
our own planet may have been like that
1429
01:03:28,185 --> 01:03:31,557
with very little oxygen,
lots of hydrocarbons,
1430
01:03:31,558 --> 01:03:34,435
very thick, different, smoggy atmosphere
1431
01:03:34,436 --> 01:03:37,938
that was changed dramatically
on our planet by life.
1432
01:03:37,939 --> 01:03:39,690
So if you want to understand
the starting conditions,
1433
01:03:39,691 --> 01:03:40,908
go study Titan.
1434
01:03:41,860 --> 01:03:44,657
- [NARRATOR] If Voyager One
was successful at Titan,
1435
01:03:44,658 --> 01:03:47,908
Voyager Two, which is nine
months behind going to Saturn,
1436
01:03:47,909 --> 01:03:49,908
would be free to continue to
1437
01:03:49,909 --> 01:03:51,660
Uranus and to go on to Neptune.
1438
01:03:51,661 --> 01:03:55,748
But it depended upon Voyager
One succeeding at Titan.
1439
01:03:55,749 --> 01:03:59,049
- Because Voyager One had
to be in a certain place
1440
01:03:59,050 --> 01:04:00,794
in order to pass Titan,
1441
01:04:00,795 --> 01:04:03,342
it couldn't go on to Uranus and Neptune.
1442
01:04:03,343 --> 01:04:05,217
There was just no way
to bend its trajectory
1443
01:04:05,218 --> 01:04:06,889
to go anywhere else.
1444
01:04:07,969 --> 01:04:11,764
- Voyager Two would have
done exactly that same thing
1445
01:04:11,765 --> 01:04:13,932
if Voyager One had failed.
1446
01:04:13,933 --> 01:04:16,812
We would have gone like
this, no more planets.
1447
01:04:16,813 --> 01:04:18,400
- That would have been really tough.
1448
01:04:18,401 --> 01:04:20,194
You gonna try for Titan again
1449
01:04:20,195 --> 01:04:24,693
and give up two other
worlds, Uranus and Neptune?
1450
01:04:24,694 --> 01:04:29,615
- [NARRATOR] So there was a
lot of pressure on Voyager One.
1451
01:04:29,616 --> 01:04:30,741
- Mostly what we looked at
1452
01:04:30,742 --> 01:04:33,827
was a giant ball of brown smog
1453
01:04:33,828 --> 01:04:37,753
with some sort of electric
blue hazes above it.
1454
01:04:38,917 --> 01:04:40,089
- With the Voyager camera,
1455
01:04:40,090 --> 01:04:43,504
you couldn't see through
the clouds and haze.
1456
01:04:43,505 --> 01:04:46,224
(RADIO CHATTER)
1457
01:04:49,386 --> 01:04:52,096
Now the radio signal from the spacecraft
1458
01:04:52,097 --> 01:04:54,769
passed through the
atmosphere of the planet,
1459
01:04:54,770 --> 01:04:56,313
and that gave them a measure
1460
01:04:56,314 --> 01:04:58,435
of the pressure at the surface
1461
01:04:58,436 --> 01:05:00,732
and also the temperature at the surface.
1462
01:05:00,733 --> 01:05:02,323
And so we learned a lot about
1463
01:05:02,324 --> 01:05:05,442
Titan from that radio signal.
1464
01:05:05,443 --> 01:05:07,194
- [NARRATOR] Titan did not reveal itself
1465
01:05:07,195 --> 01:05:08,991
to the camera's of the Voyager.
1466
01:05:08,992 --> 01:05:11,240
But the spectrometers and radio science
1467
01:05:11,241 --> 01:05:13,992
made major contributions to the chemistry
1468
01:05:13,993 --> 01:05:17,918
and physics of the
atmosphere and the interior.
1469
01:05:23,002 --> 01:05:24,253
- [NARRATOR] We had gathered what we could
1470
01:05:24,254 --> 01:05:26,338
with Voyager spacecraft.
1471
01:05:26,339 --> 01:05:28,307
- [NARRATOR] There was little to be gained
1472
01:05:28,308 --> 01:05:31,260
by doing another close flyby of Titan.
1473
01:05:31,261 --> 01:05:32,678
- Shortly after that,
1474
01:05:32,679 --> 01:05:33,974
NASA Headquarters agreed
1475
01:05:33,975 --> 01:05:35,940
that we should continue with Voyager Two
1476
01:05:35,941 --> 01:05:37,724
on it's Uranus trajectory.
1477
01:05:37,725 --> 01:05:40,103
So Voyager One had succeeded.
1478
01:05:41,729 --> 01:05:43,197
- People don't realise
how we almost didn't
1479
01:05:43,198 --> 01:05:45,441
have that mission to Uranus and Neptune.
1480
01:05:45,442 --> 01:05:47,240
We almost didn't have the Grand Tour
1481
01:05:47,241 --> 01:05:50,904
if not for the success
for Voyager One at Titan.
1482
01:05:50,905 --> 01:05:54,199
- Voyager One was done
and was receding from
1483
01:05:54,200 --> 01:05:56,294
the solar system at an angle above the
1484
01:05:56,295 --> 01:05:58,038
plain of the planets.
1485
01:05:59,080 --> 01:06:01,799
- So Voyager One planetary mission almost
1486
01:06:01,800 --> 01:06:03,293
ended right there.
1487
01:06:04,502 --> 01:06:06,295
Come back to that later.
1488
01:06:06,296 --> 01:06:09,345
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
1489
01:06:17,390 --> 01:06:19,016
We're getting pictures and other data
1490
01:06:19,017 --> 01:06:20,356
back from Voyager Two.
1491
01:06:20,357 --> 01:06:21,727
But at some point in time,
1492
01:06:21,728 --> 01:06:23,524
it had to go behind the planet
1493
01:06:23,525 --> 01:06:25,567
and that blocks us from getting
1494
01:06:25,568 --> 01:06:27,361
radio signals to the earth.
1495
01:06:27,362 --> 01:06:29,452
And that happened to be in
the middle of the night.
1496
01:06:29,453 --> 01:06:31,737
It appeared at times several hours
1497
01:06:31,738 --> 01:06:32,990
that everybody knows we're gonna be out
1498
01:06:32,991 --> 01:06:34,785
of contact with the spacecraft.
1499
01:06:34,786 --> 01:06:36,992
Everybody's expecting
to pop champagne corks
1500
01:06:36,993 --> 01:06:38,586
and say "Hey we made it and all the data's
1501
01:06:38,587 --> 01:06:39,703
"on the tape recorder."
1502
01:06:39,704 --> 01:06:41,547
'Cause it could be
transmitted to the earth.
1503
01:06:41,548 --> 01:06:44,333
And instead it pops out of the other side
1504
01:06:44,334 --> 01:06:46,460
and is all these crazy error signals
1505
01:06:46,461 --> 01:06:47,508
coming from the spacecraft.
1506
01:06:47,509 --> 01:06:48,801
Something bad has happened.
1507
01:06:48,802 --> 01:06:51,298
(BEEPING)
1508
01:06:51,299 --> 01:06:53,884
- Something happened right
around ring-plane crossing,
1509
01:06:53,885 --> 01:06:55,808
and the images that were
coming back were blank.
1510
01:06:55,809 --> 01:06:58,431
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
1511
01:07:00,266 --> 01:07:01,642
- People had thought maybe it crashed
1512
01:07:01,643 --> 01:07:02,940
into the rings of Saturn.
1513
01:07:02,941 --> 01:07:05,229
Is this it, is it dead?
1514
01:07:05,230 --> 01:07:07,824
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
1515
01:07:10,568 --> 01:07:14,493
- Ladies and gentlemen
we can start debriefing.
1516
01:07:15,448 --> 01:07:17,913
I wanted to make a very brief statement.
1517
01:07:17,914 --> 01:07:20,788
We do have a problem onboard
the Voyager Two spacecraft.
1518
01:07:20,789 --> 01:07:22,376
- The spacecraft has a problem.
1519
01:07:22,377 --> 01:07:24,837
The scan platform operating mechanism
1520
01:07:24,838 --> 01:07:26,500
is not operating properly.
1521
01:07:26,501 --> 01:07:27,876
- [NARRATOR] And make
sure we understand where
1522
01:07:27,877 --> 01:07:29,378
we're headed if the following instruments
1523
01:07:29,379 --> 01:07:31,218
are mounted on the platform.
1524
01:07:31,219 --> 01:07:33,804
The wide-angle camera,
the narrow-angle camera,
1525
01:07:33,805 --> 01:07:36,891
the infrared instrument,
the ultraviolet instrument,
1526
01:07:36,892 --> 01:07:38,433
and the photopolarimeter.
1527
01:07:38,434 --> 01:07:41,139
- Yeah, that was the darkest,
1528
01:07:41,140 --> 01:07:43,605
the darkest day of the whole mission.
1529
01:07:43,606 --> 01:07:45,602
- [NARRATOR] There is
circumstantial evidence.
1530
01:07:45,603 --> 01:07:47,856
- [NARRATOR] I came into the auditorium,
1531
01:07:47,857 --> 01:07:51,858
and there was just gloom
on everybody's face.
1532
01:07:51,859 --> 01:07:53,610
- You're beginning to speculate.
1533
01:07:53,611 --> 01:07:56,530
- I quickly learned what had happened.
1534
01:07:56,531 --> 01:07:58,909
The scan platform had frozen.
1535
01:07:59,826 --> 01:08:01,294
- [NARRATOR] We were
moving our scan platform
1536
01:08:01,295 --> 01:08:02,744
all over the sky.
1537
01:08:02,745 --> 01:08:04,997
And we're actually going as fast
1538
01:08:04,998 --> 01:08:07,165
as it could possibly go.
1539
01:08:07,166 --> 01:08:09,334
- A frozen scan platform
1540
01:08:09,335 --> 01:08:12,179
could be a fatal, crippling event.
1541
01:08:13,047 --> 01:08:15,596
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
1542
01:08:19,470 --> 01:08:21,188
- The rest of the Saturn mission,
1543
01:08:21,189 --> 01:08:23,933
and Uranus and Neptune were dead.
1544
01:08:24,976 --> 01:08:29,152
And seeing everything that
we were planning just gone,
1545
01:08:30,815 --> 01:08:32,441
just suddenly gone.
1546
01:08:32,442 --> 01:08:34,113
- The problem is not with the camera,
1547
01:08:34,114 --> 01:08:36,031
it's with the articulated platform
1548
01:08:36,032 --> 01:08:37,863
that moves all of the instruments.
1549
01:08:37,864 --> 01:08:39,116
Our camera is, as far as we know,
1550
01:08:39,117 --> 01:08:40,198
are working just fine.
1551
01:08:40,199 --> 01:08:41,792
It's just that we're
taking lots of pictures
1552
01:08:41,793 --> 01:08:43,036
of black space.
1553
01:08:44,120 --> 01:08:45,918
- All of the science
that we had hoped to do,
1554
01:08:45,919 --> 01:08:48,624
and Uranus and Neptune, there
were no other spacecraft
1555
01:08:48,625 --> 01:08:49,842
that were going to be going there.
1556
01:08:49,843 --> 01:08:51,379
It was up to Voyager to do it,
1557
01:08:51,380 --> 01:08:53,342
and all of a sudden it
looked as though Voyager
1558
01:08:53,343 --> 01:08:54,840
was not going to do it.
1559
01:08:54,841 --> 01:08:57,092
It was devastating, it was.
1560
01:09:02,180 --> 01:09:04,056
- [NARRATOR] It took a
couple of days while the
1561
01:09:04,057 --> 01:09:08,018
engineering team went to
work diagnosing the problem.
1562
01:09:08,019 --> 01:09:10,397
- [NARRATOR] We are going
to command an azimuth slew
1563
01:09:10,398 --> 01:09:12,648
and an elevation slew
1564
01:09:12,649 --> 01:09:14,358
to the Saturn position.
1565
01:09:14,359 --> 01:09:15,948
- It turns out the scan platform
1566
01:09:15,949 --> 01:09:17,819
has small motors to rotate it,
1567
01:09:17,820 --> 01:09:19,446
and we could run it at slow speed.
1568
01:09:19,447 --> 01:09:20,869
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
1569
01:09:20,870 --> 01:09:23,742
Fast medium speed or very fast.
1570
01:09:23,743 --> 01:09:25,871
We were of course wanting
to look at lots of places,
1571
01:09:25,872 --> 01:09:28,339
so we had the thing
looking lots of places,
1572
01:09:28,340 --> 01:09:32,876
and the lubrication wasn't
adequate and it just jammed.
1573
01:09:32,877 --> 01:09:35,754
- It was frozen sort of like a car
1574
01:09:35,755 --> 01:09:37,798
stuck in the snow.
