1 00:00:01,102 --> 00:00:04,203 NARRATOR: From Earth to space. 2 00:00:04,271 --> 00:00:07,973 There's no tougher 50 miles to cross. 3 00:00:08,042 --> 00:00:11,577 Fewer than 600 people have ever traveled it. 4 00:00:11,645 --> 00:00:13,479 But that number... 5 00:00:13,547 --> 00:00:15,647 MAN: Liftoff-- the Falcon 9 takes flight. 6 00:00:15,716 --> 00:00:17,349 NARRATOR: .. a whole lot bigger... 7 00:00:17,418 --> 00:00:20,753 JOHN LOGSDON: Competition will drive the prices down. 8 00:00:20,821 --> 00:00:24,390 And we can enter a space age, a space 2.0. 9 00:00:24,458 --> 00:00:28,360 NARRATOR: ...Powered by entrepreneurs with bold, new ideas. 10 00:00:28,429 --> 00:00:31,163 JOHN GARVEY: Landing on a pillar of fire, 11 00:00:31,232 --> 00:00:32,264 that last five feet can be critical. 12 00:00:32,333 --> 00:00:34,266 TIM FERNHOLZ: Elon Musk set himself up 13 00:00:34,335 --> 00:00:36,335 to do something that no one else says he can do. 14 00:00:36,404 --> 00:00:38,203 If he delivers, it might change the world. 15 00:00:38,272 --> 00:00:42,741 NARRATOR: ...And NASA daring to dream big once again. 16 00:00:42,810 --> 00:00:44,777 We're working on the next heavy-lift rocket 17 00:00:44,845 --> 00:00:47,613 that will take us farther than we've ever gone before. 18 00:00:47,681 --> 00:00:49,181 JASON KALIRAI: It's giving the nation what it wants 19 00:00:49,250 --> 00:00:52,885 in a very exciting, next-generation space program. 20 00:00:52,953 --> 00:00:54,553 NARRATOR: Space-- 21 00:00:54,622 --> 00:00:59,124 it's never been closer for humans and machines. 22 00:00:59,193 --> 00:01:01,226 It's the "Rise of the Rockets," 23 00:01:01,295 --> 00:01:04,696 lifting off right now, on "NOVA." 24 00:01:04,765 --> 00:01:06,065 (loud bang) 25 00:01:06,133 --> 00:01:09,835 ♪ ♪ 26 00:01:15,142 --> 00:01:20,412 MAN (on speakers): T minus one minute 35 seconds on the Apollo mission, 27 00:01:20,481 --> 00:01:24,450 the flight to land the first men on the moon. 28 00:01:24,518 --> 00:01:28,854 NARRATOR: Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. 29 00:01:28,923 --> 00:01:31,256 Launch Complex 39. 30 00:01:31,325 --> 00:01:32,357 MAN: T minus 17. 31 00:01:32,426 --> 00:01:33,859 Final guidance released. 32 00:01:33,928 --> 00:01:37,796 NARRATOR: From here, every Saturn V Apollo mission 33 00:01:37,865 --> 00:01:40,265 and every space shuttle lifted off. 34 00:01:40,334 --> 00:01:41,366 MAN: Liftoff. 35 00:01:41,435 --> 00:01:43,669 Liftoff on Apollo 11. 36 00:01:43,737 --> 00:01:45,404 ♪ ♪ 37 00:01:45,473 --> 00:01:49,575 NARRATOR: But after the final space shuttle landing in 2011, 38 00:01:49,643 --> 00:01:53,011 NASA tore down its Pad 39 launch gantries. 39 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,414 And since then, 40 00:01:55,483 --> 00:01:59,485 no American astronaut has flown into orbit from U.S. soil. 41 00:01:59,553 --> 00:02:02,121 ♪ ♪ 42 00:02:02,189 --> 00:02:05,390 LOGSDON: The one hole in U.S. space capability 43 00:02:05,459 --> 00:02:09,128 right now is the ability to transport humans 44 00:02:09,196 --> 00:02:11,396 into orbit or beyond. 45 00:02:11,465 --> 00:02:14,600 FERNHOLZ: The U.S. has spent more than $100 billion 46 00:02:14,668 --> 00:02:17,236 building and operating the space station, 47 00:02:17,304 --> 00:02:18,604 and we can't even get there 48 00:02:18,672 --> 00:02:21,573 unless we pay, and overpay, the Russians to do it. 49 00:02:21,642 --> 00:02:24,676 ♪ ♪ 50 00:02:24,745 --> 00:02:26,778 It's not where we want to be as a country, 51 00:02:26,847 --> 00:02:28,881 it's not where we want to be as an agency. 52 00:02:28,949 --> 00:02:31,483 ♪ ♪ 53 00:02:31,552 --> 00:02:36,455 NARRATOR: But now Launch Complex 39 is back in business, 54 00:02:36,524 --> 00:02:42,227 rebuilt with the goal of flying astronauts once more. 55 00:02:42,296 --> 00:02:45,397 CROWD: Three, two, one. 56 00:02:49,537 --> 00:02:51,703 NARRATOR: And this time, 57 00:02:51,772 --> 00:02:54,439 the rockets are not only NASA-owned and operated. 58 00:02:54,508 --> 00:02:57,843 Private company SpaceX is already launching 59 00:02:57,912 --> 00:02:58,877 its Falcon rockets, 60 00:02:58,946 --> 00:03:00,879 ferrying supplies 61 00:03:00,948 --> 00:03:02,881 to the International Space Station. 62 00:03:02,950 --> 00:03:04,216 (crowd cheering) 63 00:03:04,285 --> 00:03:05,284 Eventually, 64 00:03:05,352 --> 00:03:07,519 they hope to become a major provider 65 00:03:07,588 --> 00:03:10,989 of human flights to the station as well. 66 00:03:11,058 --> 00:03:13,625 And SpaceX isn't alone. 67 00:03:13,694 --> 00:03:16,094 KALIRAI: A number of private companies have stepped up 68 00:03:16,163 --> 00:03:18,530 and started providing economical, reusable, 69 00:03:18,599 --> 00:03:23,168 recyclable launch capabilities to deliver to space. 70 00:03:23,237 --> 00:03:26,104 (rocket roaring) 71 00:03:26,173 --> 00:03:27,339 ♪ ♪ 72 00:03:27,408 --> 00:03:29,107 NARRATOR: But what about NASA? 73 00:03:29,176 --> 00:03:30,676 ♪ ♪ 74 00:03:30,744 --> 00:03:34,279 They're focusing on pure exploration, 75 00:03:34,348 --> 00:03:36,882 with a new rocket to take humans into deep space. 76 00:03:38,919 --> 00:03:40,886 We're working on the next heavy-lift rocket 77 00:03:40,955 --> 00:03:43,822 that will take us farther than we've ever gone before. 78 00:03:43,891 --> 00:03:47,793 It will be the most powerful rocket ever built. 79 00:03:47,861 --> 00:03:49,595 ♪ ♪ 80 00:03:49,663 --> 00:03:53,198 WOMAN: The landing burn has started. 81 00:03:53,267 --> 00:03:55,100 (radio chatter, crowd cheering) 82 00:03:55,169 --> 00:03:57,469 NARRATOR: At the same time, 83 00:03:57,538 --> 00:03:59,471 the audacious technical achievement 84 00:03:59,540 --> 00:04:01,273 of SpaceX's reusable rocket 85 00:04:01,342 --> 00:04:04,076 and their stunts, 86 00:04:04,144 --> 00:04:08,380 like launching a car and dummy driver out of earth orbit, 87 00:04:08,449 --> 00:04:11,950 have ignited new public enthusiasm. 88 00:04:12,019 --> 00:04:13,518 If you believe the hype, 89 00:04:13,587 --> 00:04:17,889 then we're on the brink of a new era of space flight. 90 00:04:17,958 --> 00:04:21,693 But great uncertainties lie ahead. 91 00:04:21,762 --> 00:04:23,295 The demand for seats remains tiny, 92 00:04:23,364 --> 00:04:26,498 with only governments and a handful of private citizens 93 00:04:26,567 --> 00:04:29,668 willing to pay for an expensive ride to space. 94 00:04:29,737 --> 00:04:34,439 So will this lead to a renaissance in space travel? 95 00:04:34,508 --> 00:04:35,807 Or fizzle out... 96 00:04:35,876 --> 00:04:38,577 nothing more than a flash in the pan 97 00:04:38,646 --> 00:04:43,615 that fails to take the next giant leap for humankind? 98 00:04:43,684 --> 00:04:46,551 ♪ ♪ 99 00:04:47,354 --> 00:04:50,055 (helicopter rotors droning) 100 00:04:50,124 --> 00:04:51,490 MAN: Liftoff-- the Falcon 9 takes flight 101 00:04:51,558 --> 00:04:53,025 with the Dragon spacecraft 102 00:04:53,093 --> 00:04:56,395 destined for the one-of-a-kind laboratory in microgravity-- 103 00:04:56,463 --> 00:04:58,363 the International Space Station. 104 00:05:01,302 --> 00:05:04,736 NARRATOR: We're in the midst of a revolution; 105 00:05:04,805 --> 00:05:06,471 a surge of commercial rocketry 106 00:05:06,540 --> 00:05:09,308 that could make space more accessible 107 00:05:09,376 --> 00:05:12,711 and usher in a new chapter of exploration. 108 00:05:12,780 --> 00:05:14,279 MAN: And liftoff. 109 00:05:14,348 --> 00:05:17,716 NARRATOR: It's a revolution that was started by NASA. 110 00:05:17,785 --> 00:05:21,853 In 2005, the agency decided 111 00:05:21,922 --> 00:05:24,389 to commercialize the task of flying cargo and crew 112 00:05:24,458 --> 00:05:27,693 to the International Space Station, 113 00:05:27,761 --> 00:05:31,330 freeing NASA to take on bigger challenges. 114 00:05:31,398 --> 00:05:32,731 KALIRAI: It allows NASA to focus 115 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,734 on bolder expeditions for deeper space exploration, 116 00:05:35,803 --> 00:05:39,304 putting human beings on Mars and other worlds; 117 00:05:39,373 --> 00:05:40,739 pushing beyond the envelope 118 00:05:40,808 --> 00:05:43,041 and giving the nation what it wants 119 00:05:43,110 --> 00:05:46,678 in a very exciting, next-generation space program. 120 00:05:46,747 --> 00:05:50,415 ♪ ♪ 121 00:05:50,484 --> 00:05:54,052 NARRATOR: NASA's next-generation space program 122 00:05:54,121 --> 00:05:56,521 calls for a big, new rocket, 123 00:05:56,590 --> 00:05:59,958 capable of carrying humans beyond earth orbit once again-- 124 00:06:00,027 --> 00:06:02,761 to the moon or even Mars. 125 00:06:02,830 --> 00:06:06,298 It's a return to NASA's roots. 126 00:06:06,367 --> 00:06:10,635 LOGSDON: NASA is recreating a 21st-century 127 00:06:10,704 --> 00:06:12,771 version of the Saturn V 128 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:15,040 as an exploration vehicle, 129 00:06:15,109 --> 00:06:17,476 a heavy-lift vehicle 130 00:06:17,544 --> 00:06:21,880 intended to enable the resumption of human exploration 131 00:06:21,949 --> 00:06:24,850 beyond low Earth orbit. 132 00:06:24,918 --> 00:06:27,753 LYLES: We're developing the Space Launch System 133 00:06:27,821 --> 00:06:30,555 to carry crew and heavy cargo, 134 00:06:30,624 --> 00:06:34,192 first to the moon or in near-lunar orbit 135 00:06:34,261 --> 00:06:37,162 and eventually to Mars and, and the outer planets. 136 00:06:37,231 --> 00:06:38,697 (machinery humming) 137 00:06:38,766 --> 00:06:41,900 NARRATOR: Already eight years in development, 138 00:06:41,969 --> 00:06:46,004 NASA's Space Launch System-- or SLS, as it's known-- 139 00:06:46,073 --> 00:06:49,975 is designed to carry 50 tons of spacecraft and human cargo 140 00:06:50,043 --> 00:06:52,377 beyond Earth orbit. 