1 00:00:00,156 --> 00:00:03,323 (rocket engine roars) 2 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,494 The race is on. 3 00:00:09,494 --> 00:00:12,077 (upbeat music) 4 00:00:13,650 --> 00:00:15,493 To colonize the Moon. 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:21,993 To uncover hidden riches. 6 00:00:26,190 --> 00:00:28,180 And discover if humanity 7 00:00:28,180 --> 00:00:31,613 can really survive on another world. 8 00:00:32,511 --> 00:00:33,679 (meteorite explodes) 9 00:00:33,679 --> 00:00:36,262 (upbeat music) 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,633 That's why we're going back. 11 00:00:45,050 --> 00:00:49,463 Not to visit, to stay. 12 00:00:50,827 --> 00:00:53,410 (upbeat music) 13 00:01:09,350 --> 00:01:12,820 The Moon is suddenly the center of attention. 14 00:01:12,820 --> 00:01:16,003 A magnet for mines and money. 15 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,890 China, Russia and the European Union 16 00:01:21,890 --> 00:01:24,173 have each sent probes and orbiters. 17 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,340 In 2013 the Chinese landed a rover, 18 00:01:29,340 --> 00:01:32,990 their goal astronauts living and working 19 00:01:32,990 --> 00:01:35,633 on the Moon by the 2030s. 20 00:01:36,740 --> 00:01:39,340 And they are not alone. 21 00:01:39,340 --> 00:01:43,482 We will return American astronauts to the Moon. 22 00:01:43,482 --> 00:01:46,482 (audience applauds) 23 00:01:48,620 --> 00:01:49,740 The Moon will teach us 24 00:01:49,740 --> 00:01:51,663 how to explore the stars. 25 00:01:54,130 --> 00:01:56,760 The Moon is close, we can go there and develop 26 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,670 the concepts and the technologies. 27 00:01:58,670 --> 00:02:01,500 We can figure out how to live off the land. 28 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:03,530 We can figure out how we're gonna do that 29 00:02:03,530 --> 00:02:06,450 only three days away then we can go on to Mars 30 00:02:06,450 --> 00:02:08,453 where it's a tougher thing to do. 31 00:02:12,470 --> 00:02:14,690 The Moon is definitely a stepping stone to Mars 32 00:02:14,690 --> 00:02:17,360 and other places but it's a world of its own, 33 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,063 that is also full of resources that we didn't know existed. 34 00:02:21,990 --> 00:02:25,000 The Moon is Earth's eighth continent. 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,070 It's like the new world like the Americas were 36 00:02:27,070 --> 00:02:29,863 to the Europeans during the first explorations. 37 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,590 It's an eighth continent and for us to explore. 38 00:02:37,180 --> 00:02:40,240 Like the Americas this new world 39 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,090 has deposits of precious metals. 40 00:02:43,090 --> 00:02:46,103 Gold, titanium, aluminum. 41 00:02:47,470 --> 00:02:49,660 And there's a hidden treasure. 42 00:02:49,660 --> 00:02:51,810 First discovered in soil brought back 43 00:02:51,810 --> 00:02:55,453 by the last astronauts to walk on the Moon. 44 00:02:55,453 --> 00:02:57,280 We leave as we came. 45 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,764 And God willing we shall return 46 00:02:59,764 --> 00:03:04,014 With peace and hope for all mankind. 47 00:03:11,380 --> 00:03:13,990 In 1985 engineers 48 00:03:13,990 --> 00:03:17,890 at the University of Wisconsin studied the soil sample 49 00:03:17,890 --> 00:03:22,250 and found significant amounts of the isotope helium-3. 50 00:03:22,250 --> 00:03:24,420 A rare variant of the helium gas 51 00:03:24,420 --> 00:03:26,333 used to fill balloons on earth. 52 00:03:29,150 --> 00:03:31,090 A lot of people ask what's the treasure on the Moon, 53 00:03:31,090 --> 00:03:32,600 is it helium-3? 54 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,430 Helium-3 is very special because it's a potential fuel 55 00:03:35,430 --> 00:03:37,113 for fusion technology. 56 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,680 Helium-3 is rare on earth 57 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,290 because it's created by the solar wind 58 00:03:44,290 --> 00:03:46,913 which is largely blocked by our atmosphere. 59 00:03:48,350 --> 00:03:52,120 It can fetch several million dollars per pound. 