Destination Tomorrow #7
Caption File Transcript
7/22/02

Captioning provided by the Office of Education, NASA Langley Research Center. COMING UP ON DESTINATION TOMORROW. NASA HAS DEVELOPED A REVOLUTIONARY SATELLITE SENSOR THAT WILL GREATLY IMPROVE WEATHER FORECAST ACCURACY AS WELL AS CHANGE THE WAY WEATHER INFORMATION IS CONVEYED TO THE PUBLIC. PLUS, NASA'S COMMERCIAL INVENTION OF THE YEAR MIGHT HELP PEOPLE WITH HEART DISEASE LIVE LONGER. AND WE MEET THE CHIEF ENGINEER OF ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SPACE FLIGHT MISSIONS IN NASA HISTORY. ALL THIS AND MORE NEXT ON DESTINATION TOMORROW. HELLO, EVERYONE, I'M STEELE McGONEGAL. AND I'M KERA O'BRYON, AND WELCOME TO DESTINATION TOMORROW. THIS PROGRAM WILL UNCOVER HOW PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE RESEARCH IS CREATING TODAY'S KNOWLEDGE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AND SOLVE THE CHALLENGES OF TOMORROW. CURRENT WEATHER FORECASTS GIVE US A BEST GUESS AT STORM FORMATION, MOISTURE, TEMPERATURE, AND WINDS. CONSIDERING THE DIFFICULTIES OF FORECASTING THESE VARIABLES, IT IT NOT SURPRISING THAT PREDICTIONS SOMETIMES DIFFER FROM WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURS. ACCURATE FORECASTS ARE VALUABLE. ONES THAT GO ASTRAY CAN BE COSTLY IN TERMS OF PROPERTY LOSS AND SOMETIMES HUMAN LIFE. A NEW PROGRAM AT NASA CALLED GIFTS WILL USE THREE-DIMENSIONAL CAMERAS ON BOARD GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES TO CONTINUOUSLY OBSERVE EARTH'S SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERE. MEASUREMENTS AND DATA FROM GIFTS WILL ENABLE METEOROLOGISTS TO PREDICT THE FUTURE POSITION OF STORMS AND THEIR CHANGING INTENSITY. THIS CAPABILITY WILL GIVE EARLIER WARNINGS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF DESTRUCTIVE WEATHER. JENNIFER PULLEY FINDS OUT HOW THIS REVOLUTIONARY SATELLITE SENSOR WILL CHANGE THE WAY WEATHER INFORMATION IS PREDICTED. IN THIS MODERN AGE, WEATHER FORECASTING IS SOMETHING THAT MANY OF US TAKE FOR GRANTED. WE DEPEND ON ACCURATE INFORMATION FROM FORECASTERS EVERY DAY IN ORDER TO MAKE TRAVEL PLANS, DRESS APPROPRIATELY, AND IN CASES OF EXTREME WEATHER, PROTECT OUR LIVES AND OUR PROPERTY. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, WEATHER PREDICTIONS ARE STILL NOT AS ACCURATE AS WE WOULD LIKE. IN FACT, YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT THAT FORECASTS OVER THREE DAYS ARE STILL ONLY CORRECT ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME. IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE WEATHER PREDICTION MUCH MORE ACCURATE, RESEARCHERS AT NASA ARE DEVELOPING A REVOLUTIONARY NEW WEATHER SATELLITE INSTRUMENT CALLED GIFTS OR THE GEOSTATIONARY IMAGING FOURIER TRANSFORM SPECTROMETER. GIFTS WILL PROVIDE MORE THAN 1,000 TIMES MORE DATA THAN CURRENT SATELLITE WEATHER SENSORS. I SPOKE WITH DR. BILL SMITH AT NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER TO FIND OUT MORE. GIFTS IS A REVOLUTIONARY NEW SATELLITE SENSOR WHICH WILL NOT ONLY CHANGE THE WAY WE CONVEY WEATHER INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC BUT WILL DRASTICALLY IMPROVE WEATHER FORECASTS. TODAY WEATHER IS VERY DIFFICULT TO PREDICT, ALTHOUGH WEATHER SATELLITES PROVIDE TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF CLOUDS WHICH HELP US DETECT WHERE STORMS CURRENTLY EXIST, QUANTITATIVE TEMPERATURE, MOISTURE, AND WIND DATA ARE NEEDED TO FORECAST WHERE STORMS WILL DEVELOP AND WHERE THEY WILL MOVE. THE POOR VERTICAL RESOLUTION OF CURRENT SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS NOW LIMITS THE RANGE OF USEFUL FORECASTS TO ABOUT THREE DAYS. CURRENTLY, WEATHER PREDICTIONS ARE NOT ONLY MADE FROM INFORMATION GATHERED FROM SATELLITES AND RADAR, BUT A LARGE PART OF THE PREDICTION INFORMATION COMES FROM GROUND-BASED WEATHER BALLOONS WHICH ARE LAUNCHED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE EVERY 12 HOURS ABOUT 500 MILES