Known Universe (2009) s03e04 Episode Script

NARRATOR: IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE, IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO ADAPT, YOU GET LEFT IN THE DUST.
Andy Howell: Come on Baby.
You can do it.
NARRATOR: WE'RE TRANSFORMING OUR EARTHBOUND TECHNOLOGY TO TAKE ON THE RIGGERS OF THE COSMOS.
Steve Jacobs: Let's see if a bullet will fire in outer space.
NARRATOR: EACH NEW CREATION PROPELS US FASTER, CLEARS A NEW PATH.
David Kaplan: 3, 2, 1, woah! (Bleep).
NARRATOR: AND PUSHES US TO THE EDGE.
Mike Massimino: Here we go! Holy cow! NARRATOR: GET AN UP-CLOSE LOOK AT OUR TRANSFORMING TECHNOLOGY, BECAUSE IN SPACE, EXTREME TAKES ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING.
Mike Massimino: You're in my house now.
Andy Howell: You ready, Mike? NARRATOR: THIS EVERYDAY SUV.
Mike Massimino: Hey, Andy, you might think you're in that fancy car of yours, but this is a spaceship.
NARRATOR: AND NASA'S NEXT GENERATION ROVER ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF ACROSS A HARSH ALIEN LANDSCAPE IN A RACE FOR SPACE SUPREMACY.
THE SUV IS LIGHTER, FASTER, AND ROAD TESTED, BUT THE ROVER HAS 12-WHEEL DRIVE AND CAN PIVOT ON A DIME.
WHICH WILL TAKE THE CHECKERED FLAG? Man: 3, 2, 1! Action! NARRATOR: THE STAKES ARE HIGH BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO BREAK DOWN OUR MOST WELL-KNOWN TECHNOLOGIES AND SEE HOW THEY MUST BE TRANSFORMED TO WORK IN SPACE.
David Kaplan: Space is a completely different environment than the environment on Earth.
There's a vacuum in space and there are different temperatures in space.
So the question is what sort of modifications do we need to make? NARRATOR: SOME TECHNOLOGIES COULD HAVE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL WHILE OTHERS MIGHT FAIL SPECTACULARLY.
Andy Howell: I'm not sure you could take th ing off the shelf on Earth and just throw it into space, but maybe.
I guess we'll see.
NARRATOR: TO SEE JUST HOW MUCH SPACE CHANGES OUR TECHNOLOGY, OUR FIRST STOP IS YOUR DRIVEWAY.
WOULD YOUR CAR MAKE IT ON THE MOON? OR MARS? NASA DOESN'T THINK SO, SO THEY HAVE TRANSFORMED THE TECHNOLOGY OF YOUR FAVORITE AUTOMOBILE AND CREATED AN ENTIRELY NEW TYPE OF VEHICLE.
AND MECHANICAL ENGINEER AND ASTRONAUT MIKE MASSIMINO IS ABOUT TO KICK IT'S TIRES.
Mike Massimino: Here we have the state of the art in astronaut transportation.
This is an SEV, which means space exploration vehicle.
It can take a 45-degree incline going up, it can turn about itself, it can go over rock about 2 feet high.
So you can go just about anywhere with this thing.
So let's take a look inside.
Here we go.
Okay, to control this thing, I have this control stick, which allows me to control it in any degree of freedom.
I also have video display, so we've got cameras everywhere.
The control panel allows me to select a gear for speed to control the whole vehicle right here with this.
NARRATOR: BUT WHY DO OUR VEHICLES HAVE TO TRANSFORM INTO THIS FUTURISTIC GIANT? AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASTRONOMER ANDY HOWELL IS ABOUT TO FIND OUT.
HE'S GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A STANDARD SUV TO TEST IF IT COULD HOLD UP ON AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL SURFACE.
ONLY THING IS HE'LL BE RACING MIKE AND THE ROVER.
OFF-ROADING IS ABOUT TO GO OUT OF THIS WORLD.
Mike Massimino: The course we've got here, we're gonna start over on flat ground and then we're gonna go through some mud.
But that's where the similarities with Earth start to depart.
Behind me, what you see is our moon terrain.
So we're gonna go to the right of the moon terrain and then we're gonna take on the craters, a big one, then a smaller one.
If we survive the moon, we're gonna try to make it up Martian Hill here, which has lots of rocks and holes.
And whoever makes it to the top of the hill will be declared the winner.
Andy Howell: My biggest advantage is speed.
Even if I get stuck, I should still have plenty of time to get up here.
Mike Massimino: So there are times when you're exploring space and you want to go really fast.
I got a feeling this is one of those times where slow and steady is gonna win the race.
Andy Howell: The hardest part is those craters.
I'm really worried about getting stuck.
That's a lot of gravel.
Mike Massimino: I think the toughest part for the rover is gonna be getting around Andy after he gets stuck.
And I hope his insurance is paid up, because we might have to just go over him.
We'll see you on the top of the hill.
Good luck.
Andy Howell: Alright.
Mike Massimino: Hey, Andy, get ready to eat my moon dust.
Andy Howell: You might be fast in your space shuttle, Mike, but that thing goes, like what, 9 miles an hour? It's gonna be easy.