60 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,383 One of the most expensive substances known to man. 61 00:03:56,390 --> 00:03:59,200 But the Moon without an atmosphere 62 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,870 could contain a million tons of helium-3, 63 00:04:02,870 --> 00:04:07,203 enough to power the earth for 10,000 years. 64 00:04:08,710 --> 00:04:10,983 An unlimited source of power. 65 00:04:11,830 --> 00:04:15,483 And unlimited power for whoever masters it. 66 00:04:18,850 --> 00:04:22,310 So returning to the Moon isn't about planting a flag 67 00:04:22,310 --> 00:04:27,270 and leaving a boot print, this is colonization. 68 00:04:27,270 --> 00:04:29,980 And that's a two decade process. 69 00:04:29,980 --> 00:04:32,550 Step one develop powerful rockets 70 00:04:32,550 --> 00:04:34,690 that can make regular round trips. 71 00:04:34,690 --> 00:04:36,670 Rockets that cost a small fraction 72 00:04:36,670 --> 00:04:38,610 of current launch systems. 73 00:04:38,610 --> 00:04:40,920 This allows for step two, 74 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,320 send a swarm of remote-controlled robots 75 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,940 to prospect for water and build primitive habitats. 76 00:04:46,940 --> 00:04:50,950 Habitats that can withstand meteors and cosmic radiation 77 00:04:50,950 --> 00:04:53,730 and temperatures that lurch from above boiling 78 00:04:53,730 --> 00:04:56,023 to twice as cold as Antarctica. 79 00:04:57,450 --> 00:04:59,930 Step three shuttle humans 80 00:04:59,930 --> 00:05:03,110 for increasingly longer stays on the Moon 81 00:05:03,110 --> 00:05:06,230 while avoiding suit piercing space dust 82 00:05:06,230 --> 00:05:08,440 and enduring one-sixth gravity 83 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,050 that leeches away muscle and bone mass. 84 00:05:12,050 --> 00:05:16,170 Step four the lunar outpost becomes a colony. 85 00:05:16,170 --> 00:05:19,270 It ships valuable raw material back home 86 00:05:19,270 --> 00:05:21,733 and makes earthbound investors rich. 87 00:05:22,910 --> 00:05:25,793 If nothing goes wrong along the way. 88 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,280 This is a tough place to get to it's a tough place to stay 89 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:35,210 and yet that's our goal. 90 00:05:35,210 --> 00:05:36,740 There's a tremendous amount of wealth 91 00:05:36,740 --> 00:05:38,140 that we can create there. 92 00:05:38,140 --> 00:05:39,790 And there's a tremendous amount of resources 93 00:05:39,790 --> 00:05:41,063 that we can bring back. 94 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,000 Returning people to the Moon 95 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,630 depends first on overcoming one of the four 96 00:05:54,630 --> 00:05:58,403 fundamental forces in the universe, gravity. 97 00:06:00,470 --> 00:06:03,230 To get anything out of Earth's gravity well 98 00:06:03,230 --> 00:06:05,540 and past low Earth orbit, 99 00:06:05,540 --> 00:06:08,940 you need to push that object to escape velocity. 100 00:06:08,940 --> 00:06:11,093 25,000 miles an hour. 101 00:06:13,060 --> 00:06:15,150 To build a colony on the Moon, 102 00:06:15,150 --> 00:06:18,293 you have to get tons of material up to that speed. 103 00:06:19,853 --> 00:06:23,140 (ecstatic music) 104 00:06:23,140 --> 00:06:25,120 The only way to get that much mass 105 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:29,563 out of Earth's gravity well is with a very big rocket. 106 00:06:29,563 --> 00:06:32,313 (ecstatic music) 107 00:06:33,940 --> 00:06:37,523 The Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 to the Moon, 108 00:06:39,500 --> 00:06:42,483 weighed more than 3000 tones fully loaded. 109 00:06:43,810 --> 00:06:47,043 85% of that total mass was fuel. 110 00:06:47,890 --> 00:06:51,083 Almost 950,000 gallons of it. 111 00:06:52,370 --> 00:06:54,920 Filling three sections or stages 112 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,084 that sat below the crew capsule. 113 00:06:57,084 --> 00:07:00,251 (rocket engine roars) 114 00:07:04,380 --> 00:07:07,093 It took 12 and a half minutes to get into space. 