APART. THESE READINGS CREATE GAPS OF WEATHER INFORMATION BETWEEN THE BALLOONS. WITH UPPER ATMOSPHERE CONDITIONS CHANGING VERY QUICKLY, MAKING TIMELY, ACCURATE PREDICTIONS WITH OLD DATA CAN SOMETIMES LEAD TO A CONFUSING WEATHER PICTURE. TO HELP CHANGE THIS, THE GIFTS SATELLITE WILL UPDATE WEATHER INFORMATION USED FOR ATMOSPHERIC PREDICTIONS IN MINUTES RATHER THAN HOURS, WITHOUT GAPS IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. MOST OF THE WEATHER INFORMATION NEEDED FOR VISUALIZING THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL COME FROM GIFTS, MAKING THE WEATHER PICTURE MUCH CLEARER. GIFTS IS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL DIGITAL MOVIE CAMERA. BEING ON A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE, AND WITH A 3-D CAMERA, IT CAN ACTUALLY SEE WATER VAPOR, TEMPERATURE, AND EVEN POLLUTANT GASES MOVE IN THE ATMOSPHERE. WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE TEMPERATURE CHANGES, THE FLOW OF WATER VAPOR MOLECULES, AND THE UPWARD-SPIRALING AIR BEFORE THE CLOUDS APPEAR, ENABLING US TO DETECT THE STORM'S LOCATION EVEN BEFORE THEIR DESTRUCTIVE FORCES DEVELOP. ALSO, BEING ABLE TO WATCH THE MOTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN THREE DIMENSIONS WILL ENABLE METEOROLOGISTS TO PREDICT THE FUTURE POSITION OF THE STORM AND ITS CHANGING INTENSITY. BY PROVIDING TODAY'S WEATHER FORECASTING MODELS WITH MORE DATA MORE OFTEN, IT'S PROJECTED THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME, WEATHER FORECASTS CAN BE MADE RELIABLE MANY DAYS IN ADVANCE. HAVING RELIABLE FORECASTS COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE HUGE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES FOR OUR COUNTRY. OUTDOOR WORKERS WILL BE BETTER PREPARED FOR INCLEMENT WEATHER. HOMES AND OFFICES WILL BE ABLE TO REGULATE THERMOSTATS BETTER, AND FARMERS AND COMMUNITIES WILL BE BETTER PREPARED FOR STORMS, FLOODS, AND DROUGHT. ANOTHER POTENTIAL ECONOMIC AND SAFETY IMPROVEMENT WILL BE IN HURRICANE LANDFALL PREDICTIONS. CURRENTLY 24-HOUR PREDICTIONS ARE GIVEN IN ABOUT A 300-SQUARE-MILE RADIUS OF POTENTIAL LANDFALL LOCATIONS. ON AVERAGE, IT COSTS ABOUT ONE MILLION DOLLARS PER MILE TO EVACUATE A THREATENED COASTLINE. UNFORTUNATELY, WITH POOR FORECASTING, THE PUBLIC OFTEN DELAYS EVACUATION UNTIL STORMS ARE VERY CLOSE TO SHORE. IF FORECASTERS CAN MAKE ACCURATE LANDFALL PREDICTIONS, WITHIN TENS OF MILES RATHER THAN SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF MILES, MORE PEOPLE MIGHT CONSIDER TAKING PROPER MEASURES TO SECURE THEIR LIVES AND THEIR PROPERTY. WILL GIFTS BE ABLE TO HELP IN AVIATION AS WELL? ACTUALLY, GIFTS WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON BOTH GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY AND THE COST OF A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT. WITH REGARDS TO GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY, GIFTS WILL HELP DELINEATE WHERE SUPER-COOLED WATER EXISTS IN CLOUDS, WHICH CAUSES AIRFRAME ICING WHEN AN AIRPLANE COMES IN CONTACT WITH IT. MAY ALSO BE POSSIBLE TO UPLINK THIS DATA DIRECTLY INTO THE COCKPIT OF AN AIRCRAFT. SO A PILOT LOOKING AT A SCREEN, LIKE A TV SCREEN, WILL BE ABLE TO SEE CLOUDS WHICH HAVE THESE SUPER-COOLED WATER DROPLETS AND AVOID THEM DURING HIS FLIGHT. SO WHAT ARE YOUR OVERALL HOPES FOR THIS SYSTEM? PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT GIFTS WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND WEATHER PROCESSES, UNDERSTAND CLIMATE. GIFTS WILL BE ABLE TO OBSERVE NOT ONLY WEATHER VARIABLES BUT ALSO ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION AND SEE HOW IT'S TRANSPORTED AROUND THE GLOBE. OF COURSE, UNDERSTANDING WEATHER BETTER WILL HELP US IMPROVE HURRICANE PREDICTION AND OTHER SEVERE TORNADIC STORM FORECASTS AND THE LIKE. ALL IN ALL, GIFTS IS NOT ONLY GOING TO CREATE A MUCH BETTER LIFE FOR HUMAN BEINGS, IT'S GOING TO SAVE US PROPERTY