1 00:00:01,034 --> 00:00:03,770 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:03,804 --> 00:00:06,974 GENTRY: They told us we couldn’t possibly succeed! 3 00:00:07,007 --> 00:00:09,076 NARRATOR: At the end of the 1960s 4 00:00:09,109 --> 00:00:13,880 NASA starts work on its most daring planetary mission. 5 00:00:13,914 --> 00:00:19,453 Placing two spacecraft on Mars -- to search for life. 6 00:00:19,486 --> 00:00:21,221 DUKE: To say that that was an easy process 7 00:00:21,255 --> 00:00:23,891 would be a huge mistake. 8 00:00:23,924 --> 00:00:28,462 NARRATOR: Project Viking will challenge engineers to the extreme. 9 00:00:28,495 --> 00:00:31,999 Not to build big -- but to build small. 10 00:00:32,032 --> 00:00:35,769 ANDY: You’re talking about a biological laboratory, 11 00:00:35,802 --> 00:00:41,408 and you’re shrinking it down to a box one foot on each side. 12 00:00:41,441 --> 00:00:44,844 GENTRY: Who were we kidding, it would never work! 13 00:00:44,878 --> 00:00:47,414 TOM: I’d say it almost brought us to our knees. 14 00:00:47,447 --> 00:00:51,885 NARRATOR: To succeed requires a spacecraft that must work by itself 15 00:00:51,919 --> 00:00:54,488 millions of miles from earth. 16 00:00:54,521 --> 00:00:57,524 MATT: And if any of that goes wrong, it’s game over. 17 00:00:57,558 --> 00:01:01,062 NARRATOR: As mankind plans a return to the Red Planet -- 18 00:01:01,094 --> 00:01:04,331 this is the story of the unsung heroes 19 00:01:04,364 --> 00:01:11,104 challenged to make the first successful landing on Mars. 20 00:01:11,138 --> 00:01:21,048 [♪ theme music ♪] 21 00:01:21,081 --> 00:01:23,183 ♪ ♪ 22 00:01:23,216 --> 00:01:26,386 NARRATOR: July 20th, 1976. 23 00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:30,224 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California. 24 00:01:30,257 --> 00:01:33,427 Project manager Jim Martin and his team of engineers 25 00:01:33,460 --> 00:01:36,396 are on the verge of making history 26 00:01:36,430 --> 00:01:43,370 by safely landing the Viking spacecraft on mars. 27 00:01:43,403 --> 00:01:46,172 Almost 200 miles above the surface, 28 00:01:46,206 --> 00:01:50,177 Viking 1 begins its critical descent. 29 00:01:50,210 --> 00:01:53,146 [Radio chatter] 30 00:01:53,180 --> 00:01:56,283 MATT: This must have been one of the most anxious experiences 31 00:01:56,316 --> 00:01:58,385 one can imagine. 32 00:01:58,418 --> 00:02:00,820 MISSION CONTROL: 59,000 feet... 33 00:02:00,854 --> 00:02:05,492 NARRATOR: Every engineering device must work perfectly. 34 00:02:05,525 --> 00:02:07,927 MATT: Your heat shield has to come off at the right moment, 35 00:02:07,961 --> 00:02:10,297 your parachute has to deploy at the right moment... 36 00:02:10,330 --> 00:02:14,034 MISSION CONTROL: Lander confirmed, parachute deploy. 37 00:02:14,067 --> 00:02:18,705 ANDY: And then that last descent coming down to the surface. 38 00:02:18,739 --> 00:02:23,043 MISSION CONTROL: Parachute separation... 177 feet per second. 39 00:02:23,076 --> 00:02:25,745 HOWARD: We were at a critical stage! 40 00:02:25,779 --> 00:02:26,980 [Phone ringing] 41 00:02:27,014 --> 00:02:30,718 NARRATOR: Suddenly, Jim Martin’s phone rings. 42 00:02:34,121 --> 00:02:37,257 HOWARD: Jim got a call from President Ford. 43 00:02:37,290 --> 00:02:41,594 NARRATOR: The President’s on the line -- and he wants an update. 44 00:02:41,628 --> 00:02:43,997 MISSION CONTROL: Good roll, altitude hold. 45 00:02:44,031 --> 00:02:49,436 HOWARD: He told him he couldn’t talk to him now, he was too busy. 46 00:02:49,469 --> 00:02:53,773 And he hung up on him. 47 00:02:53,807 --> 00:02:55,676 NARRATOR: After seven years of planning, 48 00:02:55,709 --> 00:02:58,278 all Jim Martin and his team can do... 49 00:02:58,311 --> 00:03:00,847 MISSION CONTROL: 73 feet per second... come on. 50 00:03:00,881 --> 00:03:05,319 NARRATOR: ... is hope Viking makes it safely to the surface. 51 00:03:09,256 --> 00:03:12,693 ♪ ♪ 52 00:03:12,726 --> 00:03:19,333 NARRATOR: The story of Project Viking begins in the 1960s. 53 00:03:19,366 --> 00:03:22,970 With the success of its first manned moon landing, 54 00:03:23,003 --> 00:03:28,575 NASA starts planning an ambitious planetary mission. 55 00:03:28,608 --> 00:03:34,114 The destination -- Mars. 56 00:03:34,147 --> 00:03:38,118 Although smaller and further from the sun than the Earth, 57 00:03:38,151 --> 00:03:42,689 our neighboring planet has some startling similarities. 58 00:03:42,723 --> 00:03:45,492 ANDY: It has seasons like the Earth, 59 00:03:45,525 --> 00:03:49,863 its day is roughly 24 hours long like the Earth. 60 00:03:49,896 --> 00:03:54,367 It even has ice caps like the Earth. 61 00:03:54,401 --> 00:03:57,838 NARRATOR: The planet’s likeness to ours is so strong, 62 00:03:57,871 --> 00:04:03,143 NASA designs Project Viking with one goal in mind. 63 00:04:03,176 --> 00:04:07,781 JOEL: One of the overarching questions in all of science is, 64 00:04:07,814 --> 00:04:10,116 is there life outside the Earth? 65 00:04:10,150 --> 00:04:12,319 And that’s the unique thing about Viking. 66 00:04:12,352 --> 00:04:17,924 Viking was a science-driven mission. 67 00:04:17,958 --> 00:04:21,094 NARRATOR: At over 200 million miles away, 68 00:04:21,128 --> 00:04:27,401 the search for life on Mars will test engineers to the extreme. 69 00:04:27,434 --> 00:04:32,372 JOEL: To think we could do this was an absurd assumption. 70 00:04:32,405 --> 00:04:35,208 TOM: We knew nothing about Mars at the scale of a lander 71 00:04:35,242 --> 00:04:38,645 or nothing about what it was really like on the surface. 72 00:04:38,678 --> 00:04:43,049 JOEL: We didn’t know whether Viking would sink in the dust, 73 00:04:43,083 --> 00:04:45,519 we didn’t know whether we would hit a mountain. 74 00:04:45,552 --> 00:04:50,657 NARRATOR: During the 1960s one reason Mars remains enigmatic 75 00:04:50,690 --> 00:04:54,594 is the challenge in reaching it. 76 00:04:54,628 --> 00:05:00,400 The Soviets and Americans launch numerous missions -- 77 00:05:00,433 --> 00:05:05,505 many ending in disaster. 78 00:05:05,539 --> 00:05:10,944 ANDY: Mars is much tougher because it’s so much further away. 79 00:05:10,977 --> 00:05:14,781 You have to be incredibly precise, the targeting, 80 00:05:14,815 --> 00:05:19,453 the navigation through millions of miles of space. 81 00:05:19,486 --> 00:05:21,688 NARRATOR: For Gus Guastaferro -- 82 00:05:21,721 --> 00:05:24,090 Viking’s deputy project manager -- 83 00:05:24,124 --> 00:05:27,361 it’s a journey full of unknowns. 84 00:05:27,394 --> 00:05:29,263 GUS: Therefore we were gonna write a spec 85 00:05:29,296 --> 00:05:31,465 that had a lot of TBDs in it 86 00:05:31,498 --> 00:05:34,034 and we are gonna have to get these TBDs answered. 87 00:05:34,067 --> 00:05:40,240 And you know what TBD is, it’s to be determined. 88 00:05:40,273 --> 00:05:45,011 NARRATOR: The best way to search for life on Mars is to land there. 89 00:05:45,045 --> 00:05:46,547 How to do that safely 90 00:05:46,580 --> 00:05:50,084 is one of the engineers’ biggest challenges. 91 00:05:50,116 --> 00:05:53,720 They must choose one of two options. 