1575
01:09:37,799 --> 01:09:39,675
You try to go forward
or backward little bit
1576
01:09:39,676 --> 01:09:42,886
and keep working on it
and try to get it out,
1577
01:09:42,887 --> 01:09:44,388
and that's what we did
with the scan platform.
1578
01:09:44,389 --> 01:09:47,104
We would try to push it a
little bit in one direction
1579
01:09:47,105 --> 01:09:48,558
and it would yield a little bit,
1580
01:09:48,559 --> 01:09:50,232
and then we'd push it
in the other direction,
1581
01:09:50,233 --> 01:09:51,942
and it would yield a little bit more,
1582
01:09:51,943 --> 01:09:53,110
and then we kept doing that
1583
01:09:53,111 --> 01:09:55,315
back and forth, back and forth.
1584
01:09:55,316 --> 01:09:57,526
And finally that was enough
1585
01:09:57,527 --> 01:10:00,701
to get the lubrication into the gears.
1586
01:10:01,739 --> 01:10:03,365
- It was freed up
1587
01:10:03,366 --> 01:10:04,834
and back came the spacecraft,
1588
01:10:04,835 --> 01:10:07,160
and back came the imaging system,
1589
01:10:07,161 --> 01:10:09,584
and there was Saturn on exit.
1590
01:10:11,124 --> 01:10:12,171
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1591
01:10:12,172 --> 01:10:14,251
(LAUGHTER)
1592
01:10:14,252 --> 01:10:15,048
- Yeah.
1593
01:10:23,177 --> 01:10:25,429
- [NARRATOR] We were looking
at the shadow of Saturn
1594
01:10:25,430 --> 01:10:26,555
on the rings.
1595
01:10:26,556 --> 01:10:31,226
And it was clearly from
this wild, crazy angle.
1596
01:10:31,227 --> 01:10:32,103
Wow.
1597
01:10:32,104 --> 01:10:35,778
Holy cow, we're on the
other side of Saturn.
1598
01:10:37,150 --> 01:10:38,902
♫ Us ♫
1599
01:10:42,864 --> 01:10:45,117
♫ And them ♫
1600
01:10:51,330 --> 01:10:54,925
♫ And after all we're only ♫
1601
01:10:56,586 --> 01:10:59,171
♫ Ordinary men ♫
1602
01:10:59,172 --> 01:11:01,256
- We felt like we were there.
1603
01:11:01,257 --> 01:11:03,680
Nobody even thought about it.
1604
01:11:05,261 --> 01:11:07,184
Voyager was part of us.
1605
01:11:08,222 --> 01:11:09,473
We.
1606
01:11:09,474 --> 01:11:11,226
♫ Me ♫
1607
01:11:15,271 --> 01:11:17,444
♫ And you ♫
1608
01:11:22,904 --> 01:11:24,747
- All of planetary exploration to me
1609
01:11:24,748 --> 01:11:27,115
is a story about longing.
1610
01:11:27,116 --> 01:11:29,576
It's a longing to know ourselves.
1611
01:11:29,577 --> 01:11:31,328
It's a longing to understand
1612
01:11:31,329 --> 01:11:33,914
the significance of our own existence.
1613
01:11:33,915 --> 01:11:35,499
It's a longing to communicate,
1614
01:11:35,500 --> 01:11:36,467
to say to the universe
1615
01:11:36,468 --> 01:11:38,794
we're here, you know, know us.
1616
01:11:38,795 --> 01:11:40,797
You know, where are you?
1617
01:11:41,798 --> 01:11:44,758
♫ Forward he cried ♫
1618
01:11:44,759 --> 01:11:46,218
♫ From the rear and ♫
1619
01:11:46,219 --> 01:11:49,348
♫ The front rank died ♫
1620
01:11:52,517 --> 01:11:54,315
- [NARRATOR] How would you go about trying
1621
01:11:54,316 --> 01:11:58,939
to communicate with a
totally alien civilization?
1622
01:11:58,940 --> 01:12:00,192
- [NARRATOR] The assumption is that we
1623
01:12:00,193 --> 01:12:02,192
share the same physical universe.
1624
01:12:02,193 --> 01:12:04,321
That the laws of physics here on earth
1625
01:12:04,322 --> 01:12:06,780
seem to be applicable everywhere.
1626
01:12:06,781 --> 01:12:08,829
Science and math will be something
1627
01:12:08,830 --> 01:12:12,619
that we can communicate
with them fairly easily.
1628
01:12:12,620 --> 01:12:15,539
- Humans universally love music.
1629
01:12:15,540 --> 01:12:18,416
And so the record says we like this stuff.
1630
01:12:18,417 --> 01:12:21,753
And we sent it out as
a kind of gift for you.
1631
01:12:21,754 --> 01:12:25,340
Beneath that there are
mathematical structure.
1632
01:12:25,341 --> 01:12:27,968
The mathematical structure
of a straight pop song
1633
01:12:27,969 --> 01:12:30,015
is pretty simple, it's like arithmetic.
1634
01:12:30,016 --> 01:12:32,764
The mathematical structure of a Bach Fugue
1635
01:12:32,765 --> 01:12:35,517
is much more complicated
and rewarding to attention.
1636
01:12:35,518 --> 01:12:39,396
Mathematics really is
a universal language.
1637
01:12:39,397 --> 01:12:41,365
So we did make sure that the record
1638
01:12:41,366 --> 01:12:45,527
included music that would
reward mathematical study.
1639
01:12:45,528 --> 01:12:48,623
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
1640
01:12:54,495 --> 01:12:55,542
- I have concerns.
1641
01:12:55,543 --> 01:12:59,124
I mean we have intelligent
life on our own planet.
1642
01:12:59,125 --> 01:13:01,501
Dolphins and whales that we don't
1643
01:13:01,502 --> 01:13:04,754
communicate with, we
cannot communicate with.
1644
01:13:04,755 --> 01:13:07,008
Other than tricks for fish.
1645
01:13:11,304 --> 01:13:13,557
It's a little conceited to think that
1646
01:13:13,558 --> 01:13:14,808
it's gonna be like Star Trek
1647
01:13:14,809 --> 01:13:17,267
and if we find some advance life
1648
01:13:17,268 --> 01:13:19,111
that we'll immediately
1649
01:13:20,062 --> 01:13:22,190
sit down for tea together or something.
1650
01:13:22,191 --> 01:13:25,442
It's not gonna be that simple.
1651
01:13:25,443 --> 01:13:27,319
(PERKY MUSIC)
(CAMERA SHUDDERS)
1652
01:13:27,320 --> 01:13:30,620
- So the Voyager record
has a set of pictures on it
1653
01:13:30,621 --> 01:13:32,824
that depicts our civilization.
1654
01:13:32,825 --> 01:13:36,204
But we only had the ability
to do about 100 pictures,
1655
01:13:36,205 --> 01:13:38,455
that was as much data as we could send.
1656
01:13:38,456 --> 01:13:40,498
So that was kind of hard.
1657
01:13:40,499 --> 01:13:42,500
- It was a process of distillation.
1658
01:13:42,501 --> 01:13:46,004
You can't describe the
Earth in 100 pictures.
1659
01:13:46,005 --> 01:13:48,599
You can't describe the Earth
in a thousand pictures.
1660
01:13:48,600 --> 01:13:50,508
But what art is about
1661
01:13:50,509 --> 01:13:53,228
is taking something that's small
1662
01:13:54,096 --> 01:13:56,097
but can represent the whole.
1663
01:13:56,098 --> 01:13:58,601
(PERKY MUSIC)
1664
01:14:07,234 --> 01:14:08,823
- We thought it was very important
1665
01:14:08,824 --> 01:14:11,698
to put some pictures of
humans nude on the record
1666
01:14:11,699 --> 01:14:15,617
to show just what our
anatomy was really like.
1667
01:14:15,618 --> 01:14:19,079
NASA had been seriously criticised
1668
01:14:19,080 --> 01:14:21,039
about the Pioneer plaque.
1669
01:14:21,040 --> 01:14:23,667
There were actually letters
to the editors of newspapers
1670
01:14:23,668 --> 01:14:27,298
saying that NASA was
sending smut to space.
1671
01:14:28,631 --> 01:14:30,053
How are we going to show pictures of
1672
01:14:30,054 --> 01:14:33,551
naked humans without it looking salacious?
1673
01:14:33,552 --> 01:14:35,395
And the answer to that was why don't
1674
01:14:35,396 --> 01:14:38,060
you put a pregnant woman in the picture.
1675
01:14:38,061 --> 01:14:41,436
Because pregnant women are
not considered salacious.
1676
01:14:41,437 --> 01:14:44,104
Not appealing sexually.
1677
01:14:44,105 --> 01:14:46,189
So that's what we did.
1678
01:14:46,190 --> 01:14:47,908
- And I figured if this
doesn't get passed NASA
1679
01:14:47,909 --> 01:14:49,364
nothing's getting passed NASA.
1680
01:14:49,365 --> 01:14:50,986
And I guess the answer was nothing's
1681
01:14:50,987 --> 01:14:54,207
getting passed NASA because
it was the only picture
1682
01:14:54,208 --> 01:14:56,451
that they made us take out.
1683
01:14:57,910 --> 01:15:02,247
- [NARRATOR] Now it's five
years of cruising out to Uranus.
1684
01:15:02,248 --> 01:15:04,124
- Uranus will be the most remote object
1685
01:15:04,125 --> 01:15:06,042
yet visited by a spacecraft.
1686
01:15:06,043 --> 01:15:08,137
And it's so remote it was not even known
1687
01:15:08,138 --> 01:15:09,504
until 200 years ago.
1688
01:15:09,505 --> 01:15:11,047
And it's a great distance out there
1689
01:15:11,048 --> 01:15:12,391
and if we launch directly from earth
1690
01:15:12,392 --> 01:15:14,300
it would have taken 30 years to get there.
1691
01:15:14,301 --> 01:15:15,894
So we're very fortunate that we can swing
1692
01:15:15,895 --> 01:15:18,138
by Jupiter and Saturn on our way.
1693
01:15:18,139 --> 01:15:20,473
- I can always say that as
an observational astronomer
1694
01:15:20,474 --> 01:15:21,896
I've been trying to figure this thing out
1695
01:15:21,897 --> 01:15:23,235
for the past 25 years
1696
01:15:23,236 --> 01:15:26,229
and it's very frustrating in a telescope
1697
01:15:26,230 --> 01:15:27,944
to look at that tiny little disc
1698
01:15:27,945 --> 01:15:30,530
and try to determine anything about it.
1699
01:15:30,531 --> 01:15:32,199
For me the next few days are gonna
1700
01:15:32,200 --> 01:15:33,778
be very exciting.
1701
01:15:33,779 --> 01:15:36,703
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1702
01:15:38,284 --> 01:15:39,868
(CAMERA SHUDDER)
1703
01:15:39,869 --> 01:15:42,162
- Once we got beyond Saturn,
1704
01:15:42,163 --> 01:15:45,212
essentially the engineers
threw out the rule book
1705
01:15:45,213 --> 01:15:48,626
and said, "How are we
gonna make this work?
1706
01:15:48,627 --> 01:15:52,047
"How are we gonna take pictures of planets
1707
01:15:52,048 --> 01:15:54,674
"this far from the Sun?"
1708
01:15:54,675 --> 01:15:58,100
- Voyager was the first of
a class of NASA spacecraft
1709
01:15:58,101 --> 01:16:00,180
that could be reprogrammed.
1710
01:16:00,181 --> 01:16:01,524
They could take what was on the computer
1711
01:16:01,525 --> 01:16:02,640
and just wipe it away
1712
01:16:02,641 --> 01:16:05,235
and give it a whole new set of software.
1713
01:16:05,236 --> 01:16:07,353
They trained the spacecraft to
1714
01:16:07,354 --> 01:16:09,564
pirouette like a ballet dancer.
1715
01:16:09,565 --> 01:16:11,533
Basically you want to take
a picture of that thing
1716
01:16:11,534 --> 01:16:13,198
and it's going past you really fast,
1717
01:16:13,199 --> 01:16:16,196
so you spin the whole spacecraft
1718
01:16:16,197 --> 01:16:18,615
and follow it like this.
1719
01:16:18,616 --> 01:16:21,037
And so even though it was darker at Uranus
1720
01:16:21,038 --> 01:16:22,624
and really dark at Neptune,
1721
01:16:22,625 --> 01:16:25,373
you could leave the shutter
open without smearing,
1722
01:16:25,374 --> 01:16:27,716
and that was just beautiful.
1723
01:16:28,834 --> 01:16:31,086
- We had all of the rich set of goodies
1724
01:16:31,087 --> 01:16:33,505
from Jupiter and from Saturn,
1725
01:16:33,506 --> 01:16:35,429
but Uranus was unknown.