141 00:06:52,446 --> 00:06:54,546 ♪ ♪ 142 00:06:54,615 --> 00:06:56,081 JODY SINGER: It will be able 143 00:06:56,150 --> 00:07:00,051 to take the large systems that we need to land to an outpost, 144 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:01,420 to do the exploration in deep space, 145 00:07:01,488 --> 00:07:06,024 and to deliver payload and humans necessary to do 146 00:07:06,093 --> 00:07:08,894 the research on the moon. 147 00:07:08,962 --> 00:07:10,362 ♪ ♪ 148 00:07:10,431 --> 00:07:14,599 NARRATOR: If all goes well, in the early 2020s, 149 00:07:14,668 --> 00:07:17,969 NASA's new rocket will send a human-rated spacecraft 150 00:07:18,038 --> 00:07:19,604 around the moon-- 151 00:07:19,673 --> 00:07:21,807 the first since the days of Apollo. 152 00:07:23,076 --> 00:07:25,410 The second mission will follow a similar flight path, 153 00:07:25,479 --> 00:07:26,812 with humans on board, 154 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:32,717 the first such voyage in over 50 years. 155 00:07:32,786 --> 00:07:34,052 Its initial target mission 156 00:07:34,121 --> 00:07:36,555 is to bring astronauts in orbit around the moon, 157 00:07:36,623 --> 00:07:38,523 in order to lay the groundwork 158 00:07:38,592 --> 00:07:40,892 for a new space station that will orbit the moon 159 00:07:40,961 --> 00:07:42,694 and an eventual return to the moon 160 00:07:42,763 --> 00:07:44,930 by U.S. astronauts and robots. 161 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:49,134 NARRATOR: The SLS is the latest 162 00:07:49,203 --> 00:07:52,471 in a long line of NASA's human-rated rockets, 163 00:07:52,539 --> 00:07:55,073 starting with the one that carried Alan Shepard 164 00:07:55,142 --> 00:07:59,911 on his famous 15-minute flight in 1961. 165 00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:02,013 ♪ ♪ 166 00:08:02,082 --> 00:08:04,182 (engines ignite) 167 00:08:04,251 --> 00:08:07,486 MAN: All right now, liftoff and the clock has started. 168 00:08:07,554 --> 00:08:11,890 NARRATOR: These liquid-fueled rockets all share common features: 169 00:08:11,959 --> 00:08:13,592 engines at their base, 170 00:08:13,660 --> 00:08:15,293 fed by powerful pumps 171 00:08:15,362 --> 00:08:18,463 that draw propellant from the tanks above. 172 00:08:20,567 --> 00:08:23,535 Perched above all this is the payload, 173 00:08:23,604 --> 00:08:27,839 the cargo to be delivered to space. 174 00:08:27,908 --> 00:08:29,774 As payloads got bigger, 175 00:08:29,843 --> 00:08:32,444 so did the rockets required to launch them, 176 00:08:32,513 --> 00:08:35,013 culminating in the Saturn V, 177 00:08:35,082 --> 00:08:39,017 capable of carrying over 48 tons to the moon... 178 00:08:39,086 --> 00:08:40,919 MAN: Two minutes, 30 seconds and counting. 179 00:08:40,988 --> 00:08:44,489 We're still go on Apollo 11 at this time. 180 00:08:44,558 --> 00:08:46,725 NARRATOR: ...and the space shuttle, 181 00:08:46,793 --> 00:08:50,562 built to routinely haul up to 32 tons to orbit. 182 00:08:50,631 --> 00:08:52,397 MAN: One, zero... 183 00:08:52,466 --> 00:08:55,567 And liftoff, the final liftoff of Atlantis, 184 00:08:55,636 --> 00:08:58,136 the shoulders of the space shuttle... 185 00:08:58,205 --> 00:09:00,105 NARRATOR: NASA's new rocket, the SLS, 186 00:09:00,173 --> 00:09:03,408 will be even larger than the Saturn V. 187 00:09:03,477 --> 00:09:05,677 But rather than designing from scratch, 188 00:09:05,746 --> 00:09:10,181 NASA has borrowed technologies that have flown before. 189 00:09:10,250 --> 00:09:12,984 SLS is a cross between the Apollo, 190 00:09:13,053 --> 00:09:16,121 which had the capsule at the top, 191 00:09:16,189 --> 00:09:17,322 and the shuttle, 192 00:09:17,391 --> 00:09:19,691 which had the two solid-rocket boosters 193 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:21,526 on each side. 194 00:09:21,595 --> 00:09:24,429 So if you look at Apollo and shuttle, 195 00:09:24,498 --> 00:09:26,831 you can see the similarities of both of them 196 00:09:26,900 --> 00:09:28,600 coming together to form SLS. 197 00:09:28,669 --> 00:09:33,972 ♪ ♪ 198 00:09:34,041 --> 00:09:36,841 NARRATOR: The SLS has not yet flown, 199 00:09:36,910 --> 00:09:40,512 but as these aspirational NASA animations suggest, 200 00:09:40,581 --> 00:09:43,782 it will be quite a sight at liftoff. 201 00:09:43,850 --> 00:09:46,051 The minute the SLS launches off the pad, 202 00:09:46,119 --> 00:09:48,453 it will be the most powerful rocket ever made. 203 00:09:48,522 --> 00:09:49,955 ♪ ♪ 204 00:09:50,023 --> 00:09:52,090 NARRATOR: Building the most powerful rocket in history 205 00:09:52,159 --> 00:09:54,025 is full of challenges-- 206 00:09:54,094 --> 00:09:57,128 not least, the size of the rocket. 207 00:09:57,197 --> 00:10:02,233 Even a single fuel tank, like this one, is enormous. 208 00:10:02,302 --> 00:10:03,568 A building big enough 209 00:10:03,637 --> 00:10:06,871 to put this giant rocket together inside is so vast, 210 00:10:06,940 --> 00:10:09,374 the engineers use bicycles to get around. 211 00:10:09,443 --> 00:10:11,910 (bell chimes) 212 00:10:11,979 --> 00:10:14,446 Even the tools they're working with to assemble the rocket 213 00:10:14,514 --> 00:10:16,548 are gigantic. 214 00:10:16,617 --> 00:10:19,884 RENE HORTON: I'm a weld and metals engineer here for NASA. 215 00:10:21,421 --> 00:10:24,122 This is the vertical assembly center, 216 00:10:24,191 --> 00:10:26,024 and it's the largest weld tool in the world, 217 00:10:26,093 --> 00:10:27,692 and it's the only one of its kind. 218 00:10:27,761 --> 00:10:29,194 ♪ ♪ 219 00:10:29,262 --> 00:10:32,230 NARRATOR: The weld tool, a giant tower, 220 00:10:32,299 --> 00:10:35,367 tackles the tank in sections called barrels, 221 00:10:35,435 --> 00:10:37,202 welding them together vertically. 222 00:10:37,270 --> 00:10:39,671 HORTON: When we're assembling a tank, 223 00:10:39,740 --> 00:10:40,972 it's done in different stages. 224 00:10:41,041 --> 00:10:44,542 So one barrel is welded to the dome, 225 00:10:44,611 --> 00:10:48,246 and then once that's been welded and checked and verified, 226 00:10:48,315 --> 00:10:49,814 then another barrel is brought in. 227 00:10:49,883 --> 00:10:52,050 And so to assemble a hydrogen tank, 228 00:10:52,119 --> 00:10:53,952 and you have five of those barrels. 229 00:10:54,021 --> 00:10:58,256 And the very last piece is the bottom, the aft dome. 230 00:10:58,325 --> 00:10:59,457 ♪ ♪ 231 00:10:59,526 --> 00:11:00,692 NARRATOR: The tanks are welded 232 00:11:00,761 --> 00:11:03,895 using friction to melt the metals together, 233 00:11:03,964 --> 00:11:07,132 generated by spinning the toolhead at high speed. 234 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:08,767 (whirring) 235 00:11:08,835 --> 00:11:10,235 It looks easy, 236 00:11:10,303 --> 00:11:13,772 but in reality the construction of this first hydrogen tank 237 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,775 has been plagued by problems, 238 00:11:16,843 --> 00:11:20,578 putting the rocket far behind schedule. 239 00:11:20,647 --> 00:11:22,681 FERNHOLZ: It's a very troubled program, basically. 240 00:11:22,749 --> 00:11:24,115 The SLS will cost 241 00:11:24,184 --> 00:11:27,352 at least $8.9 billion through 2021, 242 00:11:27,421 --> 00:11:29,054 which is double the amount initially planned. 243 00:11:29,122 --> 00:11:31,589 ♪ ♪ 244 00:11:31,658 --> 00:11:35,527 It's now ten years later, 245 00:11:35,595 --> 00:11:37,262 a couple billion dollars a year. 246 00:11:37,330 --> 00:11:39,030 It's continuing to be delayed. 247 00:11:39,099 --> 00:11:40,598 ♪ ♪ 248 00:11:40,667 --> 00:11:43,601 NARRATOR: Overruns aside, 249 00:11:43,670 --> 00:11:47,172 it's an ambitious new rocket. 250 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,541 But why does it have to be so big, 251 00:11:49,609 --> 00:11:52,777 larger than any other? 252 00:11:52,846 --> 00:11:54,679 The answer lies in the fundamentals 253 00:11:54,748 --> 00:11:56,414 of rocket science. 254 00:11:56,483 --> 00:12:00,552 ♪ ♪ 255 00:12:03,890 --> 00:12:05,156 ♪ ♪ 256 00:12:05,225 --> 00:12:08,326 At its heart, rocket science is all about propulsion 257 00:12:08,395 --> 00:12:11,930 and a principle that was first described by Isaac Newton, 258 00:12:11,998 --> 00:12:14,466 whose third law of motion states, 259 00:12:14,534 --> 00:12:17,068 "For every action, there is an equal 260 00:12:17,137 --> 00:12:19,070 and opposite re-action." 261 00:12:21,475 --> 00:12:25,710 So the principle behind a rocket is actually really simple. 262 00:12:25,779 --> 00:12:29,547 All we really have here is what's called a mass engine. 263 00:12:29,616 --> 00:12:31,549 If we have enough mass inside, 264 00:12:31,618 --> 00:12:33,818 and we push it out fast enough, 265 00:12:33,887 --> 00:12:35,687 then what we are going to be able to do-- 266 00:12:35,756 --> 00:12:38,523 through Newton's law, action and reaction-- 267 00:12:38,592 --> 00:12:42,427 is to propel this rocket, I hope, skywards. 268 00:12:42,496 --> 00:12:45,396 NARRATOR: First, mass. 269 00:12:45,465 --> 00:12:49,134 We're going to pour water into a tank inside our rocket 270 00:12:49,202 --> 00:12:50,702 to add mass. 271 00:12:50,771 --> 00:12:52,303 And as we fill it up, 272 00:12:52,372 --> 00:12:56,074 I can feel the rocket actually getting heavier. 273 00:12:56,143 --> 00:12:57,609 That's good sign, 274 00:12:57,677 --> 00:13:02,013 because that gives us more mass, more propulsion 275 00:13:02,082 --> 00:13:04,849 to get the rocket to go that much further. 276 00:13:04,918 --> 00:13:07,585 NARRATOR: Second, a source of energy 277 00:13:07,654 --> 00:13:09,921 to push the water out of the back of the rocket 278 00:13:09,990 --> 00:13:12,023 as fast as possible. 279 00:13:12,092 --> 00:13:13,892 For that, we're going to use high-pressure air 280 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,327 from this compressor. 281 00:13:16,396 --> 00:13:19,564 SELLA: And so now all I need to do 282 00:13:19,633 --> 00:13:23,902 is to release the compressed air into the rocket itself. 283 00:13:23,970 --> 00:13:26,204 (hissing) 284 00:13:26,273 --> 00:13:28,072 Pressurizing. 285 00:13:28,141 --> 00:13:30,775 NARRATOR: The compressed air raises the pressure 286 00:13:30,844 --> 00:13:32,744 in the rocket's water tank, 287 00:13:32,813 --> 00:13:35,079 which is prevented from escaping. 