92 00:05:53,753 --> 00:05:57,090 MATT: Option A was to send a lander directly to the planet 93 00:05:57,123 --> 00:06:00,460 and have it land without going into orbit first. 94 00:06:00,493 --> 00:06:04,097 NARRATOR: It’s called direct entry. 95 00:06:04,130 --> 00:06:08,768 On arriving at Mars a flyby module releases the lander, 96 00:06:08,802 --> 00:06:12,572 which descends straight to a predetermined location. 97 00:06:12,606 --> 00:06:13,640 ANDY: You don’t go into orbit first. 98 00:06:13,673 --> 00:06:17,844 You just come screaming in and you slow down, 99 00:06:17,878 --> 00:06:19,346 you get to the surface. 100 00:06:19,379 --> 00:06:22,482 So with direct entry you’re gambling big time. 101 00:06:22,515 --> 00:06:25,184 You’re just coming in and hoping for the best. 102 00:06:25,218 --> 00:06:27,954 NARRATOR: The alternative -- option B -- 103 00:06:27,988 --> 00:06:32,659 involves an orbiter that carries the lander. 104 00:06:32,692 --> 00:06:38,898 On arrival they both go into orbit around Mars. 105 00:06:38,932 --> 00:06:44,838 The lander then separates and descends to the surface. 106 00:06:44,871 --> 00:06:48,975 It’s called the out of orbit mode. 107 00:06:49,009 --> 00:06:52,145 For Viking design manager Norm Crabill, 108 00:06:52,178 --> 00:06:56,616 option B has one big advantage. 109 00:06:56,650 --> 00:06:59,720 NORM: If you do out of orbit, you establish an orbit 110 00:06:59,753 --> 00:07:04,124 and take advantage of that and do some reconnaissance 111 00:07:04,157 --> 00:07:07,394 and decide can I go in where I wanted to 112 00:07:07,427 --> 00:07:09,863 or do I have to go someplace else. 113 00:07:09,896 --> 00:07:14,601 GUS: And there is no better redundancy than reconnaissance 114 00:07:14,634 --> 00:07:16,836 before the attack. 115 00:07:16,870 --> 00:07:19,973 NARRATOR: Option B plays it safe with an orbiter 116 00:07:20,006 --> 00:07:23,009 but adds an extra $70 million 117 00:07:23,043 --> 00:07:28,682 to NASA’s most expensive planetary mission to date. 118 00:07:28,715 --> 00:07:31,651 At the end of the 60s, fighting the Vietnam War 119 00:07:31,685 --> 00:07:35,289 means America’s debt is spiraling. 120 00:07:35,322 --> 00:07:40,327 An expensive mission to Mars is hardly a vote winner. 121 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,864 Congress slashes NASA’s budget, 122 00:07:43,897 --> 00:07:48,435 making the cheaper option A the obvious choice. 123 00:07:48,468 --> 00:07:50,203 MATT: It was, in fact, quite surprising 124 00:07:50,236 --> 00:07:52,305 to many of the people involved in Viking 125 00:07:52,339 --> 00:07:56,210 that NASA chose option B over option A. 126 00:07:56,242 --> 00:07:59,846 NARRATOR: What’s more, the agency requires engineers to build 127 00:07:59,879 --> 00:08:05,284 a second identical spacecraft, Viking 2, as a backup. 128 00:08:05,318 --> 00:08:09,155 TOM: The rationale is that projects like Viking are rare, 129 00:08:09,189 --> 00:08:13,026 and when you do them you should do them right. 130 00:08:13,059 --> 00:08:16,362 NARRATOR: To pay for it NASA must spread the enormous cost 131 00:08:16,396 --> 00:08:25,138 over more years -- delaying the launch to Mars from 1973 to ’75. 132 00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:30,410 For mission designers like Gentry Lee, it’s a godsend. 133 00:08:30,443 --> 00:08:32,812 GENTRY: After we first started the Viking project, 134 00:08:32,846 --> 00:08:35,582 Jim Martin and all the rest of us knew that 135 00:08:35,615 --> 00:08:37,650 we had bitten off more than we could chew, 136 00:08:37,684 --> 00:08:43,123 but we didn’t really want to go to Congress or to the President 137 00:08:43,156 --> 00:08:47,694 and say, "I don’t think we’re gonna get there by 1973." 138 00:08:47,727 --> 00:08:51,264 NARRATOR: Viking’s complexity means every second will be needed 139 00:08:51,297 --> 00:08:54,967 to design and build the spacecraft. 140 00:08:55,001 --> 00:08:57,103 Searching for life on Mars 141 00:08:57,137 --> 00:09:00,674 will stretch those involved to the breaking point. 142 00:09:02,909 --> 00:09:04,344 ♪ ♪ 143 00:09:04,377 --> 00:09:09,649 NARRATOR: Spring 1970. Engineers on Project Viking start 144 00:09:09,682 --> 00:09:13,186 the challenge of constructing America’s first spacecraft 145 00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:16,756 to land on Mars. 146 00:09:16,790 --> 00:09:20,027 At the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, 147 00:09:20,060 --> 00:09:22,696 it’s possible to see the finished lander, 148 00:09:22,729 --> 00:09:27,000 designed to search for life on the Red Planet. 149 00:09:27,033 --> 00:09:29,002 MATT: So, as you can see, the lander is quite large, 150 00:09:29,035 --> 00:09:30,970 it weighs about half a ton, 151 00:09:31,004 --> 00:09:34,241 and it carries a pretty robust instrument package. 152 00:09:34,274 --> 00:09:37,010 It has a high-gain antenna for sending signals 153 00:09:37,343 --> 00:09:38,744 directly back to Earth. 154 00:09:38,778 --> 00:09:43,116 It also has two cameras that scanned the landscape 155 00:09:43,149 --> 00:09:46,719 and, probably most importantly, a biological 156 00:09:46,753 --> 00:09:51,825 experimental package for analyzing soil samples. 157 00:09:51,858 --> 00:09:54,094 NARRATOR: If life exists on Mars, 158 00:09:54,127 --> 00:09:58,264 scientists expect it to be found in the soil. 159 00:09:58,298 --> 00:10:01,334 But that begs an all-important question. 160 00:10:01,367 --> 00:10:03,302 ANDY: How do you look for life on another planet 161 00:10:03,336 --> 00:10:06,840 when you have no idea what that life is like? 162 00:10:06,873 --> 00:10:10,243 You start with the assumption that at some basic level 163 00:10:10,276 --> 00:10:15,481 it’s going to be similar to life on Earth. 164 00:10:15,515 --> 00:10:17,517 NARRATOR: On Earth the simplest lifeforms 165 00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:23,556 are microscopic organisms. They’re also the most abundant. 166 00:10:23,590 --> 00:10:28,128 Viking will search for similar microbes in Martian soil -- 167 00:10:28,161 --> 00:10:30,563 by looking for traces of gas produced 168 00:10:30,597 --> 00:10:34,501 as they live and breathe. 169 00:10:34,534 --> 00:10:37,404 To do this the landers will carry three 170 00:10:37,437 --> 00:10:40,173 life-stimulating experiments. 171 00:10:43,810 --> 00:10:46,212 A lamp will warm Martian soil 172 00:10:46,246 --> 00:10:50,851 in the hope any organisms will react to light. 173 00:10:50,884 --> 00:10:54,688 Another adds varying mixtures of water and nutrients 174 00:10:54,721 --> 00:10:58,892 encouraging microbes to exhale. 175 00:10:58,925 --> 00:11:01,928 The third adds drops of liquid nutrient -- 176 00:11:01,961 --> 00:11:04,497 nicknamed "chicken soup" -- 177 00:11:04,531 --> 00:11:09,403 coaxing any microbes to feed and metabolize. 178 00:11:09,435 --> 00:11:11,370 If Martian life exists, 179 00:11:11,404 --> 00:11:16,342 Viking will hopefully detect any gases the microbes produce -- 180 00:11:16,376 --> 00:11:21,615 proving their existence in the soil. 181 00:11:21,648 --> 00:11:23,383 But engineering these experiments 182 00:11:23,416 --> 00:11:26,452 is a phenomenal challenge. 