AND, PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT, SAVE LIVES AS WELL. NASA'S AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM, A PROJECT CREATED TO REDUCE THE THREAT OF WEATHER-RELATED AVIATION ACCIDENTS, WILL ALSO BENEFIT FROM GIFTS TECHNOLOGY. COMING UP, NASA'S COMMERCIAL INVENTION OF THE YEAR MAY HELP SAVE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE STRICKEN WITH HEART DISEASE. BUT FIRST, DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN TELL THE TEMPERATURE BY LISTENING TO THE CHIRPING OF A CRICKET? CRICKETS ARE CALLED "THE POOR MAN'S THERMOMETER" BECAUSE THEIR ACTIVITY IS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY TEMPERATURE. COUNT THE NUMBER OF CHIRPS A CRICKET MAKES IN 15 SECONDS, ADD 37, AND THE SUM WILL EQUAL THE FARENHEIT TEMPERATURE. NASA'S COMMERCIAL INVENTION OF THE YEAR, THE V.A.D., OR VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE, REPRESENTS THE NEXT GENERATION IN HEART-ASSIST DEVICES. THIS INGENIOUS PUMP USES SPACE-AGE TECHNOLOGY TO HELP KEEP PATIENTS ALIVE WHILE WAITING FOR A TRANSPLANT. TONYA ST. ROMAIN SPOKE WITH THE V.A.D.'S CO-INVENTOR AT NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER TO FIND OUT MORE. (. ) EVERY YEAR, APPROXIMATELY 20 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE SUFFER FROM HEART FAILURE, NEARLY 5 MILLION OF THEM IN THE U.S. ALONE. IN MANY CASES, A HEART TRANSPLANT IS THE BEST CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, ONLY ABOUT 2,500 DONOR HEARTS ARE AVAILABLE EACH YEAR, LEAVING MANY PATIENTS WITH LITTLE HOPE OF SURVIVAL UNTIL NOW. A UNIQUE DEVICE CALLED THE DeBAKEY VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE, OR V.A.D., IS NOW ABLE TO PROLONG LIFE UNTIL A SUITABLE TRANSPLANT HEART IS AVAILABLE. BASED ON THE VISION OF DR. MICHAEL DeBAKEY AND DESIGNED BY NASA ENGINEERS, THIS DEVICE USES ADVANCED FLOW TECHNOLOGIES-- FIRST USED IN THE SPACE SHUTTLE-- TO INCREASE BLOOD CIRCULATION FOR HEART FAILURE PATIENTS AWAITING A TRANSPLANT. I SPOKE WITH JIM AKKERMAN AT NASA'S JOHNSON SPACE CENTER TO FIND OUT MORE. THE ASSIST DEVICE IS A LOT LIKE A FAN, IF YOU CAN IMAGINE A FAN IN A LITTLE PIPE, AND IT JUST SORT OF BLOWS THE BLOOD ALONG. BLOOD IS A VERY FRAGILE FLUID, VERY UNUSUAL-TYPE THING TO BE PUMPING ALONG, AND THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK FOR MANY YEARS WITH PLUNGER-TYPE PUMPS THAT-- THAT ARE ABLE TO HANDLE THE FLUID VERY TENDERLY, BUT THEY'VE ALL BEEN BIG AND NOT VERY PRACTICAL. THE KEY IS, BLOOD HAS TO FLOW FAST THROUGH IT, AND OF COURSE, THAT GENERATES PROBLEMS WITH TURBULENCE AND LOW-PRESSURE ZONES AND BLOOD DAMAGE, AND IT'S--IT'S JUST TURNED OUT TO BE A REAL CHALLENGE. JIM, HOW DOES THE DEVICE WORK? THE ASSIST DEVICE ESSENTIALLY HOOKS TO THE LEFT VENTRICLE, AND A SMALL HOSE COMES UP AND CONNECTS ONTO THIS END OF THE PUMP. THE BLOOD FLOWS IN HERE. THESE LITTLE BLADES SORT OF SCREW INTO THE BLOOD FLOW. IT RUNS 10,000 REVOLUTIONS A MINUTE. THE BLOOD IS ROTATING WITH THE ROTOR. THEN WHEN IT FLOWS INTO THE DIFFUSER BLADES IN THE AFT END OF THE PUMP, THE BLOOD'S ROTATING MOTION IS DECELERATED, DISCHARGED, AND FLOWS OVER INTO THE DESCENDING AORTA. SO HOW DID NASA BECOME INVOLVED IN A MEDICAL PROJECT? WELL, ESSENTIALLY, THEY GOT INVOLVED WITH DeBAKEY THROUGH ONE OF HIS PATIENTS. DOCTOR DeBAKEY, OF COURSE, IS A HEART SURGEON. IN FACT, HE INVENTED THE FIRST PUMP THAT WAS USED TO SUPPORT THE LIFE OF THE PERSON WHILE HE WORKED ON THE HEART. DeBAKEY HAD BEEN WORKING ON A BLOOD PUMP FOR, LIKE, 30 YEARS, TRYING TO GET SOMETHING THAT WAS PRACTICAL AND REALISTIC, AND I THINK HE HAD ESSENTIALLY PRETTY MUCH THROWN IN THE TOWEL, ALMOST, 'CAUSE IT WAS SUCH A CHALLENGE TECHNICALLY. AND HE ASKED IF MAYBE SOMEBODY DOWN AT NASA WOULD BE INTERESTED IN LOOKING INTO IT. WE WENT OVER THE REQUIREMENTS, AND IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT A SPECIAL KIND OF TECHNOLOGY WAS GOING TO BE REQUIRED. BECAUSE