Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science - The First Student Astronauts Arrive

Episode Date: January 12, 2004

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This is Planetary Radio. We start today's Planetary Radio with Bruce Betts, a little bit out of order. He will return for what's up in the trivia contest later in today's show, as he always does. He will return for what's up in the trivia contest later in today's show, as he always does. But, Bruce, you wanted to share some news with the audience before we talk to the student astronauts. I do, indeed. First, let's talk a little bit about the update on the Spirit rover. Most people are probably tracking this.

If they're listening to this, you can find out more at planetary.org. But Spirit is happy and healthy, and it's down on all six wheels and ready to roll off the lander in the next two or three days after the airing of this show. So that's good. And then I have some announcements regarding the Planetary Society is on Mars. We have our DVD that Planetary Society, along with the Lego Company, paid for, is on the Spirit landander and sitting there. And we've got beautiful images on our website. It carries four million names of people who wanted to send their names to Mars.

And it has the picture of Biff Starling, our astrobotic extraordinaire, first astrobot on Mars, in the middle of the DVD. And Biff has sent back a secret coded message, which is around the outside of the DVD. People can go to our website, planetary.org, to read Biff's always exciting diaries and to try to crack the secret code, decode a message for Mars at planetary.org. It's tricky, it's challenging, but you'll get a spiffy certificate if you do it, and a number of randomly selected people who decode it correctly will receive prizes such as Lego Mars kits and Planetary Society memberships.

So give it a try. There's other fun stuff, too, Matt. Go on. Oh, okay. Well, you're going to talk shortly to our first two student astronauts. So I won't belabor that other dimension that they are doing journals of their time and mission operations at JPL, and that will continue through the next couple months with 16 student astronauts from 12 countries. They are also processing the images of the calibration target for the main camera,

which also can be used as a sundial, and that also can be found on our website. So basically we have all sorts of good stuff on the website right now. Spirit coverage, we also have Stardust coverage after their successful fly-through of a comet, great stuff on secret codes you can crack, astronauts, student astronauts. And if that weren't enough, President Bush is expected to make an announcement regarding the future of human spaceflight. You can also find coverage of that and commentary on our website, planetary.org. I'm sure that statement that's expected from President Bush

will make it into our show next week that begins therein on the 19th. To wrap up this conversation about the latest on Spirit, this is really an unprecedented level of public participation in a mission. You're right. All of these things are unique and, as you say, are unprecedented in planetary exploration. This is only the second privately funded hardware on a spacecraft, the DVD. The first was the Planetary Society's Mars microphone on Mars Polar Lander. The student astronauts are the first general public selected through an international contest

to be working inside mission operations. And Biff Starling, of course, the first astrobot to ever fly on a planetary mission. Bruce, can we pick up with you again in about 20 minutes? I look forward to it. Bated breath. That'll be what's up. When Bruce Betts, the director of projects for the Planetary Society, will rejoin us, and we'll have the trivia contest results. Bruce, I'll talk to you then.

Okay. As you just heard from Bruce, not only has Spirit arrived at Mars, but the student astronauts are arriving at the Jet Propulsion Lab near Pasadena, California. Sixteen of them will be coming from all over the world in the next couple of months. The first two of these talented young people

have just finished their experience as members of the Mars Exploration Rover team, an experience you can read about in their own words at planetary.org, the Planetary Society's website. American Courtney Dressing actually celebrated her 16th birthday at JPL. Rafael Marzowski is also 16, and though it may be hard to tell from his excellent English, he is from Brazil. They joined us a few days ago at Planetary Society headquarters, just a few miles from JPL, where they've been putting in some long Martian days working on projects, including Spirit's Mars Sundial. Courtney, Rafael, welcome to the Planetary Society. Thanks.

And welcome to Planetary Radio, more important, I guess. You've been having a heck of a time, haven't you? Yeah, it's been great. It's been really cool. This is now, as we're speaking, I think it's what, Sol 5, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, something like that, Sol 5. And, of course, we're talking about Martian days.