288 00:13:35,148 --> 00:13:36,414 Until... 289 00:13:36,483 --> 00:13:41,853 Five, four, three, two, one. 290 00:13:41,922 --> 00:13:43,254 Go! 291 00:13:43,323 --> 00:13:44,856 Yay! 292 00:13:44,925 --> 00:13:46,057 ♪ ♪ 293 00:13:46,126 --> 00:13:47,458 NARRATOR: When released, 294 00:13:47,527 --> 00:13:50,628 the high-pressure air pushes the mass of water 295 00:13:50,697 --> 00:13:53,431 out of the nozzle at high speed, 296 00:13:53,500 --> 00:13:56,167 producing thrust that propels the rocket 297 00:13:56,236 --> 00:13:59,537 in the opposite direction-- skywards. 298 00:13:59,606 --> 00:14:03,174 That's why it's called a mass engine. 299 00:14:03,243 --> 00:14:04,509 And so there we are, 300 00:14:04,578 --> 00:14:07,478 the principle of action and reaction. 301 00:14:07,547 --> 00:14:10,048 As we push the water out the bottom, 302 00:14:10,116 --> 00:14:12,584 the rocket goes up. 303 00:14:12,652 --> 00:14:14,219 And so the question is, 304 00:14:14,287 --> 00:14:18,256 how much fuel and how fast do you have to eject it 305 00:14:18,325 --> 00:14:20,825 in order to get a rocket into space? 306 00:14:20,894 --> 00:14:25,864 NARRATOR: This question is at the heart of all rocket science. 307 00:14:25,932 --> 00:14:28,099 The combination of the mass of propellant-- 308 00:14:28,168 --> 00:14:29,534 in this case water-- 309 00:14:29,603 --> 00:14:31,870 and the speed you're pushing it out the back 310 00:14:31,938 --> 00:14:34,606 is what propels you into the air. 311 00:14:34,674 --> 00:14:39,811 But you can't get to space using cold, relatively slow water. 312 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,480 Propelling a rocket fast enough to reach space 313 00:14:42,549 --> 00:14:46,251 requires something much lighter moving much faster-- 314 00:14:46,319 --> 00:14:49,153 like rapidly expanding hot gas. 315 00:14:52,926 --> 00:14:56,494 The idea of using such a hot gas rocket to reach space 316 00:14:56,563 --> 00:15:00,665 was first published in 1903 by Russian mathematician 317 00:15:00,734 --> 00:15:04,969 and scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. 318 00:15:05,038 --> 00:15:06,938 He worked out the best way 319 00:15:07,007 --> 00:15:11,476 of generating a lot of hot gas expanding very rapidly. 320 00:15:11,544 --> 00:15:13,945 Gunpowder-- or "black powder"-- 321 00:15:14,014 --> 00:15:15,813 seemed like a good way to do that. 322 00:15:15,882 --> 00:15:16,948 (gunshot) 323 00:15:17,017 --> 00:15:18,383 It's what humans used for centuries 324 00:15:18,451 --> 00:15:20,885 to fire everything from arrows 325 00:15:20,954 --> 00:15:24,289 to cannonballs and rifle bullets. 326 00:15:24,357 --> 00:15:28,927 And it's one of the main fuels in fireworks. 327 00:15:28,995 --> 00:15:31,629 SELLA: I've got a small jar of it here. 328 00:15:31,698 --> 00:15:32,997 And what we'll do is we'll just quickly 329 00:15:33,066 --> 00:15:35,867 take a look at what happens when it lights. 330 00:15:35,936 --> 00:15:37,969 Here we go, let's go. 331 00:15:38,038 --> 00:15:39,871 Oof! 332 00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:41,539 It's pretty fast. 333 00:15:41,608 --> 00:15:43,541 ♪ ♪ 334 00:15:43,610 --> 00:15:44,943 NARRATOR: When ignited, 335 00:15:45,011 --> 00:15:47,278 the gunpowder reacts with oxygen, 336 00:15:47,347 --> 00:15:48,980 releasing a lot of energy 337 00:15:49,049 --> 00:15:53,217 and turning it into a rapidly expanding hot gas. 338 00:15:53,286 --> 00:15:55,753 Seems like an ideal fuel for a rocket. 339 00:15:55,822 --> 00:15:59,757 But there's a problem with solid fuel like gunpowder. 340 00:15:59,826 --> 00:16:00,992 Once ignited, 341 00:16:01,061 --> 00:16:04,462 it burns until the reaction is over. 342 00:16:04,531 --> 00:16:05,563 But in a rocket, 343 00:16:05,632 --> 00:16:08,166 it's preferable to have a fuel 344 00:16:08,234 --> 00:16:09,534 that can be controlled. 345 00:16:09,602 --> 00:16:12,070 SELLA: Tsiolkovsky's crucial insight 346 00:16:12,138 --> 00:16:15,373 was the fact that if you light a solid fuel, 347 00:16:15,442 --> 00:16:19,143 then the burn kind of goes on until it runs out. 348 00:16:19,212 --> 00:16:20,545 If, on the other hand, 349 00:16:20,613 --> 00:16:23,481 he were to use liquid fuels, 350 00:16:23,550 --> 00:16:25,450 then he would be able to control 351 00:16:25,518 --> 00:16:28,619 how much liquid was being poured into the flame. 352 00:16:28,688 --> 00:16:29,921 In other words, 353 00:16:29,990 --> 00:16:32,490 he would be able to exert even greater control 354 00:16:32,559 --> 00:16:33,891 over his rocket. 355 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,995 NARRATOR: Tsiolkovsky started casting around 356 00:16:37,063 --> 00:16:39,764 for the right liquid fuel to use. 357 00:16:39,833 --> 00:16:41,165 At the time, 358 00:16:41,234 --> 00:16:44,402 high-quality liquid fuels like kerosene and gasoline 359 00:16:44,471 --> 00:16:45,636 were becoming available, 360 00:16:45,705 --> 00:16:48,940 thanks to the emerging petrochemical industry. 361 00:16:49,009 --> 00:16:49,974 Here on earth, 362 00:16:50,043 --> 00:16:51,843 these fuels burn by reacting 363 00:16:51,911 --> 00:16:53,444 with oxygen in the atmosphere. 364 00:16:53,513 --> 00:16:55,580 But in space, there is no air, 365 00:16:55,648 --> 00:16:59,517 so Tsiolkovsky proposed carrying a supply of oxygen 366 00:16:59,586 --> 00:17:00,985 along with the fuel. 367 00:17:01,054 --> 00:17:04,155 It would take an American scientist, 368 00:17:04,224 --> 00:17:06,758 also obsessed with the idea of space flight, 369 00:17:06,826 --> 00:17:08,960 to build such a rocket. 370 00:17:09,029 --> 00:17:13,564 His name was Robert Goddard. 371 00:17:13,633 --> 00:17:16,267 SELLA: So what Robert Goddard came up with 372 00:17:16,336 --> 00:17:20,104 was the idea of combining liquid kerosene 373 00:17:20,173 --> 00:17:21,739 with liquid oxygen, 374 00:17:21,808 --> 00:17:23,908 and by burning the two together, 375 00:17:23,977 --> 00:17:27,512 he would get a fierce flame that he could control 376 00:17:27,580 --> 00:17:30,882 and that would really push his rockets skyward. 377 00:17:30,950 --> 00:17:33,584 NARRATOR: When the kerosene reacts with the oxygen, 378 00:17:33,653 --> 00:17:37,855 the result is a very hot rapidly expanding gas. 379 00:17:37,924 --> 00:17:39,524 And if channeled through a nozzle, 380 00:17:39,592 --> 00:17:42,960 that hot, fast-moving gas produces thrust 381 00:17:43,029 --> 00:17:46,097 that can push the rocket in the opposite direction. 382 00:17:46,166 --> 00:17:48,900 SELLA: What we get is an enormous expansion 383 00:17:48,968 --> 00:17:50,635 and enormous push. 384 00:17:50,703 --> 00:17:53,738 But above all, we can control it. 385 00:17:53,807 --> 00:17:56,374 NARRATOR: With just such a design, 386 00:17:56,443 --> 00:17:59,877 on the 16th of March 1926, 387 00:17:59,946 --> 00:18:01,179 Robert Goddard finally launched 388 00:18:01,247 --> 00:18:04,849 the very first liquid-fueled rocket in history. 389 00:18:04,918 --> 00:18:06,617 The flight was brief. 390 00:18:06,686 --> 00:18:10,121 The rocket didn't go far or fast, 391 00:18:10,190 --> 00:18:11,889 but the potential was clear. 392 00:18:11,958 --> 00:18:16,127 Carrying liquid oxygen on board 393 00:18:16,196 --> 00:18:19,063 meant rockets could fly beyond the Earth's atmosphere. 394 00:18:19,132 --> 00:18:20,364 SELLA: And with that, 395 00:18:20,433 --> 00:18:23,367 Robert Goddard imagined we could go to the moon. 396 00:18:23,436 --> 00:18:27,038 NARRATOR: Goddard might have dreamed of reaching the moon, 397 00:18:27,107 --> 00:18:31,609 but his liquid rockets never even reached two miles 398 00:18:31,678 --> 00:18:33,010 into the sky. 399 00:18:33,079 --> 00:18:34,445 And that's because of something 400 00:18:34,514 --> 00:18:38,516 called Tsiolkovsky's rocket equation. 401 00:18:38,585 --> 00:18:39,851 SELLA: When Tsiolkovsky 402 00:18:39,919 --> 00:18:42,887 was thinking about how to power a rocket, 403 00:18:42,956 --> 00:18:45,590 one of the things that he realized 404 00:18:45,658 --> 00:18:48,493 was that you're not just moving the payload, 405 00:18:48,561 --> 00:18:50,895 you've also got to move the fuel. 406 00:18:50,964 --> 00:18:53,431 And the fuel itself has weight. 407 00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:56,434 Now, you can imagine putting more and more fuel, 408 00:18:56,503 --> 00:18:58,903 in order to power your rocket more, 409 00:18:58,972 --> 00:19:00,238 but at the same time, 410 00:19:00,306 --> 00:19:02,340 you're adding more and more weight. 411 00:19:02,408 --> 00:19:07,311 NARRATOR: Tsiolkovsky tried to describe this "Catch-22" problem 412 00:19:07,380 --> 00:19:08,746 by considering things 413 00:19:08,815 --> 00:19:12,216 like the mass of the rocket, the fuel, and the payload, 414 00:19:12,285 --> 00:19:14,352 and the velocity it would need to reach 415 00:19:14,420 --> 00:19:16,087 to get to orbit. 416 00:19:16,156 --> 00:19:17,588 The longer the engine burns, 417 00:19:17,657 --> 00:19:20,091 the more velocity the rocket will have. 418 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,426 But longer burning means more fuel, 419 00:19:22,495 --> 00:19:26,097 making the rocket heavier and harder to push. 420 00:19:26,166 --> 00:19:27,798 It's a vicious cycle 421 00:19:27,867 --> 00:19:31,669 and still bedevils rocket scientists today. 422 00:19:31,738 --> 00:19:35,573 To travel fast enough to deliver a payload into space, 423 00:19:35,642 --> 00:19:38,976 most of the rocket has to be fuel. 424 00:19:39,045 --> 00:19:43,381 ♪ ♪ 425 00:19:43,449 --> 00:19:47,351 The critical consequence of the Tsiolkovsky equation 426 00:19:47,420 --> 00:19:49,987 is the fact that, really rather depressingly, 427 00:19:50,056 --> 00:19:55,359 only a tiny percentage of a rocket can ever be payload. 