Mike Massimino: We're not going on a highway.
We're going on a planet.
You're in my house now.
Man: 3, 2, 1! Andy Howell: You're going down, Massimino.
Mike Massimino: Well, he made it through the mud.
So far so good for Andy.
Let's see how he does on the moon.
Andy Howell: I see you in my rear view window, Massimino.
Mike Massimino: Alright, he's going down a big crater.
Andy Howell: Come on, baby, you can do it.
NARRATOR: THE LOOSE, CRUSHED GRAVEL MAKES IT INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT FOR THE SUV TO GET ANY TRACTION.
Andy Howell: Oooooh, come on crater! NARRATOR: HAVING THE POWER OF 12 WHEELS AND WEIGHING TWICE WHAT THE SUV DOES, THE SEV HAS NO TROUBLE WITH TRACTION IN THE CRATERS AT ALL.
Mike Massimino: He is still in there.
Andy Howell: This thing is not made for craters.
Come on, baby.
Come on, you can do it.
Yeah! Mike Massimino: Alright, Andy's clear.
We'll get through this one now.
Andy Howell: Now he's gonna tilt.
NARRATOR: BUT THIS HILL IS MADE OF SAND AND ROCKS, AND WITH THE STEEP INCLINE, ANDY'S SUV CAN'T GET ANY MOMENTUM.
Andy Howell: (Bleep) Ah! He's gaining.
Curse you, Massimino! Mike Massimino: There we go.
NARRATOR: MIKE'S SEV, ON THE OTHER HAND, CAN EASILY CLIMB A SLIPPERY 40-DEGREE SLOPES.
Mike Massimino: I don't think we need to worry about Andy catching us on the way up here.
NARRATOR: AND ROLL RIGHT OVER ROCKS.
Mike Massimino: Let's turn around.
We're gonna be a pirouette here.
Oh, look.
There's Andy.
Let's go see how he's doing.
Hey, what happened? You need a tow? How about a push? Andy Howell: Dammit.
Mike Massimino: Doesn't look like he's doing so good.
Andy Howell: Man.
Mike Massimino: Be careful.
There's rocks.
Andy Howell: No kidding.
Congratulations, Mike.
I guess you really are king of the hill.
Mike Massimino: Well, it's not me.
It's the, uh, space exploration vehicle.
You did the best you could, Andy.
Andy Howell: What can I say? I'm not like racecar driver.
They don't train me for this stuff.
NARRATOR: IF ANDY THOUGHT HIS SUV TOOK A BEATING ON THE MOCK LUNAR SURFACE, ON THE REAL ONE, THINGS WOULD GET A WHOLE LOT WORSE.
David Kaplan: The technology that works down here on Earth is not necessarily gonna work in space.
Driving on the moon would be very different than driving on Earth.
NARRATOR: WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE, ANY SUV'S COMBUSTION ENGINE WON'T EVEN START UNLESS IT'S SEALED UP AND PUMPED FULL OF OXYGEN.
EVEN IF IT GETS RUNNING, THIS SET OF WHEELS WILL FIND IT HARD TO GET TRACTION ON THE LOOSE LUNAR SOIL, WHICH BLANKETS ALMOST THE ENTIRE SURFACE.
ITS SPINNING TIRES KICK UP AN EVEN BIGGER PROBLEM, HARSH LUNAR DUST, WHICH IS LIKE POWDERED GLASS.
THESE SMALL FRAGMENTS CAN PENETRATE MOST SEALS AND WILL QUICKLY GUM UP THE HYDRAULICS AND TRANSMISSION.
BUT EVEN IF WE OVERCAME ALL THESE PROBLEMS, IN THE LOW LUNAR GRAVITY THIS BIG 4X4 WILL GO FLYING THE SECOND IT HITS ONE BIG BUMP.
David Kaplan: You would catch a lot of air on the moon.
Wear your seatbelt.
It's crazy up there.
NARRATOR: MOVING AROUND ON SOLID SURFACES, LIKE MOONS, OR EVEN OTHER PLANETS IS ONE THING.
BUT FLYING THROUGH SPACE IS GOING TO REQUIRE AN EVEN GREATER LEVEL OF TRANSFORMATION.
THE FIRST BIG PROBLEM? PROPULSION.
HERE ON EARTH, WE TAKE TO THE AIR WITH JET ENGINES.
Sigrid Close: A jet engine uses the combustion process.
It basically sucks air in, increases the pressure, and then they ignite that air with propellant in the engine, then the air actually gets pushed out the back, which pushes the airplane forward.
NARRATOR: BUT WHAT FLIES ON EARTH ISN'T GOING TO FLY IN SPACE.
David Kaplan: A jet engine wouldn't work in space because there's no air in space.
There's nothing to contract and then explode out the back, so a rocket is used.
And a rocket engine has all of the material contained inside of it, so all the burning can happen right there.
By shooting stuff out the back, it propels the rocket forward.
NARRATOR: SO HOW DO WE HAVE ON EARTH THAT CAN TRANSFORM INTO A ROCKET FOR SPACE? THE ANSWER IS A BIT SURPRISING, A GUN.