183 00:11:26,486 --> 00:11:30,457 ANDY: You’re talking about a biological laboratory, you know, 184 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:34,227 something that would take up a significant amount of space 185 00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:36,963 in a scientist’s lab, 186 00:11:36,996 --> 00:11:39,599 and you’re shrinking it down to a box 187 00:11:39,632 --> 00:11:46,139 that’s one foot on each side, a foot cubed. 188 00:11:46,172 --> 00:11:48,808 NARRATOR: Restricted by size and weight -- 189 00:11:48,841 --> 00:11:52,478 engineering Viking’s biological experiments requires 190 00:11:52,512 --> 00:11:59,285 miniaturization on an unprecedented scale. 191 00:11:59,319 --> 00:12:03,757 ANDY: And the thing is jammed with, you know, valves and pipes 192 00:12:03,790 --> 00:12:08,161 and miniature ovens and Geiger counters. 193 00:12:08,194 --> 00:12:12,331 It’s diabolical to even think of trying to do that! 194 00:12:12,365 --> 00:12:16,236 And doing it on a timetable. 195 00:12:16,269 --> 00:12:18,304 NARRATOR: 1972. 196 00:12:18,338 --> 00:12:22,375 With three years till launch, keeping Viking on schedule 197 00:12:22,408 --> 00:12:25,278 is the job of Jim Martin. 198 00:12:25,311 --> 00:12:31,050 TOM: Jim was an extraordinarily demanding project manager; 199 00:12:31,084 --> 00:12:36,256 nothing short of excellence was good enough for Jim. 200 00:12:36,289 --> 00:12:39,559 NARRATOR: Jim runs a military-style operation, 201 00:12:39,592 --> 00:12:44,730 devising a notorious strategy to deal with the challenges. 202 00:12:44,764 --> 00:12:47,600 TOM: And his concept was a top 10 problem list, 203 00:12:47,634 --> 00:12:49,769 and so top 10 problem list became 204 00:12:49,802 --> 00:12:52,805 very much a part of the culture of Viking. 205 00:12:52,839 --> 00:12:57,444 Sometimes the top 10 list had 11 items on it. 206 00:12:57,477 --> 00:12:59,279 And I mean, it was almost depressing 207 00:12:59,312 --> 00:13:03,449 as to how challenging some of these things were. 208 00:13:03,483 --> 00:13:06,052 ANDY: And the biology experiments were on that list 209 00:13:06,085 --> 00:13:07,920 for a very long time. 210 00:13:07,954 --> 00:13:10,657 ♪ ♪ 211 00:13:10,690 --> 00:13:15,295 NARRATOR: Incredibly, 40,000 parts are crammed into a space 212 00:13:15,328 --> 00:13:20,300 not much bigger than a briefcase. 213 00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:22,902 ANDY: I’m sure the engineers were tearing their hair out. 214 00:13:22,935 --> 00:13:26,806 TOM: I’d say it almost brought us to our knees. 215 00:13:26,839 --> 00:13:30,443 NARRATOR: But the task is about to get harder still: 216 00:13:30,476 --> 00:13:36,882 combating an invisible threat -- biological contamination. 217 00:13:36,916 --> 00:13:39,719 ANDY: In order to prevent any terrestrial bacteria 218 00:13:39,752 --> 00:13:45,224 from going along on the trip, the lander had to be sterilized 219 00:13:45,258 --> 00:13:51,297 before it was put on the launch vehicle and sent to Mars. 220 00:13:51,331 --> 00:13:53,133 ♪ ♪ 221 00:13:53,166 --> 00:13:56,569 NARRATOR: Earth microbes can create a false reading 222 00:13:56,602 --> 00:14:00,339 and wreck the biological experiments. 223 00:14:00,373 --> 00:14:03,543 Worse still, they can contaminate Mars -- 224 00:14:03,576 --> 00:14:08,481 irreversibly changing the planet. 225 00:14:08,514 --> 00:14:11,117 To sterilize the half-ton lander, 226 00:14:11,150 --> 00:14:14,286 Deputy Project Manager Gus Guastaferro 227 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:20,126 turns to a profession that kills microbes for a living. 228 00:14:20,159 --> 00:14:22,361 GUS: We looked at the medical practice; 229 00:14:22,395 --> 00:14:25,365 how they sterilize the equipment they have 230 00:14:25,398 --> 00:14:27,333 that might touch the human body. 231 00:14:27,367 --> 00:14:30,604 Why not use the same thing on electronic parts 232 00:14:30,636 --> 00:14:34,773 and materials that we’re taking to the planet? 233 00:14:34,807 --> 00:14:37,143 NARRATOR: During construction both spacecraft 234 00:14:37,176 --> 00:14:44,183 are repeatedly disinfected with anti-microbial fluids. 235 00:14:44,217 --> 00:14:46,319 But to be certain it’s sterile 236 00:14:46,352 --> 00:14:48,487 the team makes a radical decision 237 00:14:48,521 --> 00:14:52,558 to copy another hospital procedure. 238 00:14:52,592 --> 00:14:55,462 GUS: And so we stole from them the idea of 239 00:14:55,495 --> 00:15:02,402 baking our whole spacecraft in a big oven. 240 00:15:02,435 --> 00:15:05,571 NARRATOR: Each lander is cocooned in a bio-shell 241 00:15:05,605 --> 00:15:10,009 and placed in a 30-foot oven where nitrogen gas -- 242 00:15:10,042 --> 00:15:13,445 heated to around 240 degrees Fahrenheit -- 243 00:15:13,479 --> 00:15:16,716 bakes them for almost 2 days. 244 00:15:20,319 --> 00:15:23,055 ANDY: I mean, you can imagine these engineers, okay, they... 245 00:15:23,089 --> 00:15:26,059 they’ve gotta design things that have never been built before, 246 00:15:26,092 --> 00:15:27,727 and now somebody comes along and says, 247 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:29,495 "Oh, by the way, everything you build 248 00:15:29,529 --> 00:15:31,998 has to withstand this baking in an oven 249 00:15:32,031 --> 00:15:35,134 of 240 degrees for 40 hours." 250 00:15:35,168 --> 00:15:39,806 And they must’ve just said, "You’ve gotta be kidding me." 251 00:15:39,839 --> 00:15:44,744 TOM: Think about putting your camera or iPad in your oven 252 00:15:44,777 --> 00:15:46,545 and turning up the temperature 253 00:15:46,579 --> 00:15:49,849 and leaving it to sit there for a few days. 254 00:15:49,882 --> 00:15:53,052 That is what we did with the lander. 255 00:15:53,085 --> 00:15:55,688 We couldn’t think of any other way that guaranteed 256 00:15:55,721 --> 00:16:01,093 that we weren’t taking any Earth life to Mars. 257 00:16:01,127 --> 00:16:04,564 NARRATOR: Over five years, every element of the spacecraft 258 00:16:04,597 --> 00:16:06,732 is designed and tested -- 259 00:16:06,766 --> 00:16:11,504 hopefully ironing out each engineering pitfall. 260 00:16:11,537 --> 00:16:13,739 Now, with Viking built, 261 00:16:13,773 --> 00:16:18,645 it’s time to put the engineering to the test. 262 00:16:18,678 --> 00:16:20,079 ♪ ♪ 263 00:16:20,112 --> 00:16:22,514 Summer 1975. 264 00:16:22,548 --> 00:16:27,887 Viking 1 and 2 will be launched on twin Titan rockets. 265 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,524 The responsibility falls to Andy Stofan. 266 00:16:31,557 --> 00:16:34,794 ANDY: I launched rockets for NASA for 20 years. 267 00:16:34,827 --> 00:16:38,197 It’s a strange job because it either blows up in your face 268 00:16:38,231 --> 00:16:43,369 or it’s 100% successful. There is no in-between. 269 00:16:43,402 --> 00:16:47,339 NARRATOR: Placing the spacecraft on a precise trajectory to Mars 270 00:16:47,373 --> 00:16:51,844 means both rockets must launch within a narrow time frame. 