428 00:19:55,428 --> 00:19:56,761 And when you think back 429 00:19:56,829 --> 00:20:00,264 to the lunar missions of the Apollo space program, 430 00:20:00,333 --> 00:20:05,136 those enormous rockets were used to fire just three men. 431 00:20:05,205 --> 00:20:07,939 ♪ ♪ 432 00:20:08,007 --> 00:20:10,808 NARRATOR: NASA's giant Saturn V-- 433 00:20:10,877 --> 00:20:12,877 the largest, most powerful rocket 434 00:20:12,946 --> 00:20:15,846 ever to fly. 435 00:20:15,915 --> 00:20:18,482 Built in a hurry to race to the moon, 436 00:20:18,551 --> 00:20:20,718 engineers hacked the rocket equation 437 00:20:20,787 --> 00:20:25,089 by building the Saturn V in a series of disposable stages, 438 00:20:25,158 --> 00:20:28,392 where each set of tanks and engines were discarded 439 00:20:28,461 --> 00:20:30,394 as they ran dry, 440 00:20:30,463 --> 00:20:33,564 shedding weight and allowing the next rocket stage 441 00:20:33,633 --> 00:20:36,434 to accelerate even faster. 442 00:20:36,502 --> 00:20:40,438 But even a giant staging rocket the size of the Saturn V 443 00:20:40,506 --> 00:20:44,041 wouldn't be large enough to carry the Apollo spacecraft 444 00:20:44,110 --> 00:20:47,078 all the way to the moon without the right fuel. 445 00:20:47,146 --> 00:20:49,847 Kerosene wouldn't do. 446 00:20:49,916 --> 00:20:51,148 In fact, 447 00:20:51,217 --> 00:20:53,784 there's only one fuel that packs enough punch. 448 00:20:53,853 --> 00:20:58,055 A fuel that Tsiolkovsky himself had also proposed. 449 00:20:58,124 --> 00:21:00,558 SELLA: Tsiolkovsky's focus 450 00:21:00,627 --> 00:21:03,694 on the chemistry that's available to us, 451 00:21:03,763 --> 00:21:07,498 and its crucial role in being able to push a rocket, 452 00:21:07,567 --> 00:21:10,167 led him, inescapably, to the conclusion 453 00:21:10,236 --> 00:21:12,303 that he needed the lightest 454 00:21:12,372 --> 00:21:15,740 and yet most energetic fuel possible. 455 00:21:15,808 --> 00:21:18,175 And that had to be hydrogen. 456 00:21:18,244 --> 00:21:22,880 NARRATOR: The power of hydrogen compared to other fuels 457 00:21:22,949 --> 00:21:24,248 is easy to demonstrate, 458 00:21:24,317 --> 00:21:27,418 using a homemade cannon and some sacrificial potatoes. 459 00:21:27,487 --> 00:21:31,155 First up, regular gasoline. 460 00:21:31,224 --> 00:21:33,724 SELLA: We're really using the same sort of fuel 461 00:21:33,793 --> 00:21:37,395 that, you know, you might put in a car or in an airplane. 462 00:21:37,463 --> 00:21:38,729 Here we are. 463 00:21:38,798 --> 00:21:40,898 Now, we'll screw the end over the barrel. 464 00:21:40,967 --> 00:21:44,902 Okay, right, so here we go. 465 00:21:46,606 --> 00:21:49,840 And now all it needs is that vital spark. 466 00:21:49,909 --> 00:21:51,442 ♪ ♪ 467 00:21:51,511 --> 00:21:55,413 NARRATOR: When ignited, the highly reactive gasoline vapors 468 00:21:55,481 --> 00:21:58,783 are converted into a very hot, fast-expanding gas 469 00:21:58,851 --> 00:22:00,885 that pushes the potato out of the cannon. 470 00:22:00,953 --> 00:22:02,019 (plunking) 471 00:22:02,088 --> 00:22:03,754 Whoa! 472 00:22:03,823 --> 00:22:07,191 NARRATOR: Gasoline has carried the potato just over the bushes 473 00:22:07,260 --> 00:22:09,093 into the next field. 474 00:22:09,162 --> 00:22:10,795 Now, the same experiment-- 475 00:22:10,863 --> 00:22:12,263 but instead of gasoline, 476 00:22:12,332 --> 00:22:14,665 we'll try the same mass of hydrogen, 477 00:22:14,734 --> 00:22:16,067 an invisible gas. 478 00:22:16,135 --> 00:22:18,602 And so I've got the hydrogen here 479 00:22:18,671 --> 00:22:20,805 in these monster syringes, 480 00:22:20,873 --> 00:22:22,540 which we've preloaded 481 00:22:22,608 --> 00:22:26,310 with a little bit of hydrogen in each one. 482 00:22:26,379 --> 00:22:28,079 We're going to cap the whole thing up. 483 00:22:28,147 --> 00:22:29,447 Now, I tell you, 484 00:22:29,515 --> 00:22:33,617 this thing is a really pretty scary explosive mixture. 485 00:22:33,686 --> 00:22:38,189 This one is going to be really loud. 486 00:22:38,257 --> 00:22:39,390 Here we go. 487 00:22:39,459 --> 00:22:42,393 Ready, aim, fire! 488 00:22:42,462 --> 00:22:43,894 Whoa! 489 00:22:43,963 --> 00:22:47,898 NARRATOR: Hydrogen is the lightest element in the universe, 490 00:22:47,967 --> 00:22:51,268 so you can pack a lot more atoms into each pound of fuel. 491 00:22:51,337 --> 00:22:53,137 And when it reacts with oxygen, 492 00:22:53,206 --> 00:22:56,640 it burns with a near invisible flame, 493 00:22:56,709 --> 00:23:00,411 producing a very familiar substance: water, 494 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,381 which expands rapidly as a hot vapor. 495 00:23:03,449 --> 00:23:04,749 SELLA: Whoa! 496 00:23:04,817 --> 00:23:07,985 That was the biggest distance yet. 497 00:23:08,054 --> 00:23:11,922 NARRATOR: Whether you're launching potatoes across fields 498 00:23:11,991 --> 00:23:14,959 or big, heavy payloads into deep space, 499 00:23:15,027 --> 00:23:18,996 there's no more efficient fuel to use. 500 00:23:19,065 --> 00:23:21,665 ♪ ♪ 501 00:23:21,734 --> 00:23:24,235 And that's why the Saturn V's upper stages 502 00:23:24,303 --> 00:23:27,438 also used hydrogen fuel to get it to the moon. 503 00:23:27,507 --> 00:23:30,441 The main engines of NASA's new SLS rocket 504 00:23:30,510 --> 00:23:35,112 will also be powered by hydrogen. 505 00:23:35,181 --> 00:23:37,081 ♪ ♪ 506 00:23:37,150 --> 00:23:40,885 It's an engine called the RS-25. 507 00:23:40,953 --> 00:23:46,724 This model powered all 135 space shuttles to orbit. 508 00:23:46,793 --> 00:23:48,793 It's an incredible record 509 00:23:48,861 --> 00:23:52,797 that makes the RS-25 one of the most reliable rocket engines 510 00:23:52,865 --> 00:23:54,331 in history-- 511 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,269 and NASA wants to repurpose them for the SLS. 512 00:23:58,337 --> 00:24:03,073 It's built by a company called Aerojet Rocketdyne. 513 00:24:03,142 --> 00:24:07,878 Tom Martin works at their world-class engine test facility 514 00:24:07,947 --> 00:24:13,050 here at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. 515 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,320 MARTIN: The RS-25 516 00:24:16,389 --> 00:24:19,223 was originally developed in the 1970s and '80s, 517 00:24:19,292 --> 00:24:20,658 throughout the shuttle program. 518 00:24:20,726 --> 00:24:24,195 MAN: Five, four... we've gone for main engine start... 519 00:24:24,263 --> 00:24:25,896 We have main engine start. 520 00:24:27,166 --> 00:24:28,199 MARTIN: Some of these engines have been 521 00:24:28,267 --> 00:24:30,167 in multiple flights in space. 522 00:24:30,236 --> 00:24:33,737 You know, very reliable, very high-performing. 523 00:24:33,806 --> 00:24:36,774 NARRATOR: There were three of these RS-25 engines located 524 00:24:36,843 --> 00:24:39,109 at the tail end of each shuttle. 525 00:24:39,178 --> 00:24:40,578 At launch, they were supported 526 00:24:40,646 --> 00:24:44,782 by two detachable solid-fuel boosters. 527 00:24:44,851 --> 00:24:47,184 MAN: Good speed now, 320 miles per hour. 528 00:24:47,253 --> 00:24:50,521 NARRATOR: But the three main engines were part of the shuttle itself 529 00:24:50,590 --> 00:24:55,559 and returned to Earth each time to be used again and again. 530 00:24:55,628 --> 00:24:57,194 ♪ ♪ 531 00:24:57,263 --> 00:25:00,698 But will they work on NASA's new rocket? 532 00:25:00,766 --> 00:25:01,966 Today they're going to simulate 533 00:25:02,034 --> 00:25:04,735 a full SLS eight-minute launch to space 534 00:25:04,804 --> 00:25:06,170 on one of the engines, 535 00:25:06,239 --> 00:25:09,740 to test the control of its flight computers. 536 00:25:09,809 --> 00:25:13,377 ♪ ♪ 537 00:25:13,446 --> 00:25:14,945 You can see the A2 test stand, 538 00:25:15,014 --> 00:25:16,747 and then further off in the distance, 539 00:25:16,816 --> 00:25:18,549 the A1 test stand. 540 00:25:18,618 --> 00:25:21,552 The A1 is where the RS-25 is going to be tested here 541 00:25:21,621 --> 00:25:22,887 in just a couple of minutes. 542 00:25:22,955 --> 00:25:24,722 ♪ ♪ 543 00:25:24,790 --> 00:25:26,257 NARRATOR: Close to the test engine 544 00:25:26,325 --> 00:25:28,192 are 300,000 gallons 545 00:25:28,261 --> 00:25:33,397 of highly explosive liquefied hydrogen and oxygen. 546 00:25:33,466 --> 00:25:36,300 MARTIN: A crew will go in right before test 547 00:25:36,369 --> 00:25:38,235 and verify that there aren't any leaks, 548 00:25:38,304 --> 00:25:40,204 everything looks good. 549 00:25:40,273 --> 00:25:43,574 WOMAN: And we are standing by for the RS-25 engine test. 550 00:25:43,643 --> 00:25:46,544 Okay, it sounds like we're two minutes away, all right. 551 00:25:46,612 --> 00:25:48,345 ♪ ♪ 552 00:25:48,414 --> 00:25:50,748 Nothing's 100% guaranteed, 553 00:25:50,816 --> 00:25:53,050 so there's always a little bit of nerves before a test. 554 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:54,852 We do everything we can 555 00:25:54,921 --> 00:25:57,888 to make sure the test and the flights are going to go off, 556 00:25:57,957 --> 00:26:00,891 but, you know, there's always unknowns that creep up. 557 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,694 We'll evacuate the area to at least a quarter mile, 558 00:26:03,763 --> 00:26:05,195 so if anything bad does happen, 559 00:26:05,264 --> 00:26:07,298 we want everybody to stay safe. 560 00:26:07,366 --> 00:26:10,701 Most of the test crew is in the Test Control Center. 561 00:26:10,770 --> 00:26:13,037 That's where they control and monitor the engine. 562 00:26:13,105 --> 00:26:14,438 ♪ ♪ 563 00:26:14,507 --> 00:26:16,440 NARRATOR: Keeping a safe distance is crucial, 564 00:26:16,509 --> 00:26:20,210 because when an engine fails, 565 00:26:20,279 --> 00:26:21,779 the results can be often catastrophic, 566 00:26:21,847 --> 00:26:24,515 as seen in this early Apollo engine test. 567 00:26:24,584 --> 00:26:28,886 (explosion) 568 00:26:28,955 --> 00:26:30,421 (siren blaring) 569 00:26:30,489 --> 00:26:31,589 So you can hear the siren. 570 00:26:31,657 --> 00:26:34,558 That means we're one minute away. 571 00:26:34,627 --> 00:26:36,860 WOMAN: Sounds like auto-sequence has started. 572 00:26:36,929 --> 00:26:39,697 MARTIN: At this point the computers take over, 573 00:26:39,765 --> 00:26:42,466 it's kind of under the computer command. 