(music)
(Jim Garvin) Have you ever wondered why satellites look the way they do? Some are as big as
a bus with giant solar panels and bristling with cameras and detectors.
Others are as small as a football with a single instrument. Well satellites have
to be designed for a purpose. It's all about the how. It's all about the why.
Scientists and engineers get together to design satellites for the purpose of
exploring space. It's kind of like building a science laboratory without
people. How exactly do we build the right spacecraft to capture the observations
we need? How can we make sure the satellite will work without breaking or
falling apart? That's the job of the scientists and engineers who work in the
Mission Design Lab: to design for that purpose so they'll work in space.
(music)