THAT'S RIGHT.
YOU CAN TAKE THE SAME PROCESS THAT FIRES A BULLET AND CONVERT IT TO FUEL TANKS AND A COMBUSTION CHAMBER, AND THEN YOUR LOADED GUN BECOMES A LOADED ROCKET THAT'S OFF TO THE RACES.
IT MIGHT SEEM FARFETCHED THAT A GUN AND A ROCKET COULD BE THE SAME, SO THE ONLY WAY TO SEE IF IT'S TRUE IS TO PERFORM A LITTLE EXPERIMENT, TRYING TO FIRE A GUN IN SPACE.
SCIENTIST STEVE JACOBS HAS IT ALL SET UP.
AND AEROSPACE ENGINEER SIGRID CLOSE AND ANDY HOWELL ARE EAGER TO SEE IF IT'LL WORK.
Steve Jacobs: There's an old question will a gun fire in outer space? Andy Howell: Yes.
Steve Jacobs: You're pretty sure? Andy Howell: I've seen it in movies.
Steve Jacobs: The movies never lie.
Okay, Sigrid, do you agree with his analysis? Sigrid Close: I'm not sure.
There's a combustion process going on with a gun, so we need air.
There's no air in space.
There's no air in here.
Steve Jacobs: You're thinking like a scientist.
This is great.
We're just gonna find out.
Let's load the gun, then we'll turn on the vacuum pump, removing the air, and then I'll push the magic button.
Watch what happens when I press the button.
See that? Sigrid Close: That's nice.
Steve Jacobs: That's nice, isn't it? So let's see if a bullet will fire in outer space.
Here's a bullet.
We'll put it in the cylinder.
Ready to go.
So we've sealed up the tank.
It's airtight.
I'm gonna use this pump to remove that air.
Oh, boy, it's going down fast now.
Okay, I'm gonna turn off the vacuum and prepare to shoot this thing.
You folks ready? Sigrid Close: Ready.
Steve Jacobs: Alright, here we go.
Countdown.
3, 2, 1! TRANSFORM OUR ORDINARY EARTHBOUND MACHINES INTO TREMENDOUS OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD TECHNOLOGIES, WE NEED TO KNOW IF AN EVERYDAY GUN WILL FIRE IN SPACE? ANDY THINKS SO.
SIGRID ISN'T SO SURE.
SO STEVE HAS PUT ONE IN THE BOX, DRAINED OUT ALL THE AIR, AND IS ABOUT TO PULL THE TRIGGER.
Steve Jacobs: You folks ready? Sigrid Close: Ready.
Steve Jacobs: Alright, here we go.
3, 2, 1! Andy Howell: It did fire.
Steve Jacobs: What do you see, Andy? Andy Howell: Oh, nice little hole.
Steve Jacobs: Nice little hole there.
Sigrid Close: It worked.
Didn't sound like much, though.
Steve Jacobs: And that is because? Sigrid Close: Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum, and it was kinda quiet.
Steve Jacobs: It was kinda quiet.
Kind of muffled.
So Andy, what do you've got to say about this, now that you've seen it? Andy Howell: I actually knew that gunpowder has its own oxidizer.
Sigrid Close: So this makes perfect sense.
We took all of the oxygen out of this chamber, but we didn't take all the oxygen out of the gunpowder.
Steve Jacobs: Right.
NARRATOR: HOW IS THERE OXYGEN STILL INSIDE THE GUN? THE ANSWER IS THAT IT'S SECURED WITHIN THE BULLETS.
WHEN A GUN'S HAMMER STRIKES A BULLET, IT IGNITES THE GUNPOWDER INSIDE, WHICH IS A MIXTURE OF CHARCOAL, SULFUR, AND A SUBSTANCE CALLED SALTPETER.
SALTPETER IS RICH IN OXYGEN, AND THE OXYGEN CHEMICALLY REACTS WITH THE OTHER ELEMENTS TO CREATE THE EXPLOSION THAT FIRES THE BULLET, AND THIS ALLOWS A GUN TO FIRE EASILY IN A VACUUM.
PULLING THE TRIGGER MIGHT BE SIMILAR TO A ROCKET POWERING THROUGH SPACE, BUT WE'VE GOT OTHER PROBLEMS, LIKE THE NEED FOR AN EVEN BIGGER TRANSFORMATION, STEERING.
OUR EARTHBOUND AIRCRAFT MANUEVERS ARE ALSO HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON AIR.
AND MIKE MASSIMINO AND PILOT GREG JOHNSON ARE ABOUT TO TAKE TO THE SKIES TO SEE WHY.
Mike Massimino: Alright, Greg, I'm gonna get a chance to fly today.
Greg Johnson: It's gonna be great.
Mike Massimino: So why don't we go over a little bit about how the control surfaces work? Greg Johnson: Well, let me talk about the wing.
You've got these little ailerons and these are what make us turn left and right.
If you take the stick and move it to the right, this aileron on the left side goes down, the one on the right goes up, and the airplane rolls to the right.
And in fact, if you take this stick and we roll it quickly to the right, you're gonna go around and do an aileron roll 360 degrees in 1 second.