1726
01:16:39,303 --> 01:16:40,976
- Our going on out to Uranus and Neptune
1727
01:16:40,977 --> 01:16:43,139
that was the first time.
1728
01:16:43,140 --> 01:16:44,729
We just had the one spacecraft so we
1729
01:16:44,730 --> 01:16:46,689
were more or less just flying blind
1730
01:16:46,690 --> 01:16:48,937
and we didn't get a second chance.
1731
01:16:48,938 --> 01:16:49,979
(LAUGHTER)
1732
01:16:49,980 --> 01:16:51,856
Nor will there be a second chance.
1733
01:16:51,857 --> 01:16:53,483
And I think for quite some time
1734
01:16:53,484 --> 01:16:55,407
it's very unlikely that
1735
01:16:56,654 --> 01:16:59,989
we'll all be dead and gone before
1736
01:16:59,990 --> 01:17:02,200
anyone goes back out there
1737
01:17:02,201 --> 01:17:04,452
to Uranus and Neptune again.
1738
01:17:04,453 --> 01:17:07,297
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)
1739
01:17:22,555 --> 01:17:24,226
- [NARRATOR] It was like taking something
1740
01:17:24,227 --> 01:17:26,897
that was almost fictional,
almost mythological,
1741
01:17:26,898 --> 01:17:29,896
and then seeing it as a real object.
1742
01:17:31,147 --> 01:17:33,443
- Spacecraft flew through
that system like a bull's eye
1743
01:17:33,444 --> 01:17:35,655
because Uranus is tilted on its side,
1744
01:17:35,656 --> 01:17:38,945
with this beautiful aquamarine
blue methane atmosphere,
1745
01:17:38,946 --> 01:17:39,946
and all these pictures,
1746
01:17:39,947 --> 01:17:41,573
every single one of them is like whoa!
1747
01:17:41,574 --> 01:17:43,702
And you could hear people just "Whoa!"
1748
01:17:43,703 --> 01:17:45,451
And everybody would be doing something
1749
01:17:45,452 --> 01:17:46,417
and somebody would go "Whoa!"
1750
01:17:46,418 --> 01:17:47,584
And everybody would turn and look up.
1751
01:17:47,585 --> 01:17:49,253
“Oh my gosh, look at that!"
1752
01:17:49,254 --> 01:17:50,498
(BEEPING)
1753
01:17:50,499 --> 01:17:51,375
There was no Internet,
1754
01:17:51,376 --> 01:17:55,211
there was no news stream
going out to live CNN.
1755
01:17:55,212 --> 01:17:57,802
The only way to experience that sensation
1756
01:17:57,803 --> 01:18:00,722
of being one of only a
small group of people
1757
01:18:00,723 --> 01:18:04,063
who saw a point of light become a world,
1758
01:18:05,181 --> 01:18:08,059
the only way to experience
it was to be in that room.
1759
01:18:08,060 --> 01:18:10,185
- [NARRATOR] Well just
about two minutes ago,
1760
01:18:10,186 --> 01:18:11,688
Voyager Two passed through
1761
01:18:11,689 --> 01:18:13,781
it's closest approach to Uranus.
1762
01:18:13,782 --> 01:18:15,773
(APPLAUSE)
1763
01:18:15,774 --> 01:18:18,118
- [NARRATOR] The new ring is
1764
01:18:18,944 --> 01:18:19,866
right here.
1765
01:18:20,946 --> 01:18:22,030
Now, I don't...
1766
01:18:22,031 --> 01:18:23,406
(LAUGHTER)
1767
01:18:23,407 --> 01:18:25,283
You're telling me you can't see it.
1768
01:18:25,284 --> 01:18:26,534
I can.
1769
01:18:26,535 --> 01:18:27,577
- Dr. Soderblom,
1770
01:18:27,578 --> 01:18:28,873
as you whizzed through your explanation,
1771
01:18:28,874 --> 01:18:30,043
I couldn't put it all together,
1772
01:18:30,044 --> 01:18:32,916
could you try that again?
1773
01:18:32,917 --> 01:18:33,759
- Slower?
1774
01:18:34,668 --> 01:18:36,261
- Slower and a few more details.
1775
01:18:36,262 --> 01:18:39,006
- I thought that was pretty slow.
1776
01:18:41,717 --> 01:18:43,343
- Every time we arrived at a new planet
1777
01:18:43,344 --> 01:18:44,311
there were always surprises
1778
01:18:44,312 --> 01:18:46,349
even though we had gotten a lot smarter.
1779
01:18:46,350 --> 01:18:47,849
For instance, before Voyager,
1780
01:18:47,850 --> 01:18:49,270
all the magnetic fields
1781
01:18:49,271 --> 01:18:51,351
have the magnetic pole near
1782
01:18:51,352 --> 01:18:53,228
the rotation axis of the planet,
1783
01:18:53,229 --> 01:18:54,354
and that was true for Jupiter,
1784
01:18:54,355 --> 01:18:55,857
it was true for Saturn.
1785
01:18:55,858 --> 01:18:57,699
And then we flew by Uranus and
1786
01:18:57,700 --> 01:19:00,568
the pole was near the equator.
1787
01:19:00,569 --> 01:19:01,821
- There's been a lot of speculation
1788
01:19:01,822 --> 01:19:04,030
about the magnetosphere of Uranus.
1789
01:19:04,031 --> 01:19:04,953
Would there be one,
1790
01:19:04,954 --> 01:19:06,699
what would it be like?
1791
01:19:06,700 --> 01:19:08,122
And the magnetosphere of Uranus
1792
01:19:08,123 --> 01:19:11,079
is far more weird and wonderful.
1793
01:19:11,080 --> 01:19:13,748
We found the planet tipped on it's side,
1794
01:19:13,749 --> 01:19:16,089
but the magnetic field is then tipped
1795
01:19:16,090 --> 01:19:17,758
relative to the spin axis.
1796
01:19:17,759 --> 01:19:21,256
So you have this huge contortion
1797
01:19:21,257 --> 01:19:22,509
in the magnetic field
1798
01:19:22,510 --> 01:19:25,385
as the planet spins around.
1799
01:19:25,386 --> 01:19:26,928
Just bizarre.
1800
01:19:26,929 --> 01:19:29,933
Why on earth the magnetic
field was so messed up,
1801
01:19:29,934 --> 01:19:31,149
we had no idea.
1802
01:19:32,643 --> 01:19:36,147
- At the time the Voyager
Two spacecraft flew by Uranus
1803
01:19:36,148 --> 01:19:39,857
one pole of the planet
was pointing at the Sun.
1804
01:19:39,858 --> 01:19:41,776
At that point in it's orbit,
1805
01:19:41,777 --> 01:19:44,320
it's atmosphere shuts down.
1806
01:19:44,321 --> 01:19:47,791
So the planet itself didn't look exciting.
1807
01:19:50,452 --> 01:19:53,579
And part of that is Uranus itself
1808
01:19:53,580 --> 01:19:55,999
holding it's secrets back.
1809
01:19:56,000 --> 01:19:59,174
- That had to be, I guess, one of the,
1810
01:20:00,587 --> 01:20:03,965
well, disappointments in that Uranus
1811
01:20:03,966 --> 01:20:06,139
was not more photogenic than it was.
1812
01:20:06,140 --> 01:20:08,433
It was actually pretty blah.
1813
01:20:09,346 --> 01:20:10,188
- Poor Uranus.
1814
01:20:10,189 --> 01:20:11,973
(LAUGHTER)
1815
01:20:11,974 --> 01:20:13,182
Poor Uranus.
1816
01:20:13,183 --> 01:20:16,107
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1817
01:20:21,734 --> 01:20:24,658
(FAST PACED MUSIC)
1818
01:20:27,781 --> 01:20:30,158
- Uranus itself was not the character
1819
01:20:30,159 --> 01:20:32,082
that Saturn and Jupiter were.
1820
01:20:32,083 --> 01:20:34,579
It had very very subdued features.
1821
01:20:34,580 --> 01:20:37,498
The big stars of the Uranus encounter
1822
01:20:37,499 --> 01:20:38,967
were actually the moons.
1823
01:20:38,968 --> 01:20:41,553
(UPBEAT MUSIC)
1824
01:20:42,921 --> 01:20:44,093
- If you're going to go to Neptune,
1825
01:20:44,094 --> 01:20:47,263
you still have to use
Uranus for gravity assist.
1826
01:20:47,264 --> 01:20:50,928
The gravity assist aiming point at Uranus
1827
01:20:50,929 --> 01:20:53,264
just happened to be pretty close
1828
01:20:53,265 --> 01:20:55,850
to the orbit of Miranda.
1829
01:20:55,851 --> 01:20:57,148
Now some of the science, Miranda is not
1830
01:20:57,149 --> 01:20:59,395
the largest moon of Uranus.
1831
01:20:59,396 --> 01:21:02,523
If Uranus has been the last stop,
1832
01:21:02,524 --> 01:21:03,524
the scientists might have wanted
1833
01:21:03,525 --> 01:21:05,360
to go to a larger moon,
1834
01:21:05,361 --> 01:21:06,829
which ironically,
1835
01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:09,405
I don't see how anything could have been
1836
01:21:09,406 --> 01:21:11,204
any more interesting than Miranda.
1837
01:21:11,205 --> 01:21:14,204
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
1838
01:21:15,329 --> 01:21:18,082
It looked like a jumbled-up mess.
1839
01:21:21,293 --> 01:21:23,883
- This moon looked like it
had been ripped to pieces
1840
01:21:23,884 --> 01:21:26,339
and then just sort of
shoved back together again.
1841
01:21:26,340 --> 01:21:27,216
- Whoa!
1842
01:21:27,216 --> 01:21:28,136
Come look at this.
1843
01:21:28,137 --> 01:21:29,430
- Going up to the screen
and pointing and saying,
1844
01:21:29,431 --> 01:21:31,224
"Look at that, look at that."
1845
01:21:31,225 --> 01:21:34,097
- Nobody was ready for Miranda.
1846
01:21:34,098 --> 01:21:37,934
- In parts there were
enormous cliffs and gashes
1847
01:21:37,935 --> 01:21:40,404
in which fault blocks had dropped down.
1848
01:21:40,405 --> 01:21:43,773
And one of them, you can
see the edge of a cliff
1849
01:21:43,774 --> 01:21:44,696
that is so,
1850
01:21:46,276 --> 01:21:49,070
it's gotta be 10 kilometres tall.
1851
01:21:49,071 --> 01:21:51,656
Now the gravity on Miranda is so weak
1852
01:21:51,657 --> 01:21:54,409
that if you jumped off
the edge of that cliff,
1853
01:21:54,410 --> 01:21:56,708
you could read the newspaper
1854
01:21:57,955 --> 01:21:59,332
on the way down.
1855
01:22:00,332 --> 01:22:04,419
You probably would fall for 20 minutes.
1856
01:22:04,420 --> 01:22:05,467
But when you hit the bottom you'd
1857
01:22:05,468 --> 01:22:07,009
still be going 100 miles an hour.
1858
01:22:07,010 --> 01:22:09,632
And so it probably wouldn't,
1859
01:22:09,633 --> 01:22:12,635
it would be the last newspaper you read.
1860
01:22:12,636 --> 01:22:15,560
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1861
01:22:21,353 --> 01:22:23,229
- One of the things
that we have to remember
1862
01:22:23,230 --> 01:22:27,150
about Uranus is it was a
very sad time for everybody.
1863
01:22:27,151 --> 01:22:30,194
Because we were just about to
1864
01:22:30,195 --> 01:22:32,697
present all our results.
1865
01:22:32,698 --> 01:22:34,120
We were all about to have to the
1866
01:22:34,121 --> 01:22:36,960
big final finale press conference.
1867
01:22:38,912 --> 01:22:40,746
Came back from breakfast
1868
01:22:40,747 --> 01:22:42,590
and I went to go watch
1869
01:22:44,001 --> 01:22:45,546
the shuttle being launched.
1870
01:22:45,547 --> 01:22:47,717
- [NARRATOR] We have main engine start.
1871
01:22:47,718 --> 01:22:48,838
Four, three,
1872
01:22:48,839 --> 01:22:49,681
two, one.
1873
01:22:51,258 --> 01:22:53,092
And liftoff.
1874
01:22:53,093 --> 01:22:55,720
Liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission
1875
01:22:55,721 --> 01:22:58,139
and it has cleared the tower.
1876
01:22:58,140 --> 01:23:00,108
- And we thought, "Okay
great, we'll watch the shuttle
1877
01:23:00,109 --> 01:23:02,819
"launch and then we'll go
to the press conference."
1878
01:23:02,820 --> 01:23:05,771
But of course that was Challenger.
1879
01:23:05,772 --> 01:23:06,648
- [NARRATOR] Engine throttling up.