271 00:16:51,878 --> 00:16:54,180 ANDY: I was well aware of the importance 272 00:16:54,213 --> 00:16:58,584 of the Viking mission, so anything that went wrong 273 00:16:58,618 --> 00:17:01,621 with the vehicle would then lessen the probability 274 00:17:01,654 --> 00:17:05,458 of getting the two Vikings off. 275 00:17:05,491 --> 00:17:09,996 NARRATOR: August 20th -- Viking 1 gets away on time. 276 00:17:10,029 --> 00:17:12,732 But technical problems delay Viking 2 277 00:17:12,765 --> 00:17:18,037 to the last possible launch day -- September 9th. 278 00:17:18,070 --> 00:17:21,006 Then something even the engineers can’t control 279 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,808 threatens to intervene. 280 00:17:22,842 --> 00:17:26,612 [Thunder strikes] 281 00:17:26,646 --> 00:17:30,416 ANDY: The weather became marginal from a safety point of view, 282 00:17:30,449 --> 00:17:32,451 that’s the worry of getting struck by lightning, 283 00:17:32,485 --> 00:17:35,888 either on the pad or during the launch. 284 00:17:35,922 --> 00:17:37,957 NARRATOR: Project Manager Jim Martin 285 00:17:37,990 --> 00:17:42,361 consults local meteorologists and makes a call -- 286 00:17:42,395 --> 00:17:44,297 stop the countdown and wait 287 00:17:44,330 --> 00:17:48,501 for their predicted lull in the storm. 288 00:17:48,534 --> 00:17:51,804 With just hours of the launch window remaining, 289 00:17:51,837 --> 00:17:53,806 it’s an incredible gamble. 290 00:17:53,839 --> 00:17:56,642 ♪ ♪ 291 00:17:56,676 --> 00:18:00,180 Thankfully, the weathermen’s anticipated gap in the clouds 292 00:18:00,212 --> 00:18:02,815 passes right over the cape. 293 00:18:02,848 --> 00:18:06,318 [Engines firing] MISSION CONTROL: 1, 2, 3... 294 00:18:06,352 --> 00:18:12,158 Viking 2 is launched -- with less than 5 minutes to spare. 295 00:18:12,191 --> 00:18:15,494 ANDY: To the great sigh of relief of myself 296 00:18:15,528 --> 00:18:17,597 and the Viking spacecraft people 297 00:18:17,630 --> 00:18:21,634 who were sitting there biting their nails. 298 00:18:21,667 --> 00:18:23,836 NARRATOR: The Vikings are on their way. 299 00:18:23,869 --> 00:18:26,438 Now the team must wait almost a year 300 00:18:26,472 --> 00:18:29,008 to get a shot at making history -- 301 00:18:29,041 --> 00:18:33,045 attempting the first successful landing on Mars. 302 00:18:36,716 --> 00:18:43,323 June 19th, 1976. A defining day for the engineers. 303 00:18:43,356 --> 00:18:47,861 Viking 1 arrives safely in Martian orbit. 304 00:18:47,893 --> 00:18:52,498 At over 200 million miles, sending communications 305 00:18:52,531 --> 00:18:56,635 takes around 20 minutes -- each way. 306 00:18:56,669 --> 00:18:59,405 So when the lander makes its rapid descent, 307 00:18:59,438 --> 00:19:01,807 it must be able to think for itself. 308 00:19:03,843 --> 00:19:08,514 ANDY: To do that was a whole new engineering challenge 309 00:19:08,547 --> 00:19:10,816 of creating an electronic brain 310 00:19:10,850 --> 00:19:16,122 that could carry out all of those things on board. 311 00:19:16,155 --> 00:19:18,290 NARRATOR: In the 1970s, computer code 312 00:19:18,324 --> 00:19:22,795 is typically stored on plastic tape. 313 00:19:22,828 --> 00:19:26,498 But sterilizing Viking at over 200 degrees Fahrenheit 314 00:19:26,532 --> 00:19:29,935 creates a burning issue. 315 00:19:29,969 --> 00:19:32,505 DUKE: Had we heated the spacecraft, 316 00:19:32,538 --> 00:19:35,374 that much magnetic material would have melted away, 317 00:19:35,408 --> 00:19:38,144 along with the tape and the storage system. 318 00:19:38,177 --> 00:19:41,714 NARRATOR: Engineers require a radical rethink. 319 00:19:41,747 --> 00:19:47,319 Viking sequencing expert Milton Holt thinks there’s a solution. 320 00:19:47,353 --> 00:19:52,258 MILTON: And it looked like, hey, this is the way to go. 321 00:19:52,291 --> 00:19:55,861 NARRATOR: It’s a metal storage device designed for the military. 322 00:19:55,895 --> 00:19:59,399 It’s called plated wire memory. 323 00:19:59,432 --> 00:20:03,536 ANDY: So on these strands of wire were the instructions 324 00:20:03,569 --> 00:20:07,573 that would get the lander to do everything it had to do. 325 00:20:07,606 --> 00:20:09,808 MILTON: It can withstand the sterilization 326 00:20:09,842 --> 00:20:14,747 and it shouldn’t be too difficult to manufacture. 327 00:20:14,780 --> 00:20:18,284 As we thought at that time. 328 00:20:18,317 --> 00:20:23,923 NARRATOR: In fact, engineers face a painstakingly intricate task. 329 00:20:23,956 --> 00:20:29,395 MILTON: It took 3,000 wires laid up by hand, 330 00:20:29,428 --> 00:20:31,697 and the intersection of each of these wires 331 00:20:31,731 --> 00:20:34,834 had to be totally in place 332 00:20:34,867 --> 00:20:38,537 within the width of less than a human hair. 333 00:20:38,571 --> 00:20:39,772 ANDY: This was like some kind of 334 00:20:39,805 --> 00:20:45,744 old-world handcrafted creation, very precise work. 335 00:20:45,778 --> 00:20:48,881 You could not afford to screw that up. 336 00:20:48,914 --> 00:20:50,449 NARRATOR: The finished computer contains 337 00:20:50,483 --> 00:20:55,355 all the information needed to land Viking on Mars -- 338 00:20:55,387 --> 00:20:58,924 with a memory a hundred thousand times smaller 339 00:20:58,958 --> 00:21:01,928 than today’s desktop computers. 340 00:21:01,961 --> 00:21:04,764 ANDY: This is going to sounds unbelievable today, 341 00:21:04,797 --> 00:21:08,934 but that computer had 18,000 words of memory, 342 00:21:08,968 --> 00:21:13,806 and they sweated blood to get every one of them on there. 343 00:21:13,839 --> 00:21:16,775 ♪ ♪ 344 00:21:16,809 --> 00:21:24,216 NARRATOR: July 1976. Now in orbit, Viking 1 uses its cameras 345 00:21:24,250 --> 00:21:27,520 to give the team their first detailed view 346 00:21:27,553 --> 00:21:30,689 of its preselected landing site. 347 00:21:30,723 --> 00:21:32,658 TOM: And the first pictures were alarming, 348 00:21:32,691 --> 00:21:36,295 and I really mean alarming. 349 00:21:36,328 --> 00:21:38,897 NARRATOR: The landing sites were chosen from pictures taken 350 00:21:38,931 --> 00:21:43,436 almost five years earlier, when the Mariner 9 spacecraft 351 00:21:43,469 --> 00:21:45,504 orbited Mars. 352 00:21:45,538 --> 00:21:49,575 ANDY: The Viking Orbiter pictures were a factor of 10 353 00:21:49,608 --> 00:21:55,981 better in resolution. And the change was just astonishing. 354 00:21:56,015 --> 00:21:59,252 NARRATOR: What appears smooth in the Mariner images 355 00:21:59,285 --> 00:22:04,724 now looks decidedly dangerous. 356 00:22:04,757 --> 00:22:07,960 ANDY: There were features that looked like giant fingernails 357 00:22:07,993 --> 00:22:09,761 had scraped across the surface. 358 00:22:09,795 --> 00:22:13,499 MATT: There were huge boulders, trash bin-size boulders 359 00:22:13,532 --> 00:22:17,403 that could potentially kill the spacecraft if it landed there. 360 00:22:17,436 --> 00:22:19,939 ANDY: I mean, this was not the place that you 361 00:22:19,972 --> 00:22:24,477 wanted to throw a half a billion dollars’ worth of lander at. 362 00:22:24,510 --> 00:22:26,746 ♪ ♪ 363 00:22:26,779 --> 00:22:30,116 NARRATOR: But luckily, the original decision to orbit Mars 364 00:22:30,149 --> 00:22:32,652 rather than head straight to the surface 365 00:22:32,685 --> 00:22:36,856 buys time to search for a safer site. 366 00:22:36,889 --> 00:22:39,291 MATT: But they still had some time pressure on them. 367 00:22:39,325 --> 00:22:43,696 Viking 2 was on its way, and also the nation was watching. 