574 00:26:42,535 --> 00:26:44,168 The engine actually goes from zero thrust to full thrust 575 00:26:44,236 --> 00:26:45,803 in, in about five seconds. 576 00:26:45,871 --> 00:26:50,307 ♪ ♪ 577 00:26:50,376 --> 00:26:51,842 WOMAN: And we have ignition. 578 00:26:51,911 --> 00:26:57,147 ♪ ♪ 579 00:26:57,216 --> 00:26:59,750 (rocket roaring) 580 00:27:03,823 --> 00:27:06,357 NARRATOR: As the engine hits full power, 581 00:27:06,425 --> 00:27:09,660 the temperature reaches 6,000 degrees, 582 00:27:09,729 --> 00:27:13,764 accelerating the exhaust out at 13 times the speed of sound. 583 00:27:13,833 --> 00:27:17,735 Guzzling 1,500 gallons of propellant each second, 584 00:27:17,803 --> 00:27:22,306 it's now generating just over half a million pounds of thrust. 585 00:27:22,375 --> 00:27:26,143 The heavy steel structure of the test stand 586 00:27:26,212 --> 00:27:27,945 keeps it firmly grounded, 587 00:27:28,014 --> 00:27:29,780 while the exhaust is diverted 588 00:27:29,849 --> 00:27:33,417 out to the side using enormous flame buckets. 589 00:27:33,486 --> 00:27:36,520 These billowing clouds of combustion gas 590 00:27:36,589 --> 00:27:38,288 are just water vapor, 591 00:27:38,357 --> 00:27:40,991 formed as the hydrogen burns in oxygen; 592 00:27:41,060 --> 00:27:43,293 and like naturally formed clouds, 593 00:27:43,362 --> 00:27:46,230 sometimes they make rainbows. 594 00:27:48,367 --> 00:27:52,302 MARTIN: You don't really get a sense for what these machines are doing 595 00:27:52,371 --> 00:27:54,271 until you're on the ground seeing a test, 596 00:27:54,340 --> 00:27:57,808 and then you get the full impact of how powerful this stuff is 597 00:27:57,877 --> 00:28:00,678 and how hard it is to get things into space. 598 00:28:03,716 --> 00:28:04,615 It never gets old seeing a test. 599 00:28:04,684 --> 00:28:07,051 I could see it every day. 600 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,054 ♪ ♪ 601 00:28:10,122 --> 00:28:11,655 WOMAN: The 535-second test 602 00:28:11,724 --> 00:28:14,725 of the RS-25 engine has concluded. 603 00:28:14,794 --> 00:28:18,395 NARRATOR: The engine's flight computer has performed flawlessly, 604 00:28:18,464 --> 00:28:20,297 controlling the throttling of the rocket 605 00:28:20,366 --> 00:28:23,333 through the simulated ascent to space. 606 00:28:23,402 --> 00:28:25,202 MARTIN: It gives me goose bumps 607 00:28:25,271 --> 00:28:26,937 every time I hear the engine start. 608 00:28:27,006 --> 00:28:28,272 I mean, it's a visceral experience 609 00:28:28,340 --> 00:28:31,408 to, to, to see an engine test. 610 00:28:33,713 --> 00:28:37,281 ♪ ♪ 611 00:28:37,349 --> 00:28:39,383 NARRATOR: If it all goes as planned, 612 00:28:39,452 --> 00:28:43,754 the engine they've tested today will power the first SLS rocket 613 00:28:43,823 --> 00:28:46,724 in the early 2020s. 614 00:28:46,792 --> 00:28:48,826 And like the Saturn V, this engine-- 615 00:28:48,894 --> 00:28:51,462 along with most of the rest of the rocket-- 616 00:28:51,530 --> 00:28:54,198 will be dropped into the ocean, never to be used again, 617 00:28:54,266 --> 00:28:56,567 after just one flight. 618 00:28:56,635 --> 00:28:58,769 That's at least part of the reason 619 00:28:58,838 --> 00:29:00,938 why getting huge, heavy payloads into deep space 620 00:29:01,006 --> 00:29:03,807 is still so expensive. 621 00:29:03,876 --> 00:29:06,076 But is that the only solution? 622 00:29:06,145 --> 00:29:07,344 (radio squawking) 623 00:29:07,413 --> 00:29:11,448 Why not reuse your rocket like an airliner? 624 00:29:11,517 --> 00:29:14,485 ♪ ♪ 625 00:29:14,553 --> 00:29:18,322 That question poses an array of new challenges. 626 00:29:18,390 --> 00:29:20,958 (jet engine roaring) 627 00:29:21,026 --> 00:29:24,128 The airplane, if you threw it away after every flight, 628 00:29:24,196 --> 00:29:25,763 would be a very expensive way to travel. 629 00:29:25,831 --> 00:29:27,564 (suitcase wheels clacking) 630 00:29:27,633 --> 00:29:30,534 In the beginning of aviation, 631 00:29:30,603 --> 00:29:33,170 we created vehicles to be reused. 632 00:29:33,239 --> 00:29:37,674 For rocketry, we somehow forgot that, 633 00:29:37,743 --> 00:29:41,211 and we're not benefitting from reusability. 634 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,582 We threw away everything when we were done. 635 00:29:45,651 --> 00:29:48,118 NARRATOR: And that's because 636 00:29:48,187 --> 00:29:51,488 making a landing from space by reentering the atmosphere 637 00:29:51,557 --> 00:29:54,358 at a speed of five miles a second, 638 00:29:54,426 --> 00:29:55,859 is much harder than landing a plane 639 00:29:55,928 --> 00:29:56,960 from a cruising speed 640 00:29:57,029 --> 00:30:01,198 of over 800 feet per second. 641 00:30:01,267 --> 00:30:02,966 After the Apollo mission, 642 00:30:03,035 --> 00:30:05,936 NASA tried to build a reusable space plane 643 00:30:06,005 --> 00:30:08,038 through the 1970s-- 644 00:30:08,107 --> 00:30:10,541 the iconic space shuttle. 645 00:30:10,609 --> 00:30:13,110 MAN: And the shuttle has cleared the tower. 646 00:30:13,179 --> 00:30:16,580 NARRATOR: But there were problems from the start. 647 00:30:16,649 --> 00:30:20,551 GARVER: The space shuttle was supposed to travel every other week, 648 00:30:20,619 --> 00:30:24,288 40 times a year was their proposal, 649 00:30:24,356 --> 00:30:26,023 which would have dropped the cost significantly. 650 00:30:26,091 --> 00:30:27,825 ♪ ♪ 651 00:30:27,893 --> 00:30:29,793 We thought if you're reusing an engine, 652 00:30:29,862 --> 00:30:33,330 it's going to be less expensive, 653 00:30:33,399 --> 00:30:35,365 but they again had to pretty much take apart 654 00:30:35,434 --> 00:30:37,201 and rebuilt the shuttle main engines 655 00:30:37,269 --> 00:30:38,602 after every flight. 656 00:30:38,671 --> 00:30:40,337 ♪ ♪ 657 00:30:40,406 --> 00:30:43,540 The space shuttle never was able to launch regularly, 658 00:30:43,609 --> 00:30:47,477 and it was very, very expensive, 659 00:30:47,546 --> 00:30:49,413 about a billion a flight. 660 00:30:49,481 --> 00:30:53,450 NARRATOR: Footing that kind of bill was not sustainable for NASA. 661 00:30:53,519 --> 00:30:54,651 And in the early 1990s 662 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,721 the agency started funding research 663 00:30:57,790 --> 00:31:01,358 into other ways of making rockets reusable. 664 00:31:01,427 --> 00:31:05,395 Engineer John Garvey was on the team. 665 00:31:05,464 --> 00:31:08,532 GARVEY: There are different ways to do reusability, 666 00:31:08,601 --> 00:31:11,368 and many advocates believe that a vertical lander 667 00:31:11,437 --> 00:31:12,836 is, is the way to go 668 00:31:12,905 --> 00:31:16,640 if you can just come down on the same engines that you launch on. 669 00:31:16,709 --> 00:31:19,509 ♪ ♪ 670 00:31:19,578 --> 00:31:21,511 NARRATOR: They developed an experimental rocket 671 00:31:21,580 --> 00:31:24,481 known as the Delta Clipper. 672 00:31:24,550 --> 00:31:26,183 It was a radical departure, 673 00:31:26,252 --> 00:31:29,152 as this rarely seen footage shows. 674 00:31:29,221 --> 00:31:32,756 GARVEY: The Delta Clipper Experimental, or DCX, 675 00:31:32,825 --> 00:31:35,626 was an experimental vertical take-off, 676 00:31:35,694 --> 00:31:38,128 vertical landing rocket. 677 00:31:38,197 --> 00:31:39,730 FERNHOLZ: Unlike the space shuttle, 678 00:31:39,798 --> 00:31:41,832 which was designed to fly back to earth, 679 00:31:41,901 --> 00:31:44,334 the Delta Clipper would land on its tail. 680 00:31:44,403 --> 00:31:46,503 ♪ ♪ 681 00:31:46,572 --> 00:31:50,507 NARRATOR: Test flights of the DCX began in the early 1990s 682 00:31:50,576 --> 00:31:53,577 at a desert testing ground out in New Mexico. 683 00:31:53,646 --> 00:31:55,512 Nothing like this had ever been attempted before. 684 00:31:55,581 --> 00:31:58,215 ♪ ♪ 685 00:31:58,284 --> 00:31:59,850 GARVEY: We took it out to White Sands, 686 00:31:59,919 --> 00:32:02,452 a missile range out in New Mexico, 687 00:32:02,521 --> 00:32:04,254 and launched it multiple times. 688 00:32:04,323 --> 00:32:09,526 NARRATOR: This footage looks like outtakes from a science fiction movie. 689 00:32:11,096 --> 00:32:12,562 It flew, you know, maybe 10,000 feet, 690 00:32:12,631 --> 00:32:13,764 but it was demonstrating 691 00:32:13,832 --> 00:32:15,599 that it was possible to get the rocket back 692 00:32:15,668 --> 00:32:17,901 and fly it with minimum refurbishment, 693 00:32:17,970 --> 00:32:19,403 reduce costs. 694 00:32:19,471 --> 00:32:22,839 ♪ ♪ 695 00:32:22,908 --> 00:32:26,310 NARRATOR: The engineering team was on top of the world. 696 00:32:26,378 --> 00:32:30,080 But their fortunes were about to change. 697 00:32:30,149 --> 00:32:33,517 GARVEY: There was a line that was not hooked up, 698 00:32:33,585 --> 00:32:38,188 and as a result, as it was landing, 699 00:32:38,257 --> 00:32:40,390 only three of the landing legs deployed, 700 00:32:40,459 --> 00:32:41,692 the fourth one did not, 701 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:43,393 so it actually landed successfully, 702 00:32:43,462 --> 00:32:44,795 and I was like, "Yep, let's go!" 703 00:32:44,863 --> 00:32:48,966 MAN: Landing small negative. 704 00:32:49,034 --> 00:32:50,801 Engine out. 705 00:32:50,869 --> 00:32:53,203 MAN: She's going over. 706 00:32:53,272 --> 00:32:54,771 (explosion) 707 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,273 GARVEY: Then you turn around, and then the rocket's gone, 708 00:32:56,342 --> 00:32:57,240 and it's on the side, 709 00:32:57,309 --> 00:32:58,709 and the tanks are rupturing. 710 00:32:58,777 --> 00:33:01,445 (explosions) 711 00:33:01,513 --> 00:33:02,746 Yeah, it was a tough day. 712 00:33:02,815 --> 00:33:04,948 But, you know, that's how... that's... 713 00:33:05,017 --> 00:33:06,249 If you're in this business, 714 00:33:06,318 --> 00:33:07,951 you, you've got to get used to it, 715 00:33:08,020 --> 00:33:09,753 you've got to roll with it and just say, 716 00:33:09,822 --> 00:33:10,954 "That's part of the deal." 717 00:33:11,023 --> 00:33:13,590 And if you can't handle it, don't do it. 718 00:33:13,659 --> 00:33:14,858 ♪ ♪ 719 00:33:14,927 --> 00:33:16,793 NARRATOR: Losing the entire vehicle 720 00:33:16,862 --> 00:33:18,528 before it reached space 721 00:33:18,597 --> 00:33:22,833 led NASA to cancel the program to pursue other avenues. 