1880
01:23:06,649 --> 01:23:08,316
Three engine now at 104%.
1881
01:23:08,317 --> 01:23:10,570
- [NARRATOR] Challenger,
go with throttle up.
1882
01:23:10,571 --> 01:23:13,779
- [NARRATOR] Roger, go with throttle up.
1883
01:23:13,780 --> 01:23:16,624
(FAINT EXPLOSION)
1884
01:23:19,161 --> 01:23:21,287
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
1885
01:23:21,288 --> 01:23:23,461
- People were just like
astonished, this gasp like,
1886
01:23:23,462 --> 01:23:24,499
"Oh my.
1887
01:23:24,500 --> 01:23:25,500
"Did you see that?
1888
01:23:25,501 --> 01:23:27,090
"Did it really blow up?"
1889
01:23:27,091 --> 01:23:28,961
Because we had stopped in our meeting
1890
01:23:28,962 --> 01:23:30,382
so everyone could watch it,
1891
01:23:30,383 --> 01:23:33,758
and then there was just
silence, people were crying.
1892
01:23:33,759 --> 01:23:35,343
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC)
1893
01:23:35,344 --> 01:23:37,845
- [NARRATOR] Well, what can you say?
1894
01:23:37,846 --> 01:23:39,189
You knew right away that
1895
01:23:39,190 --> 01:23:42,141
a bunch of people were dead.
1896
01:23:42,142 --> 01:23:43,610
- [NARRATOR] Flight Throttle, go ahead.
1897
01:23:43,611 --> 01:23:47,072
- [NARRATOR] RSO reports vehicle exploded.
1898
01:23:48,815 --> 01:23:50,233
- [NARRATOR] COPY-
1899
01:23:50,234 --> 01:23:53,078
- And then of course they
showed replays and replays
1900
01:23:53,079 --> 01:23:57,198
and replays over and over and over again.
1901
01:23:57,199 --> 01:23:59,200
- [NARRATOR] We have no downlink.
1902
01:23:59,201 --> 01:24:01,953
- [NARRATOR] Okay, everybody,
just stay off the telephones.
1903
01:24:01,954 --> 01:24:03,627
Make sure you maintain all your data,
1904
01:24:03,628 --> 01:24:05,414
start pulling it together.
1905
01:24:05,415 --> 01:24:06,961
- The Challenger accident happened
1906
01:24:06,962 --> 01:24:08,673
as we were receding from Uranus.
1907
01:24:08,674 --> 01:24:11,716
I have this vivid memory
of picture after picture
1908
01:24:11,717 --> 01:24:13,714
of the crescent Uranus coming back
1909
01:24:13,715 --> 01:24:16,514
and the replay of the
Challenger explosion,
1910
01:24:16,515 --> 01:24:18,928
and it was just devastating.
1911
01:24:18,929 --> 01:24:22,390
- Today is a day for
mourning and remembering.
1912
01:24:22,391 --> 01:24:24,018
Nancy and I are pained to the core
1913
01:24:24,019 --> 01:24:26,394
over the tragedy of
the shuttle Challenger.
1914
01:24:26,395 --> 01:24:27,612
We know we share this pain
1915
01:24:27,613 --> 01:24:30,231
with all of the people of our country.
1916
01:24:30,232 --> 01:24:32,650
This is truly a national loss.
1917
01:24:32,651 --> 01:24:33,868
I know it's hard to understand,
1918
01:24:33,869 --> 01:24:37,280
but sometimes painful
things like this happen.
1919
01:24:37,281 --> 01:24:38,533
It's all part of the process
1920
01:24:38,534 --> 01:24:41,075
of exploration and discovery.
1921
01:24:41,076 --> 01:24:42,952
It's all part of taking a chance
1922
01:24:42,953 --> 01:24:45,746
and expanding man's horizons.
1923
01:24:45,747 --> 01:24:48,958
The future doesn't belong
to the faint hearted,
1924
01:24:48,959 --> 01:24:51,085
it belongs to the brave.
1925
01:24:51,086 --> 01:24:52,463
- [NARRATOR] Reports
from the flight officer
1926
01:24:52,464 --> 01:24:55,172
indicate impact in the water.
1927
01:24:55,173 --> 01:24:58,134
Approximately 28.64 degrees north.
1928
01:24:58,135 --> 01:24:59,682
80.28 degrees west.
1929
01:25:06,018 --> 01:25:08,066
- During these closest
approach time periods,
1930
01:25:08,067 --> 01:25:11,439
we would have hundreds
of reporters come to JPL,
1931
01:25:11,440 --> 01:25:14,609
and it was great news atmosphere.
1932
01:25:14,610 --> 01:25:17,778
And when the Challenger exploded,
1933
01:25:17,779 --> 01:25:19,363
everybody just left.
1934
01:25:19,364 --> 01:25:20,909
(HIGH PITCHED SCREECHING)
1935
01:25:20,910 --> 01:25:23,251
- [NARRATOR] It was
really a very sad time.
1936
01:25:23,252 --> 01:25:26,247
Sad ending to another great mission.
1937
01:25:29,791 --> 01:25:32,715
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1938
01:25:35,380 --> 01:25:37,131
- Those cosmic questions we hope to learn
1939
01:25:37,132 --> 01:25:38,341
by sending our machines out,
1940
01:25:38,342 --> 01:25:39,309
the very same questions
1941
01:25:39,310 --> 01:25:41,554
that you and I and every
child has asked themselves.
1942
01:25:41,555 --> 01:25:43,267
"Where do we come from, are we alone,
1943
01:25:43,268 --> 01:25:45,810
"what's the universe made
of, how will it end?"
1944
01:25:45,811 --> 01:25:47,024
All of these basic questions
1945
01:25:47,025 --> 01:25:50,112
are the questions that drive science.
1946
01:25:53,649 --> 01:25:54,990
I do cosmology, I study the beginning
1947
01:25:54,991 --> 01:25:56,405
and end of the universe
and sometimes people say,
1948
01:25:56,406 --> 01:25:57,652
"What's that good for?"
1949
01:25:57,653 --> 01:25:59,246
And I always say to them,
"You don't ask what's a
1950
01:25:59,247 --> 01:26:00,910
"Mozart symphony good for?
1951
01:26:00,911 --> 01:26:02,740
"Or a Picasso painting.“
1952
01:26:02,741 --> 01:26:04,617
But science somehow seems in order to be
1953
01:26:04,618 --> 01:26:06,746
useful for people it has
to produce technology.
1954
01:26:06,747 --> 01:26:10,873
But the beautiful thing
about science is the ideas.
1955
01:26:10,874 --> 01:26:13,542
From a child you ask your parents why.
1956
01:26:13,543 --> 01:26:14,919
But when you grow up you finally realise
1957
01:26:14,920 --> 01:26:17,673
that what you really mean is how.
1958
01:26:20,008 --> 01:26:21,759
Einstein has told us that
us that space and time
1959
01:26:21,760 --> 01:26:23,427
are tied together.
1960
01:26:23,428 --> 01:26:26,263
Integrally, we live in a space time.
1961
01:26:26,264 --> 01:26:28,265
If our universe came into beings
1962
01:26:28,266 --> 01:26:31,315
and space popped into
existence, then so did time.
1963
01:26:31,316 --> 01:26:34,230
And so time itself may not have existed
1964
01:26:34,231 --> 01:26:35,778
literally before the big bang.
1965
01:26:35,779 --> 01:26:37,483
So there was no before.
1966
01:26:37,484 --> 01:26:39,578
And that seems crazy, because
if there was no before,
1967
01:26:39,579 --> 01:26:41,195
all these ideas of cause and effect
1968
01:26:41,196 --> 01:26:42,491
et cetera go out the window.
1969
01:26:42,492 --> 01:26:44,867
But all it means is that
we'll have to change
1970
01:26:44,868 --> 01:26:46,617
the way we understand things.
1971
01:26:46,618 --> 01:26:49,542
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
1972
01:26:52,124 --> 01:26:53,791
Another possibility is that our Big Bang
1973
01:26:53,792 --> 01:26:55,543
is just one of an infinite
number of Big Bang's
1974
01:26:55,544 --> 01:26:59,547
that are occurring in what
we now call a multiverse.
1975
01:26:59,548 --> 01:27:01,841
It's an amazing change of view
1976
01:27:01,842 --> 01:27:04,138
which makes us yet even
more insignificant.
1977
01:27:04,139 --> 01:27:05,932
We were insignificant enough travelling
1978
01:27:05,933 --> 01:27:07,555
around the Sun in the middle of nowhere
1979
01:27:07,556 --> 01:27:10,228
around a random galaxy
amongst 100 billion galaxies,
1980
01:27:10,229 --> 01:27:12,353
but now we know that
even the whole universe
1981
01:27:12,354 --> 01:27:15,604
that we call home may
just be an insignificant
1982
01:27:15,605 --> 01:27:18,484
something in the midst
of something much bigger.
1983
01:27:18,485 --> 01:27:20,484
The history of science is to remove us
1984
01:27:20,485 --> 01:27:24,115
ever further from the centre
of the universe if you wish.
1985
01:27:24,116 --> 01:27:26,458
Or the centre of the action.
1986
01:27:30,412 --> 01:27:33,205
(STATIC)
1987
01:27:33,206 --> 01:27:36,041
- Finally at Neptune, Voyager's begun
1988
01:27:36,042 --> 01:27:38,169
the last of a decades worth
1989
01:27:38,170 --> 01:27:40,385
of encounters with the outer planets.
1990
01:27:40,386 --> 01:27:42,303
- It was another three and a half years
1991
01:27:42,304 --> 01:27:44,091
to get out to Neptune.
1992
01:27:44,092 --> 01:27:46,260
They had to reprogram
the spacecraft again,
1993
01:27:46,261 --> 01:27:47,558
give it, teach it some new tricks,
1994
01:27:47,559 --> 01:27:49,272
to work in this even darker environment,
1995
01:27:49,273 --> 01:27:51,266
even colder environment.
1996
01:27:52,142 --> 01:27:53,359
- [NARRATOR] If we take the Earth
1997
01:27:53,360 --> 01:27:55,269
being one astronomical unit
1998
01:27:55,270 --> 01:27:57,897
from the Sun, or AU for short.
1999
01:27:57,898 --> 01:28:00,274
Neptune is 30 times that distance.
2000
01:28:00,275 --> 01:28:01,447
- [NARRATOR] When we launched Voyager,
2001
01:28:01,448 --> 01:28:03,194
there was no capability to get
2002
01:28:03,195 --> 01:28:05,821
any images back from 30 AU.
2003
01:28:05,822 --> 01:28:08,949
That capability happened all after launch.
2004
01:28:08,950 --> 01:28:11,994
It involved reprogramming the spacecraft,
2005
01:28:11,995 --> 01:28:14,371
taking two 34-meter antennas
2006
01:28:14,372 --> 01:28:16,791
and adding them to a 70-meter antenna.
2007
01:28:16,792 --> 01:28:18,713
- [NARRATOR] Copy, we're
ready to run that observation.
2008
01:28:18,714 --> 01:28:20,087
- [NARRATOR] It meant using the entire
2009
01:28:20,088 --> 01:28:21,884
very large array in New Mexico,
2010
01:28:21,885 --> 01:28:25,007
27 antennas to collect
the very weak signal
2011
01:28:25,008 --> 01:28:27,510
that we could get back from 30 AU.
2012
01:28:27,511 --> 01:28:28,763
- The flybys past Jupiter,
2013
01:28:28,764 --> 01:28:31,477
Saturn, and Uranus, had
sped up the spacecraft too,
2014
01:28:31,478 --> 01:28:32,975
so it's going even faster.
2015
01:28:32,976 --> 01:28:37,061
So enormous amounts of
pressure, and one shot.
2016
01:28:37,062 --> 01:28:39,986
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
2017
01:28:47,364 --> 01:28:48,331
- [NARRATOR] There it was just sitting
2018
01:28:48,332 --> 01:28:49,868
out on the edge of our solar system
2019
01:28:49,869 --> 01:28:51,580
waiting for somebody to come out
2020
01:28:51,581 --> 01:28:53,202
and appreciate its beauty.
2021
01:28:53,203 --> 01:28:54,455
Just waiting for the day
2022
01:28:54,456 --> 01:28:58,254
that humans would get
out there, and go "Wow!“
2023
01:29:00,001 --> 01:29:01,093
- [NARRATOR] Neptune was photogenic
2024
01:29:01,094 --> 01:29:02,586
right from the beginning.
2025
01:29:02,587 --> 01:29:04,305
- [NARRATOR] I had been
taking pictures of Neptune
2026
01:29:04,306 --> 01:29:07,469
from the ground where we
couldn't see very much.