368 00:22:43,729 --> 00:22:45,497 ANDY: As the new pictures would come in 369 00:22:45,531 --> 00:22:47,900 the scientists would look at them closely 370 00:22:47,933 --> 00:22:51,003 and try to figure out, you know, based on counting craters 371 00:22:51,036 --> 00:22:55,274 how rough is the surface likely to be in that spot. 372 00:22:55,307 --> 00:22:57,042 DUKE: To say that that was an easy process 373 00:22:57,076 --> 00:23:00,580 would be a huge mistake, because it just took 374 00:23:00,613 --> 00:23:02,782 meeting after meeting after meeting. 375 00:23:02,815 --> 00:23:06,652 GENTRY: First site, rejected. Second site, rejected. 376 00:23:06,685 --> 00:23:09,688 We rejected the fourth one, we rejected the fifth one, 377 00:23:09,722 --> 00:23:13,893 it’s now July the 10th or so and the second Viking 378 00:23:13,926 --> 00:23:15,494 is about to get to Mars, 379 00:23:15,527 --> 00:23:18,497 and we can’t manage two of them at once. 380 00:23:18,530 --> 00:23:22,434 NARRATOR: After 22 intense meetings, Gentry Lee 381 00:23:22,468 --> 00:23:27,406 and his exhausted team make the final decision. 382 00:23:27,439 --> 00:23:30,642 GENTRY: 3 o’clock in the morning, we’re looking at the pictures 383 00:23:30,676 --> 00:23:33,646 of the sixth site, maybe it was the seventh, 384 00:23:33,679 --> 00:23:36,282 I forgot which one, and finally Hal Mazursky, 385 00:23:36,315 --> 00:23:38,884 who was one of the most eloquent spokespersons 386 00:23:38,918 --> 00:23:40,920 for exploration of the planets, 387 00:23:40,953 --> 00:23:43,355 put his head down on the table and said, 388 00:23:43,389 --> 00:23:46,893 "This is probably as good as we’re gonna find, 389 00:23:46,926 --> 00:23:49,362 and I’m tired." 390 00:23:49,395 --> 00:23:52,365 And so with that we decided we would go down. 391 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:59,405 NARRATOR: July 20th, 1976. With the landing site chosen, 392 00:23:59,438 --> 00:24:03,142 it’s time to make the descent. 393 00:24:03,175 --> 00:24:09,114 After final checks, the critical "go" command is sent, 394 00:24:09,148 --> 00:24:12,451 and Viking 1 is released from its orbiter. 395 00:24:12,484 --> 00:24:20,025 [Radio chatter] 396 00:24:20,059 --> 00:24:23,162 GENTRY: I will never forget the moment that I first realized 397 00:24:23,195 --> 00:24:26,198 all the intelligence that we had or did not have 398 00:24:26,231 --> 00:24:30,435 had to be inside that computer, on board that lander, 399 00:24:30,469 --> 00:24:33,539 heading for Mars. 400 00:24:33,572 --> 00:24:34,973 GUS: And that separation, you know, 401 00:24:35,007 --> 00:24:38,644 it’s lost its mother so to speak. It’s by itself. 402 00:24:38,677 --> 00:24:41,079 And it has to get there through a sequence of events 403 00:24:41,113 --> 00:24:43,916 that are pre-programmed. 404 00:24:43,949 --> 00:24:45,818 NARRATOR: For the next three hours Viking 405 00:24:45,851 --> 00:24:49,688 is completely dependent on its on-board computer 406 00:24:49,722 --> 00:24:53,092 to safely reach the surface. 407 00:24:53,125 --> 00:24:57,696 GENTRY: And there was almost a palpable sigh in the room. 408 00:24:57,730 --> 00:25:02,201 And almost as one, everyone looked at his or her watch 409 00:25:02,234 --> 00:25:07,406 and started, mentally, counting down, three hours -- so forth. 410 00:25:07,439 --> 00:25:09,474 TOM: So apprehension, yeah, 411 00:25:09,508 --> 00:25:11,610 I think there is a lot of apprehension. 412 00:25:14,179 --> 00:25:17,616 NARRATOR: To successfully land, Viking’s key components 413 00:25:17,649 --> 00:25:22,954 must each work perfectly -- starting with the heat shield. 414 00:25:22,988 --> 00:25:27,125 ANDY: You’re screaming in at thousands of miles an hour, 415 00:25:27,159 --> 00:25:29,461 and you hit this very thin atmosphere, 416 00:25:29,495 --> 00:25:32,264 but you hit it at very high speed. 417 00:25:32,297 --> 00:25:35,200 It’s got to be able to withstand that intense heat 418 00:25:35,234 --> 00:25:38,003 of that deceleration. 419 00:25:38,037 --> 00:25:41,774 NARRATOR: Next -- still traveling faster than the speed of sound -- 420 00:25:41,807 --> 00:25:46,278 Viking must deploy a giant 52-foot parachute. 421 00:25:46,311 --> 00:25:49,381 ANDY: So for the first time we’ve gotta supersonic-parachute, 422 00:25:49,415 --> 00:25:52,818 which is a whole design challenge in itself. 423 00:25:52,851 --> 00:25:55,287 NARRATOR: A challenge Paul Siemers wrestled with 424 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,289 during Viking’s development. 425 00:25:58,490 --> 00:26:00,158 PAUL: The first thing we did with the parachute 426 00:26:00,192 --> 00:26:02,861 to qualify it for Viking’s flight was, 427 00:26:02,895 --> 00:26:04,797 we put a model of it in the wind tunnel, 428 00:26:04,830 --> 00:26:07,132 and we had a big surprise, 429 00:26:07,166 --> 00:26:12,438 and that surprise was the parachute got torn to shreds. 430 00:26:12,471 --> 00:26:15,341 This turned out to be one of the worst days of my career, 431 00:26:15,374 --> 00:26:17,409 ’cause I had to phone home to Langley 432 00:26:17,443 --> 00:26:20,246 and tell them I had just failed a parachute. 433 00:26:20,279 --> 00:26:22,047 ♪ ♪ 434 00:26:22,081 --> 00:26:25,785 NARRATOR: Paul’s team discovers that at supersonic speeds, 435 00:26:25,818 --> 00:26:28,120 turbulent air behind the lander 436 00:26:28,153 --> 00:26:33,558 is too violent for the chute to survive. 437 00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:36,728 The failure means instant promotion... 438 00:26:36,762 --> 00:26:41,967 onto Viking Manager Jim Martin’s infamous top ten list. 439 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,603 PAUL: We made the top of the top ten problem list, 440 00:26:44,636 --> 00:26:48,373 how about that one? [chuckles] 441 00:26:48,407 --> 00:26:53,612 NARRATOR: Paul and the team must find a solution. 442 00:26:53,645 --> 00:26:56,715 They realize that by unfurling the parachute further 443 00:26:56,748 --> 00:27:02,487 from the lander, it experiences less destructive turbulence -- 444 00:27:02,521 --> 00:27:06,625 and remains in one piece. 445 00:27:06,658 --> 00:27:11,463 Now, back on Mars, the parachute works flawlessly, 446 00:27:11,497 --> 00:27:17,169 decelerating Viking to around 130 miles an hour. 447 00:27:17,202 --> 00:27:24,242 But a safe landing depends on overcoming one final challenge. 448 00:27:24,276 --> 00:27:27,012 Designing Viking five years earlier, 449 00:27:27,045 --> 00:27:31,016 engineers decide to use three retrorockets, 450 00:27:31,049 --> 00:27:37,923 slowing the lander to under 5 miles an hour at touchdown. 451 00:27:37,956 --> 00:27:41,493 But they discover a major flaw. 452 00:27:41,527 --> 00:27:43,562 TOM: The tests were basically catastrophic. 453 00:27:43,595 --> 00:27:46,565 The propulsion system created so much disturbance, 454 00:27:46,598 --> 00:27:49,534 it would have compromised the science. 