[upbeat music]
- "OUR WORLD."
- OH, HEY, EVERYBODY.
I'M LILY, AND THIS IS "OUR WORLD."
I JUST GOT DONE CHATTING WITH MY BIG BROTHER.
HE'S IN COLLEGE AND STUDYING COMMUNICATION.
COMMUNICATION IS HOW WE SHARE IDEAS.
IN FACT, I'M COMMUNICATING WITH YOU RIGHT NOW.
COMMUNICATION IS VERY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY TO NASA
AND THE ASTRONAUTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
IF THE ASTRONAUTS WEREN'T ABLE TO COMMUNICATE UP THERE,
THEY WOULD GET PRETTY LONELY,
SINCE THEY LIVE ON THE SPACE STATION
FOR UP TO SIX MONTHS AT A TIME.
AND NASA WOULDN'T HAVE ANY WAY OF CHECKING
HOW WELL THE EQUIPMENT ON BOARD THE ISS IS WORKING
OR HOW THE ASTRONAUTS ARE FEELING.
BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.
WE CAN ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE WITH ASTRONAUTS ON BOARD THE ISS
TO LEARN MORE.
- THE MAP OF THE WORLD BEHIND ME
LOOKS A LOT LIKE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE STUDIED IN SCHOOL
ABOUT SOME OF THE EXPLORERS THAT DISCOVERED NEW CONTINENTS
AND NEW WAYS AROUND THE EARTH.
THE GREEN LINES ON THIS MAP
DON'T REPRESENT SAILING SHIP LINES.
THOSE ARE ACTUALLY OUR ORBITAL TRACKS OVER THE GROUND.
AND UNLIKE OUR PREDECESSORS, WHO WENT FOR LONG TIMES AT SEA
WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO TALK TO PEOPLE,
WE HAVE ALMOST CONSTANT COMMUNICATION
WITH PEOPLE ON THE GROUND.
ALL THOSE CIRCLES THAT YOU SEE, THE RED ONES AND THE BLUE ONES,
REPRESENT GROUND SITES.
WHEN WE'RE FLYING OVER THOSE CIRCLES,
WE CAN ACTUALLY TALK DIRECTLY TO THE GROUND.
AND THOSE SIGNALS THEN GET RELAYED
EITHER TO MOSCOW,
WHERE THE RUSSIAN CONTROL CENTER IS,
OR TO HOUSTON, WHERE OUR CONTROL CENTER IS,
AND THEN RELAYED TO THE APPROPRIATE FLIGHT CONTROLLER
OR FLIGHT DIRECTOR FOR THEM TO RESPOND TO.
- YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND
WHAT HE MEANT BY AN ORBITAL TRACK.
LET ME SHOW YOU.
NASA MARKS THE PATH THE ISS TAKES
AS IT ORBITS AROUND THE EARTH.
ON A FLAT MAP, THE PATH LOOKS LIKE THIS.
IT REMINDS ME OF A ROLLER COASTER RIDE.
THE TRACK CHANGES JUST A LITTLE BIT
EACH TIME THE ISS MAKES A COMPLETE ORBIT.
SEE, WHEN AN OBJECT, LIKE THE ISS, ORBITS THE EARTH,
IT BASICALLY MAKES A CIRCLE,
AND THAT CIRCLE IS LINED UP DIAGONALLY AROUND THE EARTH.
BUT THE EARTH IS ALSO SPINNING
AT A DIFFERENT SPEED THAN THE ISS.
THAT'S WHY THE ORBITAL TRACK LOOKS LIKE AN UP-AND-DOWN CURVE
WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT ON A FLAT MAP.
AND THE ASTRONAUTS ON BOARD
HAVE SOME GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO LOOK DOWN AT EARTH.
THE ISS IS REALLY BIG,
ABOUT THE SIZE OF A FOOTBALL FIELD.
IF THE SKY CONDITIONS ARE JUST RIGHT,
YOU CAN SEE THE ISS WITHOUT A TELESCOPE
AS IT PASSES OVER YOUR CITY.
YOU CAN TRACK THE ISS ON THE NASA WEBSITE
TO FIND OUT WHEN IT WILL PASS NEARBY.
BUT WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT DO ASTRONAUTS NEED
TO COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE BACK HERE ON EARTH?
LET'S CHECK IN WITH OUR ASTRONAUT FRIENDS TO FIND OUT.
- YOU CAN HEAR MY VOICE RIGHT NOW
BECAUSE I'M TALKING ON A MICROPHONE.
THE OTHER END OF THIS CORD
IS CONNECTED TO AN AUDIO TERMINAL UNIT.
THE AUDIO TERMINAL UNIT ALLOWS US
TO TALK TO VARIOUS GROUPS OF PEOPLE,
SOME OF THEM INSIDE THE STATION AND SOME OF THEM ON THE GROUND,
DEPENDING ON WHICH CHANNELS WE SELECT,
LIKE A TELEPHONE, WHO WE DIAL, IF YOU WILL.
YOU'LL SEE THAT THE AUDIO TERMINAL UNIT
LOOKS A LOT LIKE A TELEPHONE.
IT HAS NUMBERS.
IT ALSO HAS SOME SPECIAL CODES THAT WE USE
TO KNOW IF THERE ARE DIFFERENT AUDIO TERMINAL UNITS
SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE STATION.
- WOW, THOSE THINGS DO LOOK A LOT LIKE TELEPHONES.
BUT THEY'RE NOT THE ONLY WAY ASTRONAUTS COMMUNICATE.
