OPEN A NEW ERA FOR SPACE EXPLORATION.
EXPLORATION. >> RIGHT NOW, IN SPACE, THERE
ARE A 1,800 OPERATING
SATELLITES.
SATELLITES. DESIGNED TO BE SERVICED.
THE 1,800 OPERATING SATELLITES
IN SPACE WILL BE DECOMMISSIONED
AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE AND
SENT TO A GRAVEYARD SOMEWHERE,
EITHER THE OCEAN OR FURTHER OUT
INTO SPACE BUT NOW THAT NEW
TECHNOLOGY IS BRINGING ROBOTICS,
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMY, WE HAVE
THE CAPABILITY TO GO TO
DIFFERENT ORBITS WITH A ROBOT,
NOT A HUMAN ASTRONAUT, AND
SERVICE VIA ROBOTICALLY.
IF WE ARE EXPLORING THE MOON TO
FIND OUT WHAT WAS THE ORIGIN OF
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, THAT’S WORTH
IT FOR SCIENCE, FOR HUMANITY, TO
GO REFUEL AS MANY SATELLITES,
MAYBE THAT’S NOT WORTH IT TO
RISK AN ASTRONAUT’S LIFE SO FOR
THAT REASON AS WELL, TO SEND
ROBOTS WHERE IT’S DANGEROUS OR
NOT WORTH IT TO HUMANS AND LET’S
SAVE THOSE PRECIOUS ASTRONAUTS
FOR THE REALLY TOUGH OR REALLY
MEANINGFUL MISSIONS.
MEANINGFUL MISSIONS. >> BUT TAKING A QUICK STEP BACK,
A BUNCH OF SATELLITES WERE SENT
OUT INTO SPACE WITHOUT THE IDEA
THAT THEY WOULD EVER BE SERVICED
OR REFUELED.
OR REFUELED. SO THEN WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM?
>> WELL, LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS
ONE.
ONE. THIS IS CALLED LAND SAT 7.
IT WAS BUILT BY GODDARD SPACE
LIFE CENTER.
LIFE CENTER. IT WAS TURNED OVER TO USGS, U.S.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, AND THEY
OPERATE IT IN SPACE.
THIS IS A MOCK-UP.
AND WE’RE GOING.
SO, --
SO, -- >> BABY LAN SAT.
>> THE INSTRUMENTS ARE UP AT THE
TOP.
TOP. THE EQUIPMENT TO RUN IT IS DOWN
AT THE BOTTOM SO IN THIS PART OF
THE SATELLITE IS FUEL TANKS,
BATTERIES, A POWER SYSTEM,
COMMUNICATIONS.
COMMUNICATIONS. THERE ARE ANTENNAS HERE TO SEND
THE DATA TO THE GROUND WHEN IT
TAKES A PICTURE.
IF WE WEREN’T GOING TO SERVICE
IT, IT WOULD BE DECOMMISSIONED
LIKE ALL THE OTHER SATELLITES IN
SPACE.
SPACE. YOU ASK WHAT IS THE TYPICAL LIFE
OF A SATELLITE, THEY LAUNCH
ALONE, THEY OPERATE ALONE AND
THEN THEY’RE DECOMMISSIONED AND
IF THEY’RE CLOSE TO EARTH, IT
WILL BE SENT INTO THE OCEAN.
IF IT’S FAR, FAR OUT FROM EARTH,
THEY ARE SENT FURTHER OUT INTO
WHAT’S CALLED THE GRAVEYARD
ORBIT.
ORBIT. >> IT’S SPACE JUNK.
>> IN THE GRAVEYARD ORBIT, THEY
BECOME SPACE JUNK.
IF THEY’RE CLOSE TO EARTH, WE
TRY TO BRING THEM IN AS CLOSE AS
WE CAN SO THEY REENTER THE
ATMOSPHERE AND BURN UP AND
THEY’RE NOT SPACE JUNK BUT FOR
LOTS OF REASONS WE END UP WITH A
LOT OF SPACE JUNK IN SPACE.
>> AND THESE AREN’T CHEAP.
>> THESE ARE NOT CHEAP.
THE ONE YOU’RE HOLDING IS
PROBABLY GETTING CLOSER TO JUST
UNDER $1 BILLION.
YEAH, SO, IF YOU’VE GOT A
BILLION DOLLAR ASSET, IT WOULD
BE NICE TO HAVE THE OPTION TO
EXTEPIDEX
EXTEPIDEX EXTEND ITS LIFE WITH REFUELING
OR PUT IN NEW TECHNOLOGY.
>> EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT YOU’RE
ACTUALLY DOING HERE IN THIS
SPACE.
SPACE. YOU GUYS ARE PRACTICING THIS
STUFF RIGHT NOW.
>> SO WE ARE -- WE’RE USING THIS
FACILITY TO DEVELOP HARDWARE AND
THEN PRACTICE MISSION UP.