455 00:27:49,568 --> 00:27:52,037 HOWARD: If there was any life there, the heating was such 456 00:27:52,070 --> 00:27:54,940 it would cook it, literally kill it, 457 00:27:54,973 --> 00:27:58,376 so we couldn’t detect it if it was there. 458 00:27:58,410 --> 00:28:02,648 NARRATOR: For engineers it’s back to the drawing board. 459 00:28:02,681 --> 00:28:04,816 Instead of three large retrorockets 460 00:28:04,850 --> 00:28:07,886 with damaging exhaust, they replace them with 461 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,823 a cluster of smaller ones -- 462 00:28:10,856 --> 00:28:15,160 with exhaust plumes that won’t cook the Martian surface. 463 00:28:15,194 --> 00:28:17,163 PAUL: It resembled a shower head. 464 00:28:17,196 --> 00:28:20,366 There were 18 nozzles on each engine, 465 00:28:20,399 --> 00:28:23,102 and that solved that problem. 466 00:28:23,135 --> 00:28:25,971 [Radio chatter] 467 00:28:26,004 --> 00:28:27,405 NARRATOR: But has it worked? 468 00:28:27,439 --> 00:28:29,474 Have the years of engineering toil 469 00:28:29,508 --> 00:28:34,980 finally placed Viking 1 safely on the surface on Mars? 470 00:28:35,013 --> 00:28:36,448 For everyone on the team, 471 00:28:36,481 --> 00:28:39,985 the moment of truth is about to arrive... 472 00:28:40,018 --> 00:28:41,453 MALE: 73.3 feet per second. 473 00:28:41,486 --> 00:28:44,055 MISSION CONTROL: ACS is close to vertical. 474 00:28:44,089 --> 00:28:45,857 MALE: Come on... 475 00:28:45,891 --> 00:28:47,426 ♪ ♪ 476 00:28:47,459 --> 00:28:51,096 NARRATOR: Jim Martin and the team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 477 00:28:51,129 --> 00:28:53,365 count down the minutes to hear 478 00:28:53,398 --> 00:29:00,438 if Viking 1 has landed safely on Mars. 479 00:29:00,472 --> 00:29:05,344 Intern Andrew Chaikin witnesses the drama unfolding. 480 00:29:05,377 --> 00:29:08,847 ANDY: And you know we were waiting and waiting and waiting, 481 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,117 because those radio signals were still en route 482 00:29:12,150 --> 00:29:16,488 in that 20-minute delay from Mars to the Earth. 483 00:29:16,521 --> 00:29:19,557 GUS: It’s like waiting for the bride to come down the aisle. 484 00:29:19,591 --> 00:29:23,795 MISSION CONTROL: ACS is green. 1.5 degrees per second max, .2 Gs. 485 00:29:23,829 --> 00:29:28,167 NARRATOR: Finally, after 20 agonizing minutes... 486 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,936 MISSION CONTROL: Touchdown, we have touchdown... 487 00:29:30,969 --> 00:29:33,738 Fantastic! 488 00:29:33,772 --> 00:29:36,341 ANDY: It was almost so fast that you couldn’t take it all in. 489 00:29:36,375 --> 00:29:39,278 MISSION CONTROL: We have a touchdown time of 12 hours, 490 00:29:39,311 --> 00:29:42,981 12 minutes, zero 7 decimal one second. 491 00:29:43,015 --> 00:29:44,650 [Cheers and applause] 492 00:29:44,683 --> 00:29:47,819 JOEL: And everyone started clapping, 493 00:29:47,853 --> 00:29:50,356 and a great sigh of relief, 494 00:29:50,389 --> 00:29:55,261 and it was just elation through the whole room. 495 00:29:55,294 --> 00:29:59,932 NARRATOR: Seven years to the day after America lands men on the moon, 496 00:29:59,965 --> 00:30:04,203 engineers successfully place the first spacecraft on Mars. 497 00:30:07,873 --> 00:30:11,643 GUS: My father, he was born in 1896 498 00:30:11,677 --> 00:30:15,047 before the airplane and the automobile were invented, 499 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,250 and he’s here, excuse me for choking up, 500 00:30:18,283 --> 00:30:24,156 seeing his son enjoy landing a spacecraft on another planet. 501 00:30:24,189 --> 00:30:26,091 It was just remarkable. 502 00:30:26,124 --> 00:30:28,526 I would have given up all the money I have ever made 503 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,397 for that moment. 504 00:30:32,431 --> 00:30:36,635 HOWARD: I think people just had to take a short time 505 00:30:36,668 --> 00:30:41,940 to breathe in and out that we had actually made it. 506 00:30:43,975 --> 00:30:45,977 NORM: They were passing out champagne, 507 00:30:46,011 --> 00:30:49,448 and I had my first and only drink of champagne. 508 00:30:49,481 --> 00:30:51,316 TOM: It’s hard to state the feeling. 509 00:30:51,350 --> 00:30:54,520 I mean, it’s a feeling of combined relief and excitement. 510 00:30:54,553 --> 00:30:55,721 TOM [Archive]: A job very well done. 511 00:30:55,754 --> 00:30:58,323 I’m assuming that we must be sitting right on the X, 512 00:30:58,357 --> 00:31:02,027 so everybody just did fabulous and couldn’t be more pleased. 513 00:31:02,060 --> 00:31:02,994 Thank you! 514 00:31:03,028 --> 00:31:05,898 [Applause] 515 00:31:05,931 --> 00:31:08,500 NARRATOR: But there’s little time to celebrate, 516 00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:10,168 as everyone eagerly awaits 517 00:31:10,202 --> 00:31:15,240 Viking’s first picture from the surface. 518 00:31:15,273 --> 00:31:20,478 TOM: The anticipation of the first image coming back from Mars 519 00:31:20,512 --> 00:31:22,814 was extraordinary. 520 00:31:22,848 --> 00:31:27,786 I recall sitting glued to the screen in front of me. 521 00:31:27,819 --> 00:31:30,555 NARRATOR: With its unique cameras, it’s hoped Viking 522 00:31:30,589 --> 00:31:35,227 will finally reveal Mars as never before. 523 00:31:35,260 --> 00:31:38,296 ANDY: It wasn’t like a TV camera that would take 524 00:31:38,330 --> 00:31:40,065 the whole scene at once. 525 00:31:40,098 --> 00:31:46,171 It would take the scene line by line with a mirror 526 00:31:46,204 --> 00:31:48,239 that nodded up and down, 527 00:31:48,273 --> 00:31:53,378 and you would build up from left to right the entire scene. 528 00:31:53,412 --> 00:31:56,015 GENTRY: And so we waited, and here’s the picture 529 00:31:56,047 --> 00:31:59,984 in front of us, and on the left-hand side of the screen, 530 00:32:00,018 --> 00:32:03,755 down starts coming pixels. 531 00:32:03,789 --> 00:32:11,563 ANDY: And all of a sudden 5 lines of picture came racing down 532 00:32:11,596 --> 00:32:16,501 from top to bottom, just 5 lines. Like that. 533 00:32:16,535 --> 00:32:21,240 MALE: Here it comes. Yup, yup, that’s it that’s it. Oh... 534 00:32:21,273 --> 00:32:27,279 But then a few seconds later, another 5 lines. 535 00:32:27,312 --> 00:32:31,883 MALE: Rocks. That’s beautiful. 536 00:32:31,917 --> 00:32:33,585 ANDY: And then another 5 lines. 537 00:32:33,618 --> 00:32:36,821 GENTRY: And by the time it got to the footpad, 538 00:32:36,855 --> 00:32:39,725 you could see the rivets, and I remember screaming, 539 00:32:39,758 --> 00:32:47,699 "Look at those bleeping rivets." You could see them clearly. 540 00:32:47,732 --> 00:32:54,305 ♪ ♪ 541 00:32:54,339 --> 00:32:58,677 MALE [Archive]: It’s incredible to see that Mars is really there. 542 00:32:58,710 --> 00:33:00,779 DUKE: You know we’re taking pictures on the surface of Mars. 543 00:33:00,812 --> 00:33:03,181 Nobody has ever done that before. 544 00:33:03,215 --> 00:33:05,718 GENTRY: There was not a dry eye in the house. 545 00:33:05,750 --> 00:33:08,586 All of us just burst with joy, 546 00:33:08,620 --> 00:33:13,892 because every single person on that team had lived in fear 547 00:33:13,925 --> 00:33:18,096 that what we were trying to do was beyond human capability. 