2027
01:29:07,470 --> 01:29:10,141
You know, in my head imagining
what it might look like
2028
01:29:10,142 --> 01:29:14,974
and seeing that turned
into reality, it's a rush.
2029
01:29:14,975 --> 01:29:16,898
- Looking at this blue,
2030
01:29:17,936 --> 01:29:19,937
bright blue orb.
2031
01:29:19,938 --> 01:29:22,690
In some ways it was
evocative of the Earth,
2032
01:29:22,691 --> 01:29:25,734
which seemed very bizarre for the last
2033
01:29:25,735 --> 01:29:27,578
planet that we were flying by.
2034
01:29:27,579 --> 01:29:30,495
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
2035
01:29:34,286 --> 01:29:36,954
- I was a meticulous log taker
2036
01:29:36,955 --> 01:29:39,545
and I would make little
notations in these logs
2037
01:29:39,546 --> 01:29:41,505
and I would draw little pictures,
2038
01:29:41,506 --> 01:29:43,754
and you could see what's
this little dark spot,
2039
01:29:43,755 --> 01:29:46,338
bright clouds, I'm like wow!
2040
01:29:46,339 --> 01:29:47,215
WOW!
2041
01:29:47,215 --> 01:29:48,091
Exclamation point!
2042
01:29:48,092 --> 01:29:50,593
And I'd draw pictures and arrows.
2043
01:29:50,594 --> 01:29:52,344
The most surprising thing
2044
01:29:52,345 --> 01:29:54,188
was a giant dark spot.
2045
01:29:55,849 --> 01:29:58,142
Nobody had any idea that would be there.
2046
01:29:58,143 --> 01:29:59,019
It's huge!
2047
01:29:59,020 --> 01:30:01,103
It's like a hole in the planet.
2048
01:30:01,104 --> 01:30:03,689
So we called it The Great Dark Spot
2049
01:30:03,690 --> 01:30:06,364
because we're not very original
when it comes to names.
2050
01:30:06,365 --> 01:30:09,704
(ELECTRIC GUITAR MUSIC)
2051
01:30:12,949 --> 01:30:15,202
- We had to basically make a forecast
2052
01:30:15,203 --> 01:30:19,038
of the storms on Neptune in
order to point the cameras
2053
01:30:19,039 --> 01:30:20,581
during the last day.
2054
01:30:20,582 --> 01:30:22,124
And at the same time
2055
01:30:22,125 --> 01:30:23,584
there was a hurricane
2056
01:30:23,585 --> 01:30:26,045
off the east coast of the US,
2057
01:30:26,046 --> 01:30:28,589
and the weather forecasters
2058
01:30:28,590 --> 01:30:31,383
were trying to forecast that hurricane.
2059
01:30:31,384 --> 01:30:32,260
(LOUD THUNDER)
2060
01:30:32,261 --> 01:30:33,432
But they were trying to forecast
2061
01:30:33,433 --> 01:30:35,304
it 12 hours in advance
2062
01:30:35,305 --> 01:30:36,727
and they were having a lot of trouble
2063
01:30:36,728 --> 01:30:39,101
because the storm kept changing position.
2064
01:30:39,102 --> 01:30:41,068
And we were just calmly plotting
2065
01:30:41,069 --> 01:30:42,561
points on graph paper
2066
01:30:42,562 --> 01:30:44,906
and then say, “Okay, two weeks from now,
2067
01:30:44,907 --> 01:30:49,068
"this storm is going to be
right here" and it usually was.
2068
01:30:49,069 --> 01:30:52,448
(ELECTRIC GUITAR MUSIC)
2069
01:30:53,531 --> 01:30:56,033
- At Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus,
2070
01:30:56,034 --> 01:30:58,661
the goal was to do a flyby
2071
01:30:58,662 --> 01:31:00,380
that would take the spacecraft
2072
01:31:00,381 --> 01:31:02,539
on to the next planet.
2073
01:31:02,540 --> 01:31:04,166
When it came to Neptune
2074
01:31:04,167 --> 01:31:06,168
we knew that that was the last planet
2075
01:31:06,169 --> 01:31:07,637
that we were going to fly by,
2076
01:31:07,638 --> 01:31:09,505
and so we could take
2077
01:31:09,506 --> 01:31:11,298
a different trajectory.
2078
01:31:11,299 --> 01:31:13,300
This allowed us to get a really
2079
01:31:13,301 --> 01:31:15,344
spectacular view of the rings
2080
01:31:15,345 --> 01:31:17,143
and then look back on the system
2081
01:31:17,144 --> 01:31:19,937
in a way that was quite beautiful.
2082
01:31:21,142 --> 01:31:23,814
- Think about imaging
the rings of Neptune.
2083
01:31:23,815 --> 01:31:25,234
They have reflectivity which
2084
01:31:25,235 --> 01:31:27,272
is twice as dark as soot,
2085
01:31:27,273 --> 01:31:29,024
and the light that's falling on them
2086
01:31:29,025 --> 01:31:32,361
is 1,000 times fainter than on Earth.
2087
01:31:32,362 --> 01:31:34,405
So you have one one-thousandth the light
2088
01:31:34,406 --> 01:31:35,828
and you're trying to image something
2089
01:31:35,829 --> 01:31:37,497
which is twice as dark as soot
2090
01:31:37,498 --> 01:31:39,618
against a jet-black background.
2091
01:31:39,619 --> 01:31:41,578
- More than one ring could be
2092
01:31:41,579 --> 01:31:42,796
seen even in the raw images.
2093
01:31:42,797 --> 01:31:44,415
The so-called ring arcs.
2094
01:31:44,416 --> 01:31:48,091
And it seemed reasonable that
this was indeed the lost arc
2095
01:31:48,092 --> 01:31:52,011
that our imaging team
raiders were looking for.
2096
01:31:55,802 --> 01:31:57,270
Now you're going to turn on me, right?
2097
01:31:57,271 --> 01:31:59,138
(LAUGHTER)
2098
01:31:59,139 --> 01:32:01,140
- [NARRATOR] We knew at Neptune
2099
01:32:01,141 --> 01:32:03,684
we wanted a close flyby of Triton,
2100
01:32:03,685 --> 01:32:05,686
which was a huge world and a retrograde
2101
01:32:05,687 --> 01:32:07,980
orbit around Neptune.
2102
01:32:07,981 --> 01:32:09,574
- If you looked at them on the way in,
2103
01:32:09,575 --> 01:32:11,233
they weren't lined up.
2104
01:32:11,234 --> 01:32:14,278
One's up here and one's down here.
2105
01:32:14,279 --> 01:32:15,701
And so, what are you going to do?
2106
01:32:15,702 --> 01:32:17,614
Well, there was a way.
2107
01:32:17,615 --> 01:32:21,326
And the way was to fly
over the north pole,
2108
01:32:21,327 --> 01:32:23,079
very close to Neptune
2109
01:32:23,955 --> 01:32:27,249
to bend the spacecraft
so it would go down.
2110
01:32:27,250 --> 01:32:29,585
And then intersect Triton.
2111
01:32:29,586 --> 01:32:30,674
- But that meant getting to
2112
01:32:30,675 --> 01:32:32,138
within just a few thousand miles
2113
01:32:32,139 --> 01:32:33,380
of the cloud tops.
2114
01:32:33,381 --> 01:32:36,383
Which is like skimming the surface.
2115
01:32:36,384 --> 01:32:37,476
And they had to hit that,
2116
01:32:37,477 --> 01:32:39,471
you know, exactly right.
2117
01:32:40,388 --> 01:32:41,435
- There was a lot of concern
2118
01:32:41,436 --> 01:32:45,184
that we didn't know enough
about Neptune's atmosphere
2119
01:32:45,185 --> 01:32:49,521
to really be sure that the
spacecraft would not tumble.
2120
01:32:49,522 --> 01:32:51,320
It's also possible that
there were particles
2121
01:32:51,321 --> 01:32:53,317
in these ring arcs that we might
2122
01:32:53,318 --> 01:32:55,652
go through a cloud of shrapnel.
2123
01:32:55,653 --> 01:32:57,747
And that would be the
end of the spacecraft
2124
01:32:57,748 --> 01:32:58,956
if We did that.
2125
01:32:59,949 --> 01:33:02,326
- Just a slight error in the calculations
2126
01:33:02,327 --> 01:33:04,623
and instead of skimming
across the cloud tops,
2127
01:33:04,624 --> 01:33:06,123
you're skimming into the clouds
2128
01:33:06,124 --> 01:33:08,123
and the spacecraft burns up.
2129
01:33:08,124 --> 01:33:09,500
Slight error the other way,
2130
01:33:09,501 --> 01:33:11,629
you go a little too far,
you don't bend enough,
2131
01:33:11,630 --> 01:33:13,504
maybe you run right into Triton and crash,
2132
01:33:13,505 --> 01:33:15,422
and that's the end of the mission.
2133
01:33:15,423 --> 01:33:16,299
You don't have enough time,
2134
01:33:16,300 --> 01:33:19,009
you have to make your last best guess,
2135
01:33:19,010 --> 01:33:21,136
hit the send button.
2136
01:33:21,137 --> 01:33:23,514
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
2137
01:33:23,515 --> 01:33:24,979
It would have been just fascinating
2138
01:33:24,980 --> 01:33:27,564
to be hanging on to
that spacecraft, right?
2139
01:33:27,565 --> 01:33:28,903
Skimming over these beautiful
2140
01:33:28,904 --> 01:33:31,355
blue cloud tops of Neptune.
2141
01:33:31,356 --> 01:33:33,529
And then as you come
over the pole of Neptune
2142
01:33:33,530 --> 01:33:36,777
seeing that big moon Triton rise up...
2143
01:33:36,778 --> 01:33:39,782
VOYAGER PASSED A MERE 3,000 MILES ABOVE NEPTUNE'S
NORTH POLE, ARRIVING WITH SPLIT SECOND ACCURACY.
2144
01:33:45,495 --> 01:33:47,585
- After several billion miles of journey
2145
01:33:47,586 --> 01:33:49,206
to get us to within a few kilometres
2146
01:33:49,207 --> 01:33:50,207
of where we needed to be,
2147
01:33:50,208 --> 01:33:52,751
it's just absolutely remarkable.
2148
01:33:52,752 --> 01:33:56,296
You know, threading an incredible needle.
2149
01:33:56,297 --> 01:33:58,298
- Southern hemisphere of Triton
2150
01:33:58,299 --> 01:34:01,510
is entirely covered with nitrogen ice.
2151
01:34:01,511 --> 01:34:03,184
And as we flew past,
2152
01:34:04,597 --> 01:34:05,439
here we go again.
2153
01:34:05,440 --> 01:34:06,974
As we flew past,
2154
01:34:06,975 --> 01:34:08,934
we were able to look down
2155
01:34:08,935 --> 01:34:13,230
at markings on the
surface of the polar cap.
2156
01:34:13,231 --> 01:34:14,653
We were putting together
2157
01:34:14,654 --> 01:34:16,868
a mosaic of Triton's globe,
2158
01:34:17,861 --> 01:34:21,613
but we couldn't get things
to line up quite right.
2159
01:34:21,614 --> 01:34:22,739
Some of the dark streaks,
2160
01:34:22,740 --> 01:34:25,409
two in particular would not line up.
2161
01:34:25,410 --> 01:34:26,707
- He's like just scratching his head,
2162
01:34:26,708 --> 01:34:29,043
like I have no idea what's going on here.
2163
01:34:29,044 --> 01:34:31,290
This guy's one of the world's experts
2164
01:34:31,291 --> 01:34:33,339
on anything having to do
with planets and moons,
2165
01:34:33,340 --> 01:34:35,419
and he can't figure this out?
2166
01:34:35,420 --> 01:34:38,172
- The only crazy idea that's left
2167
01:34:38,173 --> 01:34:39,265
is eruptions.
2168
01:34:41,259 --> 01:34:43,557
- I said "Well let's put
it in stereo viewer."
2169
01:34:43,558 --> 01:34:45,305
Red and blue glasses.
2170
01:34:47,807 --> 01:34:50,559
And the images fused into
a three-dimensional model
2171
01:34:50,560 --> 01:34:52,811
and up popped these geysers.
2172
01:34:52,812 --> 01:34:55,486
(FAINT POPPING)
2173
01:34:56,983 --> 01:34:59,193
And I said "Holy moly!"
2174
01:34:59,194 --> 01:35:01,528
And so we knew what we had.
2175
01:35:01,529 --> 01:35:04,123
(UPBEAT MUSIC)
2176
01:35:13,249 --> 01:35:14,708
- These plumes.
2177
01:35:14,709 --> 01:35:17,804
Black geysers spewing out this stuff.
2178
01:35:19,839 --> 01:35:21,506
- The plumes
2179
01:35:21,507 --> 01:35:23,885
extending out of the surface
2180
01:35:25,220 --> 01:35:27,512
for like kilometres.
