WEBVTT

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[dramatic percussion music]

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- HEY, THERE.
WELCOME TO "NASA LAUNCHPAD."

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I'M YOUR HOST,
JUSTIN TULLY.

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SO WHAT'S THE FURTHEST
YOU'VE EVER BEEN AWAY FROM HOME?

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FOR SOME OF YOU,
THAT MIGHT JUST BE

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A COUPLE MILES
FROM YOUR HOUSE.

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OR YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE
FROM ONE COAST TO THE OTHER.

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OR MAYBE YOU'VE EVEN
GONE OVERSEAS.

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BUT, HEY, NONE OF YOU
HAVE GONE NEARLY AS FAR

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AS SOME OF NASA'S MISSIONS.

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I MEAN, LET'S JUST LOOK
AT ANY OF THE APOLLO MISSIONS.

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ONE WAY FROM THE EARTH
TO THE MOON

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IS ABOUT 385,000 KILOMETERS,
WHICH IS ROUGHLY 239,000 MILES.

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239,000 MILES?

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I'LL BE LUCKY IF MY CAR
CAN MAKE IT TO 200,000.

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WELL, EVEN THE MOON
ISN'T TOO FAR AWAY

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IN THE GRAND SCHEME
OF THINGS.

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I MEAN, NASA HAS SENT MISSIONS
TO MARS, JUPITER, AND SATURN.

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THEY'VE EVEN SENT SPACECRAFT
PAST URANUS AND NEPTUNE

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AND ALL THE WAY
OUT OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

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I'M REFERRING, OF COURSE,
TO THE VOYAGER MISSION.

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NEVER HEARD
OF THE VOYAGER MISSION?

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WELL, YOU PROBABLY WEREN'T BORN
YET WHEN IT WAS LAUNCHED.

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THE TWIN SPACECRAFT,
VOYAGER 1 AND 2,

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WERE LAUNCHED IN 1977
TO STUDY JUPITER AND SATURN

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BUT WERE ABLE TO CONTINUE
THEIR MISSION WELL BEYOND THAT.

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THEY'RE BOTH
STILL GOING STRONG TODAY

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BUT WAY, WAY, WAY FAR AWAY
FROM US.

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VOYAGER 2 IS NOW MORE THAN
85 ASTRONOMICAL UNITS

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AWAY FROM EARTH,

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AND VOYAGER 1 IS MORE THAN
105 ASTRONOMICAL UNITS AWAY.

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OKAY, WAIT.
WHAT'S AN ASTRONOMICAL UNIT?

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WELL, BASICALLY,
IT'S A UNIT OF MEASUREMENT

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THAT HELPS US PUT THINGS
IN PERSPECTIVE.

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YOU ALL PROBABLY KNOW
HOW FAR AWAY

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THE SUN IS FROM EARTH,
RIGHT?

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ABOUT 150 MILLION KILOMETERS,
OR ABOUT 93 MILLION MILES.

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WELL, AN AU IS BASED
ON THAT MEASUREMENT.

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ONE AU IS THE DISTANCE
FROM EARTH TO THE SUN.

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SO RATHER THAN GETTING
INTO ALL THOSE ZEROS,

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YOU CAN KEEP IT MANAGEABLE
USING AU.

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LIKE, INSTEAD OF SAYING
THAT VOYAGER 1

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IS ABOUT 15.7 BILLION KILOMETERS
AWAY FROM THE EARTH,

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WE CAN SAY
IT'S ABOUT 105 AUs.

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STILL NOT SURE?

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OKAY, LET'S LOOK AT IT
LIKE THIS.

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IF YOU WERE GOING
TO GIVE SOMEONE DIRECTIONS

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FROM YOUR SCHOOL
TO YOUR HOUSE,

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YOU WOULDN'T TELL THEM
TO GO ABOUT 400,000 CENTIMETERS

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AND THEN TAKE A RIGHT ON ELM,
WOULD YOU?

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AND GOING THE OTHER WAY,
IF YOU WERE MEASURING, SAY,

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YOUR WINDOWS FOR NEW CURTAINS,
YOU WOULDN'T SAY

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THEY'RE 5/10,000 OF A KILOMETER
WIDE, WOULD YOU?

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OF COURSE NOT.
THAT WOULD BE RIDICULOUS.

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YOU USE THE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE

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AND ALLOWS OTHERS TO QUICKLY
UNDERSTAND THE PROPORTIONS.

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TO MEASURE HUGE DISTANCES
IN SPACE,

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ASTRONOMICAL UNITS
JUST MAKE SENSE.

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ALL RIGHT, THEN.
MOVING ON.

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AND SPEAKING OF MOVING,
THERE'S ANOTHER NASA SPACECRAFT

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THAT'S MAKING ITS WAY
TO A VERY DISTANT DESTINATION.

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IT'S CALLED NEW HORIZONS.

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NOW, IT'S ACTUALLY
ALREADY BEEN LAUNCHED.

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IN FACT, IT WAS LAUNCHED
ON JANUARY 19, 2006.

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BUT IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE
TO ITS MAJOR POINTS OF INTEREST,

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PLUTO AND THE KUIPER BELT.