The horizontal stabilizer moves with the stick also.
And as you move the stick, this moves to pitch the nose up or down.
And in fact, if you pull really, really hard, we can pull 7 G's.
Mike Massimino: That's a lot of G's for us.
Greg Johnson: So let's not do that.
Mike Massimino: No, we won't do that today.
Greg Johnson: The final surface is right up there, that little rutter.
You can use the rutter to keep the nose to go left or right.
But in general, we want that thing straight so we can go really, really fast.
Mike Massimino: We want to go fast and we want to have fun.
NARRATOR: TIME TO SEE HOW THESE CONTROLS STEER AN AIRCRAFT AT SPEEDS OVER 800 MILES PER HOUR.
Mike Massimino: Ready for action.
Greg Johnson: Ready for action.
Here we go.
Mike Massimino: Astronaut 930 for 930-8.
And now we're pulling back on the stick.
NARRATOR: BY DOING THIS, GREG MOVES THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZERS, CAUSING THE NOSE OF THE JET TO PITCH UP FURTHER INTO THE SKY.
Mike Massimino: And we're kinda doing this big roll.
Now we're upside down.
And we should come back to the same heading and the same altitude that we started.
And it looks like we got it.
Alright, heading home.
Flying a T-38 jet, it gives us an opportunity to be in an environment working with another crewmember to fly the airplane, and it gets us ready to work together to fly in space.
NARRATOR: THOUGH WE'VE GOT NO PROBLEMS FLYING IN OUR OWN ATMOSPHERE, IF WE TAKE AN AIRCRAFT LIKE THIS INTO SPACE, OUR FAMILIAR WAY OF NAVIGATION GOES BERZERK.
JUST LIKE A T-38, WHEN A 747 FLIES, IT USES AILERONS ON THE WINGS FOR ROLL, HORIZONTAL ELEVATORS FOR PITCH, AND A VERTICAL RUTTER FOR THE YAW.
IT'S ALL GOOD UNTIL THE JET REACHES SPACE, AND THEN EVERYTHING GOES SOUTH.
WITH NO AIR TO PASS OVER THESE CONTROL SURFACES, OUR JET SPINS OUT OF CONTROL.
AND THAT'S THE LAST THING WE WANT TO HAPPEN IN SPACE.
Sigrid Close: The reason why space can be an issue is because let's say you push on some object.
That object's going to keep going and going.
Here on Earth, we have things like gravity pulling it down to stop it.
There's nothing like that out in space.
This is why when we see astronauts doing space walks, for the most part they're usually tethered.
It's because any action that they do, they could potentially spin out of control.
NARRATOR: AND SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL IS EXACTLY WHAT MIKE MASSIMINO IS ABOUT TO DO.
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS HE'S GOING TO TRY AND MASTER THIS PROBLEM WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM STEVE JACOBS.
Mike Massimino: This thing behind me is called Orbitron.
We're gonna try to use this contraption to prove how things react in space.
We're gonna get motion going in one direction and show that there's no way it's gonna stop unless we give an opposite reaction to it.
Steve Jacobs: Are you ready to go, buddy? Mike Massimino: Ready to go.
Steve Jacobs: Good for you.
Climb in there and I'll help you a little bit.
Mike Massimino: You wanna come with me? Steve Jacobs: Sure, let's see if we can get two in that seat.
Now we're really gonna clamp you in.
Right there, okay.
Feel snug as a bug in an Orbitron? Mike Massimino: So how's this thing gonna work? Steve Jacobs: Well, you've got two thrust handles and compressed gas behind you.
You've got two nozzles.
Mike Massimino: I see that one right here.
That's gonna spin me towards you.
The one on the right's gonna spin me away from you.
Steve Jacobs: There you go.
So you'll be able to correct action and reaction.
Mike Massimino: Alright.
Steve Jacobs: So here's what we're gonna do, we're gonna get you spinning on several planes of rotation and see if you can apply the appropriate amount of reaction to stop some of that motion.
So you ready to do it? Mike Massimino: Yeah, let's go.
Steve Jacobs: Let's see if we can recreate some space.
Mike Massimino: Okay, let's light the candle.
Steve Jacobs: Let's light the candle.
Mike Massimino: Here we go, going in one direction.
Yeah, go ahead! Here we go! Holy cow! NARRATOR: HOUSTON, DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM? OR WILL MIKE BE ABLE TO USE THE BLASTS OF AIR TO RIGHT HIMSELF? NARRATOR: TRANSFORMING FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY ON EARTH FOR USE IN SPACE CAN MAKE HEADS SPIN, JUST LIKE MIKE MASSIMINO IS RIGHT NOW.
BUT IF HE CAN MASTER THE ART OF ACTION AND REACTION ON EARTH, IT'LL REVEAL OUR MOST SIGNIFICANT TRANSFORMATION YET.
Steve Jacobs: Come on, Mike! Come on, Mike! You can do it! You're doing it! Look at you.
Alright, I'll bring you around.
You should be an astronaut, man.
Mike Massimino: You think? Alright, so I think we successfully demonstrated Newton's law.