BLOOD IS THE OPERATING FLUID FOR THE V.A.D., THE DEVICE MUST BE DESIGNED TO GENTLY PROPEL BLOOD THROUGH THE APPARATUS TO MINIMIZE DAMAGE TO THE RED BLOOD CELLS. IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, NASA ENGINEERS DESIGNED THE PUMPING DEVICE TO AVOID REGIONS OF HIGH STRESS AND SEPARATED FLOW INSIDE THE PUMP. THEY ALSO DESIGNED THE PUMP TO PROPERLY WASH OUT ALL OF THE BLOOD FROM LOW-FLOW REGIONS INSIDE THE DEVICE, HELPING TO PREVENT THE FORMATION OF BLOOD CLOTS. THESE MODIFICATIONS WERE ACCOMPLISHED BY USING THE SAME TYPE OF COMPLEX COMPUTATIONAL FLOW MODELS DEVELOPED TO INCREASE FUEL EFFICIENCY INSIDE THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENGINES. BY USING A COMPUTERIZED MODEL OF BLOOD FLOW FOR THE DEVICE, RESEARCHERS WERE ABLE TO REFINE THE V.A.D.'S PROBLEM AREAS, GAIN VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THE BLOOD FLOW PROCESS INSIDE THE DEVICE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, HELP SAVE LIVES. JIM, HOW LONG IS THIS DEVICE DESIGNED TO WORK? IT'S DESIGNED TO RUN FOR AT LEAST 100 DAYS, BUT WE'VE ALREADY RUN IT, LIKE, 110 DAYS, AND NO SIGNS OF ANY PROBLEM AT ALL. AS LONG AS THE BEARINGS ARE STILL INTACT, IT'S STILL GOING TO FUNCTION. WE CAN ENVISION THE THING ALMOST INDEFINITELY. THE REALLY EXCITING PART OF IT ALL IS THAT WITH THE EXTRA CIRCULATION THIS LITTLE UNIT PROVIDES, THERE'S A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE PATIENTS THAT ARE RECOVERING TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A TRANSPLANT. THEY'RE--ACTUALLY, THE HEART ITSELF RECOVERS WITH GOOD ENOUGH CIRCULATION. THAT'S A REAL ADVANTAGE TO KNOW THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT NEED THE SUPPORT WILL EVENTUALLY NOT NEED A TRANSPLANT. IT WAS REALLY A-- A CHALLENGE, FUN KIND OF CHALLENGE THAT ENGINEERS REALLY ENJOY, AND WITH THE TECHNOLOGY NASA HAS, WE WERE ABLE TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE SPACE PROGRAM, MANY AT NASA DREAMED OF EXTENDING OUR REACH OUTSIDE OF THE BOUNDARIES OF EARTH. ONE DREAM IN PARTICULAR WAS TO SEND A SPACECRAFT TO ANOTHER PLANET TO DETERMINE IF LIFE EXISTED BEYOND EARTH. THIS IS WHERE THE IDEA FOR THE VIKING MISSION WAS DEVELOPED. THIS EXTRAORDINARY MISSION WAS NOT ONLY DESIGNED TO LAND ON THE SURFACE OF MARS TO DO BASIC RESEARCH BUT TO ALSO PERFORM SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS TO SEARCH FOR LIFE ON THE RED PLANET. PLANNING FOR THE VIKING PROJECT BEGAN ON NOVEMBER 15, 1968, BUT THE ACTUAL MISSIONS DIDN'T LAUNCH UNTIL AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER OF 1975 DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND CHALLENGE OF THE PROJECT. THE MISSION INCLUDED TWO IDENTICAL SPACECRAFT, EACH CONSISTING OF A PLANETARY LANDER AND AN ORBITER. THEIR PRIMARY MISSION OBJECTIVES WERE TO OBTAIN HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES OF MARS, DETERMINE THE COMPOSITION OF THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE AND SURFACE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, TO CONCLUDE IF LIFE EXISTED. IN THE SUMMER OF 1976, BOTH VIKING SPACECRAFTS ARRIVED AT THEIR DESTINATION. AS THEY EASED INTO ORBIT, ONBOARD CAMERAS BEGAN SCANNING FOR POTENTIAL LANDING SITES. AFTER A FAVORABLE LANDING LOCATION WAS CHOSEN, EACH LANDER SEPARATED AND DESCENDED TO THE PLANET'S SURFACE. THE LANDERS TOUCHED DOWN OVER 4,300 MILES AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, MAKING HISTORY BY BECOMING THE FIRST MISSION TO LAND SPACECRAFT SAFELY ON THE SURFACE OF ANOTHER PLANET. WELL, WHEN WE LANDED ON MARS, I WAS QUITE JUBILANT, ESPECIALLY JUBILANT WHEN I KNEW, AFTER THE SECOND LANDING, THAT WE HAD TWO RELATIVELY SUCCESSFUL LANDERS. IN FACT, THE EXPERIMENTS ON BOTH LANDERS WORKED BEAUTIFULLY. BEFORE THE VIKING MISSION WAS EVER LAUNCHED, MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT MARS MIGHT HARBOR ABUNDANT PLANT LIFE AND MICROBES LIVING AMONG