Right. And you guys are sort of on Martian time, Courtney? We're sort of on Martian time, but we also do things during the day. Tomorrow we're going to the press conference, so that's at 9 in the morning, which is part of a normal schedule. But then we're also working during the night from around 10 p.m. to 4 in the morning. So in short, we're not getting much sleep, but it's a lot of fun. And you have a lot of company because I guess, Rafael, the whole team is now running on Mars

time. Yes, that's right. We usually go to the science assessment room and we've also had a lot of scientists over there. And they're always working late at night and you always have lots of people there. It's pretty cool. And still, the excitement must be at such a high level that when people are there at JPL, people on the Spirit Rover team, I don't imagine anybody looks sleepy. No.

No. It's amazing. Even at 3 a.m. in the morning, they're all very awake and alert and happy to be there. Yeah, I'll bet. Well, I envy the two of you, and a lot of other people envy the two of you, because you are two of only 16 young people who rose to the top in the student astronaut competition, and there were hundreds and hundreds of applicants. And I think even just looking at the finalists,

I think if I remember correctly, there were 63 finalists. How did you find out that you were actually to become a student astronaut? Well, it was my brother that saw the Internet, and he was at work, and he called my home, my mother that picked up the phone, and then she told me, fine, you won the contest. That's great. So when you picked yourself up off the floor, what did you... Yeah, I started jumping and laughing.

Actually, I don't remember, but I was pretty excited. You are one of the student astronauts who is from outside the United States. You're from Brazil, right? That's right. Where in Brazil? It's in the south. It's a city called Curitiba. And I think, you know, I'm going to forget the number,

but I believe that everybody's coming from 12 different countries, five different continents around the world. Courtney, you're an American. Yes, I am. And I come from near Washington, D.C., which is actually in Alexandria, Virginia, which is just south. So you still came a long ways to get here. Not as far as Rafael.

How did you get the good news? My mom found out first, and everyone else in my family found out before I did. I was at school, and then when I came home, my mom said, Courtney, I want you to take a look at this email. So I went over, and I looked at the email, and I saw that I had been selected. It was great. Wow. Did people know, did like your friends know that you were in this competition and you were waiting to hear?

Yes. I told my friends and they were pretty all excited. And when I told them that, fine, finally, well, I'm in the contest. I won the contest. You know, they were pretty excited too. What kind of party did they throw you as you left? I mean, did people come to the airport to see you off? Yeah, some friends, they went to the airport. But now I'm on holidays in Brazil. I'm on holidays now, so most people were in the beach. So I just had a couple of friends there, but they were pretty fine.

Courtney, how about you? Were your friends pretty excited? They were very excited. They've been demanding up-to-date news reports pretty frequently. So I'll be sure to tell them everything that happened when I get back. You mean they're not reading your journals? Oh, they are, but they want more information. You must be saving some stuff for your friends that you're not putting on the Planetary Society website.

Okay, well, when you're comfortable, you'll tell our audience all that stuff, I'm sure. That's right. I'm just kidding. Write a new book. That's good. Hey, listen, this may lead to, you'll tell our audience all that stuff, I'm sure. That's right. I'm just kidding. Write a new book. That's good. Hey, listen, this may lead to that, right? Lead bestseller. Well, you've got to start that book by talking about why you guys were interested in doing this in the first place.

I mean, why did you want to enter this contest and get this shot at coming to JPL, Rafael? Well, actually, I was always interested in science and my brother read about the contest on the internet and then he told me and wow, it's pretty exciting. So I'm going to go for it. I'll write my essay and all that. And I like a lot

space science, biology and all this stuff. Science is something that's really great. I like studying science a lot. But space is a particular interest? Not really a particular interest. Actually, I have lots of different interests. I'm not really sure what I prefer, but I really enjoy space science. It's really interesting. No particular area of science, biology, geology? No, not really. I like all of them.