What do you think, Jake? Steve Jacobs: Oh, I think you did a great job.
Mike Massimino: And I didn't throw up.
Steve Jacobs: You didn't throw up.
Mike Massimino: How was that? Alright, that was fun.
NARRATOR: HOW DOES THIS TEST SHOW THE TRANSFORMATION NEEDED TO MAKE AN AIRCRAFT FLY IN SPACE? BURSTS OF GAS LIKE THESE WILL TURN OUT TO BE OUR ACE IN THE HOLE.
WITH NO ATMOSPHERE TO CONTROL THE ROLL, PITCH, AND YAW OF OUR PASSENGER JET, IT LOOKS HOPELESSLY DOOMED.
BUT IF WE TRANSFORM IT INTO A SPACE SHUTTLE AND GIVE IT A REACTION CONTROL SYSTEM, WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS.
THE RCS THRUSTERS ALLOW THE SHUTTLE TO CHANGE DIRECTION WITH SMALL, COORDINATED PUFFS OF COMPRESSED GAS.
AND NOW OUR SPACECRAFT CAN PRECISELY MANUEVER SO WELL IT CAN DOCK PERFECTLY WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
FLYING AWAY FROM OUR ATMOSPHERE TO THE VACUUM OF SPACE MAY BE PROBLEMATIC.
BUT SOMETIMES WE DON'T NEED TO CHANGE OUR TECHNOLOGY.
WE JUST NEED TO MAKE IT SUPERSIZED.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S POSSIBLE WITH MANY KIDS' FAVORITE PLAYTHINGS, MAGNETS.
Andy Howell: If we didn't have magnets, what would we put on our refrigerators? But really, they serve a lot more, uh, uses in everyday life.
Speakers have magnets.
We use magnets to read a credit card.
Motors have magnets, and that's one of the most important uses of magnets.
NARRATOR: BUT THERE'S DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAGNETS, THE PERMANENT ONES USED ON YOUR REFRIGERATOR AND ALSO ELECTROMAGNETS.
Andy Howell: Permanent magnet is always on.
It's a property of the material, you've got a magnetic field that's always there.
An electromagnet will only work when there's a current running through it.
So it's a temporary magnet that you only get induced by an electric field.
NARRATOR: BUT WHAT IF YOU COULD TURN AN ELECTROMAGNET INTO A MACHINE SO POWERFUL IT COULD LAUNCH PROJECTILES THAT WOULD LEAVE ALMOST EVERY JET AIRCRAFT IN THE DUST? WELL, THE NAVY ISN'T IMAGINING IT.
THEY'VE ALREADY MADE IT.
AND THIS MAGNETIC TRANSFORMER IS CALLED A RAIL GUN.
HERE AT THE NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER IN VIRGINIA, THE NAVY IS TESTING ITS LATEST VERSION.
AND THE CHIEF OF NAVAL RESEARCH, REAR ADMIRAL NEVIN CARR, IS EAGER TO SEE THIS FUTURISTIC ARTILLERY GET SOME ACTION.
Nevin Carr Jr.
: Behind me, you see the Navy's laboratory rail gun, and it's actually a launcher.
This weapon can fundamentally change the way we do long-range strike.
With a large weapon like this, it can deliver a payload over a long, long range, very high rates of speed.
You can fire more of them and you can do so more precisely.
Charles Garrett: What we're standing next to is the pulse power system for rail gun.
Each one of the modules is 3 megajoules of pulse power.
There's about 100 megajoules in the entire facility.
It's about half of what a house would draw in a day.
It doesn't sound like a lot of power, but we're gonna dump all of that in 10 milliseconds.
That means in 10 milliseconds, that bullet goes from a standing start to Mach 7 and a half.
So after we've charged the capacitors, we dump that charge into the gun.
This is the breach end.
This is where the bullet would go in.
So you would load the bullet in this fashion.
The current would go in through the bottom rail, come through this armature, come back, and that's gonna push this bullet down bore.
Through this bulkhead is the muzzle end of the gun.
It actually provides the best view of the rails themselves.
You can see copper rails top and bottom, they're separated by insulators.
When the bullet comes out, it'll exit in front of these panels and it'll head down range.
The bullet's coming out of the gun at 2,500 meters per second.
That's about 5,500 miles per hour.
If you could maintain that speed, it would go from Virginia to Los Angeles in under 45 minutes.
NARRATOR: HERE'S HOW THE MASSIVE MAGNETIC GUN DOES ALL THIS.
THE 5 MILLION AMPS ARE SENT INTO PARALLEL COPPER RAILS.
ONCE THEY'RE CONNECTED, THE ELECTRICITY PRODUCES POWERFUL MAGNETIC FIELDS AROUND EACH OF THEM, ONE POSITIVELY CHARGED, THE OTHER NEGATIVELY CHARGED.
TO GET THIS CONNECTION, YOU PUT AN ARMATURE BETWEEN THEM.
THE RESULTING MAGNETIC FIELDS PUSH IT DOWN THE RAILS, RELEASING A PROJECTILE AT INCREDIBLE SPEEDS.