ITS RUST-COLORED ROCKS, BUT THE TWO LANDERS QUICKLY DISPELLED THESE NOTIONS. THE LANDERS REVEALED A WORLD SEEMINGLY DEVOID OF LIFE AT ALL. IN AN ATTEMPT TO CONCLUSIVELY PROVE OR DISPROVE LIFE ON MARS, THE TWO LANDERS CONDUCTED THREE BIOLOGY EXPERIMENTS BY REMOTE CONTROL FROM EARTH. ONE OF THE EXPERIMENTS, CALLED THE LABELED RELEASE LIFE DETECTION EXPERIMENT, COLLECTED SOILS SAMPLES THAT SHOWED SIGNS OF POSSIBLE MICROBES, BUT THE CONSENSUS OF SCIENTISTS INTERPRETING THE DATA BELIEVED THAT THE FINDINGS DID NOT PROVE THAT LIFE EXISTED ON MARS. WE GUARANTEED IT FOR 90 DAYS, 3 MONTHS, AND I THINK THE LANDER LANDED AND OPERATED SUCCESSFULLY FOR ABOUT 6 YEARS, WHICH WAS QUITE A SURPRISE TO ME, BECAUSE I WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE FAILURE RATES OF PARTS, AND IT TURNS OUT THAT ONCE A FEW FAILED, AS THEY DID ON THE WAY TO MARS, WHEN WE GOT TO THE SURFACE, WE WERE RELATIVELY LUCKY AND HAD VERY FEW FAILURES THEREAFTER. TOGETHER, THE TWO LANDERS ACCUMULATED 4,500 UP-CLOSE IMAGES OF THE MARTIAN SURFACE. THEY ALSO COLLECTED MORE THAN 3 MILLION WEATHER-RELATED MEASUREMENTS, INCLUDING THE FIRST ON-SITE OBSERVATIONS OF A GLOBAL MARTIAN DUST STORM. THE TWO ORBITERS CIRCLING HIGH ABOVE THE PLANET SNAPPED 52,000 IMAGES, COVERING 97% OF THE MARTIAN GLOBE. I WAS VERY THANKFUL THAT I CAME TO LANGLEY. THOSE SPACECRAFT WERE SUCCESSFUL NOT BECAUSE OF ME. THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE WE HAD SUCH A TREMENDOUS POOL OF TALENT HERE AT THE FIELD, AND I HOPE THAT CAN CONTINUE INTO THE FUTURE. I BELIEVE RESEARCH OUGHT TO GO ON. IT'S THE BEST WAY TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK. YOU CAN'T SPEND TOO MUCH FOR RESEARCH. THE DATA RETRIEVED FROM THE VIKING MISSION EXPONENTIALLY INCREASED OUR KNOWLEDGE OF MARS. VOLCANOES, CANYONS, CRATERS, AND EVIDENCE OF SURFACE WATER FOR THE FIRS TIME BECAME APPARENT FROM THE ORBITER IMAGES. THE VIKING MISSION PROVED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MISSIONS IN NASA HISTORY, FOREVER CHANGING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MARS. IN FACT, IT'S BEEN SAID THAT SCIENTISTS LEARNED MORE ABOUT MARS IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF THE VIKING MISSION THAN IN THE 500 YEARS BEFORE IT. THE LAST DATA FROM THE VIKING II LANDER ARRIVED TO EARTH ON APRIL 11, 1980. THE VIKING I LANDER MADE ITS FINAL TRANSMISSION TO EARTH NOVEMBER 11, 1982. THE TOTAL COST OF THE VIKING PROJECT? $1 BILLION. COMING UP, WE'LL SEE HOW NASA RESEARCH IS ABLE TO PREDICT, PREVENT, AND ELIMINATE AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES. BUT FIRST, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE MARS ODYSSEY SPACECRAFT HAS DETECTED EVIDENCE OF ICE BELOW THE SURFACE OF MARS? USING A DEVICE CALLED A GAMMA RAY SPECTROMETER, THE CRAFT SCANNED THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OF MARS, FINDING ENOUGH WATER ICE TO FILL LAKE MICHIGAN TWICE. NASA'S AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM IS DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE MAKING OUR SKIES SAFER. RESEARCHERS IN ONE PROGRAM CALLED THE SINGLE AIRPLANE ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROGRAM, OR SAAP, ARE HOPING TO USE DATA AVAILABLE FROM AIRCRAFT AND SIMULATORS TO IDENTIFY AND CORRECT AIRCRAFT SYSTEM PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY LEAD TO FATAL ACCIDENTS. DEREK LEONIDOFF EXPLAINS. YOU'VE ALL HEARD THAT FLYING IS THE SAFEST WAY TO TRAVEL, AND STATISTICALLY, IT IS. EVEN AS OUR WORLD'S AIRSPACE BECOMES MORE CROWDED, FLYING TODAY IS ACTUALLY BECOMING SAFER. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, FATAL AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS CAN STILL OCCUR. THAT'S WHY RESEARCHERS IN THE AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM ARE WORKING ON REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAY MAKE FATAL AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS A THING OF THE PAST. THE SINGLE AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROJECT, OR SAAP, IS PART OF THE AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM THAT IS DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAY HELP PILOTS RECOVER-- AND SAFELY LAND--AN AIRCRAFT FROM A POTENTIALLY FATAL EVENT. I SPOKE WITH JOHN FOSTER IN THE VEHICLE DYNAMICS BRANCH AT NASA LANGLEY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SAAP. WELL, THE SAAP PROJECT IS DEVELOPING SYSTEMS THAT WILL ANTICIPATE FAILURES ON THE AIRPLANE BEFORE THEY OCCUR AND HELP THE PILOT RECOVER THE AIRPLANE IF AN OUT-OF-CONTROL EVENT SHOULD OCCUR. WHAT'S--WHAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF AN OUT-OF-CONTROL FLIGHT SITUATION? WELL, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FACTORS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO AN AIRPLANE LOSS-OF-CONTROL ACCIDENT. THESE FACTORS CAN BE BOTH INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO THE AIRPLANE. SOME EXTERNAL FACTORS MAY INCLUDE SEVERE WEATHER OR JUST POOR VISIBILITY. SOME INTERNAL FACTORS, THOUGH, COULD INCLUDE SOME FAILURE IN THE CONTROL SYSTEM AS WELL AS A STRUCTURAL FAILURE OR JUST AN INAPPROPRIATE CREW INPUT. IN MANY OF THESE SITUATIONS, CATASTROPHIC FAILURES CAUSE THE PILOTS TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE, RESULTING IN A FATAL ACCIDENT. RESEARCHERS IN A SAAP PROJECT ARE WORKING ON NEW TECHNOLOGIES, WHICH THEY HOPE WILL PREVENT THESE TYPES OF ACCIDENTS FROM EVER OCCURRING AGAIN. THEY ARE DEVELOPING A SERIES OF REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEMS THAT WILL NOT ONLY DETECT AND PREDICT SYSTEM OR COMPONENT FAILURES BEFORE THEY BECOME SEVERE, BUT ARE ALSO DEVELOPING AUTOMATIC CONTROL RECOVERY SYSTEMS, WHICH WILL ACTUALLY HELP PILOTS RECOVER AN AIRPLANE FROM AN UPSET SITUATION. OKAY, SO HOW DO THESE SYSTEMS HELP A PILOT OUT? I MEAN, HOW DO THEY WORK? WELL, THE VEHICLE HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS BEING DEVELOPED WHICH WILL CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR THE AIRPLANE'S HEALTH AND COMPARE THAT TO THE MATH MODEL FOR A HEALTHY AIRPLANE. IN CASE A DISTURBING TREND OR AN ANOMALY OCCURS, IT CAN SEND THAT INFORMATION TO THE GROUND CREWS, AND THEY CAN TAKE THE APPROPRIATE MAINTENANCE ACTION TO FIX THE PART AFTER THE AIRPLANE LANDS. LIKE AN ONBOARD DOCTOR. THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED HEALTH MONITOR. ANOTHER SYSTEM BEING DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE SAAP PROJECT IS THE CONTROL RECOVERY SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM IS BEING DESIGNED TO HELP THE PILOT IN CASE THE AIRPLANE GETS INTO A LOSS-OF-CONTROL SITUATION. THAT SYSTEM WILL CARRY A MATH MODEL OF A NORMAL MANEUVERING AIRPLANE ON BOARD, AND IF THE SYSTEM DETECTS THAT THE AIRPLANE IS ABOUT TO ENTER A LOSS-OF-CONTROL SITUATION, IT CAN ALERT THE PILOT AND HELP HIM TO RECOVER THE AIRPLANE, OR IT CAN AUTOMATICALLY RECOVER THE AIRPLANE FOR THE PILOT. THESE SYSTEMS WILL NOT ONLY BE ABLE TO HELP A PILOT REGAIN CONTROL OF AN AIRCRAFT QUICKLY BUT WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO HELP LAND AN AIRCRAFT THAT HAS SUFFERED CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE. WITH THESE NEW SYSTEMS ON BOARD COMMERCIAL PLANES, PILOTS WILL BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN SAFE FLIGHT EVEN UNDER THE MOST ADVERSE FLIGHT CONDITIONS, POTENTIALLY MAKING FATAL CRASHES A THING OF THE PAST. OKAY, SO THE SYSTEMS YOU'VE MENTIONED ARE OBVIOUSLY COMPUTER SYSTEMS, BUT WE'RE STANDING HERE IN A WIND TUNNEL. HOW DOES WIND TUNNEL TESTING HELP? WELL, WIND TUNNELS ARE USED TO DEVELOP PILOT TRAINING SIMULATORS. WE CAN TAKE THE DATA OUT OF THE WIND TUNNEL FOR EXTREME FLIGHT CONDITIONS AND PUT THAT IN THE SIMULATOR AND ALLOW THE PILOT TO EXPERIENCE AN OUT-OF-CONTROL EVENT AND CONDUCT TRAINING TO LEARN HOW TO