2181
01:35:27,513 --> 01:35:29,356
- We were We were seeing eruptions
2182
01:35:29,357 --> 01:35:31,600
on a world which should have been
2183
01:35:31,601 --> 01:35:33,353
just a frozen cinder.
2184
01:35:35,063 --> 01:35:36,360
The last place we would have expected
2185
01:35:36,361 --> 01:35:39,775
to see further dynamics, further eruptions
2186
01:35:39,776 --> 01:35:42,746
was at a moon this remote
in the solar system.
2187
01:35:42,747 --> 01:35:45,405
- This is at 37 degrees
2188
01:35:45,406 --> 01:35:47,783
above absolute zero.
2189
01:35:47,784 --> 01:35:50,869
So there's solar driven geysers
2190
01:35:50,870 --> 01:35:55,046
on a satellite that's 30
astronomical units from the Sun.
2191
01:35:58,086 --> 01:35:59,586
Who would have thought?
2192
01:35:59,587 --> 01:36:00,679
- Just because in idea is crazy
2193
01:36:00,680 --> 01:36:02,299
it's not necessarily wrong.
2194
01:36:02,300 --> 01:36:03,715
(LAUGHTER)
2195
01:36:03,716 --> 01:36:06,134
- We knew this was the last planet,
2196
01:36:06,135 --> 01:36:08,762
Voyager would explore before it headed on
2197
01:36:08,763 --> 01:36:11,223
for the rest of its journey.
2198
01:36:11,224 --> 01:36:14,601
And so I think the times
together as a team,
2199
01:36:14,602 --> 01:36:17,025
the times to look at the pictures, talk,
2200
01:36:17,026 --> 01:36:19,523
meet together, became more precious.
2201
01:36:19,524 --> 01:36:23,485
- I was passing by the secretary's desk
2202
01:36:23,486 --> 01:36:25,739
and she said, "Oh,
Candy, there's a reporter
2203
01:36:25,740 --> 01:36:28,156
"that wants to talk to you.“
2204
01:36:28,157 --> 01:36:31,243
And he said, "The countdown clock
2205
01:36:31,244 --> 01:36:33,087
"just went from minus,
2206
01:36:34,289 --> 01:36:36,838
"counting down, to counting up.
2207
01:36:38,668 --> 01:36:41,387
"Voyager's now leaving Neptune."
2208
01:36:42,463 --> 01:36:46,591
And he said “How does that make you feel?"
2209
01:36:46,592 --> 01:36:50,187
And in that moment, I
dissolved into tears.
2210
01:36:51,389 --> 01:36:52,806
- After the spacecraft went past,
2211
01:36:52,807 --> 01:36:54,024
it turned around and looked back,
2212
01:36:54,025 --> 01:36:57,112
and there's this beautiful
crescent Neptune and Triton,
2213
01:36:57,113 --> 01:36:59,855
and people realised that's the end
2214
01:36:59,856 --> 01:37:01,820
of the planetary part of Voyager.
2215
01:37:01,821 --> 01:37:03,734
That's the last port of call,
2216
01:37:03,735 --> 01:37:04,907
the last thing we'll see in our
2217
01:37:04,908 --> 01:37:07,571
solar system is now behind us.
2218
01:37:07,572 --> 01:37:09,620
And it went from the
Voyager planetary mission
2219
01:37:09,621 --> 01:37:12,826
to the Voyager interstellar mission.
2220
01:37:12,827 --> 01:37:14,545
- Of all the images that
was one of the most poignant
2221
01:37:14,546 --> 01:37:17,748
because it was out
goodbye or farewell image.
2222
01:37:17,749 --> 01:37:19,708
- We could have
2223
01:37:19,709 --> 01:37:21,752
enhanced the colour a bit
2224
01:37:21,753 --> 01:37:24,343
to make a somewhat prettier picture but,
2225
01:37:24,344 --> 01:37:26,137
out of respect to the Voyager spacecraft
2226
01:37:26,138 --> 01:37:29,682
we decided to show it
to you just as it is.
2227
01:37:32,972 --> 01:37:35,191
(APPLAUSE)
2228
01:37:36,100 --> 01:37:39,895
So this was Voyager's farewell to us
2229
01:37:39,896 --> 01:37:43,148
and that's our farewell to you.
2230
01:37:43,149 --> 01:37:45,359
- The way I looked at it was see,
2231
01:37:45,360 --> 01:37:47,829
we did something really great.
2232
01:37:48,780 --> 01:37:51,490
Very, very successful mission.
2233
01:37:51,491 --> 01:37:53,075
- A little weepy.
2234
01:37:53,076 --> 01:37:55,170
I mean there was a lot of
2235
01:37:56,120 --> 01:37:58,455
energy put into this mission.
2236
01:37:58,456 --> 01:38:02,084
- [NARRATOR] We have ignition
and we have lift-off!
2237
01:38:02,085 --> 01:38:05,009
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC)
2238
01:38:10,218 --> 01:38:12,391
- Years of intense effort.
2239
01:38:15,932 --> 01:38:19,232
It was the end of a sentimental journey.
2240
01:38:22,772 --> 01:38:23,614
- We did it.
2241
01:38:23,615 --> 01:38:25,065
We pulled it off.
2242
01:38:25,066 --> 01:38:27,067
And that's important.
2243
01:38:27,068 --> 01:38:28,568
It is.
2244
01:38:28,569 --> 01:38:31,163
(UPBEAT MUSIC)
2245
01:38:35,118 --> 01:38:37,246
- [NARRATOR] We had a big party at JPL,
2246
01:38:37,247 --> 01:38:39,788
so that was a good send off for Voyager.
2247
01:38:39,789 --> 01:38:40,961
- With a little sarcasm I'll say
2248
01:38:40,962 --> 01:38:42,675
that JPL's the greatest moment was when
2249
01:38:42,676 --> 01:38:45,252
Chuck Berry was on the steps of our
2250
01:38:45,253 --> 01:38:47,676
administrative building
doing the duck walk
2251
01:38:47,677 --> 01:38:49,423
to Johnny B. Geode.
2252
01:38:49,424 --> 01:38:51,263
- Chuck Berry, he was present at the
2253
01:38:51,264 --> 01:38:52,806
Neptune encounter celebration
2254
01:38:52,807 --> 01:38:54,804
singing Johnny B. Goode.
2255
01:38:55,805 --> 01:38:58,149
- The star of the party, Chuck Berry
2256
01:38:58,150 --> 01:39:01,101
came out from behind the wall
2257
01:39:01,102 --> 01:39:03,437
of building 180 and played
2258
01:39:03,438 --> 01:39:05,939
Johnny B. Goode live.
2259
01:39:05,940 --> 01:39:09,234
Everybody started dancing
and it was fabulous.
2260
01:39:09,235 --> 01:39:12,320
- Ed Stone was dancing to Johnny B. Goode.
2261
01:39:12,321 --> 01:39:13,288
It was something to see.
2262
01:39:13,289 --> 01:39:14,948
Everybody was dancing.
2263
01:39:14,949 --> 01:39:16,371
- [NARRATOR] Rockstar moment
2264
01:39:16,372 --> 01:39:18,040
and sail on Voyager.
2265
01:39:19,704 --> 01:39:21,997
♫ Go ♫
2266
01:39:21,998 --> 01:39:24,916
♫ Johnny B. Goode ♫
2267
01:39:24,917 --> 01:39:26,134
- And I'm gonna go get some sleep
2268
01:39:26,135 --> 01:39:28,255
or maybe I'll do a little more dancing.
2269
01:39:28,256 --> 01:39:29,631
Thank you very much, Lou?
2270
01:39:29,632 --> 01:39:31,883
(CHEERING)
2271
01:39:34,844 --> 01:39:37,641
- Meanwhile Voyager One is still
kind of cruising out there,
2272
01:39:37,642 --> 01:39:39,222
getting farther and farther out,
2273
01:39:39,223 --> 01:39:40,566
and a number of folks on the team,
2274
01:39:40,567 --> 01:39:41,855
including Carl Sagan,
2275
01:39:41,856 --> 01:39:43,977
had this idea that before we
2276
01:39:43,978 --> 01:39:46,021
have to shut the cameras down,
2277
01:39:46,022 --> 01:39:47,355
let's turn around,
2278
01:39:47,356 --> 01:39:48,776
look back towards the Sun
2279
01:39:48,777 --> 01:39:49,900
and let's take a picture
2280
01:39:49,901 --> 01:39:52,241
of our solar system
unlike any that had ever
2281
01:39:52,242 --> 01:39:53,406
been taken before.
2282
01:39:53,407 --> 01:39:55,530
And there was actually opposition to it.
2283
01:39:55,531 --> 01:39:56,656
They just didn't want to do it!
2284
01:39:56,657 --> 01:39:58,033
They couldn't get their heads around
2285
01:39:58,034 --> 01:40:00,249
what would be the point
of taking a picture
2286
01:40:00,250 --> 01:40:02,370
of the Earth and Jupiter and so on
2287
01:40:02,371 --> 01:40:03,418
because they're just going to be
2288
01:40:03,419 --> 01:40:04,757
little points of light.
2289
01:40:04,758 --> 01:40:06,296
So Carl being Carl
2290
01:40:07,585 --> 01:40:09,053
actually went all the way
2291
01:40:09,054 --> 01:40:10,962
to the NASA administrator
2292
01:40:10,963 --> 01:40:12,839
and got the NASA administrator to direct
2293
01:40:12,840 --> 01:40:14,683
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2294
01:40:14,684 --> 01:40:17,219
to take this series of pictures.
2295
01:40:17,220 --> 01:40:19,513
- Absolutely zero science in it.
2296
01:40:19,514 --> 01:40:20,764
Absolutely none.
2297
01:40:20,765 --> 01:40:23,689
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
2298
01:40:29,565 --> 01:40:30,780
- [NARRATOR] People
had been taking selfies
2299
01:40:30,781 --> 01:40:31,900
of our planet for as long as
2300
01:40:31,901 --> 01:40:33,652
the space program's been going on.
2301
01:40:33,653 --> 01:40:35,824
No one had ever taken one like this.
2302
01:40:35,825 --> 01:40:38,540
And they ended up on Valentines Day 1990,
2303
01:40:38,541 --> 01:40:41,701
taking this beautiful family portrait.
2304
01:40:41,702 --> 01:40:43,875
(BEEPING)
2305
01:40:45,081 --> 01:40:48,335
- When we did our portrait
of each of the planets,
2306
01:40:48,336 --> 01:40:50,302
I was the first person
to look at the pictures
2307
01:40:50,303 --> 01:40:52,170
and I knew every blemish,
2308
01:40:52,171 --> 01:40:53,842
and so I could pretty quickly go
2309
01:40:53,843 --> 01:40:55,307
blemish, blemish, blemish.
2310
01:40:55,308 --> 01:40:58,093
And I thought, "Well, where's the Earth?"
2311
01:40:58,094 --> 01:41:00,017
How could we, you know?
2312
01:41:00,888 --> 01:41:03,723
And then I realised there was a lot of,
2313
01:41:03,724 --> 01:41:08,103
there were a lot of streaks
of light in that image,
2314
01:41:08,104 --> 01:41:10,146
and I realised finally
2315
01:41:10,147 --> 01:41:11,820
that the Earth was sitting
2316
01:41:11,821 --> 01:41:14,285
in one of those rays of light.
2317
01:41:15,736 --> 01:41:17,237
You know, I just sat there for a while
2318
01:41:17,238 --> 01:41:19,406
just kind of realising
2319
01:41:19,407 --> 01:41:22,075
"Wow, that's the Earth, you know,
2320
01:41:22,076 --> 01:41:24,494
“that's Voyager looking
back at the Earth."
2321
01:41:24,495 --> 01:41:25,996
And then once I had sort of recovered,
2322
01:41:25,997 --> 01:41:27,249
I started calling people.
2323
01:41:27,250 --> 01:41:28,415
I called Brad.
2324
01:41:28,416 --> 01:41:29,292
Brad, "We got it."
2325
01:41:29,293 --> 01:41:31,209
Called Carl, “Carl, we got it.“
2326
01:41:31,210 --> 01:41:32,132
Called my dad.
2327
01:41:32,133 --> 01:41:33,795
(LAUGHTER)
2328
01:41:33,796 --> 01:41:35,760
- And so this is a
different kind of milestone
2329
01:41:35,761 --> 01:41:37,757
than the scientific milestones we've had.
2330
01:41:37,758 --> 01:41:39,676
One that is really symbolic.