722 00:33:22,901 --> 00:33:25,202 (radio squawking) 723 00:33:25,270 --> 00:33:28,271 But there was one person who saw the potential: 724 00:33:28,340 --> 00:33:30,741 a South African-born entrepreneur 725 00:33:30,809 --> 00:33:34,111 who'd made his first fortune disrupting the banking industry 726 00:33:34,179 --> 00:33:36,713 with a company called PayPal-- 727 00:33:36,782 --> 00:33:39,683 Elon Musk. 728 00:33:39,752 --> 00:33:43,453 FERNHOLZ: Musk had always been a science-fiction fan 729 00:33:43,522 --> 00:33:44,855 and interested in the possibilities 730 00:33:44,923 --> 00:33:46,189 of colonizing other planets. 731 00:33:46,258 --> 00:33:48,658 And after he became wealthy as an entrepreneur, 732 00:33:48,727 --> 00:33:49,860 he had some money 733 00:33:49,928 --> 00:33:52,229 he could put toward this kind of scheme. 734 00:33:52,297 --> 00:33:55,332 And that's how SpaceX was born. 735 00:33:55,401 --> 00:33:56,900 There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning, 736 00:33:56,969 --> 00:33:58,268 and you want to live. 737 00:33:58,337 --> 00:33:59,469 Like, why do you want to live? 738 00:33:59,538 --> 00:34:01,304 What, what's the point? What, what inspires you? 739 00:34:01,373 --> 00:34:03,540 What, what do you love about the future? 740 00:34:03,609 --> 00:34:05,108 And if we're not out there... 741 00:34:05,177 --> 00:34:09,179 if the future does not include being out there among the stars 742 00:34:09,248 --> 00:34:10,881 and being a multi-planet species, 743 00:34:10,949 --> 00:34:13,350 I find that... it's incredibly depressing 744 00:34:13,419 --> 00:34:16,219 if that's not the future that we're going to have. 745 00:34:16,288 --> 00:34:17,954 ♪ ♪ 746 00:34:18,023 --> 00:34:19,856 NARRATOR: In the early 2000s, 747 00:34:19,925 --> 00:34:22,325 there was little business incentive 748 00:34:22,394 --> 00:34:25,996 in building rockets to take people to space, 749 00:34:26,065 --> 00:34:28,031 let alone Mars. 750 00:34:28,100 --> 00:34:29,366 But that was about to change. 751 00:34:29,435 --> 00:34:31,935 ♪ ♪ 752 00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:36,073 MAN (on radio): GNC, are you ready? 753 00:34:36,141 --> 00:34:37,007 MAN (on radio): Flight max, we're ready. 754 00:34:37,076 --> 00:34:38,308 MAN: GNC is go. 755 00:34:38,377 --> 00:34:41,912 MAN: I think we're ready, no deltas. 756 00:34:41,980 --> 00:34:45,215 NARRATOR: On the first of February 2003, 757 00:34:45,284 --> 00:34:47,717 NASA's oldest space shuttle, Columbia, 758 00:34:47,786 --> 00:34:49,419 was returning from orbit. 759 00:34:49,488 --> 00:34:53,190 MAN: Columbia, Houston, UHF comm check. 760 00:34:53,258 --> 00:34:56,393 NARRATOR: Loss of voice communication is always expected 761 00:34:56,462 --> 00:34:57,727 for a short time during reentry. 762 00:34:57,796 --> 00:34:59,930 (radio static popping) 763 00:34:59,998 --> 00:35:01,731 But on this occasion, 764 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,735 contact was never reestablished with Columbia. 765 00:35:05,804 --> 00:35:09,873 Damage during launch, which no one had noticed, 766 00:35:09,942 --> 00:35:13,376 caused Columbia to burn up during reentry over America, 767 00:35:13,445 --> 00:35:14,711 killing all onboard. 768 00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:15,712 MAN (on radio): TC, Flight. 769 00:35:15,781 --> 00:35:16,713 MAN (on radio): Flight, TC. 770 00:35:16,782 --> 00:35:17,681 MAN: Lock the doors. 771 00:35:17,749 --> 00:35:19,216 MAN: Copy. 772 00:35:19,284 --> 00:35:20,817 ♪ ♪ 773 00:35:20,886 --> 00:35:23,253 NARRATOR: The risks of flying such a complex spacecraft 774 00:35:23,322 --> 00:35:25,422 were brought into sharp focus. 775 00:35:25,491 --> 00:35:27,924 It was time for NASA to rethink 776 00:35:27,993 --> 00:35:30,827 how they launched their astronauts into space. 777 00:35:34,099 --> 00:35:39,936 There was a decision after the Columbia accident in 2003, 778 00:35:40,005 --> 00:35:44,107 to retire the shuttle as soon as the International Space Station 779 00:35:44,176 --> 00:35:46,143 was fully assembled. 780 00:35:46,211 --> 00:35:49,679 NARRATOR: Rather than build a new spacecraft themselves 781 00:35:49,748 --> 00:35:51,047 to reach the Space Station, 782 00:35:51,116 --> 00:35:54,651 NASA decided they would buy future astronaut seats 783 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:59,589 and cargo delivery missions from private companies. 784 00:35:59,658 --> 00:36:02,159 The man charged with finding and developing those suppliers 785 00:36:02,227 --> 00:36:05,228 was Alan Lindenmoyer. 786 00:36:05,297 --> 00:36:06,930 SpaceX was a new start-up company; 787 00:36:06,999 --> 00:36:09,166 they had only been in business for a few years, 788 00:36:09,234 --> 00:36:10,734 and when we visited them, 789 00:36:10,802 --> 00:36:12,435 they had maybe a couple hundred people. 790 00:36:12,504 --> 00:36:15,238 They were very busy, 791 00:36:15,307 --> 00:36:17,140 and we could sense, and we could see 792 00:36:17,209 --> 00:36:20,977 that this was extremely talented team 793 00:36:21,046 --> 00:36:23,513 that we believed had the ability 794 00:36:23,582 --> 00:36:25,048 to, to complete it, the job. 795 00:36:25,117 --> 00:36:28,051 NARRATOR: Closing a deal with NASA 796 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:30,620 to send cargo and crew to the Space Station 797 00:36:30,689 --> 00:36:32,556 was a huge boost to SpaceX, 798 00:36:32,624 --> 00:36:36,026 but also a risk for the space agency. 799 00:36:36,094 --> 00:36:40,297 So they appointed their long- time aerospace partner Boeing 800 00:36:40,365 --> 00:36:43,033 to build another new crew vehicle, 801 00:36:43,101 --> 00:36:45,402 to fly on their existing single-use rockets 802 00:36:45,470 --> 00:36:46,937 like the Atlas V. 803 00:36:47,005 --> 00:36:50,407 SpaceX was in the spotlight, as they set about 804 00:36:50,475 --> 00:36:54,711 trying to develop a brand-new, reusable rocket. 805 00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:56,613 FERNHOLZ: It's classic Elon Musk. 806 00:36:56,682 --> 00:36:58,181 He's set himself up to do something 807 00:36:58,250 --> 00:37:01,284 that no one else says he can do, or is really asking for, 808 00:37:01,353 --> 00:37:04,221 but if he delivers, it might change the world. 809 00:37:04,289 --> 00:37:06,022 ♪ ♪ 810 00:37:06,091 --> 00:37:10,293 NARRATOR: Attempting to fly a reusable rocket to space and back 811 00:37:10,362 --> 00:37:13,496 is about as hard as aerospace engineering gets. 812 00:37:15,801 --> 00:37:19,803 ♪ ♪ 813 00:37:19,871 --> 00:37:22,405 GARVEY: It's hard enough building a rocket that can get to orbit. 814 00:37:22,474 --> 00:37:24,407 Now, if you have to build the additional capability 815 00:37:24,476 --> 00:37:25,675 to bring it back, 816 00:37:25,744 --> 00:37:28,778 the margins get even tighter. 817 00:37:28,847 --> 00:37:31,615 NARRATOR: Returning a rocket safely back to the launch site 818 00:37:31,683 --> 00:37:33,750 involves a series of complex steps, 819 00:37:33,819 --> 00:37:35,885 which begin on the edge of space, 820 00:37:35,954 --> 00:37:40,490 when still traveling at over 3,500 miles per hour. 821 00:37:40,559 --> 00:37:43,159 FERNHOLZ: First the rocket does what's called a boost-back burn, 822 00:37:43,228 --> 00:37:45,562 it fires its engines, slows itself down, 823 00:37:45,631 --> 00:37:48,798 and starts returning in the opposite direction. 824 00:37:48,867 --> 00:37:50,267 NARRATOR: Now on a trajectory 825 00:37:50,335 --> 00:37:52,535 that's taking it back towards the launch site, 826 00:37:52,604 --> 00:37:57,841 this giant, 14-story tower must turn itself around once more 827 00:37:57,909 --> 00:37:59,743 to point the engines forward 828 00:37:59,811 --> 00:38:03,146 as it starts to reenter the top of the atmosphere. 829 00:38:03,215 --> 00:38:06,383 And that's when things begin to get tricky. 830 00:38:06,451 --> 00:38:08,785 GARVEY: A rocket is an unstable vehicle. 831 00:38:08,854 --> 00:38:10,287 You have to deal with the control elements, 832 00:38:10,355 --> 00:38:12,555 so how do you keep it stable on the way down? 833 00:38:12,624 --> 00:38:15,425 FERNHOLZ: It has maneuvering jets at the top 834 00:38:15,494 --> 00:38:17,727 that shoot out bursts of compressed air 835 00:38:17,796 --> 00:38:19,162 to keep it aligned, 836 00:38:19,231 --> 00:38:21,231 but its main way to keep going in the right direction 837 00:38:21,300 --> 00:38:23,033 are something called grid fins. 838 00:38:23,101 --> 00:38:26,936 NARRATOR: These fins-- the size of dining tables-- 839 00:38:27,005 --> 00:38:30,307 act as paddles to steer and slow the falling booster rocket 840 00:38:30,375 --> 00:38:33,076 as it enters the denser lower atmosphere. 841 00:38:33,145 --> 00:38:36,079 FERNHOLZ: As the rocket gets closer and closer to land, 842 00:38:36,148 --> 00:38:38,481 it does more controlled burns with its engine 843 00:38:38,550 --> 00:38:42,252 to slow down and align itself with the landing pad. 844 00:38:42,321 --> 00:38:45,955 NARRATOR: As the engine ignites into a hypersonic headwind, 845 00:38:46,024 --> 00:38:51,294 the 33-ton rocket suddenly becomes even more unstable. 846 00:38:51,363 --> 00:38:53,596 It's like balancing a pencil on the end of your finger 847 00:38:53,665 --> 00:38:56,299 and think of how much effort and work you need to do that 848 00:38:56,368 --> 00:38:57,634 yourself. 