High Above Down Under | Episode 6: This Just Fell From Space

Narration: Miles Hatfield

Transcript:

Last time:

Intercom: “3,2,1,0 –”

Brian Fleming: “That’s a double, yeah!”

Kevin: “That’s the cooler star – yes! Yes!”

SISTINE and DEUCE launched without a hitch.

Kevin France: “Woo!”

A perk of using sounding rockets is they fall back to Earth so you can reuse the instruments.

So, we’re headed into the Outback to find them.

Luckily, wildlife in Australia is known for being really friendly…

Miles Hatfield: “Another creature of my nightmares.

There’s some life biting me right now. There he is – look at him!”

Offscreen: “Oh my god, that’s worse than I thought.”

We’re here in Australia and we’re going to launch some rockets.

We’re following two NASA rocket missions as they try to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life.

I’m Miles Hatfield, and in this episode, we’re going to go find some stuff that just fell from space.

The morning after each launch, a team is sent out to recover the rocket and instruments.

Miles Hatfield: “We just got word that we are going to be able to go on one of the recovery flights in the helicopters. So, we hopped out of bed and we're driving now to the Gove Airport.”

During flight, the rocket breaks into four separate parts – each of which lands in a different location.

The team is tasked with finding and retrieving them all – and not letting the crocs “retrieve” them along the way.

Using math, maps and experience, the recovery team leader Peter Elstner has a pretty good idea of where each piece has landed.

But winds can push the falling pieces off track, making them difficult to find.

The first thing we’re looking for is one of the payloads, which houses all the scientific instruments.

Luckily, it’s equipped with a bright orange and white parachute, which should help it stick out.

Hmm, not there…

Not there either…

Nope, that’s not it…

There we go!

Sure enough, we spot it right where Peter predicted – and it looks like the parachute gave it a nice soft landing.

The nosecone was just a few miles away – but its landing wasn’t so soft.

Peter Elstner: “This is a wizard’s hat.”

Mick Graham: “Wizard’s hat.”

Peter Elstner: “He’s not going to wear it.”

Mick Graham: “No.”

The helicopter then carries both the nose cone and payload back to the range, before being shipped back to the U.S.

Both SISTINE and DEUCE have made several trips to space before.

Now they’re ready for retirement.

After some repairs and careful testing back home, they’ll live out their days in the lab, helping calibrate new instruments and analyzing laboratory data.

With that done, we’re off to find one of the second stage motors, which takes the payload all the way to space.

But unlike the payload, it doesn’t get a nice parachute to soften its landing.

Yep, it’s really in there!

The team marks its location, and flies back out the next day to dig it out of the ground.

And then filling that hole right back in, so as to leave as little trace as possible.

The next day, I join the recovery team on foot, as we hike out to find the first stage motor, which didn’t fall too far from the range.

We were led by Micah and Boaz, two Dhimurru rangers who knew the area.

And how to recognize the animals that could kill us.

Boaz Wanambi: “Snake!”

Peter Elstner: “Dangerous or?”

Boaz Wanambi: “Dangerous! That’s a king brown!”

Mica Pascoe: “Venomous.”

Miles Hatfield: “Really.”

Hey, I didn’t say it was a big snake.

Now watching my feet a little more carefully.

Miles Hatfield: “Nice-size ant mound.

Yeah, look at that guy – he’s cool!”

After about a half hour of hiking, we finally found it.

Miles Hatfield: “Wow, there it is!”

It may only burn for the first six seconds after launch, but it still manages to get over two and a half miles high.

That’s one heck of a fall.

Peter assessed the tools we’d need and then radioed in the list to the helicopter.

Miles Hatfield: “So, right now we’re digging out parts of the motor that are lodged in the ground.”

Group: “1, 2, 3 –”

Miles Hatfield: “Nice! That thing’s heavy!

That’s a fin!”

As we waited for the helicopter, Peter gave an impromptu tutorial on rockets – with sound effects!

Peter Elstner: “Takes off – pow!

Big parachute comes out.

Blows over there.

So, then we have to find it.”

Miles Hatfield: “I think we just got our explanation for the video of how a sounding rocket works.”

As the recovery efforts wrap up, it’s time for us to head home.

But for the science teams, things are just beginning.

A year after launch, both teams are getting ready to publish their results…but we convinced Kevin to give us some hints ahead of time.

Kevin France: “Hi Miles, long time no talk – how are you doing?”

Miles Hatfield: “I’m good, mostly just eager to hear about what you’ve learned!”

Kevin France: “Yeah, so we’ve been talking a look at the SISTINE and DEUCE data and trying to compare that to the ultraviolet brightness of our Sun, and we’re finding that these Alpha Centauri stars are maybe two times brighter, maybe two and a half times brighter, in the ultraviolet than our Sun.”

Miles Hatfield: “So what does that mean for the habitability of a planet around stars like Alpha Centauri A and B? Would an Earth-like atmosphere survive those sort of conditions?”

Kevin France: “This probably means that the upper atmospheres of planets around those types of stars are just going to be a little bit hotter than what we have here on Earth. But, not to the point where the atmosphere is rapidly evaporating and it’s changing its composition drastically over time. I actually think this is pretty good news for the ability of your average rocky planet around an average solar-type star to hang onto its atmosphere and probably be a pretty good candidate for the search for life.”

Miles Hatfield: “That’s amazing! So, what about biomarkers, or signs of life, on planets around stars like that?”

Kevin France: “It looks like the biomarkers we would expect here on Earth – things like molecular oxygen, methane – those all look like they’re going to be pretty good on planets around stars like Alpha Cen as well.”

Miles Hatfield: “That sounds really promising. So, how do you think these findings are going to impact the search for habitable worlds going forward?”

Kevin France: “So, that’s a really good question Miles. NASA has recently started a new mission concept called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, and this is going to be the mission that I think finally allows us to determine if we are alone in the universe or if there are signs of active biology on planets beyond the solar system. And I think what some of the results from DEUCE and SISTINE are telling us is that orangish and yellowish stars are probably going to be the best environments in which to look for life as we understand it here in the solar system.”

Miles Hatfield: “That is so cool. Thanks for talking with me Kevin and giving us this sneak peek at your results!”

Kevin France: “Great to talk to you too Miles – see you next time!”

After this adventure with SISTINE and DEUCE, the night sky doesn’t look quite the same to me anymore.

Hanging out with these rocket teams has shown me that we’re in a time like no other, where our capabilities for discovery are starting to catch up to our imaginations.

Somewhere, orbiting a far-off star, is there another planet brimming with life? Or is our habitable world the only one that’s actually inhabited?

We’ve never been closer to finding out.