NOW IT'S TIME TO SEE WHAT THIS BAD BOY CAN DO, FROM THE SAFETY OF THE CONTROL ROOM.
Vanessa Lent: This is the control room.
We are separate from the rail gun building.
The entire rail gun is all controlled from this room right here.
Once it reaches its maximum voltage, we'll have a 3, 2, 1 and a fire.
NARRATOR: A PROJECTILE IS ABOUT TO TAKE A LONG JOURNEY DOWN AN OUTDOOR TEST RANGE.
Firing Director: Stand by.
Man: Enabling.
3, 2, 1.
NARRATOR: AT THE NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER IN VIRGINIA, THE U.
S.
NAVY IS GETTING READY TO TEST ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TECHNOLOGIES ON EARTH, A GUN THAT'S TRANSFORMED THE POWER OF MAGNETS TO LAUNCH PROJECTILES ALMOST 8 TIMES THE SPEED OF SOUND.
Man: 3, 2, 1, fire.
NARRATOR: A HIGH SPEED CAMERA CAPTURES THE SHEER FORCE AND POWER OF A PROJECTILE AS IT ACCELERATES OUT OF THE GUN MUZZLE, SUPERHEATING THE AIR BEHIND IT AND SCREAMING DOWN THE RANGE.
IT'S TRAVELLING CLOSE TO MACH 8, MORE THAN 5,000 MILES AN HOUR, TO A TARGET MILES AWAY.
ONE THING IS CERTAIN, YOU DON'T WANT TO BE ON THE RECEIVING END.
Man 1: Confirmed? Man #: One KV.
Nelson Carr Jr.
: Man, of course, has always been trying to harness the power of the universe.
This is just a different way.
NARRATOR: WE COULD USE THE SAME MAGNETIC POWER OF A RAIL GUN IN AN EVEN BIGGER WAY, FORMING IT INTO A SPACECRAFT PROPULSION SYSTEM CALLED A MASS DRIVER.
USING LONG METAL RAILS WITH ELECTRICITY RUNNING THROUGH THEM, WE COULD CREATE A SUPERCHARGED MILES-LONG RUNWAY.
WE COULD PUT THIS DEVICE ON THE MOON, AND WITHOUT ANY ATMOSPHERE OR SUBSTANTIAL GRAVITY HOLDING US BACK, THIS MASS DRIVER COULD LAUNCH US TO OTHER PLANETS AND BEYOND.
BUT MAGNETIC BIG BANGS REQUIRE AN AWFUL LOT OF ENERGY EACH TIME THEY FIRE.
WE NEED TO TRANSFORM TECHNOLOGY THAT'S MORE FOCUSED, MORE EFFICIENT, AND MORE VERSATILE.
WHEN IT COMES TO THESE FEATURES, NOTHING BEATS A LASER.
David Kaplan: Laser stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
The idea is that you put energy into a special material and that material emits light.
And by bouncing that light back and forth, you build up an intense beam of a single color of light.
NARRATOR: HERE ON EARTH, WE USE LASERS IN CD AND DVD PLAYERS, AT THE SUPERMARKET, AND EVEN IN SURGERY.
BUT IF WE TRANSFORM THIS COMMON TECHNOLOGY, IT CAN BE EVEN MORE POWERFUL IN SPACE, AND POTENTIALLY LIFE-SAVING.
IMAGINE AN ASTEROID IS HEADED TOWARDS EARTH AND OUR ONLY CHANCE TO SURVIVE IS TO CHANGE ITS COURSE.
JOHN CAMPBELL, AT THE CENTER FOR APPLIED OPTICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, THINKS HE KNOWS HOW TO DO IT USING LASERS.
John Campbell: What we have here is a potato that we're going to use as a simulated asteroid in this experiment.
We're going to hang the potato from the ceiling, strike it with the laser, and see if the laser can push it around.
If we demonstrate that the laser can push it, then we know that if we scale this technology up to space it will be able to deflect asteroids and prevent them from striking the Earth.
Laser on.
What we're seeing is the laser being impinging on our simulated asteroid.
We're seeing sparks coming off, which is representative of a polation occurring.
As the polation occurs, it acts as a small rocket, which is pushing the potato around and causing it to rotate.
Another interesting advantage to using lasers is the laser beam can work even on a rotating target.
In space, this would mean the asteroid would have its orbit changed.
It would deflect so it would not hit the Earth.
NARRATOR: THESE LABORATORY LASERS CAN CREATE MODEST EFFECTS, BUT CAN A LASER ACTUALLY HAVE REAL POWER? A TOP OF THE LINE LASER BEING USED IN THE BATTLEFIELD SHOWS THEIR TRUE POWER BY SHOWCASING UNRIVALED PRECISION AND STRENGTH, AND STOPPING BOMBS DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS.
NARRATOR: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE LASER THAT'S INSIDE YOUR DVD PLAYER TRANSFORM INTO SOMETHING OUT OF A SCI-FI MOVIE, A GROUP CALLED COBHAM ANALYTIC SOLUTIONS HAS JUST WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
THEY'VE CREATED A LIFE-SAVING LASER SO POWERFUL IT'S USED TO DESTROY ROADSIDE BOMBS IN WARZONES.