RECOVER FROM SUCH A SITUATION. OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE THE MOST REALISTIC TRAINING POSSIBLE FOR THE PILOTS IN CASE THEY ENTER A LOSS-OF-CONTROL SITUATION. JOHN, HOW WILL THESE SYSTEMS BE TESTED BEFORE BEING IMPLEMENTED ON AN AIRPLANE? WELL, THERE'RE SEVERAL METHODS THAT WE CAN USE TO TEST THE SYSTEMS BEFORE THEY ARE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED IN THE AIRPLANE. ONE IS TO USE A SUBSCALE, DYNAMICALLY SCALED FLYING MODEL OF THE AIRPLANE. IN THAT MODEL, WHICH IS REMOTELY CONTROLLED, WE CAN INSTALL THE ACTUAL SYSTEMS AND ONBOARD COMPUTERS AND THEN FLY THE MODEL THROUGH VARIOUS OUT-OF-CONTROL FLIGHT CONDITIONS AND THEN SEE HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS TO RECOVER THE AIRPLANE. WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS PROJECT? I MEAN, WHAT ARE THE FUTURE GOALS OF SAAP? WELL, FLYING IS ALREADY A VERY SAFE FORM OF TRANSPORTATION, BUT ACCIDENTS STILL OCCUR, AND OUR GOAL IN THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP SYSTEMS THAT WILL SPECIFICALLY HELP REDUCE THOSE KIND OF ACCIDENTS AND SAVE LIVES. THE TERM VIRTUAL REALITY HAS BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGIES. ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS FUTURISTIC, IT IS BEING USED EVERY DAY BY RESEARCHERS AS A CHEAP, SAFE, AND EFFICIENT WAY TO STUDY COMPLEX COMPUTER DATA AND ENVIRONMENTS. EVEN THOUGH IT IS BEING USED EVERY DAY, IT IS STILL NOT WIDELY UNDERSTOOD BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC. OUR JOHNNY ALONSO VISITS THE IMMERSIVE DESIGN AND SIMULATION LAB AT NASA LANGLEY TO HELP EXPLAIN VIRTUAL REALITY AND FIND OUT HOW IT WORKS. THE GREAT POET WALT WHITMAN ONCE SAID, "I ACCEPT REALITY AND DARE NOT QUESTION IT." WELL, IF OLD WALT WAS HERE TO SEE THIS, HE JUST MIGHT QUESTION IT. TODAY NASA RESEARCHERS ARE WORKING IN HIGH-TECH VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATION LABS USING NUMBERS, GRAPHICS, MATHEMATICAL MODELS TO CREATE THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES OF OBJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTS. MAN, IT'S LIKE WORKING INSIDE A REAL HOLODECK. NOW, I SPOKE WITH DOCTOR CHRIS SANDRIDGE AT NASA LANGLEY'S IMMERSIVE DESIGN AND SIMULATION LAB, BETTER KNOWN AS "THE CAVE," TO FIND OUT HOW IT WORKS. WHAT WE'RE STANDING IN RIGHT NOW IS CALLED A "CAVE." IT STANDS FOR CAVE AUTOMATIC VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT. BASICALLY, IT'S A MULTISCREEN THEATER WHERE WE CAN GENERATE 3-D IMAGES, 3-D SOUNDS AND SIMULATE VARIOUS NASA MISSIONS. THE CAVE HAS THREE WALLS MADE OF TEN FOOT BY TEN FOOT REAR PROJECTION SCREENS AND A FLOOR THAT IS PROJECTED FROM ABOVE, GIVING THE USERS A NEAR-COMPLETE IMMERSION IN COMPUTER-GENERATED GRAPHICS. THE SIMULATION LOOKS LIKE DOUBLE IMAGES UNTIL YOU PUT ON THE GOGGLES THAT GIVES EVERYTHING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL QUALITY. THE HARDWARE AND GRAPHICS EQUIPMENT USED TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM WERE FIRST DEVELOPED FOR USE IN COMPUTERS GAMES AND IN THE THEME PARK INDUSTRY. SO HOW DOES THIS VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT WORK? WE NEED THE GLASSES TO DESCRIBE THAT. BASICALLY, WHAT WE HAVE HERE ARE SHUTTER GLASSES, AND WHAT THEY DO IS, THEY KIND OF DECODE THE STEREO IMAGE SO THAT WE SEE THE DEPTH. BASICALLY, THE COMPUTER IS GENERATING TWO IMAGES: ONE FOR YOUR LEFT EYE; ONE FOR YOUR RIGHT EYE. AND THEN THERE'S A LITTLE SENSOR HERE ON THE GLASSES. THAT IT'S DETECTING AN INFRARED SIGNAL FROM BEHIND THE SCREEN THAT SYNCHRONIZES THE GLASSES SO YOU SEE A 3-D IMAGE. IN ADDITION, THE PERSON WHO'S ACTUALLY RUNNING THE CAVE IS ALSO BEING HEAD TRACKED. THERE'S A BLACK BOX ABOVE US THAT IS PUTTING OUT AN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD THAT'S BEING PICKED UP BY THIS ANTENNA. AND THEN THAT RELAYS INFORMATION BACK TO THE COMPUTER AND TELLS THE COMPUTER