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THERE'S STILL A LONG ROAD
AHEAD OF NEW HORIZONS.

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HOW LONG?

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WELL, WE CAUGHT UP
WITH ALLEN LUNSFORD,

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NASA TECHNOLOGIST
ON THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION,

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AND HE GAVE US
A LITTLE INSIGHT

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INTO THE TIMELINE
OF THE PROJECT.

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- IT TAKES A LONG TIME
TO GET TO PLUTO.

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IT'S 35 TIMES
FURTHER FROM THE SUN

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THAN THE EARTH IS,
35 AU.

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TO PUT IT IN CONTEXT,
JUPITER IS 5.5 AU AWAY.

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SO IT'S A LOT FURTHER TO PLUTO.

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IN FACT, WE LAUNCHED,
AND WITHIN A YEAR AND A HALF,

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WE'D FLOWN PAST JUPITER,
AND IT'S STILL GOING TO TAKE

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EIGHT MORE YEARS
TO GET TO PLUTO.

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IT WAS THE FASTEST SPACECRAFT
EVER LAUNCHED FROM EARTH,

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AND IT'S STILL GOING TO TAKE
THAT MANY YEARS TO GET TO PLUTO.

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AND WE DON'T HAVE THE FUEL
TO SLOW DOWN,

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SO WE JUST FLY PAST,
AND AS WE'RE FLYING PAST,

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WE TAKE ALL THE PICTURES WE CAN,
STORE THEM ON BOARD,

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AND THEN TAKE THE TIME
AFTER WE'VE LEFT PLUTO

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TO BROADCAST THEM,
TRANSMIT THEM BACK TO EARTH

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AND DO OUR ANALYSIS.

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- SEE THERE?

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SCIENTISTS REALLY DO TALK
ABOUT AUs,

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ASTRONOMICAL UNITS.

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THAT MAKES SENSE NOW, RIGHT?

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ANYWAY, SOMETHING ELSE
HE MENTIONED

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WAS HOW NEW HORIZONS
HAS ALREADY PASSED JUPITER.

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AND HOW IT DID SO
IS ACTUALLY REALLY INTERESTING.

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THEY USED A LITTLE SOMETHING
CALLED GRAVITY ASSIST.

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THIS TECHNIQUE
HAS ALSO BEEN REFERRED TO

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AS THE SLINGSHOT EFFECT,

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AND IT'S BEEN USED BEFORE
ON SEVERAL MISSIONS,

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INCLUDING VOYAGER.

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IT HELPS SAVE FUEL
AND IS A BIG PART OF THE REASON

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WHY THESE MISSIONS
ARE ABLE TO SUCCEED.

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BASICALLY, THE SPACECRAFT
TAKES ADVANTAGE

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OF THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL
OF A BODY

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TO SLIGHTLY ALTER ITS TRAJECTORY
AND GAIN SPEED.

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SO THE SPACECRAFT
IS BEING PULLED

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BY THE GRAVITY OF THE BODY,

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BUT IT'S MOVING QUICKLY ENOUGH
THAT IT DOESN'T ENTER ORBIT.

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THE FORCE OF THE GRAVITY

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IS ADDED
TO THE SPACECRAFT'S VELOCITY,

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INCREASING IT.

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THE PLANETARY BODY
IS ALSO AFFECTED.

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BUT BECAUSE ITS MASS IS SO LARGE
RELATIVE TO THE SPACECRAFT,

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ITS CHANGE IN SPEED
IS MINISCULE.

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AS YOU CAN SEE
IN THIS ANIMATION,

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AS NEW HORIZONS PASSES JUPITER,

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ITS TRAJECTORY CHANGES
AND ITS SPEED INCREASES

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AS IT SLINGSHOTS PAST.

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NOW, BOTH OF THOSE FACTORS
ARE IMPORTANT,

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BECAUSE AS YOU CAN SEE,
THEY HELP PUT NEW HORIZONS

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ON THE RIGHT COURSE
AND TIMELINE

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TO PASS VERY CLOSELY
BY PLUTO.

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SEE, THIS ISN'T HAPPENING
BY CHANCE,

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AND IT'S NOT EASY.

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ALL OF THIS HAS BEEN PLANNED.

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RESEARCHERS HAD TO MAP OUT
ALL OF THIS IN ADVANCE,

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DOING ALL SORTS
OF CALCULATIONS

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ABOUT WHERE PLANETS
WOULD BE WHEN,

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THE NECESSARY VELOCITY
FOR THE SPACECRAFT

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TO ARRIVE AT THE RIGHT TIME,

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THE DISTANCE NEW HORIZONS
HAD TO BE FROM JUPITER

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TO MAXIMIZE ITS INCREASE
IN VELOCITY--

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IT REALLY BOGGLES THE MIND.

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AND I THOUGHT
FIGURING OUT THE LOGISTICS

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OF AN OVERNIGHT TRIP
TO GRANDMA'S WAS COMPLICATED.

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WELL, THAT'S IT FOR NOW.

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UNTIL NEXT TIME,
I'M JUSTIN TULLY.

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THANKS FOR WATCHING
"NASA LAUNCHPAD."