AND THEORETICAL PHYSICIST DAVID KAPLAN IS AT ONE OF THEIR HANGERS IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA TO SEE IT FIRED UP.
David Kaplan: This is Zeus.
Zeus is a high-powered infrared laser mounted on top of the Humvee.
This laser puts out 2.
5 kilowatts of power.
That's 2,500 watts.
Now, imagine a 100-watt light bulb multiplied 25 times.
What a laser can do is it takes all of that energy from all 25 bulbs and focuses it into a very narrow beam.
That transfers enormous amounts of heat to a very small spot.
The first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna take this steel plate, set it up, and burn holes through it.
Man: Initiating sequence.
Firing tag laser in 3, 2, 1, fire tag.
Moving to initial point.
Fire laser.
David Kaplan: Wow, it's bright.
That didn't take long.
Why does it explode out like that? Man: Well, what happens is it's just about ready to punch through and what you're seeing is the last little bit of metal being exploded out the back.
David Kaplan: That's cool.
Man: We're putting about 2,500 watts in a very small area, about 3 millimeters, so it's an enormous amount of power in a really small spot.
David Kaplan: Take a look.
The whole point of that was to show that you could transfer heat over a long distance to get it to this metal and blow very carefully spaced holes here in this metal plate.
NARRATOR: LASERS MAY BE PRECISE AND POWERFUL IN THE CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT OF A HANGER, BUT ZEUS ISN'T MEANT TO PUNCH THROUGH STEEL.
IT'S GOT A BIGGER MISSION, SAVING LIVES.
TIME TO HEAD OUTDOORS AND SEE IF THIS LASER CAN BRING THE HEAT.
John Schiavone: This is Red Stone Arsonal.
David Kaplan: This is where we blow things up? John Schiavone: Yeah.
It's a laser-approved place where we can actually put ordinance items out and, and blow them up.
Pretty cool.
David Kaplan: And does stuff go flying everywhere? John Schiavone: Oh yeah, it goes zinging by.
David Kaplan: Have you been hit before? John Schiavone: Yeah, a couple times.
Taken a fragment into the, the really thick armored glass in front.
David Kaplan: But we'll be okay? John Schiavone: Yeah, we'll be safe.
Darryl Hancock: Our first example of what we're gonna shoot today is called a BLU97.
They're primarily used for anti-vehicle and anti-personnel by the military.
David Kaplan: So when you shoot it with the laser, are you just trying to trigger it so that it explodes? John Schiavone: Oh no.
We're using heat, so what we want to do is just hit it with the laser on the outside of the device and then that heat will transfer in and will couple with the explosive material and you'll cause a detonation.
David Kaplan: Heat, it weakens the material outside and burns the inside and it just break open? John Schiavone: Yep, exactly.
David Kaplan: Are these the biggest explosives you work with? John Schiavone: Oh, absolutely not.
This is a 155 artillery round.
It's about 87 pounds and our laser's quite effective on that.
We can do that at a very large range away from the device, so that makes it very safe.
David Kaplan: So why don't you use a sniper to shoot these far away? Why do you need a high-powered laser? John Schiavone: Well, you could do that, but, uh, you need precision accuracy.
Zeus allows us to be 300 meters away in the safety of an armored vehicle, and we've got just pinpoint accuracy.
I can hit, uh, any key on your cellphone at 150 meters.
So I can very precisely aim at this device.
David Kaplan: Let's go shoot them.
John Schiavone: Yes, that sounds great.
Let's do it.
NARRATOR: IT'S THIS ACCURACY OVER LONG DISTANCES THAT COULD MAKE LASERS THE IDEAL TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSFORM FOR DEEP SPACE USE.
BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THEY WORK ON EARTH FIRST.
David Kaplan: So how do I, uh, what do I do? John Schiavone: Well, you've played a videogame before? David Kaplan: Uh, well, sure.
John Schiavone: Alright, well, we've got, uh, a videogame controller.
Basically, you just use this to point and aim, so give that a whirl.
David Kaplan: Okay.
John Schiavone: And then you have two triggers.
You have the trigger on the right, is called the tag laser.
It's the green laser pointer.
You'll turn that on first and then you'll see a green dot show up and you'll move that dot onto the target.
And then wherever that dot is, when you pull the trigger on the high-power laser, you know, we'll start blowing things up.
David Kaplan: Cool.
I'm ready.
John Schiavone: Go ahead and arm.
David Kaplan: Okay.
John Schiavone: Okay, you are now armed.
Pull the trigger on the left.
Pull that.
David Kaplan: I see the green light.
John Schiavone: Okay, that's good right there.
Pretty good spot.
Fire when you're ready.
Pull the right trigger.
David Kaplan: Uh, I feel nervous.
John Schiavone: You ready? David Kaplan: I'm ready.
John Schiavone: You're pumped? You ready to go? David Kaplan: I'm ready.
John Schiavone: Let's do it.
Pull the trigger.
Alright! You did it, man.
David Kaplan: You're filming that? It didn't explode immediately.
It just heated the thing up.