2331
01:41:39,677 --> 01:41:40,724
- I'm an imaging scientist,
2332
01:41:40,725 --> 01:41:42,596
so I first realised,
oh, this didn't turn out
2333
01:41:42,597 --> 01:41:44,440
the way we thought it
was going to turn out,
2334
01:41:44,441 --> 01:41:47,267
and my first impulse is to take my hand
2335
01:41:47,268 --> 01:41:49,019
and wipe away the dust,
2336
01:41:49,020 --> 01:41:50,272
because there was some dust on it.
2337
01:41:50,273 --> 01:41:51,944
Well, one of the pieces of dust
2338
01:41:51,945 --> 01:41:55,734
that I wanted to wipe away was the Earth.
2339
01:41:55,735 --> 01:41:58,534
But it didn't matter because
in the hands of Carl,
2340
01:41:58,535 --> 01:42:01,197
he turned it into an allegory
2341
01:42:01,198 --> 01:42:03,491
on the human condition.
2342
01:42:03,492 --> 01:42:05,210
- And the next slide.
2343
01:42:12,376 --> 01:42:13,918
The Earth in a sunbeam.
2344
01:42:13,919 --> 01:42:16,504
(SOFT SLOW MUSIC)
2345
01:42:16,505 --> 01:42:17,552
And in this colour picture
2346
01:42:17,553 --> 01:42:21,092
you can see that it is in
fact less than a pixel,
2347
01:42:21,093 --> 01:42:23,219
and this is where we live,
2348
01:42:23,220 --> 01:42:25,013
on a blue dot.
2349
01:42:25,014 --> 01:42:26,436
On that blue dot.
2350
01:42:27,933 --> 01:42:30,685
That's where everyone you know
2351
01:42:30,686 --> 01:42:31,983
and everyone you ever heard of
2352
01:42:31,984 --> 01:42:34,814
and every human being who ever lived,
2353
01:42:34,815 --> 01:42:36,658
lived out their lives.
2354
01:42:38,569 --> 01:42:40,236
I think this perspective
2355
01:42:40,237 --> 01:42:43,031
underscores our responsibility
2356
01:42:43,032 --> 01:42:46,206
to preserve and cherish that blue dot,
2357
01:42:47,161 --> 01:42:49,004
the only home we have.
2358
01:42:50,289 --> 01:42:52,383
- My father talks about this little
2359
01:42:52,384 --> 01:42:55,418
tiny speck in this vast cosmic night.
2360
01:42:55,419 --> 01:42:58,171
And that we're part of something bigger.
2361
01:42:58,172 --> 01:43:00,340
And we're also alone.
2362
01:43:00,341 --> 01:43:01,684
There's a great thing where he says like
2363
01:43:01,685 --> 01:43:03,265
"There's no sign that any help is gonna
2364
01:43:03,266 --> 01:43:05,261
"come here to save us from ourselves.
2365
01:43:05,262 --> 01:43:06,805
“It's up to us."
2366
01:43:06,806 --> 01:43:09,559
(LOUD HEARTBEAT)
2367
01:43:14,772 --> 01:43:17,241
(FUNKY MUSIC)
2368
01:43:29,120 --> 01:43:31,084
- After Neptune the project continued
2369
01:43:31,085 --> 01:43:33,832
but it continued in quite a different way.
2370
01:43:33,833 --> 01:43:37,460
The Voyagers didn't
have anymore encounters.
2371
01:43:37,461 --> 01:43:40,465
They were just sailing on
out into interstellar space
2372
01:43:40,466 --> 01:43:42,465
which people didn't really understand
2373
01:43:42,466 --> 01:43:44,639
how far that was gonna be.
2374
01:43:47,388 --> 01:43:50,140
- At the time we were designing Voyager,
2375
01:43:50,141 --> 01:43:54,185
interstellar space,
where the boundary was,
2376
01:43:54,186 --> 01:43:55,904
was totally unknown.
2377
01:43:56,731 --> 01:43:57,983
We had our eyes
2378
01:43:58,983 --> 01:44:00,447
on the interstellar mission.
2379
01:44:00,448 --> 01:44:02,821
Are we going to boost the spacecraft
2380
01:44:02,822 --> 01:44:04,821
to get out of our solar system
2381
01:44:04,822 --> 01:44:07,198
and into the galaxy?
2382
01:44:07,199 --> 01:44:08,450
It was a shot in the dark
2383
01:44:08,451 --> 01:44:10,795
because nobody knew how far.
2384
01:44:13,122 --> 01:44:14,544
Uncharted waters.
2385
01:44:15,750 --> 01:44:17,965
- [NARRATOR] Goldstone, Voyager race.
2386
01:44:17,966 --> 01:44:19,836
- [NARRATOR] Voyager race, Goldstone.
2387
01:44:19,837 --> 01:44:22,088
- [NARRATOR] Please turn
command modulation on
2388
01:44:22,089 --> 01:44:22,931
at 1800.
2389
01:44:24,925 --> 01:44:28,803
- [NARRATOR] Goldstone
copies 1800 for command.
2390
01:44:28,804 --> 01:44:31,139
- [NARRATOR] That is affirmed.
2391
01:44:31,140 --> 01:44:34,269
(INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC)
2392
01:44:41,442 --> 01:44:43,536
(STATIC)
2393
01:44:52,995 --> 01:44:54,793
- We know the Sun has this
gravitational influence
2394
01:44:54,794 --> 01:44:56,334
that goes way out, almost halfway
2395
01:44:56,335 --> 01:44:57,373
to the nearest star.
2396
01:44:57,374 --> 01:44:59,468
So in terms of gravity, the
edge of the solar system
2397
01:44:59,469 --> 01:45:01,133
is gonna take Voyager 10s of thousands
2398
01:45:01,134 --> 01:45:02,879
of years to get there.
2399
01:45:02,880 --> 01:45:05,051
But, the magnetic field of the Sun
2400
01:45:05,052 --> 01:45:06,426
can only extend so far.
2401
01:45:06,427 --> 01:45:08,259
It's a bubble around our star.
2402
01:45:08,260 --> 01:45:09,182
All the stars have bubbles.
2403
01:45:09,183 --> 01:45:11,763
We can see the bubbles
run other stars out there.
2404
01:45:11,764 --> 01:45:13,061
So we know that they have bubbles.
2405
01:45:13,062 --> 01:45:14,724
Where's our bubble end?
2406
01:45:14,725 --> 01:45:16,893
Where's the influence of the Sun
2407
01:45:16,894 --> 01:45:21,606
and it's magnetic field
give way to the galaxy?
2408
01:45:21,607 --> 01:45:23,029
- [NARRATOR] We kept
going and years went by
2409
01:45:23,030 --> 01:45:24,776
and years went by and we don't
2410
01:45:24,777 --> 01:45:27,654
detect the interstellar medium.
2411
01:45:27,655 --> 01:45:30,579
(FAST PACED MUSIC)
2412
01:45:32,827 --> 01:45:35,245
- Throughout the 1990s,
2413
01:45:35,246 --> 01:45:37,711
still didn't find the edge of the bubble.
2414
01:45:37,712 --> 01:45:40,208
Throughout the 2000s, still didn't find
2415
01:45:40,209 --> 01:45:41,876
the edge of the bubble,
2416
01:45:41,877 --> 01:45:45,713
and then finally in 2012 Voyager One,
2417
01:45:45,714 --> 01:45:46,761
which is going the fastest,
2418
01:45:46,762 --> 01:45:48,424
which is the farthest,
2419
01:45:48,425 --> 01:45:50,390
started to see these funny things happen
2420
01:45:50,391 --> 01:45:51,511
to the squiggly lines.
2421
01:45:51,512 --> 01:45:54,641
Did the magnetic field of
the Sun change direction?
2422
01:45:54,642 --> 01:45:58,063
Change the kinds of particles
it was trapping dramatically?
2423
01:45:58,064 --> 01:45:59,858
And they see this crazy spike.
2424
01:45:59,859 --> 01:46:01,688
(LOUD POPPING)
2425
01:46:01,689 --> 01:46:02,689
Everybody goes, "Oh, is that it?"
2426
01:46:02,690 --> 01:46:04,899
And then it goes back to normal.
2427
01:46:04,900 --> 01:46:05,900
And then it was just literally
2428
01:46:05,901 --> 01:46:07,527
one magical day,
2429
01:46:07,528 --> 01:46:10,196
it was in August of 2012
2430
01:46:10,197 --> 01:46:12,407
that everything changed.
2431
01:46:12,408 --> 01:46:13,828
And it was like pffft,
2432
01:46:13,829 --> 01:46:15,622
just popped out of the bubble.
2433
01:46:15,623 --> 01:46:17,834
Voyager One has left our solar system.
2434
01:46:17,835 --> 01:46:19,375
It's the first thing built by humans
2435
01:46:19,376 --> 01:46:20,793
that has left our solar system
2436
01:46:20,794 --> 01:46:23,084
and now it's in interstellar space.
2437
01:46:23,085 --> 01:46:24,553
- [NARRATOR] Major historic announcement
2438
01:46:24,554 --> 01:46:26,138
by NASA just a short time ago
2439
01:46:26,139 --> 01:46:28,590
confirming the Voyager spacecraft,
2440
01:46:28,591 --> 01:46:30,309
Voyager, as in the thing that launched
2441
01:46:30,310 --> 01:46:33,219
way back in 1977 exploring the moons,
2442
01:46:33,220 --> 01:46:34,563
exploring the planets.
2443
01:46:34,564 --> 01:46:37,265
Well it has entered interstellar space.
2444
01:46:37,266 --> 01:46:38,688
- [NARRATOR] NASA says that Voyager One
2445
01:46:38,689 --> 01:46:41,185
has become the first man-made object
2446
01:46:41,186 --> 01:46:43,062
to reach interstellar space.
2447
01:46:43,063 --> 01:46:45,064
The cold dark region between stars.
2448
01:46:45,065 --> 01:46:47,066
- [OBAMA] And we've
slipped the outermost grasp
2449
01:46:47,067 --> 01:46:49,944
of our solar system with Voyager One.
2450
01:46:49,945 --> 01:46:51,616
The first human-made object
2451
01:46:51,617 --> 01:46:53,615
to venture into interstellar space.
2452
01:46:53,616 --> 01:46:55,199
(APPLAUSE)
2453
01:46:55,200 --> 01:46:56,245
- It's a wonderful achievement, actually.
2454
01:46:56,246 --> 01:46:57,495
When you think of it, it's historic,
2455
01:46:57,496 --> 01:47:00,079
it's our first step out of our bubble
2456
01:47:00,080 --> 01:47:02,582
which has been around all the planets
2457
01:47:02,583 --> 01:47:04,756
and around the Earth essentially forever.
2458
01:47:04,757 --> 01:47:07,045
And now finally some little
2459
01:47:07,046 --> 01:47:09,424
thing that we have built
has left that bubble
2460
01:47:09,425 --> 01:47:12,634
and is in the space between the stars.
2461
01:47:12,635 --> 01:47:13,930
- I loved it when that happened.
2462
01:47:13,931 --> 01:47:17,057
It was like humanity has
arrived into interstellar space
2463
01:47:17,058 --> 01:47:19,275
and we all feel like Voyager has carried
2464
01:47:19,276 --> 01:47:21,644
a bit of us into the galaxy.
2465
01:47:23,479 --> 01:47:25,647
- It is the little engine that could.
2466
01:47:25,648 --> 01:47:27,116
It's the little spacecraft that keeps on
2467
01:47:27,117 --> 01:47:28,983
going and going and going and nobody
2468
01:47:28,984 --> 01:47:30,735
really knows how it does it.
2469
01:47:30,736 --> 01:47:33,071
But everybody's rooting for it.
2470
01:47:33,072 --> 01:47:35,916
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)
2471
01:47:48,295 --> 01:47:51,464
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
2472
01:47:51,465 --> 01:47:54,014
- There's never gonna be
another mission like it.
2473
01:47:54,015 --> 01:47:57,595
It was the first and
last of it's own kind.
2474
01:47:57,596 --> 01:48:00,186
- Voyager is rarely out of my thoughts.
2475
01:48:00,187 --> 01:48:01,434
Always some little part of me
2476
01:48:01,435 --> 01:48:03,898
is wondering where is Voyager tonight?
2477
01:48:03,899 --> 01:48:06,113
Whenever I look up at the night stars,
2478
01:48:06,114 --> 01:48:09,899
I look in the direction
that each of them is going.
2479
01:48:09,900 --> 01:48:13,617
- We're the generation that
sent something out into space
2480
01:48:13,618 --> 01:48:15,785
that's not only going to outlive us,
2481
01:48:15,786 --> 01:48:18,783
it's going to outlive our star.
2482
01:48:18,784 --> 01:48:20,582
Four billion years from now when
2483
01:48:20,583 --> 01:48:23,171
our Sun turns into a red giant,
2484
01:48:24,123 --> 01:48:26,376
Voyager is still going to be trucking
2485
01:48:26,377 --> 01:48:29,002
out there through the stars,
2486
01:48:29,003 --> 01:48:31,254
and the songs of our time
2487
01:48:31,255 --> 01:48:32,255
are going to be out there.