548 00:33:18,129 --> 00:33:21,566 GUS: The damn thing worked! 549 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:26,472 TOM: We were there. We did it, and now the science can begin. 550 00:33:29,841 --> 00:33:30,809 ♪ ♪ 551 00:33:30,842 --> 00:33:33,611 NARRATOR: With Viking 1 safely on Mars, 552 00:33:33,645 --> 00:33:37,616 what could be the most profound experiment in human history 553 00:33:37,649 --> 00:33:40,285 can start. 554 00:33:40,318 --> 00:33:44,122 The lander will gather soil to examine it for life, 555 00:33:44,155 --> 00:33:48,459 using its sampling arm. 556 00:33:48,493 --> 00:33:51,463 MATT: At the end of the arm there’s a scoop. 557 00:33:51,496 --> 00:33:55,300 Once the arm has collected a sample, it can then be retracted 558 00:33:55,333 --> 00:33:57,635 and turned to deposit that sample 559 00:33:57,669 --> 00:34:01,606 into the biological experiment package. 560 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:06,678 NARRATOR: The on-board computer commands the sample arm to unfurl. 561 00:34:06,711 --> 00:34:09,581 But with the engineers -- and the world’s press -- 562 00:34:09,614 --> 00:34:13,818 eagerly waiting, there’s a problem. 563 00:34:13,852 --> 00:34:17,222 The scoop fails to extend. 564 00:34:17,255 --> 00:34:19,724 GENTRY: Oh, my gosh, it was a panic time. 565 00:34:19,758 --> 00:34:21,526 After all the glory of landing safely, would 566 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:25,130 still not be a success, and we couldn’t get any material. 567 00:34:25,163 --> 00:34:26,665 NORM: If we couldn’t get a soil sample, 568 00:34:26,698 --> 00:34:30,435 that would mean that lander was out of business. 569 00:34:30,468 --> 00:34:31,703 TOM: There was a lot of apprehension ’cause 570 00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:35,039 we didn’t know why at first it hadn’t moved. 571 00:34:35,073 --> 00:34:37,776 NARRATOR: The engineers are dumbfounded. 572 00:34:37,809 --> 00:34:40,245 With the Viking 1 mission in jeopardy, 573 00:34:40,278 --> 00:34:44,783 everyone is scrambling to understand what’s gone wrong. 574 00:34:44,816 --> 00:34:49,287 GENTRY: And that was when this young engineer came in, 575 00:34:49,321 --> 00:34:51,657 and he looked at me and he said, 576 00:34:51,690 --> 00:34:54,960 "I just went over the sequence. 577 00:34:54,993 --> 00:35:01,333 Did you have a separate sequence to unlock the key?" 578 00:35:01,366 --> 00:35:05,403 "Oh, [expletive]," I said. And I remember that distinctly. 579 00:35:05,437 --> 00:35:09,274 And I said, "That’s it! That’s it!" 580 00:35:09,307 --> 00:35:11,676 NARRATOR: The team can’t quite believe it. 581 00:35:11,710 --> 00:35:15,681 A locking pin on the sampling arm’s protective shroud 582 00:35:15,714 --> 00:35:20,619 has failed to drop free -- and the arm is stuck. 583 00:35:20,652 --> 00:35:22,287 GENTRY: Any time we were testing on the Earth, 584 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,756 we never had the locking key in, 585 00:35:24,789 --> 00:35:26,858 so we didn’t have a sequence 586 00:35:26,891 --> 00:35:30,361 that removed the locking key first. 587 00:35:30,395 --> 00:35:32,497 NARRATOR: Incredibly, engineers have overlooked 588 00:35:32,530 --> 00:35:37,702 a vital part of the computer code that helps remove the pin. 589 00:35:37,736 --> 00:35:40,739 The solution is to write and then transmit 590 00:35:40,772 --> 00:35:43,975 the missing code to the lander. 591 00:35:44,009 --> 00:35:48,847 But with 1970s technology, that’s easier said than done. 592 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:50,415 MILTON: Well, the problem was 593 00:35:50,448 --> 00:35:54,585 the way you generated a computer program was 594 00:35:54,619 --> 00:35:56,488 you had a deck of cards, 595 00:35:56,521 --> 00:35:58,923 and there were holes punched in these cards, 596 00:35:58,957 --> 00:36:02,027 and the position of these holes would tell you 597 00:36:02,060 --> 00:36:05,897 what command to load into the computer. 598 00:36:05,930 --> 00:36:08,599 NARRATOR: Working around the clock, the punch-card code 599 00:36:08,633 --> 00:36:12,804 must be meticulously checked. 600 00:36:12,837 --> 00:36:15,406 MILTON: You would be in there early morning, 601 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:16,641 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, 602 00:36:16,675 --> 00:36:22,614 you would put your deck in the computer, and it rejects it. 603 00:36:22,647 --> 00:36:25,049 So then you got to go through this stack of cards 604 00:36:25,083 --> 00:36:27,586 and try to figure out, why did it reject this thing? 605 00:36:27,619 --> 00:36:30,856 Where did I make an error? 606 00:36:30,889 --> 00:36:34,292 ♪ ♪ 607 00:36:34,325 --> 00:36:39,530 NARRATOR: Milton and the team iron out every last glitch, 608 00:36:39,564 --> 00:36:43,701 check the code works on Earth, 609 00:36:43,735 --> 00:36:50,442 and then it’s radioed over 200 million miles to the lander. 610 00:36:50,475 --> 00:36:54,946 Now they must wait. 611 00:36:54,979 --> 00:36:57,715 TOM: The next day when we got the pictures back, 612 00:36:57,749 --> 00:37:01,586 low and behold, the pin was lying on the surface of Mars. 613 00:37:01,619 --> 00:37:07,758 And so we knew that this problem was behind us. 614 00:37:07,792 --> 00:37:11,929 NARRATOR: But Gentry Lee is not quite off the hook yet. 615 00:37:11,963 --> 00:37:14,399 GENTRY: So, I got to explain all this to the media, 616 00:37:14,432 --> 00:37:17,535 and, of course, Jim said, "Don’t embarrass yourself by saying 617 00:37:17,569 --> 00:37:19,504 you just forgot to unlock the thing." 618 00:37:19,537 --> 00:37:22,006 So I made up a perfectly honest story 619 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:24,576 that made it sound much more complicated. 620 00:37:24,609 --> 00:37:28,213 I said, "These instruments on Mars are very complex, 621 00:37:28,246 --> 00:37:30,482 and you have to study the sequences very carefully, 622 00:37:30,515 --> 00:37:33,284 and we found that we had made a slight error in the sequence." 623 00:37:33,318 --> 00:37:37,756 That was true! 624 00:37:37,789 --> 00:37:39,958 NARRATOR: Less than two weeks later, Viking 2 625 00:37:39,991 --> 00:37:44,329 also makes it safely to surface. 626 00:37:44,362 --> 00:37:49,968 Both landers sample Martian soil in their on-board labs. 627 00:37:50,001 --> 00:37:51,936 What they find remains one of the most 628 00:37:51,970 --> 00:37:58,009 contentious results in planetary exploration. 629 00:37:58,042 --> 00:37:59,443 ♪ ♪ 630 00:37:59,477 --> 00:38:01,446 The Viking cameras give scientists 631 00:38:01,479 --> 00:38:07,385 their first close-up look at the surface of Mars. 632 00:38:07,418 --> 00:38:09,720 But now all eyes are on the results 633 00:38:09,754 --> 00:38:13,258 of the biological experiments 634 00:38:13,291 --> 00:38:17,195 to see if they will detect microbes living in the soil. 635 00:38:19,430 --> 00:38:21,265 JOEL: There were three experiments. 636 00:38:21,299 --> 00:38:24,169 Two of the experiments gave results 637 00:38:24,202 --> 00:38:28,039 that were not consistent with life. 638 00:38:28,072 --> 00:38:31,642 NARRATOR: That leaves one last experiment. 