But it only took a couple seconds for it to heat enough for the munitions inside to explode.
And I didn't realize because I was looking at the screen, but this whole field over here caught fire.
NARRATOR: ZEUS MADE SHORT WORK OF THE SMALL MUNITION.
TO SEE THE FULL EXTENT OF WHAT IT CAN DO, WE'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOMB.
Man: 3, 2, 1.
David Kaplan: Firing.
NARRATOR: SEARCHING FOR THE BIGGEST TECH TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE HAS PUT DAVID KAPLAN BEHIND THE CONTROLS OF ONE OF THE MIGHTIEST LASERS AROUND.
John Schiavone: Woah! NARRATOR: HE'S AT THE RED STONE TEST CENTER IN ALABAMA WITH A MILITARY GRADE LASER CALLED ZEUS.
IT'S USED TO SAVE LIVES BY DESTROYING MINES AND BOMBS IN WARZONES, AND DAVID GETS TO PUT THIS SCIENCE INTO ACTION BY TARGETING A HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE ARTILLERY SHELL.
John Schiavone: All personnel are cleared? David Kaplan: Coming down.
John Schiavone: 3, 2, 1.
David Kaplan: Firing.
Looks like it's sparking.
Whoa! (Bleep)! Holy crap.
The laser is not something that immediately moves in, shoots it, and explodes the device.
What a laser's doing is transferring heat to it.
It's heating the metal, it's heating the entire object until eventually it's so hot that it explodes the device.
It was very nice to be very far away from this object because as we can see, the hole it's created.
Anybody anywhere close to the thing would have been, uh, destroyed.
Damn.
NARRATOR: LASERS MAY BE A VALUABLE ANTI-MINE DEVICE ON THE MODERN BATTLEFIELD, BUT WE CAN TAKE ALL THIS POWER AND TRANSFORM IT FOR USE IN SPACE.
THE IDEA IS TO USE A LASER FROM A REMOTE LOCATION TO POWER SPACECRAFT PROPULSION.
David Kaplan: In movies, you see lasers disintegrating objects, but a laser could potentially propel things into space.
You have a spaceship and you have a material in the back.
The laser hitting that material will cause a blade of heating, that means layers of the material will be ejected off of it just from being hot and will propel the spacecraft forward.
NARRATOR: THAT'S RIGHT, A LASER COULD BE TRANSFORMED INTO A TYPE OF INTER-PLANETARY GAS STATION.
AS A SHIP HEADS TOWARDS THE OUTER PLANETS, IT ABSORBS A LASER BEAM, USING IT TO BURN ONBOARD FUEL.
THIS BEAM WOULD BE SO PRECISE AND STRONG, IT COULD ORIGINATE ALMOST A BILLION MILES AWAY FROM A PLATFORM ORBITING EARTH AND STILL PUSH US TO THE FARTHEST REACHES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
BUT OF ALL THE TECHNOLOGIES WE CAN TRANSFORM, ONE LITERALLY BLOWS ALL THE REST AWAY, NUCLEAR POWER.
David Kaplan: Some people imagine using nuclear weapons or nuclear energy to get a spacecraft into space.
That explosion could potentially be used to propel a spacecraft at extremely high velocities.
NARRATOR: THIS IDEA FIRST ORIGINATED IN THE MID-1950'S WITH A PROJECT CALLED ORION.
AND IT EVEN HAD A WORKING NASA DESIGN.
THE PLAN WAS TO TAKE ALL THE POWER OF A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION AND TRANSPORT IT TO SPACE, TRANSFORMING A DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE INTO A GALACTIC POWER SOURCE.
IF ONE OF THESE NUCLEAR PACKAGES WAS PLACED BEHIND THE SPACECRAFT, WHEN IT EXPLODED, THE SPACECRAFT WOULD RIDE AN INCREDIBLE SHOCKWAVE, EVENTUALLY REACHING SPEEDS THAT WOULD LET US TRAVEL THROUGH THE GALAXY IN RECORD TIME.
David Kaplan: Of course, you'd have to get the nuclear weapon into space through our atmosphere, and if any accident occurs along the way, you could kill millions of people.
So watch out for that kind of thing.
Think about what you're doing.
NARRATOR: THESE TYPES OF CONCERNS EVENTUALLY SHUT DOWN THE PROJECT.
BUT TODAY, AS NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE BEING DECOMMISIONED, IF WE CAN MAKE THIS TYPE OF POWER SAFER, IT COULD OPEN UP THE REST OF THE COSMOS.
Mike Massimino: You think of a nuclear weapon as a very bad thing.
By using nuclear power, uh, in positive ways is a way we can transform something destructive into something that can be a huge advantage getting us long distances more quickly.
Andy Howell: Space travel is really hard.
We're not built with rockets, uh, built in.
We've got to use our brains to figure this stuff out.
Mike Massimino: As we go further and further out into the universe and stay in space for longer periods of time, we do need to transform our technology.
We're gonna need to transform our vehicles.
We're gonna need to transform a way to generate power.
Andy Howell: We're really gonna have to commit a lot of resources to do it right, but if we do it, I have full confidence that we can go wherever we want.