849 00:38:57,703 --> 00:38:59,302 NARRATOR: An array of sensors 850 00:38:59,371 --> 00:39:02,205 is now constantly relaying the rocket's orientation 851 00:39:02,274 --> 00:39:03,773 to the engines at the base, 852 00:39:03,842 --> 00:39:05,275 that swings left and right 853 00:39:05,344 --> 00:39:09,245 to keep the vehicle upright as it slows down. 854 00:39:09,314 --> 00:39:11,514 GARVEY: Landing on a, a pillar of fire, 855 00:39:11,583 --> 00:39:13,583 that last five feet can be critical 856 00:39:13,652 --> 00:39:16,653 if you don't know where the ground is. 857 00:39:16,722 --> 00:39:18,588 NARRATOR: Approaching the landing pad, 858 00:39:18,657 --> 00:39:21,891 the onboard autopilot now deploys legs 859 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:23,360 and throttles back the engine, 860 00:39:23,428 --> 00:39:27,731 so that velocity and altitude both equal zero together. 861 00:39:31,837 --> 00:39:33,570 All of these different variables just show 862 00:39:33,638 --> 00:39:35,405 how much has to go right 863 00:39:35,474 --> 00:39:37,574 every time the rocket comes back to earth 864 00:39:37,642 --> 00:39:38,975 for it to land. 865 00:39:39,044 --> 00:39:42,545 NARRATOR: Easy to pull off in a slick animation, 866 00:39:42,614 --> 00:39:44,848 but a long shot in real life. 867 00:39:44,916 --> 00:39:48,718 Then another internet entrepreneur with similar dreams 868 00:39:48,787 --> 00:39:50,920 stepped forward-- 869 00:39:50,989 --> 00:39:52,956 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 870 00:39:53,024 --> 00:39:55,725 who'd quietly founded a company in the year 2000 871 00:39:55,794 --> 00:39:58,261 called Blue Origin. 872 00:39:58,330 --> 00:39:59,329 FERNHOLZ: One example 873 00:39:59,398 --> 00:40:01,231 of the secrecy behind Blue Origin 874 00:40:01,299 --> 00:40:03,800 is the first time we really learned what they were doing 875 00:40:03,869 --> 00:40:06,202 is when a journalist went through the trash cans 876 00:40:06,271 --> 00:40:08,671 outside of their office in Washington 877 00:40:08,740 --> 00:40:10,740 and discovered the plans, 878 00:40:10,809 --> 00:40:14,210 or at least memos discussing their goals of space tourism. 879 00:40:14,279 --> 00:40:16,246 ♪ ♪ 880 00:40:16,314 --> 00:40:19,215 NARRATOR: Working quietly, without fanfare, 881 00:40:19,284 --> 00:40:22,018 it takes Bezos and Musk more than a decade to pull off 882 00:40:22,087 --> 00:40:25,655 their first successful vertical-landing rockets. 883 00:40:25,724 --> 00:40:29,259 Bezos' rocket-- named New Shepard 884 00:40:29,327 --> 00:40:31,928 after the first American astronaut Alan Shepard-- 885 00:40:31,997 --> 00:40:33,963 reached the edge of space 886 00:40:34,032 --> 00:40:36,699 on the 23rd of November 2015, 887 00:40:36,768 --> 00:40:39,903 and returned to the launch pad a few minutes later. 888 00:40:39,971 --> 00:40:43,706 ♪ ♪ 889 00:40:43,775 --> 00:40:44,974 Within a month, 890 00:40:45,043 --> 00:40:47,777 Musk's first reusable SpaceX rocket booster, 891 00:40:47,846 --> 00:40:51,714 called the Falcon 9, touched down vertically too, 892 00:40:51,783 --> 00:40:55,985 after delivering a payload all the way to orbit. 893 00:40:56,054 --> 00:40:58,655 These two triumphs marked a major step 894 00:40:58,723 --> 00:41:01,324 in the pursuit of a more reusable rocket, 895 00:41:01,393 --> 00:41:04,227 and perhaps the beginning of a new era 896 00:41:04,296 --> 00:41:06,563 for lower-cost trips to Earth orbit 897 00:41:06,631 --> 00:41:11,201 and the long-awaited promise of more affordable space tourism. 898 00:41:13,972 --> 00:41:19,042 ♪ ♪ 899 00:41:19,110 --> 00:41:22,579 While Space X has continued its successful track record, 900 00:41:22,647 --> 00:41:26,382 with over 20 commercial launches in 2018 alone, 901 00:41:26,451 --> 00:41:30,220 another, quieter rocket revolution is underway-- 902 00:41:30,288 --> 00:41:34,090 one that's being driven by miniaturization. 903 00:41:34,159 --> 00:41:36,593 Today, everybody knows that microchips, batteries, 904 00:41:36,661 --> 00:41:38,595 solar panels are smaller and more powerful 905 00:41:38,663 --> 00:41:40,129 than they ever have been, 906 00:41:40,198 --> 00:41:41,931 but what that allows engineers to do 907 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,002 is build small satellites that are cheaper and weigh much less, 908 00:41:46,071 --> 00:41:48,771 but can do everything old satellites do. 909 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,475 NARRATOR: Such small, low-cost satellites-- 910 00:41:52,544 --> 00:41:54,344 some known as cube sats-- 911 00:41:54,412 --> 00:41:56,346 can be deployed very quickly 912 00:41:56,414 --> 00:41:57,747 and may transform 913 00:41:57,816 --> 00:42:01,017 the way we communicate, navigate, and observe Earth 914 00:42:01,086 --> 00:42:03,286 from space. 915 00:42:03,355 --> 00:42:04,954 KALIRAI: One of the advantages 916 00:42:05,023 --> 00:42:06,489 of having multiple spacecrafts 917 00:42:06,558 --> 00:42:08,291 working in synergy with one another 918 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,960 is that you can monitor things like wildfires 919 00:42:11,029 --> 00:42:12,428 that are spreading rapidly. 920 00:42:12,497 --> 00:42:14,931 You can do this in real time. 921 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:16,232 We can track earthquakes, 922 00:42:16,301 --> 00:42:18,801 whether or not it's going to shoot off a tsunami. 923 00:42:18,870 --> 00:42:19,903 We have much more data 924 00:42:19,971 --> 00:42:21,771 to be able to pinpoint the location 925 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,006 of catastrophic events 926 00:42:23,074 --> 00:42:24,908 and then take action to remedy that. 927 00:42:24,976 --> 00:42:28,611 NARRATOR: This new generation of tiny satellites 928 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:32,715 is spawning a new array of rocket-launch companies. 929 00:42:32,784 --> 00:42:35,985 Because, thanks to Tsiolkovsky's rocket equation, 930 00:42:36,054 --> 00:42:38,187 once the payloads are smaller, 931 00:42:38,256 --> 00:42:41,124 the mass of fuel can be smaller too. 932 00:42:41,192 --> 00:42:45,061 And that makes it cheaper to get to orbit. 933 00:42:45,130 --> 00:42:49,365 ♪ ♪ 934 00:42:53,138 --> 00:42:57,173 One company aiming at this new market is Rocket Lab. 935 00:42:57,242 --> 00:42:58,975 ♪ ♪ 936 00:42:59,044 --> 00:43:03,246 Its founder is New Zealand engineer Peter Beck. 937 00:43:03,315 --> 00:43:06,516 BECK: The whole purpose of Rocket Lab is, is to enable frequent, 938 00:43:06,585 --> 00:43:09,786 affordable access to space, and if we can do that, 939 00:43:09,854 --> 00:43:11,688 then some really incredible things will start to happen. 940 00:43:11,756 --> 00:43:14,424 ♪ ♪ 941 00:43:14,492 --> 00:43:16,726 NARRATOR: Until Rocket Lab came along, 942 00:43:16,795 --> 00:43:18,695 the most affordable rocket ride to orbit 943 00:43:18,763 --> 00:43:21,864 would set you back around $60 million. 944 00:43:21,933 --> 00:43:26,302 But they can do it for less than a tenth of this price. 945 00:43:26,371 --> 00:43:29,038 Our prices start at $5.7 million. 946 00:43:29,107 --> 00:43:31,374 ♪ ♪ 947 00:43:31,443 --> 00:43:34,911 So that's a, a dramatic order of magnitude change. 948 00:43:34,980 --> 00:43:38,247 MAN: Five, four, three, two... 949 00:43:38,316 --> 00:43:39,382 MAN: Ignition. 950 00:43:39,451 --> 00:43:42,218 (engine ignites) 951 00:43:47,692 --> 00:43:50,727 NARRATOR: Getting to orbit for this sort of price 952 00:43:50,795 --> 00:43:53,196 requires a new approach to rocket building. 953 00:43:53,264 --> 00:43:54,364 BECK: It's the world's first 954 00:43:54,432 --> 00:43:56,499 all-carbon composite launch vehicle 955 00:43:56,568 --> 00:43:57,767 to ever reach orbit. 956 00:43:57,836 --> 00:44:00,703 The carbon-fiber gives us a strong advantage 957 00:44:00,772 --> 00:44:03,673 with mass and structural performance. 958 00:44:03,742 --> 00:44:07,677 NARRATOR: Using carbon fiber instead of heavier metal alloys 959 00:44:07,746 --> 00:44:10,647 reduces the rocket's weight, allowing for more payload. 960 00:44:10,715 --> 00:44:13,082 BECK: The rockets are incredibly light. 961 00:44:13,151 --> 00:44:16,252 You can wheel it around with no issues at all. 962 00:44:16,321 --> 00:44:18,488 The actual structures and the tanks of the rocket 963 00:44:18,556 --> 00:44:20,089 weigh almost nothing. 964 00:44:20,158 --> 00:44:24,494 NARRATOR: Rocket Lab has already put 24 cube sats into orbit 965 00:44:24,562 --> 00:44:25,928 on three flights. 966 00:44:25,997 --> 00:44:30,400 They hope their radically cheaper carbon-fiber rocket 967 00:44:30,468 --> 00:44:33,903 will create even greater demand for launch services. 968 00:44:33,972 --> 00:44:36,039 ♪ ♪ 969 00:44:38,943 --> 00:44:41,577 ♪ ♪ 970 00:44:41,646 --> 00:44:45,448 Hacking the rocket equation can bring costs down-- 971 00:44:45,517 --> 00:44:47,483 but only so far. 972 00:44:47,552 --> 00:44:51,320 So innovators are looking at other ways to economize. 973 00:44:51,389 --> 00:44:53,956 For example, 974 00:44:54,025 --> 00:44:56,159 what if a rocket doesn't need to take off from a launch pad, 975 00:44:56,227 --> 00:44:59,128 eliminating the expensive infrastructure 976 00:44:59,197 --> 00:45:01,898 which accompanies all liftoffs? 977 00:45:01,966 --> 00:45:03,533 What if you could launch to orbit 978 00:45:03,601 --> 00:45:06,936 from almost anywhere? 979 00:45:07,005 --> 00:45:09,205 Even from back of a truck? 980 00:45:09,274 --> 00:45:11,774 That's exactly what Delta Clipper veteran John Garvey 981 00:45:11,843 --> 00:45:13,710 is trying to do. 982 00:45:13,778 --> 00:45:16,312 GARVEY: We've designed the rocket certain ways 983 00:45:16,381 --> 00:45:18,347 to make it simpler. 984 00:45:18,416 --> 00:45:20,516 We use a trailer, drive it a mile or two to the pad, 985 00:45:20,585 --> 00:45:23,920 go vertical, and launch. 986 00:45:23,988 --> 00:45:26,122 We basically need a paved road, 987 00:45:26,191 --> 00:45:27,924 a concrete pad, and, and some utilities, 988 00:45:27,992 --> 00:45:29,659 power and the internet's nice. 989 00:45:29,728 --> 00:45:36,432 ♪ ♪ 990 00:45:36,501 --> 00:45:39,035 NARRATOR: By focusing on really small satellites-- 991 00:45:39,104 --> 00:45:42,171 under 130 pounds in weight-- 992 00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:44,741 Garvey can reduce the size of his rocket, 993 00:45:44,809 --> 00:45:49,846 allowing him to experiment with much cheaper solutions. 