WEBVTT

00:00:00.667 --> 00:00:03.370
[music playing]

00:00:03.370 --> 00:00:07.040
- So what does NASA do to find
out how a spacecraft will act

00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.475
before it's even built?

00:00:08.475 --> 00:00:10.711
Find out next on "Real World."

00:00:10.711 --> 00:00:16.717
[music playing]

00:00:17.718 --> 00:00:20.254
- NASA is designing a
helicopter

00:00:20.254 --> 00:00:22.890
to actually fly on Mars.

00:00:22.890 --> 00:00:24.892
- The Mars Helicopter is what's
called

00:00:24.892 --> 00:00:26.393
a technology demonstrator.

00:00:26.393 --> 00:00:28.896
Its sole goal is to show we
can actually do this mission--

00:00:28.896 --> 00:00:31.198
can we fly a helicopter on
Mars?

00:00:31.198 --> 00:00:33.433
JPL has the primary
responsibility

00:00:33.433 --> 00:00:36.603
for the Mars 2020 Rover and the
Mars Helicopter mission.

00:00:36.603 --> 00:00:39.206
And they branch out to
expertise across

00:00:39.206 --> 00:00:41.475
all of the NASA centers to
bring that together

00:00:41.475 --> 00:00:43.277
so that we have a successful
mission.

00:00:43.277 --> 00:00:45.112
- But Mars is different from
Earth,

00:00:45.112 --> 00:00:48.182
so how do these engineers test
their ideas

00:00:48.182 --> 00:00:50.984
without actually having to go
to Mars?

00:00:50.984 --> 00:00:53.187
Well, the answer is math.

00:00:53.187 --> 00:00:56.390
Math is not just a set of
symbols and numbers.

00:00:56.390 --> 00:00:58.959
It's the language of the
universe.

00:00:58.959 --> 00:01:02.529
And it's also a way for us to
take complex ideas

00:01:02.529 --> 00:01:06.400
and turn them into equations
that are then solvable.

00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.168
To understand how this is done,

00:01:08.168 --> 00:01:10.404
we're gonna talk to Dr. Brian
Allan,

00:01:10.404 --> 00:01:12.005
who's doing mathematical
modeling

00:01:12.005 --> 00:01:13.907
for the Mars Helicopter.

00:01:13.907 --> 00:01:17.110
So you build models of the
helicopter

00:01:17.110 --> 00:01:20.380
inside your computer with
equations that will translate

00:01:20.380 --> 00:01:24.017
to an actual working helicopter
on the planet Mars.

00:01:24.017 --> 00:01:27.688
- Right, so here I do
computational simulations

00:01:27.688 --> 00:01:30.157
of helicopters and rotorcraft.

00:01:30.157 --> 00:01:32.392
- So is it much different--a
helicopter on Mars--

00:01:32.392 --> 00:01:33.393
than here on Earth?

00:01:33.393 --> 00:01:34.661
- There's a big difference.

00:01:34.661 --> 00:01:37.064
One of the key problems is this
thin atmosphere.

00:01:37.064 --> 00:01:39.533
The density of the air is very
low,

00:01:39.533 --> 00:01:41.869
so we want to look at the lift,

00:01:41.869 --> 00:01:44.638
and we want to make sure that
the helicopter is generating

00:01:44.638 --> 00:01:46.773
enough lift in this thin
atmosphere...

00:01:46.773 --> 00:01:48.075
- Right.
- And is able to carry

00:01:48.075 --> 00:01:50.511
the payload that they're
interested in carrying.

00:01:50.511 --> 00:01:52.312
- So when you build a
simulation,

00:01:52.312 --> 00:01:54.648
there are certain quantities
that have

00:01:54.648 --> 00:01:56.116
the ability to change, right,
these variables...

00:01:56.116 --> 00:01:57.551
- Right.

00:01:57.551 --> 00:02:00.687
- So what are variables in your
particular simulation?

00:02:00.687 --> 00:02:03.357
- So in those simulations, we
look at

00:02:03.357 --> 00:02:04.458
the density of the air...

00:02:04.458 --> 00:02:05.893
- Right.

00:02:05.893 --> 00:02:08.128
- As well as we're solving the
momentum, the velocity,

00:02:08.128 --> 00:02:09.930
so now we can--we can take
these equations.

00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:11.765
We can look at them, we can
simulate them,

00:02:11.765 --> 00:02:15.302
and we can redesign, whereas in
the past before, like,

00:02:15.302 --> 00:02:17.404
simulations,
you would have to build it,

00:02:17.404 --> 00:02:20.207
test it, try it, you know,
okay, redesign it,

00:02:20.207 --> 00:02:22.609
and build it, test it,
so it would be a lot longer

00:02:22.609 --> 00:02:24.578
without computational
simulations.

00:02:24.578 --> 00:02:26.580
- And how does gravity on Mars
compare?

00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:28.782
- Well, gravity is a little bit
more than a third

00:02:28.782 --> 00:02:30.250
of Earth's gravity.

00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:31.451
- Okay, so I could dunk on
Mars.

00:02:31.451 --> 00:02:32.653
- [laughs]

00:02:32.653 --> 00:02:33.720
- Is that--that's what we're
getting at?

00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:35.422
- We can get a much higher
jump.

00:02:35.422 --> 00:02:37.758
- [laughs] You can jump a lot
higher, yeah.

00:02:37.758 --> 00:02:40.961
Complex equations will help us
see how the Mars Helicopter

00:02:40.961 --> 00:02:43.931
will function when it flies on
the Red Planet.

00:02:43.931 --> 00:02:46.200
But equations like these can't
be solved

00:02:46.200 --> 00:02:48.101
using just pencil and paper.

00:02:48.101 --> 00:02:50.771
Researchers rely on
state-of-the-art computers

00:02:50.771 --> 00:02:54.341
and specialized software to
build mathematical models.

00:02:54.341 --> 00:02:56.944
And places like the new
Katherine G. Johnson

00:02:56.944 --> 00:02:59.947
Computational Research Facility
will give scientists

00:02:59.947 --> 00:03:02.549
and engineers the tools they
need to develop

00:03:02.549 --> 00:03:05.152
future missions to the Moon,
to Mars,

00:03:05.152 --> 00:03:08.188
or wherever our imagination
takes us.

00:03:08.188 --> 00:03:14.194
[music playing]