Well, that's good. That's good. Listen, you're certainly not at a point where you need to decide yet. Courtney, I've read that's good. That's good. Listen, you're certainly not at a point where you need to decide yet. Courtney, I've read that not only are you interested in scientists, but you want to go. You want to be up there. I do. But what working on this mission has taught me is that I don't necessarily have to be an astronaut to experience space exploration firsthand. I could work at JPL or at the Planetary Society or in any field that has to do with space exploration and still be very happy. So I'm not sure exactly field that has to do with space exploration and still be very happy.

So I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with space science, but I think that right now I'm leaning towards planetary sciences. And, Rafael, we didn't get a chance to say. I mean, you were a student astronaut. Would you also jump at the chance to be a real one? Yeah, probably. I think it's a pretty cool field of science. I feel really amazed when I was there and when the spirit landed. It was really cool.

It was wow. It was awesome. I think it's – I like it a lot. Probably I would maybe try to do something, maybe work with it in the future. That's possible. We're going to get to – maybe after the break we'll talk more about what you're actually up to at JPL because you are part of the science team during the time that you're here in town, as will be the other student astronauts as they come into Pasadena.

But let's talk about all the stuff that's gone on around this. Both of you in your journals, which are online at planetary.org, have talked about the amazing level of attention you've gotten. You've gotten what? Let's see. CNN has interviewed you, NBC, Canadian Broadcasting, or some documentary makers. Have you ever had this kind of attention, Courtney? No.

Never. Definitely not. So have you gotten used to the press attention and being interviewed like you are now, Rafael? No. No? I still get very nervous when I'm going to have an interview. I still get very nervous. Courtney?

I don't think I'll ever be used to being someone people actually want to interview. I still see myself as a regular high school student. But it's getting easier. I'm getting more used to being interviewed. It still doesn't feel normal. Well, and I'm guessing that the two of you, fair or not, are getting more attention than the other students might get because you're the first.

You're the first ones in town. Have you met or talked to or traded email with their instant message with the other student astronauts, Rafael? Not yet, but I think I'm going to ask Emily for their emails, and then I think I'm going to send some emails for them. Seems to me you guys might have a lot to offer in helping them prepare for the experience. Yeah, the two of us were thinking about either writing a letter to everyone else or even making a short video about being a student astronaut.

What a great idea. What a terrific idea. Yeah, so that's something we can put on the website as well. You have how long here in Pasadena or at JPL? We started 13th? Oh. No, 13th. You got here the 30th, and I got here the 29th, and our last working day is Saturday, January 10th.

Okay. That's right. And then it's back home. Actually, I'm going to spend a little, some days here and just see some sightseeing. Go to Disneyland. Go to Disneyland. Skiing, maybe. I don't know.

Disneyland may be a letdown after JPL during the land of the spirits. We'll see. Yeah, maybe. Let's go ahead and take a break. And when we come back, let's talk about your actual work as student astronauts and who you're working with and how you're getting it done. We are talking with Rafael and Courtney, the first two of the 16 student astronauts to come to California

to participate in the Mars Exploration Rover mission. We'll be right back. This is Buzz Aldrin. When I walked on the moon, I knew it was just the beginning of humankind's great adventure in the solar system. That's why I'm a member of the Planetary Society, the world's largest space interest group. The Planetary Society is helping to explore Mars. We're tracking near-Earth asteroids and comets. We sponsor the search for life on other worlds, and we're building the first-ever solar sail.

You can learn about these adventures and exciting new discoveries from space exploration in The Planetary Report. The Planetary Report is the Society's full-color magazine. It's just one of many member benefits. You can learn more by calling 1-877-PLANETS. That's toll-free, 1-877-752-6387. And you can catch up on space exploration news and developments at our exciting and informative website, planetarysociety.org.

