WEBVTT

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[dramatic percussion music]

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

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I'M YOUR HOST, JUSTIN TULLY.

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I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL FAMILIAR

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WITH EARTH'S
NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR MARS.

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IF NOT, IT'S THE FOURTH PLANET
FROM THE SUN,

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IT'S BEEN HANGING AROUND
THE VICINITY

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FOR ABOUT 4 1/2 BILLION YEARS,

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AND IT CAN OCCASIONALLY BE SEEN
IN THE NIGHT SKY

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AS A RED HAZY LIGHT.

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HUMANS HAVE BEEN STUDYING MARS
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS.

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IN 1609, GALILEO
WAS THE FIRST PERSON

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TO PEER THROUGH A TELESCOPE
AND GET A MORE INTIMATE IMAGE

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OF WHAT MANY
COULD ONLY HAVE DREAMED OF,

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AN UP-CLOSE AND PERSONAL VIEW
OF THE RED PLANET.

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AS TIME PROGRESSED,

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SO DID THE CAPABILITIES
OF TELESCOPES.

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IN FACT, FROM THE LATE 1800s
TO THE MID-1900s,

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MANY ASTRONOMERS BELIEVED
THAT MARS WAS HOME

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TO MAJESTIC SEAS
AND LUSH AREAS OF VEGETATION.

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SOME EVEN BELIEVED

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THAT INTELLIGENT LIFE
EXISTED ON MARS

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JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY SAW
THROUGH THEIR TELESCOPES.

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BUT, HEY, THAT'S SCIENCE.

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YOU MAKE EDUCATED GUESSES
BASED ON WHAT YOU KNOW,

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THEN CHANGE YOUR IDEAS
BASED ON WHAT YOU LEARN.

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DARK MARKINGS ON MARS' SURFACE
WERE ONCE BELIEVED

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TO BE CAUSED BY VEGETATION
GROWING AND DYING.

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THANKS TO NEW
SOPHISTICATED EQUIPMENT

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AND ROBOTIC VISITS TO MARS,

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IT TURNS OUT THEY WERE CAUSED
BY MARTIAN WIND.

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IT WASN'T UNTIL THE 1960s,
WHEN NASA'S MARINER MISSIONS

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FLEW BY
AND SNAPPED PICTURES OF MARS,

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THAT MANY OF THE MYTHS ABOUT
THE RED PLANET WERE DISPELLED.

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THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT
ANY LESS INTERESTING, THOUGH.

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THERE IS STILL
THE POSSIBILITY OF LIFE

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HAVING ONCE EXISTED ON MARS
OR PRESENTLY EXISTING ON MARS--

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NO, NOT IN THE FORM
OF LITTLE GREEN MEN

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BUT ON A MICROBIAL LEVEL.

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NOW, TAKING PICTURES
IS GREAT AND ALL,

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BUT NOTHING IS BETTER
THAN THE REAL THING.

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SO TO GET A BETTER FEEL
FOR MARS,

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SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
BUILT PHOENIX,

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AND THIS BAD BOY
COULD DO A LOT MORE

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THAN ANYTHING
THAT'S COME BEFORE IT.

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PHOENIX WAS LAUNCHED

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IN THE WEE HOURS
OF AUGUST 4, 2007,

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BEGINNING ITS NINE-MONTH-LONG
681-MILLION-KILOMETER JOURNEY

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TO THE LEGENDARY RED PLANET.

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NOW, LANDING ON A PLANET
ISN'T AS EASY

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AS SIMPLY DROPPING
A SPACECRAFT ONTO IT,

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ALTHOUGH THAT WOULD BE NICE.

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THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF STEPS
TO THE PROCESS.

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ON MAY 25, 2008, PHOENIX
ENTERED MARS' ATMOSPHERE.

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IT USED ITS HEAT SHIELD
TO SLOW DOWN

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THE HIGH-SPEED ENTRY
OF 5,600 METERS PER SECOND,

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OR AROUND 12,500 MILES
PER HOUR.

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IT RELEASED
A SUPERSONIC PARACHUTE...

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THEN DETACHED
FROM ITS PARACHUTE

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AND USED ITS ROCKET ENGINES

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TO LAND SAFELY
ON THE PLANET'S SURFACE.

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BUT WHERE?

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HOW DO NASA SCIENTISTS DECIDE
WHERE A SPACECRAFT SHOULD LAND?

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WELL, THIS PICTURE
SHOWS THE AREA

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OF HIGH WATER ICE CONTENT
IN THE POLAR REGIONS OF MARS,

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AND NASA HAS A MOTTO
WHEN IT COMES TO MARS:

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FOLLOW THE WATER.

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HERE ON EARTH,
ANYWHERE YOU FIND WATER,

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YOU FIND THE POTENTIAL
FOR LIFE.

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SO PERHAPS THE SAME IS TRUE

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OF OTHER PLACES
OUTSIDE OF EARTH.

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THAT BEING SAID,
PHOENIX'S LANDING SPOT

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WAS FURTHER NORTH AND CLOSER
TO THE ICE-COVERED POLES

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THAN ANY SPACECRAFT
HAS EVER BEEN BEFORE.

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PHOENIX HAD
TWO PRIMARY GOALS.