WHERE THE PERSON IS LOOKING AND WHAT HIS HEAD ORIENTATION IS. AND THEN IT UPDATES THE VISUALS, AND IT UPDATES THE SOUND BASED ON THIS PERSON'S POSITION. AND THEN FINALLY, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A MOUSE AND A KEYBOARD AVAILABLE TO US, WE NEED SOME TYPE OF AN INPUT DEVICE. SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE WAND THAT WE USE TO CONTROL THE APPLICATION. IT HAS JOYSTICKS ON IT. IT HAS SOME BUTTONS. AND THEN ALSO, IT IS TRACKED AS WELL. SO THE COMPUTER KNOWS WHERE THE POSITION OF THIS IS. SO WE CAN INTERACT WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. THAT'S BASICALLY HOW IT WORKS. AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE'S-- KIND OF A SUPERCOMPUTER IN THE BACK ROOM THAT'S KIND OF DRIVING IT ALL. SO CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW THIS APPLICATION WORKS? SURE, PUT YOUR GLASSES ON, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO TOWN. YOU GOT IT, MAN. TEST-DRIVE THIS THING. THIS IS A FULL-UP CONFIGURATION OF THE STATION, AND WE'RE USING THIS APPLICATION, BASICALLY, FOR TWO DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS, THE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT AND THE SOUND ENVIRONMENT. CURRENTLY, NASA LANGLEY RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING TOOLS TO HELP DESIGN AND IMPROVE RADIATION SHIELDING AND REDUCE NOISE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. THEY'RE ABLE TO MOVE EQUIPMENT OR INSTALL SHIELDING IN THE VIRTUAL REALITY IMAGE AND THEN OBSERVE AND STORE CALCULATIONS OF WHAT EFFECTS THE CHANGE HAS MADE. THE SIMULATIONS CAN BE SHARED WITH OTHER RESEARCHERS AT DISTANT LOCATIONS VIA COMPUTER NETWORK CONNECTIONS. SO, JOHNNY, YOU WANT TO TRY TO GIVE IT A SHOT? ABSOLUTELY, LET ME SEE THIS. TAKE THE WAND. OKAY. YOU NEED TO PUT ON THESE GLASSES, 'CAUSE THESE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE TRACKED. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. AND THE WAY IT WORKS IS THAT YOU POINT THE WAND IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO, AND THEN PUSH THE JOYSTICK FORWARD. FORWARD. TO GO FORWARD. AND YOU PULL BACKWARD TO GO BACKWARDS. AND THEN ROTATING IS PULLING THE JOYSTICK LEFT AND RIGHT. CHECK THIS OUT. YOU MIGHT WANT TO BACK OUT SO YOU CAN SEE-- FLY AROUND THE STATION. YEAH, I'M GOING TO THROW UP. ALL RIGHT, HERE WE GO. ROOKIE DRIVERS. YEAH. HERE, TAKE THE WHEEL. HERE ARE YOUR GLASSES BACK. I'LL TAKE THESE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER USES FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY? ANOTHER USE THAT WE'RE JUST STARTING TO WORK ON IS TO DEVELOP A SIMULATION TO EVALUATE COMMUNITY NOISE OF JETS AND AIRCRAFT FLYING NEAR AIRPORTS TO LOOK AT HOW WE CAN QUIET THE AIRCRAFT AND BE LESS INTRUSIVE TO THE NEIGHBORS AROUND THE AIRPORT. AND FINALLY, I GUESS, THESE TYPES OF CAVE ENVIRONMENTS ARE USED BY THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY TO LAY OUT THE INTERIOR COCKPIT OF THE CAR. SO THEY'LL-- IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT, THEY'LL LOOK AT, LIKE, WHERE THE MIRROR IS, WHERE THE CONSOLE IS. ANYTHING WHERE HUMAN FACTORS ARE INVOLVED, THEN YOU CAN PUT IT IN ACTUAL SIZE AND LOOK AT IT IN THE CORRECT PERSPECTIVE BEFORE YOU BUILD HARDWARE PROTOTYPES, WHICH ARE FAIRLY EXPENSIVE. WELL, THIS IS A LOT OF FUN. THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE. THANKS A LOT FOR EVERYTHING. NO PROBLEM. ONE MORE QUESTION? SURE. CAN I KEEP THE GLASSES? EVERYBODY WANTS THE GLASSES. THEY ARE VERY STYLISH. CHECK THESE OUT, MAN. THAT'S ALL FOR THIS EDITION OF DESTINATION TOMORROW. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. I'M STEELE McGONEGAL. AND I'M KERA O'BRYON. FOR ALL OF US HERE AT NASA, WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.

Captioning provided by the Office of Education, NASA Langley Research Center. Captioning by Jeremy at CaptionMax www.captionmax.com