The Planetary Society, exploring new worlds. Planetary Radio returns with our special guest this week. They are the first two of the 16 student astronauts who, over the next couple of months or a little more, will be coming to Pasadena to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as actual participants on the science team for the Mars Exploration Rovers. Very exciting stuff. Courtney Dressing and Rafael Morozovsky are their names, and we're going to talk a little bit now about what you're actually up to at JPL.

The key to this, and what really has never happened before as I understand it, is that you guys are not just, you know, those kids who have to stand in the back. You're actually getting to work with the scientists and engineers who are making this mission happen. Rafael, am I right? Yeah, that's right. We usually go to the science assessment room, so they have lots of scientists talking about the mission and have different kinds of scientists.

They have geologists and people working with some instruments, APXS, MOSPOWER, and things like that. And what is the APXS? You may have to explain. You don't have to remember what it stands for. It's the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer. Very good. There will be a quiz.

And then the MOSPOWER is another type of spectrometer, I believe. That's right. Okay. And then they go talking about the mission, and we go just looking and looking at the talking, and then we make some questions. Hey, what's this? What this means?

And what about this picture? What can you see that's interesting in this picture? And they go telling us things about the mission. So it's pretty interesting. So take some notes, and then after we write our journals. Courtney, anything to add? Nothing except that it's a lot of fun to hear the scientists talk about what they think the different things the images mean.

Yesterday I sat through a presentation about how we could have gotten so many different types of rocks at Goose of Crater with the angular rocks and the round rocks. And it's fun to be able to learn all the different views behind that and all the hypotheses that could explain it. You guys have got to be the youngest people in the place, right? What is the attitude of the scientists and the engineers toward you? Because you might think that some of them would say, oh, you know, who let these kids in here? Have you seen any of that, or how are you treated? No, they are very nice always. They are always very nice, I think.

We go ask them questions. They are always very polite to us. It's pretty good. Yeah? Really open, Courtney? Yes. They're very busy, but they still take the time to say hi to us if they notice us looking over their shoulder or explain something.

So have you been there as some of the images have come in and the scientists have started to examine them and say, let's figure this out? Yes. We were there when the first images came in. It was incredible because you could see the folders filling up with images. And I was amazed at how quickly the folder filled up. We'd get one image, and then two or three seconds later, there would be another image to look at. It was great.

So, Raphael, what was it like to be among all the scientists as they started to point to, look at that rock over there. Oh, God, that one must be so-and-so. Was that what you were hearing? Yeah. there. Oh, God, that one must be so-and-so. I mean, was that what you were hearing? Yeah. When you have the scientists talking about the rocks and angular rocks, and as Courtney said, angular rocks and round rocks, you have to pay a lot of attention because some of them have some hypothesis about why this rock is that shape, or maybe it has some

kind of different composition. And then you have to pay a lot of attention because they always go talking a lot. They can't wait, I imagine, to crawl off of the base and go over and start examining some of those rocks up close. And hopefully on Sol 10 we'll be able to do that. So that's still the plan right now, that it will be about 10 days before the lander actually gets off and starts rolling around on its own. Yep. What are you hearing at this point?

And, of course, this is a few days before the radio show will actually be heard. But at this point, everything's A-OK, as we used to say, right? Perfect health? Yeah, it's great. There was actually a problem with one of the spectrometers during the flight. But now it's fine, and it's working well again, which is great because now we have both spectrometers working, both the alpha proton X-ray spectrometer and the Mossbauer spectrometer. So we can use information from both of those to help determine the composition of the rocks.

Which is good news, but you know what else I heard, which is maybe the best thing I've heard? You said we. We have both spectrometers working. You really are part of the team, I suppose. That's right. Raphael, were you around when there started to be some of this talk, which has been in the news, about this soil that has been compared to mud? But Steve Squires, the project scientist, among others, has said it can't be mud.

I mean, have you heard some of the conversation about this? We've heard a lot of conversation about it. Really? Yeah. Tell us. Some scientists were saying maybe because of the landing site, maybe because of the airbags. But then some people said, no, maybe not because of the airbags.