115 00:07:08,710 --> 00:07:11,050 And after two minutes or so it burned all the fuel 116 00:07:11,050 --> 00:07:13,660 on the first stage, so you get rid of that. 117 00:07:13,660 --> 00:07:16,130 Then you burn the second stage you get rid of that. 118 00:07:16,130 --> 00:07:18,380 You burn the third stage, you get rid of that 119 00:07:21,390 --> 00:07:23,820 So on the way the Moon now you've got a command module, 120 00:07:23,820 --> 00:07:26,353 a service module and the lunar module. 121 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,120 Today NASA is spending billions 122 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,980 building a new super heavy lift rocket, 123 00:07:36,980 --> 00:07:38,483 the Space Launch System. 124 00:07:39,350 --> 00:07:43,610 And in early 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin 125 00:07:43,610 --> 00:07:46,090 signed off on plans for a giant rocket 126 00:07:46,090 --> 00:07:49,283 to be built and tested by 2028. 127 00:07:50,710 --> 00:07:55,350 Super and giant rockets all destined to be used once. 128 00:07:59,180 --> 00:08:01,710 It's like you build a 747 for a billion dollars, 129 00:08:01,710 --> 00:08:04,100 you fly to Hawaii and you throw it away. 130 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:06,510 Then you build another 747 fly it back 131 00:08:06,510 --> 00:08:07,920 and then you throw it away. 132 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,019 That is not sustainable, it's too expensive. 133 00:08:11,019 --> 00:08:14,102 (plane engine roars) 134 00:08:17,380 --> 00:08:19,720 Aerospace scientist, astronaut trainer 135 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,290 and ultra-marathoner Eric Seedhouse. 136 00:08:22,290 --> 00:08:25,527 has written a dozen books about commercial space flight. 137 00:08:25,527 --> 00:08:28,730 Columbia, Columbia, this is Houston, over. 138 00:08:28,730 --> 00:08:30,810 He knows just how expensive 139 00:08:30,810 --> 00:08:32,540 a Moon mission can be. 140 00:08:32,540 --> 00:08:35,270 You will see a metal the other side in orbit. 141 00:08:35,270 --> 00:08:37,890 Oh roger, sending 62255. 142 00:08:37,890 --> 00:08:40,230 Today we spend $10,000 to get one pound 143 00:08:40,230 --> 00:08:41,370 into low-earth orbit. 144 00:08:41,370 --> 00:08:42,930 You can probably multiply that by five 145 00:08:42,930 --> 00:08:45,706 to get it to the surface of the Moon at least. 146 00:08:45,706 --> 00:08:49,690 (rocket engine roars) 147 00:08:49,690 --> 00:08:51,583 And as the saying goes, 148 00:08:52,450 --> 00:08:55,960 no bucks, no buck rogers. 149 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,373 So the challenge is getting to the Moon without going broke. 150 00:09:02,660 --> 00:09:05,530 What if instead of letting the first stages 151 00:09:05,530 --> 00:09:07,970 of a Moon rocket drop into the sea 152 00:09:07,970 --> 00:09:10,360 you could bring them safely back to earth. 153 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,273 And use them to launch again and again. 154 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:17,810 It's a problem that billionaires space entrepreneurs 155 00:09:17,810 --> 00:09:22,123 like Elon Musk are pouring billions of dollars into solving. 156 00:09:25,450 --> 00:09:28,360 The launch business is a very competitive business 157 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,410 and they want to reduce costs to compete. 158 00:09:31,410 --> 00:09:34,353 To reduce those cost you need to land those first stages. 159 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,680 (rocket explodes) 160 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:42,780 You try it, you build it and try it. 161 00:09:42,780 --> 00:09:45,120 Something goes wrong you build it and fix it 162 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:46,123 and try it again. 163 00:09:47,338 --> 00:09:48,460 (rocket explodes) 164 00:09:48,460 --> 00:09:50,020 Elon blew up three rockets 165 00:09:50,020 --> 00:09:52,683 before he got the fourth one right. 166 00:09:55,330 --> 00:09:57,510 Each time SpaceX safely returns 167 00:09:57,510 --> 00:09:59,770 a reusable rocket to earth. 168 00:09:59,770 --> 00:10:01,820 Each time they prove their technology 169 00:10:01,820 --> 00:10:04,630 using a larger more powerful rocket 170 00:10:04,630 --> 00:10:07,923 humanity's return to the Moon edges closer. 