>> SO WHEN YOU’RE ACTUALLY
TESTING THIS STUFF, THE SCREEN
LOOKS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
>> IN SPACE, WHEN WE’RE BEHIND
THE EARTH, WE CALL THAT ORBIT
NIGHT, AND THEN WE’RE NEXT TO
THE SUN, IT’S ORBIT DAY BUT WE
WANT TO BE ABLE TO PRACTICE IN
ORBIT NIGHT WHERE THE ONLY
ILLUMINATION OF OUR CLIENT IS
FROM THE LIGHTS THAT WE BRING TO
THE JOB.
THE JOB. RIGHT?
RIGHT? SO YOU GOT TO WORK ON YOUR CAR
IN YOUR DRIVEWAY IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE NIGHT YOU’RE GOING TO
BRING A FLASHLIGHT SO THESE ARE
OUR ROBOTIC SPACE FLASHLIGHTS
ILLUMINATING THE WORK SITE SO WE
CAN WORK.
CAN WORK. WE WANT TO PRACTICE IN AS
REALISTIC AS AN ENVIRONMENT AS
WE’RE GOING TO HAVE IN ORBIT SO
WE’RE NOT SURPRISED WHEN WE GET
THERE.
THERE. >> WE HAVE THE SATELLITE OVER
HERE WITH ALL THE OTHER STUFF.
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
>> ALL THE STUFF THAT ACTUALLY
DOES THINGS TO THE SATELLITE IS
OVER HERE.
OVER HERE. >> FIRST PART OF THE MISSION,
WHERE WE CAPTURE, THAT’S WHAT WE
PRACTICE AND THIS.
SO, THE FIRST PART OF THE
MISSION IS ACTUALLY THE HARDEST
AND THAT IS GETTING TWO SPACE
VEHICLES TOGETHER GENTLY WHEN
THE FIRST ONE IS TRAVELING
16,500 MILES AN HOUR.
HERE IS THE HARD PART BECAUSE
THE ARM GOES OUT AND IT IS GOING
TO AUTONOMOUSLY, NO HUMAN
CONTROLLING THE ARM, IT WILL
CONTROL ITSELF TO REACH OUT AND
GRAB THE BACK END OF THE
SATELLITE.
SATELLITE. SO, IT’S ON THE ROCKET, ROCKET
SHOOTS IT INTO SPACE AND THEN A
SPECIAL SIGNAL IS SENT TO
RELEASE.
RELEASE. >> LET’S GO, OKAY.
>> AND THIS FLOATS AWAY AND
THERE YOU HAVE --
>> THERE IT IS.
OKAY.
OKAY. >> FLOATING IN SPACE.
NOW, BECAUSE THAT RING IS NICE,
FLEXIBLE METAL, WE’RE GOING TO
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT AS A HAND
HOLD.
HOLD. >> AND IT WASN’T MADE FOR THAT,
BUT YOU REALIZED THAT WAS THE
BEST PLACE TO GRAB ON?
>> WE REALIZED THAT WAS THE BEST
PLACE.
PLACE. SO, WE WANT TO GRAB THE RING SO
WHAT WE DO IN THIS CELL IS WE
PRACTICE AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS.
WE WILL PUT THIS SATELLITE INTO
MOTION.
MOTION. YOU SEE IT’S ON THE MOTION
SIMULATION PLATFORM.
SIMULATION PLATFORM. SO WE PUT IT INTO MOTION AS IF
IT’S FLOATING IN SPACE.
THE ROBOTIC ARM, NOT CONTROLLED
BY HUMANS, BUT CONTROLLED
AUTONOMOUSLY BY A CAMERA OUT AT
THE END WATCHING THE CLIENT
FLOAT IN SPACE, AND SO HERE’S
WHERE WE PRACTICE SAFE CONTACT
DYNAMICS, ROUGHLY 8,000 TIMES,
GLOBALLY, WE’VE ABANDONED OUR
HARDWARE IN SPACE BECAUSE IT RAN
OUT OF GAS.
>> SO JUST HOW REVOLUTIONARY IS
THIS TECHNOLOGY?
THIS TECHNOLOGY? >> IT’S GOING TO OPEN UP A NEW
ERA.
ERA. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF A NEW ERA
WHERE SPACE BECOMES MORE
PROFITABLE.
PROFITABLE. WE GET MORE UTILITY.
WE CAN COLLECT MORE SCIENCE.
WE CAN EXPLORE FARTHER.
WE CAN TRAVEL FASTER.
WE ARE ON THE DAWN ON A NEW ERA
IN SPACE TRAVEL, SPACE COMMERCE,
USING SPACE TO HELP MONITOR OUR
PLANET, TO HELP UNLOCK THE
SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND WE
ARE INCREDIBLY PROUD TO BE
HELPING TO PROVIDE THE TOOLS