2488
01:48:32,256 --> 01:48:34,424
Chuck Berry is still out there.
2489
01:48:34,425 --> 01:48:36,175
We'll still be out there.
2490
01:48:36,176 --> 01:48:39,762
- When the Voyagers' power sources go dead
2491
01:48:39,763 --> 01:48:43,016
and when the spacecraft
can no longer send back
2492
01:48:43,017 --> 01:48:45,059
any useful information,
2493
01:48:45,060 --> 01:48:48,521
that's really the point
at which the Golden Record
2494
01:48:48,522 --> 01:48:50,900
becomes the primary function
2495
01:48:51,900 --> 01:48:53,109
of those missions.
2496
01:48:53,110 --> 01:48:55,325
That when everything else is turned off,
2497
01:48:55,326 --> 01:48:57,118
those records are still floating
2498
01:48:57,119 --> 01:48:59,699
somewhere in interstellar space,
2499
01:48:59,700 --> 01:49:02,827
completing the last part of the mission.
2500
01:49:02,828 --> 01:49:05,371
(OPERA MUSIC)
2501
01:49:05,372 --> 01:49:08,125
♫ Go daddy go go ♫
2502
01:49:11,670 --> 01:49:14,389
- I think that the spacecraft
itself is the message.
2503
01:49:14,390 --> 01:49:16,591
The technology of the spacecraft,
2504
01:49:16,592 --> 01:49:18,926
the radio isotope power system,
2505
01:49:18,927 --> 01:49:21,929
the communication system, the instruments,
2506
01:49:21,930 --> 01:49:24,145
all of those things are carrying a message
2507
01:49:24,146 --> 01:49:26,356
that says the people who built this
2508
01:49:26,357 --> 01:49:27,815
knew what they were doing.
2509
01:49:27,816 --> 01:49:30,313
- Is the any different or our solar system
2510
01:49:30,314 --> 01:49:32,148
today than it was then?
2511
01:49:32,149 --> 01:49:33,649
No.
2512
01:49:33,650 --> 01:49:35,276
But are we different?
2513
01:49:35,277 --> 01:49:36,153
Absolutely!
2514
01:49:38,197 --> 01:49:41,365
The thrill of the discoveries,
2515
01:49:41,366 --> 01:49:44,160
reaching the heliopause,
2516
01:49:44,161 --> 01:49:46,579
completing the Grand Tour,
2517
01:49:46,580 --> 01:49:49,880
I mean man, our child has just made it.
2518
01:49:52,086 --> 01:49:54,587
- Voyager One and Voyager Two
2519
01:49:54,588 --> 01:49:57,590
will be orbiting the centre
of the Milky Way Galaxy
2520
01:49:57,591 --> 01:49:58,433
with all the stars.
2521
01:49:58,434 --> 01:50:00,890
And every 200 and roughly 50 million years
2522
01:50:00,891 --> 01:50:02,887
it will complete an orbit around
2523
01:50:02,888 --> 01:50:05,598
the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy.
2524
01:50:05,599 --> 01:50:08,851
- There's no wind,
water, rain, weathering.
2525
01:50:08,852 --> 01:50:10,445
There's no planets that
they're going to run into,
2526
01:50:10,446 --> 01:50:12,188
there's no asteroid belts or comets
2527
01:50:12,189 --> 01:50:14,816
that they're gonna run into.
2528
01:50:14,817 --> 01:50:17,985
And over thousands, millions,
2529
01:50:17,986 --> 01:50:19,695
billions of years
2530
01:50:19,696 --> 01:50:23,166
they're predicted to remain pretty intact.
2531
01:50:24,284 --> 01:50:25,748
- From Voyager's standpoint,
2532
01:50:25,749 --> 01:50:28,121
the Sun is just the
brightest star in the sky.
2533
01:50:28,122 --> 01:50:29,247
Not by very much.
2534
01:50:29,248 --> 01:50:31,707
Years to come it will fade into
2535
01:50:31,708 --> 01:50:35,545
being just one of all the
other stars in the galaxy.
2536
01:50:35,546 --> 01:50:38,506
And from time to time over the aeons
2537
01:50:38,507 --> 01:50:40,383
a star will sort of
approach and get brighter
2538
01:50:40,384 --> 01:50:41,556
and then it'll get dimmer again.
2539
01:50:41,557 --> 01:50:44,474
It's like being in a lifeboat
on the Atlantic at night.
2540
01:50:44,475 --> 01:50:46,314
Maybe you see a distant ship pass,
2541
01:50:46,315 --> 01:50:47,890
maybe you don't.
2542
01:50:47,891 --> 01:50:49,642
That's the future of Voyager for
2543
01:50:49,643 --> 01:50:51,477
billions of years to come.
2544
01:50:51,478 --> 01:50:54,402
(SLOW PACED MUSIC)
2545
01:50:55,566 --> 01:50:57,030
- All of the human tragedies
2546
01:50:57,031 --> 01:50:58,948
and the worries and concerns that drive
2547
01:50:58,949 --> 01:51:02,363
you and I and everyone
will be long forgotten.
2548
01:51:02,364 --> 01:51:04,407
And our existence as a species
2549
01:51:04,408 --> 01:51:06,450
and the greatest triumphs,
2550
01:51:06,451 --> 01:51:07,702
the things that people think of
2551
01:51:07,703 --> 01:51:09,421
are the most important
things in their life,
2552
01:51:09,422 --> 01:51:11,289
all of that's gonna be forgotten.
2553
01:51:11,290 --> 01:51:14,792
And the universe doesn't care about it.
2554
01:51:14,793 --> 01:51:16,544
But it's possible that at least
2555
01:51:16,545 --> 01:51:19,010
one thing we've created will be out there.
2556
01:51:19,011 --> 01:51:20,929
And who knows, maybe some day
2557
01:51:20,930 --> 01:51:23,009
with an infinite small chance
2558
01:51:23,010 --> 01:51:25,219
another being might find it
2559
01:51:25,220 --> 01:51:27,348
and at least know of our existence.
2560
01:51:27,349 --> 01:51:30,766
It's highly unlikely,
but it's not impossible.
2561
01:51:30,767 --> 01:51:33,227
And that small possibility surely
2562
01:51:33,228 --> 01:51:34,400
gives us hope.
2563
01:51:36,315 --> 01:51:37,862
- We will continue
2564
01:51:39,735 --> 01:51:41,694
to get signals back from Voyager
2565
01:51:41,695 --> 01:51:42,992
and we will continue to try and get
2566
01:51:42,993 --> 01:51:46,032
signals back from Voyager
as long as we can.
2567
01:51:46,033 --> 01:51:48,409
There will be a day
2568
01:51:48,410 --> 01:51:52,288
when the antennas are listening to Voyager
2569
01:51:52,289 --> 01:51:54,508
and we don't hear anything.
2570
01:51:56,501 --> 01:51:58,127
And that will be the day
2571
01:51:58,128 --> 01:52:01,553
that we stop communications with Voyager.
2572
01:52:05,260 --> 01:52:06,512
And that will be very sad.
2573
01:52:06,513 --> 01:52:09,597
'Cause whether it's 45 years,
2574
01:52:09,598 --> 01:52:13,774
or 55 years, or 50 years
from when we launched it,
2575
01:52:15,687 --> 01:52:17,610
it'll be very very sad.
2576
01:52:19,274 --> 01:52:21,902
'Cause it will have gone silent.
2577
01:52:22,903 --> 01:52:26,739
And we really won't have
a chance to say goodbye.
2578
01:52:26,740 --> 01:52:29,289
(LOUD HUMMING)
2579
01:52:40,337 --> 01:52:43,422
♫ You won the race ♫
2580
01:52:43,423 --> 01:52:46,801
♫ We've claimed our place ♫
2581
01:52:46,802 --> 01:52:50,179
♫ Forever cold ♫
2582
01:52:50,180 --> 01:52:53,182
♫ And lost in space ♫
2583
01:52:53,183 --> 01:52:56,394
♫ We've won the race ♫
2584
01:52:56,395 --> 01:52:59,897
♫ We've claimed our place ♫
2585
01:52:59,898 --> 01:53:03,276
♫ Forever cold ♫
2586
01:53:03,277 --> 01:53:06,281
♫ And lost in space ♫
2587
01:53:07,364 --> 01:53:09,949
♫ Our mind is in a daze ♫
2588
01:53:09,950 --> 01:53:12,910
♫ My thoughts will start to fray ♫
2589
01:53:12,911 --> 01:53:15,955
♫ Forever cold ♫
2590
01:53:15,956 --> 01:53:19,750
♫ And lost in space ♫
2591
01:53:19,751 --> 01:53:22,795
♫ I feel I'm going down ♫
2592
01:53:22,796 --> 01:53:25,798
♫ There's no more solid ground ♫
2593
01:53:25,799 --> 01:53:28,592
♫ Forever cold ♫
2594
01:53:28,593 --> 01:53:31,597
♫ And lost in space ♫
2595
01:53:32,681 --> 01:53:35,474
♫ Nobody ever told me ♫
2596
01:53:35,475 --> 01:53:38,811
♫ I need someone to hold me ♫
2597
01:53:38,812 --> 01:53:41,605
♫ Forever cold ♫
2598
01:53:41,606 --> 01:53:45,151
♫ And lost in space ♫
2599
01:53:45,152 --> 01:53:48,362
♫ I hear an evil sound ♫
2600
01:53:48,363 --> 01:53:51,073
♫ It comes from all around ♫
2601
01:53:51,074 --> 01:53:53,993
♫ Forever cold ♫
2602
01:53:53,994 --> 01:53:57,580
♫ And lost in space ♫
2603
01:53:57,581 --> 01:54:00,249
♫ We've won the race ♫
2604
01:54:00,250 --> 01:54:03,419
♫ We've claimed our place ♫
2605
01:54:03,420 --> 01:54:06,422
♫ Forever cold ♫
2606
01:54:06,423 --> 01:54:09,800
♫ And lost in space ♫
2607
01:54:09,801 --> 01:54:12,720
♫ We've won the race ♫
2608
01:54:12,721 --> 01:54:15,973
♫ We've claimed our place ♫
2609
01:54:15,974 --> 01:54:19,060
♫ Forever cold ♫
2610
01:54:19,061 --> 01:54:22,065
♫ And lost in space ♫
2611
01:54:35,702 --> 01:54:37,541
- If an alien was to hear my voice
2612
01:54:37,542 --> 01:54:39,585
and I would know that he heard my voice.
2613
01:54:39,586 --> 01:54:42,416
He or she or it heard my voice,
2614
01:54:42,417 --> 01:54:44,377
I would cheer.
2615
01:54:44,378 --> 01:54:47,421
I would be jumping up and down with
2616
01:54:47,422 --> 01:54:49,006
ecstatic.
2617
01:54:49,007 --> 01:54:49,847
- What did you say?
2618
01:54:49,848 --> 01:54:50,635
How to...
2619
01:54:50,636 --> 01:54:51,474
- [NARRATOR] Her.
2620
01:54:51,475 --> 01:54:52,308
- Her.
2621
01:54:52,309 --> 01:54:53,178
- [NARRATOR] I called her a her.
2622
01:54:53,178 --> 01:54:54,018
- I see that.
2623
01:54:54,019 --> 01:54:54,854
I wouldn't do that.
2624
01:54:54,855 --> 01:54:58,682
That's popular nowadays but I personally
2625
01:54:58,683 --> 01:55:02,520
do not like to answer
parmodify spacecraft.
2626
01:55:02,521 --> 01:55:04,063
They don't like it.
2627
01:55:04,064 --> 01:55:06,107
(LAUGHTER)
2628
01:55:06,108 --> 01:55:08,327
- Okay, now I've always wanted to do this.
2629
01:55:08,328 --> 01:55:09,490
Are you ready?
2630
01:55:10,612 --> 01:55:11,784
23 take seven.
2631
01:55:15,700 --> 01:55:18,619
(LAUGHTER)
2632
01:55:18,620 --> 01:55:19,462
- Voyager.
2633
01:55:23,500 --> 01:55:24,342
Wonderful.
2634
01:55:25,836 --> 01:55:28,379
♫ I saw ♫
2635
01:55:28,380 --> 01:55:30,508
♫ The day ♫
2636
01:55:31,508 --> 01:55:34,468
♫ Where we all walked ♫
2637
01:55:34,469 --> 01:55:36,392
♫ Away ♫
2638
01:55:37,973 --> 01:55:39,975
♫ I saw ♫
2639
01:55:42,477 --> 01:55:45,151
(FAINT BEEPING)