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ONE WAS TO STUDY THE HISTORY
OF WATER IN THE MARTIAN ARCTIC,

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AND THE OTHER WAS TO SEARCH
FOR EVIDENCE OF A HABITABLE ZONE

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AND ASSESS
THE BIOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

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OF THE ICE-SOIL BOUNDARY.

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AND TO DO THAT,
THE SPACECRAFT

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WAS PACKED FULL
OF GIZMOS AND GADGETS

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TO PERFORM ALL SORTS
OF EXPERIMENTS AND TESTS.

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ONE OF THESE GIZMOS
WAS A ROBOTIC ARM

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WITH A SHOVEL ATTACHED--
HOW FUTURISTIC.

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IT WAS USED TO DIG UP SAMPLES
OF THE MARTIAN SOIL

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FOR EXPERIMENTS.

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SO WHEN IT DID JUST THAT,

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IT DISCOVERED
AN ODD BRIGHT SUBSTANCE

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THAT FOUR SOLS LATER WAS GONE.

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OH, A SOL, BY THE WAY,
IS A MARTIAN DAY.

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IT JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE
ABOUT 37 MINUTES LONGER

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THAN A DAY HERE ON EARTH.

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SCIENTISTS HAD
A PRETTY GOOD FEELING

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THEY KNEW
WHAT THE DISAPPEARING ACT

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WAS ALL ABOUT,
BUT TO BE SAFE,

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THEY ENLISTED THE HELP
OF PHOENIX.

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A SCOOPED SAMPLE
WAS CARRIED BY THE ROBOTIC ARM

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AND DROPPED INTO

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THE THERMAL AND EVOLVED
GAS ANALYZER, OR TEGA,

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BUT REALLY,
IT'S JUST A HIGH-TECH OVEN.

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THE SOIL IS DROPPED
ONTO A SCREEN

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WHERE SOME OF IT FALLS THROUGH
INTO ONE OF TEGA'S TINY OVENS.

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THE OVEN CLOSES
AND HEATS WHAT'S INSIDE.

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THE GASES THAT COME OUT
OF THE OVEN ARE THEN ANALYZED.

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WHEN THIS PARTICULAR SAMPLE
OF THE SOIL WAS ANALYZED,

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WATER VAPOR WAS DETECTED.

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THAT MEANS
THAT THE BRIGHT WHITE SUBSTANCE

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TURNED OUT TO BE WATER ICE.

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TEGA ALSO DISCOVERED
CALCIUM CARBONATE.

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THIS IS PRETTY COOL
BECAUSE CALCIUM CARBONATE

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IS FORMED IN THE PRESENCE
OF LIQUID WATER,

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AND WE ALL KNOW
THAT LIQUID WATER

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IS THE BASIC INGREDIENT
FOR LIFE AS WE KNOW IT.

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LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT
THE SURFACE STEREO IMAGER,

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OR SSI, WHICH IS REALLY JUST
A FANCY NAME FOR THE CAMERA.

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THE SURFACE STEREO IMAGER
WERE PHOENIX'S EYES,

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AND I MEAN THAT
ALMOST LITERALLY.

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ENGINEERS BUILT THE DEVICE
WITH TWO OPTICAL LENSES

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THAT WOULD ALLOW
FOR A THREE-DIMENSIONAL VIEW,

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JUST LIKE OUR EYES.

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AND THE SSI SENT BACK
SOME AMAZING IMAGES

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OF THE MARTIAN LANDSCAPE.

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INTERESTING FACT: THE SSI
ACTUALLY CAPTURES AN IMAGE

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WITH THREE DIFFERENT FILTERS,

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A RED ONE, A GREEN ONE,
AND A BLUE ONE.

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ONCE THE IMAGES
ARE BEAMED BACK TO EARTH,

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THE COLORS ARE APPLIED
TO EACH PHOTO AND THEN OVERLAID,

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GETTING A COLOR IMAGE.

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IT'S PRETTY COOL.

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NOW, I COULD
GO ON AND ON FOR DAYS

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ABOUT THIS
SPECTACULAR MISSION.

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THE PHOENIX LANDER
STARTED SENDING DATA BACK

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JUST 17 MINUTES
AFTER LANDING

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AND FOR THE 162 DAYS
IT OPERATED.

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AND SCIENTISTS HAVE THEIR WORK
CUT OUT FOR THEM.

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PHOENIX SENT BACK
ENOUGH DATA ABOUT MARS

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TO KEEP THEM BUSY FOR YEARS--
AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT DECADE.

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BEING HUMAN, THOUGH,
SCIENTISTS THIRST FOR MORE.

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THIS A GOOD THING,
BECAUSE THAT MEANS

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THAT THE NEXT MISSION TO MARS
WILL BE JUST AS EXCITING.

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PERHAPS IT'LL FIND PROOF
THAT LIFE ONCE EXISTED

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ON THE RED PLANET.

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AND ONE DAY,
HUMANS WILL BE GOING TO MARS.

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SO EACH MISSION THAT WE SEND
TO THE ROCKY RED PLANET

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IS ANOTHER STEP CLOSER

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TO ACTUALLY STEPPING FOOT
ON ITS SURFACE.

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PERHAPS YOU'LL BE
THE FIRST PERSON

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TO WALK ACROSS
THE MARTIAN LANDSCAPE.

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SOMEONE'S GOT TO DO IT.

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FOR "NASA LAUNCHPAD,"
I'M JUSTIN TULLY.

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THANKS FOR WATCHING.