171 00:10:09,090 --> 00:10:10,810 Companies including Elon 172 00:10:10,810 --> 00:10:12,310 they're gonna bring the price down. 173 00:10:12,310 --> 00:10:14,040 Once we get the price down, 174 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,160 there's going to be an explosion of stuff 175 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,010 and people wanting to go to the Moon. 176 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,650 Two minus ten, nine... 177 00:10:31,650 --> 00:10:35,210 Strapped in atop a reusable rocket 178 00:10:35,210 --> 00:10:38,753 the first Moon colonists prepare to launch. 179 00:10:41,089 --> 00:10:43,290 (rocket engine roars) 180 00:10:43,290 --> 00:10:44,517 We've a lift off. 181 00:11:09,250 --> 00:11:12,080 The first crew to begin colonizing the Moon, 182 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,223 won't be landing in an empty area. 183 00:11:16,270 --> 00:11:19,043 The robots will be waiting for them. 184 00:11:21,650 --> 00:11:24,500 It doesn't begin with humans. 185 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:27,393 It begins with robots, it begins with rovers. 186 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:30,830 In the years leading up 187 00:11:30,830 --> 00:11:32,683 to the first human arrivals, 188 00:11:33,570 --> 00:11:36,660 a fleet of reusable rockets has already ferried 189 00:11:36,660 --> 00:11:38,640 dozens of robots built on earth 190 00:11:39,550 --> 00:11:41,473 to their new workstations on the Moon. 191 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,323 Bob Richards wants his robots to get there first. 192 00:11:51,860 --> 00:11:53,680 To kick-start a mining operation 193 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:55,653 that will support a lunar colony. 194 00:11:56,860 --> 00:12:00,150 His space mining company Moon Express 195 00:12:00,150 --> 00:12:02,630 is headquartered in the shadow of the launch towers 196 00:12:02,630 --> 00:12:05,263 that sent men to the Moon decades ago. 197 00:12:06,770 --> 00:12:08,040 To think back to the inspiration 198 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,260 that brought me here to Cape Canaveral, 199 00:12:10,260 --> 00:12:12,350 I would have to go back to my childhood. 200 00:12:12,350 --> 00:12:14,970 My earliest memories as a little boy 201 00:12:14,970 --> 00:12:16,390 walking around the rocket garden 202 00:12:16,390 --> 00:12:17,790 at the Kennedy Space Center. 203 00:12:18,780 --> 00:12:20,253 I was a child of Apollo. 204 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:24,123 Believing that the future was limitless. 205 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,660 So I really believe that my DNA was set 206 00:12:27,660 --> 00:12:31,240 of exploration and what an honor it is 207 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,110 to be here in this hallowed ground 208 00:12:33,110 --> 00:12:34,960 where the first exploration of the Moon 209 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,263 in the solar system began. 210 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,710 Richard's ambitious plan 211 00:12:45,710 --> 00:12:49,560 begins with the launch of an autonomous lunar lander. 212 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:52,620 We're looking at the MX-1 robotic Explorer. 213 00:12:52,620 --> 00:12:53,760 It's a robotic spacecraft 214 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,160 that launches from Earth on a commercial rocket. 215 00:12:57,840 --> 00:12:59,890 And once released in the earth orbit 216 00:12:59,890 --> 00:13:02,673 can light up its main engines and fly to the Moon. 217 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,010 Richards and others are eyeing 218 00:13:07,010 --> 00:13:09,010 the Moon's South Pole as a good place 219 00:13:09,010 --> 00:13:11,193 for humanity to put down roots. 220 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,600 There are soaring mountains and valleys 221 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,570 that would make the Grand Canyon look like a tributary. 222 00:13:19,570 --> 00:13:22,090 It's hard to land there but on the tops 223 00:13:22,090 --> 00:13:24,380 of some of these mountains and some of the rims 224 00:13:24,380 --> 00:13:26,830 of some of the great craters that are there, 225 00:13:26,830 --> 00:13:29,060 are very unique pieces you really see out of the Moon 226 00:13:29,060 --> 00:13:30,963 We call them peaks of eternal light. 