Maybe just because it's just like that. It wasn't because of the airbags. We heard lots of things. I don't actually remember things exactly now. Maybe Courtney has something to add? Some scientists thought it looked a little like wet sand on a beach. Of course, it's not wet sand on a beach. We wish.

That would be nice. But others thought that maybe there was some type of crust on top of the surface, and then the airbags penetrated the crust, and what you're seeing now is actually what was underneath the soil crust. Oh, I see. There was a quote from Steve Squires thinking that maybe this had been permafrost and the moisture had basically evaporated out of it but left that crusty soil, which I don't know about you guys, but I've seen that kind of thing here on Earth.

Yeah. As you look at the pictures that are coming back and you see that incredible maybe lake bed once upon a time on Mars, does it remind you of anything that you've ever seen on Earth, or are there thoughts that come to mind as you look at that? No, I don't think so, because Mars and Earth have some similarities, but when I look at these pictures, you say, wow, this can be Earth. This is really Mars.

You look at the pictures and you think it's completely different. It's not completely different, but you think, wow, this is pretty, very, very, very different. Courtney, what runs through your mind? I haven't been to any areas like it, but I've seen some of the pictures the scientists have used to compare. Pictures of places in Nevada and other deserts that look a little similar. But like Raphael said, you look at the sky and the horizon, and you see that that's red instead of blue, and then you realize, wow, this is actually Mars.

You know, see, I come from out here in California, and neither of you has grown up anywhere near a desert, I guess. No. And so we certainly see the similarity, but then you look at that red, red soil, and you think, my God, this is the red planet. We are almost out of time. I promise to give both of you a chance to say hello to folks back home,

friends that we talked about earlier, maybe family. Courtney, why don't you go first, and we'll give you a few seconds to say hi. Okay. I just want to say hi to Kate Bertrand, who told me about the contest in the first place, because if it weren't for Kate, I wouldn't be here having this amazing opportunity. And then hi to James and Kelsey and Mom and Dad and Nana and Papa and everyone else in my huge family for supporting me.

Rafael, your turn. Okay, I'd like to say hi to my mom, my dad, my brother, my friends there in Brazil. They also gave me a lot of support in this contest. They were all pretty happy when they discovered that I won. So I just wanted to say hi, that I'll soon be coming back, and I'll have a lot of fun. I'll tell them everything that happened, and that's it.

Rafael, Courtney, we look forward to hearing more from you. Of course, people can read your daily journals on the Planetary Society website, planetary.org. I hope that there'll be other things that will be just as exciting, although it's hard to imagine anything as exciting as that landing on Saturday the 3rd. Thanks so much for joining us on this week's Planetary Radio. Thank you. And we'll be back in just a moment with Bruce Betts and What's Up.

As promised at the beginning of the show, when Bruce made an early visit with us, it's time for What's Up with Bruce Betts. Bruce, you're at home again. You're recovering from Wild About Mars. I am. It was wild. And recovering from all of the exciting Red Rover goes to Mars things, our project on the Mars Exploration Rover mission. So what do you have for us this week?

What's up? Well, speaking of Mars, you can still see it. A lot dimmer than it used to be, but it's out there in the south, basically overhead, but either south or north, depending on your hemisphere, at dusk. Reddish-orange is setting around midnight. So take a look at that puppy and think about the spirit lander getting ready to rove around. We've got Venus, the brightest object up there at sunset. Looking in the east, can't miss it.

Saturn rising at sunset. This is about the brightest Saturn ever gets right now. It's just a little, a couple weeks after its opposition. And its rings are tilted almost as much as they get tilted towards the Earth, making it even brighter. So go out and look at Saturn. If you've got a telescope, take a look at it. You'll get some nice ring viewing right about now.