994 00:45:49,914 --> 00:45:51,080 We use liquid oxygen as the oxidizer, 995 00:45:51,149 --> 00:45:54,317 and we're using propylene as the fuel. 996 00:45:54,385 --> 00:45:56,552 It gives us just enough extra performance, 997 00:45:56,621 --> 00:45:59,856 a thrust on the order of 20,000 pounds at liftoff. 998 00:45:59,924 --> 00:46:03,259 ♪ ♪ 999 00:46:03,328 --> 00:46:04,927 NARRATOR: Garvey's rocket engines might be puny 1000 00:46:04,996 --> 00:46:07,997 compared to NASA's main SLS engine, 1001 00:46:08,066 --> 00:46:09,398 but they have the potential 1002 00:46:09,467 --> 00:46:12,769 to change the way we launch very small satellites 1003 00:46:12,837 --> 00:46:15,204 in a very big way. 1004 00:46:15,273 --> 00:46:16,606 GARVEY: Our job is to get to the point 1005 00:46:16,674 --> 00:46:19,675 where when we launch, people don't even look up. 1006 00:46:19,744 --> 00:46:22,478 It's just like, "Oh, yeah, okay, fine." 1007 00:46:22,547 --> 00:46:23,980 And we'll be truly successful-- 1008 00:46:24,048 --> 00:46:26,182 we, collectively as an industry-- 1009 00:46:26,251 --> 00:46:27,283 when we're doing that, 1010 00:46:27,352 --> 00:46:28,951 and people barely look over and say, 1011 00:46:29,020 --> 00:46:30,920 "Oh, yeah, that's another Vector launch. 1012 00:46:30,989 --> 00:46:32,555 They do that all the time." 1013 00:46:32,624 --> 00:46:35,858 That's going to be the metric that we are really establishing 1014 00:46:35,927 --> 00:46:36,959 we're hitting the numbers. 1015 00:46:37,028 --> 00:46:38,427 ♪ ♪ 1016 00:46:38,496 --> 00:46:42,265 NARRATOR: Garvey imagines a low-cost mass market 1017 00:46:42,333 --> 00:46:45,868 where rides to orbit are as mundane as jet travel. 1018 00:46:45,937 --> 00:46:49,906 (engine roaring) 1019 00:46:49,974 --> 00:46:51,874 ♪ ♪ 1020 00:46:51,943 --> 00:46:54,377 Another way to reduce costs to orbit 1021 00:46:54,445 --> 00:46:57,446 is to start your rocket closer to space 1022 00:46:57,515 --> 00:47:01,818 by eliminating the need to launch from the ground at all. 1023 00:47:01,886 --> 00:47:04,153 One company, Virgin Orbit, 1024 00:47:04,222 --> 00:47:08,057 thinks it can cut launch-to-orbit costs down 1025 00:47:08,126 --> 00:47:12,295 by allowing the rocket to hitch a ride partway to space. 1026 00:47:12,363 --> 00:47:14,096 Their CEO is Dan Hart. 1027 00:47:14,165 --> 00:47:16,766 ♪ ♪ 1028 00:47:16,835 --> 00:47:18,668 Well, Virgin has been working on air-launch systems 1029 00:47:18,736 --> 00:47:19,902 for quite a while. 1030 00:47:19,971 --> 00:47:23,773 And so there's a whole Virgin Galactic company 1031 00:47:23,842 --> 00:47:26,542 that is working on space tourism, 1032 00:47:26,611 --> 00:47:30,012 where a spaceship comes off of an aircraft 1033 00:47:30,081 --> 00:47:31,514 and takes tourists into space. 1034 00:47:31,583 --> 00:47:34,050 ♪ ♪ 1035 00:47:34,118 --> 00:47:36,219 And from that, the discussion of, 1036 00:47:36,287 --> 00:47:37,687 "Well, what else can we get into space, 1037 00:47:37,755 --> 00:47:39,856 and "How can we use similar technologies?" 1038 00:47:39,924 --> 00:47:41,524 really rose. 1039 00:47:41,593 --> 00:47:44,894 NARRATOR: Virgin Galactic's rockets are designed to carry 1040 00:47:44,963 --> 00:47:47,396 a relatively heavy cargo of humans 1041 00:47:47,465 --> 00:47:49,131 high enough to reach space, 1042 00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:52,134 but not fast enough to get into orbit. 1043 00:47:52,203 --> 00:47:55,137 But by reducing the mass of the payload, 1044 00:47:55,206 --> 00:47:57,073 a small rocket carried to altitude 1045 00:47:57,141 --> 00:48:00,943 under the wing of a plane could reach the speeds needed 1046 00:48:01,012 --> 00:48:03,446 to get to orbit. 1047 00:48:03,514 --> 00:48:05,681 So, it was an easy, logical progression 1048 00:48:05,750 --> 00:48:07,016 to use those technologies 1049 00:48:07,085 --> 00:48:11,921 for the purpose of taking satellites into space. 1050 00:48:11,990 --> 00:48:14,123 ♪ ♪ 1051 00:48:14,192 --> 00:48:16,626 NARRATOR: Spinoff Virgin Orbit 1052 00:48:16,694 --> 00:48:19,595 has a fully reusable, first-stage launch vehicle 1053 00:48:19,664 --> 00:48:23,766 in the shape of a repurposed jumbo jet airliner, 1054 00:48:23,835 --> 00:48:25,301 christened Cosmic Girl. 1055 00:48:25,370 --> 00:48:28,271 HART: Cosmic Girl is the carrier aircraft. 1056 00:48:28,339 --> 00:48:30,873 She'll carry our rocket, Launcher One, 1057 00:48:30,942 --> 00:48:33,409 to about 35,000 feet 1058 00:48:33,478 --> 00:48:36,579 and get close to Mach One, the speed of sound. 1059 00:48:36,648 --> 00:48:39,048 Having altitude and velocity 1060 00:48:39,117 --> 00:48:41,817 is a good thing for a rocket to start off with, 1061 00:48:41,886 --> 00:48:43,886 and it gives us an initial boost. 1062 00:48:43,955 --> 00:48:45,187 That helps us, 1063 00:48:45,256 --> 00:48:46,789 because it allows us to make the rocket smaller 1064 00:48:46,858 --> 00:48:48,658 and less expensive. 1065 00:48:48,726 --> 00:48:50,693 ♪ ♪ 1066 00:48:50,762 --> 00:48:52,895 NARRATOR: Just like Vector and Rocket Lab, 1067 00:48:52,964 --> 00:48:54,997 Virgin Orbit's also chasing 1068 00:48:55,066 --> 00:48:58,100 the burgeoning small-satellite market. 1069 00:48:58,169 --> 00:49:01,337 So, are there enough new small satellite companies 1070 00:49:01,406 --> 00:49:05,708 to keep all these new rocket companies in business? 1071 00:49:05,777 --> 00:49:08,911 FERNHOLZ: The eternal bane of all rocket companies 1072 00:49:08,980 --> 00:49:10,613 is making sure there's enough cargo 1073 00:49:10,682 --> 00:49:12,214 for you to launch in the future. 1074 00:49:12,283 --> 00:49:15,084 And with so many rocket companies forming right now, 1075 00:49:15,153 --> 00:49:16,919 it's not clear that they'll all survive. 1076 00:49:16,988 --> 00:49:20,156 ♪ ♪ 1077 00:49:23,127 --> 00:49:24,927 ♪ ♪ 1078 00:49:24,996 --> 00:49:28,197 NARRATOR: While these small-rocket companies fight it out 1079 00:49:28,266 --> 00:49:32,301 to see who'll become king of the micro-satellite market, 1080 00:49:32,370 --> 00:49:36,105 the bigger players-- like NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, 1081 00:49:36,174 --> 00:49:38,341 and Blue Origin-- grapple with the challenges 1082 00:49:38,409 --> 00:49:42,778 of carrying immense payloads into deep space. 1083 00:49:42,847 --> 00:49:45,247 FERNHOLZ: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are talking 1084 00:49:45,316 --> 00:49:48,250 about millions of people living in space habitats 1085 00:49:48,319 --> 00:49:49,685 or colonizing Mars. 1086 00:49:49,754 --> 00:49:51,487 And even though it sounds crazy, 1087 00:49:51,556 --> 00:49:53,456 it is a difference in their approach, 1088 00:49:53,524 --> 00:49:56,625 and it shows in how they try and do things-- 1089 00:49:56,694 --> 00:49:58,494 to be cheap, to be long-lasting, 1090 00:49:58,563 --> 00:50:02,098 to be infrastructure that can be built on by the broader economy, 1091 00:50:02,166 --> 00:50:05,267 not just a one-time military mission. 1092 00:50:05,336 --> 00:50:07,269 ♪ ♪ 1093 00:50:07,338 --> 00:50:10,806 NARRATOR: Behind these ventures is a common impulse, 1094 00:50:10,875 --> 00:50:14,243 one that drives some of us to build rockets. 1095 00:50:14,312 --> 00:50:15,845 ♪ ♪ 1096 00:50:15,913 --> 00:50:17,947 LYLES: We're all explorers. 1097 00:50:18,016 --> 00:50:20,983 We're departing from low Earth orbit, 1098 00:50:21,052 --> 00:50:23,753 and we're going to go further than we've ever gone before. 1099 00:50:23,821 --> 00:50:27,256 And I think that we're really going to do this someday. 1100 00:50:27,325 --> 00:50:29,325 ♪ ♪ 1101 00:50:29,394 --> 00:50:32,862 NARRATOR: SpaceX has announced it is building prototypes 1102 00:50:32,930 --> 00:50:35,131 of its giant Starship rocket, 1103 00:50:35,199 --> 00:50:38,334 intended to ferry hundreds of people to Mars. 1104 00:50:38,403 --> 00:50:41,070 ♪ ♪ 1105 00:50:41,139 --> 00:50:44,473 So could today's "Rise of the Rocket" 1106 00:50:44,542 --> 00:50:46,675 really carry us all to the stars? 1107 00:50:46,744 --> 00:50:49,178 CHRIS FERGUSON: I really believe that, just like 1108 00:50:49,247 --> 00:50:52,681 we are now taking humans to low Earth orbit commercially, 1109 00:50:52,750 --> 00:50:56,152 that pretty soon there will be a commercial space station 1110 00:50:56,220 --> 00:50:57,420 in orbit as well, 1111 00:50:57,488 --> 00:51:01,023 which will be the next destination. 1112 00:51:01,092 --> 00:51:03,159 So what I tell people is 1113 00:51:03,227 --> 00:51:05,895 "If you don't think you can go to space today, just wait." 1114 00:51:05,963 --> 00:51:09,698 A hundred years ago, when all there were 1115 00:51:09,767 --> 00:51:11,133 were biplanes that didn't fly very fast, 1116 00:51:11,202 --> 00:51:13,269 the, the average person would say, 1117 00:51:13,337 --> 00:51:15,371 "I will never fly an airplane." 1118 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:16,539 So you have to think about, 1119 00:51:16,607 --> 00:51:18,741 "What's it going to be like tomorrow?" 1120 00:51:18,810 --> 00:51:20,676 ♪ ♪ 1121 00:51:20,745 --> 00:51:23,379 NARRATOR: A hundred years after the first powered flight, 1122 00:51:23,448 --> 00:51:27,616 airplanes and air travel are commonplace, 1123 00:51:27,685 --> 00:51:29,318 something we take for granted. 1124 00:51:29,387 --> 00:51:31,954 Will the same be true of rockets 1125 00:51:32,023 --> 00:51:34,623 a hundred years after Goddard's first flight? 1126 00:51:34,692 --> 00:51:36,892 ♪ ♪ 1127 00:51:36,961 --> 00:51:38,994 Will this be the dawn of an age 1128 00:51:39,063 --> 00:51:43,999 that ultimately propels society even further? 1129 00:51:44,068 --> 00:51:48,137 ♪ ♪ 1130 00:51:48,206 --> 00:51:50,639 (door opening, locking into place) 1131 00:52:16,534 --> 00:52:19,068 To order this "NOVA" program on DVD, 1132 00:52:19,137 --> 00:52:23,973 visit ShopPBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 1133 00:52:24,041 --> 00:52:27,343 This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video. 1134 00:52:29,380 --> 00:52:31,280 ♪ ♪