- ONE OF THE REALLY NICE FEATURES WE HAVE UP HERE
IS CALLED THE IP PHONE, OR INTERNET PROTOCOL PHONE.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THAT ALLOWS US
TO DIAL ANY TELEPHONE NUMBER ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
AND TALK TO THEM.
AND THIS IS INTERFACE THAT WE USE.
YOU CAN SEE, AGAIN, IT LOOKS LIKE A TELEPHONE,
AND YOU JUST DIAL A NORMAL TELEPHONE NUMBER
AND THEN HIT SEND.
SOONER OR LATER, YOU END UP TALKING TO SOMEBODY.
- BUT I KNOW THERE'S NO PHONE LINE
RUNNING UP TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION,
SO HOW DO THE ASTRONAUTS' PHONE CALLS
ACTUALLY GET TO PEOPLE DOWN HERE ON EARTH?
- YOU CAN SEE THAT WE FLY THROUGH ONE OF THOSE CIRCLES
SOME OF THE TIME BUT NOT ALL THE TIME DURING OUR ORBIT,
SO LUCKILY, WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT
UNTIL WE'RE OVER ONE OF THOSE GROUND SITES.
WE CAN ACTUALLY TALK TO OUR CONTROLLERS
THROUGH THE SATELLITES.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE SPEND MOST OF OUR TIME DOING
IS TALKING VIA WHAT WE CALL
THE TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITE SYSTEM, OR TDRSS.
THERE ARE ABOUT FIVE DIFFERENT SATELLITES THAT WE CAN USE,
AND WE'RE ALMOST ALWAYS IN VIEW OF ONE OF THEM.
- HEY, THAT'S JUST LIKE HOW CELL PHONES USE SATELLITES
TO GET A SIGNAL FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER.
ASTRONAUTS PROBABLY WON'T BE GIVING YOU OR ME
A PHONE CALL ANYTIME SOON.
BUT ONE WAY WE COULD CONTACT THEM
WOULD BE THROUGH AN ARISS TALK.
ARISS STANDS FOR AMATEUR RADIO
ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
THERE'S AN AMATEUR RADIO STATION,
OR HAM RADIO STATION, ON THE ISS,
AND STUDENTS HERE ON EARTH CAN SET UP APPOINTMENTS
TO CONTACT THE ASTRONAUTS ON THE ISS
WITH THEIR OWN HAM RADIOS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS,
CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE ON YOUR SCREEN.
WELL, THAT'S HOW WE HEAR THE ASTRONAUTS.
BUT WHAT ABOUT SEEING THEM?
- WHEN WE THINK ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS,
IT'S EASY FOR US TO THINK ABOUT TALKING TO EACH OTHER,
BUT ANOTHER IMPORTANT PART OF COMMUNICATION IS VIDEO.
WHEN WE HAVE CERTAIN SATELLITE COVERAGE,
WE CAN ACTUALLY SEND VIDEO
FROM ONBOARD CAMERAS TO THE GROUND.
THAT'S GOOD FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
ONE IS, IT KEEPS US IN TOUCH WITH THE FLIGHT CONTROL TEAM
SORT OF IN A PERSONAL WAY,
AND SECONDLY, THEY CAN LOOK OVER OUR SHOULDERS
AND MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT MAKING ANY MISTAKES.
- ANOTHER CAPABILITY THAT WE HAVE UP HERE
IS VIDEOCONFERENCING.
USING A PROGRAM CALLED NETMEETING,
THROUGH OUR COMPUTERS,
WE CAN ACTUALLY DIAL IN TO A PERSON'S HOUSE
OR A PLACE WHERE THEY'RE HAVING A MEETING
THAT HAS THE SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT
AND ALSO THE NETMEETING CAPABILITY,
AND WE CAN SEE EACH OTHER AND TALK DIRECTLY TO EACH OTHER.
SO THAT'S A PRETTY COOL CAPABILITY THAT WE HAVE.
- ASTRONAUTS CAN EVEN LOG ON TO THE INTERNET
WHEN THEY'RE ON THE ISS.
AND SOMETHING SOME ASTRONAUTS LIKE TO DO
WHEN THEY HAVE A SPARE MOMENT
IS TO SHARE WHAT THEY'RE DOING BY SENDING TWEETS AND PICTURES
FOR PEOPLE LIKE US TO READ AND LOOK AT.
YOU CAN SEE THESE TWEETS AT WWW.NASA.GOV,
OR GO TO WWW.TWITTER.COM/NASA/ASTRONAUTS
TO FOLLOW ALL THE ASTRONAUTS ON TWITTER.
SO WHAT DID WE LEARN TODAY?
WE LEARNED THAT COMMUNICATION IS VERY IMPORTANT
FOR ASTRONAUTS ON THE ISS.
WE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS
ASTRONAUTS CAN COMMUNICATE.
AND WE LEARNED THAT WE CAN FOLLOW
WHAT THE ASTRONAUTS ARE DOING ON THE ISS.
IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE
ABOUT HOW YOU CAN TALK WITH ASTRONAUTS,
GO TO NASA'S TEACHING FROM SPACE WEBSITE
AT THE ADDRESS ON YOUR SCREEN.
[phone rings]
[gasps] OH, I'D BETTER ANSWER THAT.
IT MIGHT BE AN ASTRONAUT.
I'M LILY. THANKS FOR WATCHING "OUR WORLD."
BYE-BYE.
- "OUR WORLD."