Jupiter is also rising around 9 or 10 p.m. and very bright. And Mercury, if you're up before dawn, is in the southeast. And if you're looking for a telescopic challenge, or if you're in a really dark site, a binocular challenge, or even naked eye if you're really, really dark and imagine things, Uranus is one degree to the upper right of Venus on January 14th. Take a look. But Uranus is only barely visible to the right of Venus on January 14th. Take a look. But Uranus is only barely visible to the naked eye in a really dark sight.

You can do it in binoculars or certainly a small telescope. Which is why nobody found Uranus for a long, long time, even after telescopes were discovered or invented. Because now we know where to look for it. Yep. On to this week in space history. On January 13th of 1610, Galileo discovered Ganymede, moon of Jupiter. We also had on January 16th of 1969 the first docking of two manned spacecraft.

That would be Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 4. Which leads us to... Random Space Fact! Did you know, Matt? Well, you did. But do other people know? The Mars rover missions are operating on Mars time and each Mars day is called a sol

and it's about 24 hours and 40 minutes long. Party on. And this is why our friends Emily Laktawalla and Steve Squires and others are wearing those funny little wristbands they've talked about on this show, which are sort of keeping track of their vital signs because they are living on Mars time at JPL.

Now let's go on to our trivia contest. Last week we had the very hard-to-phrase question that the APXS, there was an APXS instrument on Mars Pathfinder, and there is an APXS instrument on the Mars Exploration Rovers. and there is an APXS instrument on the Mars Exploration Rovers. However, one of the letters in APXS stands for something different this time around. What's the difference? How did we do, Matt?

We did great. We're getting a lot of people who entered this week who we've not heard from before. And I'd love to think it's our wonderful new prize, the Planetary Radio T-shirt, but I think it's just that the Society is getting a lot of traffic on the website, thanks, of course, to all the excitement about the Mars Exploration Rover. But whatever the reason, we have a lot of entries this week. And our winner, in case you're curious, Bruce, Janice DeBerg. Janice DeBerg says it's pronounced pretty much like it's spelled. And she lives in

Dyke, Iowa D-I-K-E, Dyke, Iowa Janice, you are the winner, only the second one in all of recorded history of a Planetary Radio t-shirt Janice's answer was that the P stands for particle

on the Spirit Rover, on the Sojourner the P stands for proton. That is indeed true. Now it is the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, a little different design, same people, same basic instrument, but a little different focus as part of the instrument. Tienesburg, that sounds so familiar. It does, doesn't it?

All right, how about on to our new question. What was the first artificial object to hit Mars? The first artificial object to hit Mars. How will everybody get those entries in to us? Go to planetary.org slash radio, and you'll learn how to enter our magical contest and compete for the unbelievable Planetary Radio t-shirt. unbelievable Planetary Radio t-shirt. So come on down, and while you're there, check out all the other spiffy features on planetary.org covering the Mars missions and Planetary Society's role on them.

Yeah, have a good time while you're visiting, and do try to get those entries in by Thursday noon, that specific time, which is where we happen to do the show. Janice DeBurke, I have no idea who she is, except that she's our winner. Well, I actually know exactly who she is. Oh, you do? She will be one of our student astronauts later in the mission. I knew I'd seen the name, and I didn't know why.

Well, there you go. She's sort of a double winner now, folks. But I guess we'll be hearing from her, from Janice, as we talk to all of the remaining student astronauts, we hope, as they come into town. There you go. So, everyone, look up in the night sky and think we hope, as they come into town. There you go. So, everyone, look up in the night sky and think about how nice it is to be healthy. You know, if you are. Think about what it would be like to be healthy if you're not.

Or if you just don't want to think about this at all, just think about puppies, because it's always good fallback. Thank you. Good night. And that's Bruce Fetz, the director of projects for the Planetary Society, a man who knows the meaning of the show must go on. Mark Adler, Mars Exploration Rover Mission Manager for Cruise Entry, Descent and Landing, will be our guest next time on Planetary Radio. Join us for the latest news from Spirit on the Red Planet.

Have a great week, everyone.