639 00:38:31,676 --> 00:38:36,981 Adding nutrients to coax any Martian microbes to feed. 640 00:38:37,015 --> 00:38:39,417 What’s detected comes as a shock. 641 00:38:39,450 --> 00:38:41,085 JOEL: The third experiment, 642 00:38:41,119 --> 00:38:44,689 called the Labeled Release experiment, gave results 643 00:38:44,722 --> 00:38:49,860 that in 1976 indicated there was life on Mars. 644 00:38:49,894 --> 00:38:54,165 NARRATOR: But this positive result is controversial. 645 00:38:54,199 --> 00:38:58,170 On analyzing the soil further, Viking is unable to find 646 00:38:58,203 --> 00:39:03,275 any organic material -- the stuff that life is made of. 647 00:39:03,308 --> 00:39:05,744 Creating a dilemma: 648 00:39:05,777 --> 00:39:10,248 If there’s life on Mars -- where is the organic material? 649 00:39:10,281 --> 00:39:12,817 GENTRY: One newspaper would say Viking found life, 650 00:39:12,851 --> 00:39:15,287 and another one would say Viking did not find life, 651 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:19,057 and as a result everybody was confused. 652 00:39:19,090 --> 00:39:21,693 NARRATOR: To confirm life, the science community 653 00:39:21,726 --> 00:39:24,162 requires more robust evidence, 654 00:39:24,195 --> 00:39:28,132 as planetary scientist Jim Green knows. 655 00:39:28,166 --> 00:39:30,568 JIM: If each and every one of those instruments 656 00:39:30,602 --> 00:39:34,906 gave us a positive indication that a reaction could occur 657 00:39:34,939 --> 00:39:37,642 that was biological that they were measuring, 658 00:39:37,675 --> 00:39:41,679 then we could be assured that it was life. 659 00:39:41,713 --> 00:39:46,851 NARRATOR: But Viking provides ambiguous results. 660 00:39:46,885 --> 00:39:50,355 JIM: Now that means the scientific community 661 00:39:50,388 --> 00:39:57,095 couldn’t get behind the idea that life exists on Mars today. 662 00:39:57,128 --> 00:40:00,298 NARRATOR: Even now the Viking results are hotly debated, 663 00:40:00,331 --> 00:40:05,570 and the question remains -- does life exist on Mars? 664 00:40:05,603 --> 00:40:09,240 JIM: Well, we wanna find that out. 665 00:40:09,274 --> 00:40:13,378 NARRATOR: Beginning in 1997, NASA returns to the Red Planet 666 00:40:13,411 --> 00:40:18,816 with a series of rovers, studying the environment. 667 00:40:18,850 --> 00:40:21,486 Their results have added to the speculation 668 00:40:21,519 --> 00:40:26,024 Mars might be able to support microbial life. 669 00:40:26,057 --> 00:40:28,459 JIM: So now we want to go back 670 00:40:28,493 --> 00:40:32,530 and we want to attack it in a different way. 671 00:40:32,563 --> 00:40:34,498 ♪ ♪ 672 00:40:34,532 --> 00:40:36,534 NARRATOR: At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 673 00:40:36,567 --> 00:40:40,738 the latest generation of engineers like Matthew Robinson 674 00:40:40,772 --> 00:40:45,277 are designing a bold new mission -- with a twist. 675 00:40:45,310 --> 00:40:48,013 MATTHEW: We want to return the samples back to Earth 676 00:40:48,046 --> 00:40:51,850 so that we can process those samples with instruments 677 00:40:51,883 --> 00:40:55,487 that have much more precision and much more capability 678 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:58,023 than what you can send to Mars. 679 00:40:58,056 --> 00:41:00,058 NARRATOR: NASA plans to bring back to Earth 680 00:41:00,091 --> 00:41:03,094 Martian soil and rock samples to analyze 681 00:41:03,127 --> 00:41:10,234 for evidence of both present and past life. 682 00:41:10,268 --> 00:41:12,003 Helping design the vehicle that’s going to select 683 00:41:12,036 --> 00:41:16,073 the samples is Mars rover veteran Rob Manning. 684 00:41:17,275 --> 00:41:22,347 ROB: Now we are building a new rover to land in 2020. 685 00:41:22,380 --> 00:41:27,819 However, it does something that no other rover has done before. 686 00:41:27,852 --> 00:41:31,489 JIM: It has the capability of drilling rock, 687 00:41:31,522 --> 00:41:38,162 creating about a chalk-size sample full of history of Mars. 688 00:41:38,196 --> 00:41:42,734 This is an enormous engineering challenge. 689 00:41:42,767 --> 00:41:45,003 NARRATOR: Matthew and the team are experimenting 690 00:41:45,036 --> 00:41:48,573 how to extract a sample. 691 00:41:48,606 --> 00:41:52,009 MATTHEW: The way that we acquire samples is using a coring bit 692 00:41:52,043 --> 00:41:56,781 much like a drill that you would get from a hardware store. 693 00:41:56,814 --> 00:41:59,884 NARRATOR: The drill will be able to extract core samples 694 00:41:59,917 --> 00:42:05,122 from soft sandstone to the toughest granite. 695 00:42:05,156 --> 00:42:08,826 MATTHEW: Once we core into a rock, the robotic arm moves up 696 00:42:08,860 --> 00:42:11,529 and it goes over to the rover. 697 00:42:11,562 --> 00:42:14,865 ROB: This core sample will then be very carefully put 698 00:42:14,899 --> 00:42:20,438 in a container that will then be left on the surface of Mars, 699 00:42:20,471 --> 00:42:22,940 along with many other core samples 700 00:42:22,974 --> 00:42:26,377 which will later be collected by a future mission 701 00:42:26,411 --> 00:42:29,381 that will bring those cores back to Earth. 702 00:42:29,414 --> 00:42:32,884 JIM: And that means a whole new generation of engineers 703 00:42:32,917 --> 00:42:35,653 are going to tackle this problem now. 704 00:42:35,686 --> 00:42:38,222 But they have one major advantage. 705 00:42:38,256 --> 00:42:42,427 They have the knowledge that has been given to them by the 706 00:42:42,460 --> 00:42:47,732 Viking engineers demonstrating how we can do this. 707 00:42:47,765 --> 00:42:50,801 NARRATOR: It’s a lasting testament to the Viking team 708 00:42:50,835 --> 00:42:52,603 that their technical achievements -- 709 00:42:52,637 --> 00:42:55,140 made almost half a century ago -- 710 00:42:55,173 --> 00:43:00,679 allow missions to land on Mars today. 711 00:43:00,711 --> 00:43:03,080 ROB: It’s amazing and mind-boggling 712 00:43:03,114 --> 00:43:04,882 that they were able to pull that off 713 00:43:04,916 --> 00:43:10,321 at such an early time in human engineering history. 714 00:43:10,354 --> 00:43:13,090 JIM: It’s like a symphony in many ways, 715 00:43:13,124 --> 00:43:16,294 and each of these individuals played their part. 716 00:43:16,327 --> 00:43:18,996 GENTRY: All I could think of was -- 717 00:43:19,030 --> 00:43:26,004 and I hugged the people around me -- "We did it! We did it!" 718 00:43:26,037 --> 00:43:30,241 NORM: We did the impossible. This is a symbol. 719 00:43:30,274 --> 00:43:33,644 This is my Mars ’76 buckle. 720 00:43:33,678 --> 00:43:38,583 It was the biggest thing I have ever been involved with, 721 00:43:38,616 --> 00:43:42,920 and it worked like I expected. 722 00:43:42,954 --> 00:43:45,457 TOM: I have to confess I’ve got a real feeling of pride 723 00:43:45,490 --> 00:43:47,559 of having being a part of it, 724 00:43:47,592 --> 00:43:49,594 and the emotional feeling is still there. 725 00:43:49,627 --> 00:43:51,562 That is everything I know, more than I know! 726 00:43:51,596 --> 00:43:56,000 [Laughing]