227 00:13:35,620 --> 00:13:38,120 The earth tilts 23 and a half degrees 228 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,510 on its axis, that's what gives us our seasons. 229 00:13:41,510 --> 00:13:45,063 And six-month periods of light and dark at our poles. 230 00:13:46,870 --> 00:13:50,730 The Moon is tilted only one and a half degrees. 231 00:13:50,730 --> 00:13:52,960 Areas near the equator get alternating 232 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,363 two-week periods of light and dark. 233 00:13:56,290 --> 00:13:58,810 But the polar Peaks are bathed in sunlight 234 00:13:58,810 --> 00:14:01,060 more than 90 percent of the year. 235 00:14:01,060 --> 00:14:04,820 And dark times are never more than five days long. 236 00:14:04,820 --> 00:14:08,843 A great place for robots that run on solar power. 237 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:13,270 So what it gives you is continuous energy 238 00:14:13,270 --> 00:14:14,310 from the sunshine. 239 00:14:14,310 --> 00:14:17,090 And our goal is to set up our first lunar outpost 240 00:14:17,090 --> 00:14:20,210 a robotic outpost, with a Robotic Explorer, 241 00:14:20,210 --> 00:14:22,850 land on one of these peaks of eternal light. 242 00:14:22,850 --> 00:14:26,463 And start prospecting for the elements that are there. 243 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,370 The MX-1 has thrusters 244 00:14:36,370 --> 00:14:39,860 so it can hop from place to place on the lunar surface, 245 00:14:39,860 --> 00:14:43,303 where the gravity is only one-sixth as strong as Earth's. 246 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,040 And it's designed to collect samples, 247 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,933 then fly them back to earth for further analysis. 248 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,360 Like any new frontier it's not gonna be easy 249 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:01,600 at the beginning. 250 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,363 And the robots hopefully won't complain too much. 251 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:08,640 The first robot prospectors 252 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:10,910 won't be looking for helium-3. 253 00:15:10,910 --> 00:15:14,800 Instead they're on the hunt for something more familiar, 254 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,503 but potentially just as valuable, water. 255 00:15:22,130 --> 00:15:24,240 In the time period of Apollo 256 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,812 we thought don't have any water. 257 00:15:26,812 --> 00:15:31,062 (garbled audio) 258 00:15:33,050 --> 00:15:35,736 We were wrong, boy were we wrong. 259 00:15:35,736 --> 00:15:39,260 (ebullient music) 260 00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:42,480 It turns out that hydrogen from the solar wind 261 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,800 bonds with oxygen atoms locked in the lunar rocks 262 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,463 to create H2O. 263 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,853 Maybe several billion tons of it. 264 00:15:52,868 --> 00:15:55,220 It's a billion with the B. 265 00:15:55,220 --> 00:15:57,510 The water becomes the gold of space. 266 00:15:57,510 --> 00:16:01,333 Instead of the gold rush days to Alaska is after the water. 267 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,733 If Richards can extract water from the Moon, 268 00:16:07,570 --> 00:16:09,630 it will save the enormous expense 269 00:16:09,630 --> 00:16:11,173 of hauling it from earth. 270 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,340 Not just for use as drinking water, 271 00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:18,183 but as a lucrative source for rocket fuel. 272 00:16:20,110 --> 00:16:22,980 Separate the water into its elemental pieces, 273 00:16:22,980 --> 00:16:24,513 hydrogen and oxygen. 274 00:16:26,530 --> 00:16:28,560 Cool the hydrogen to just below 275 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:33,470 negative 423 degrees and it becomes a liquid, 276 00:16:33,470 --> 00:16:34,863 liquid hydrogen. 277 00:16:36,010 --> 00:16:37,500 That becomes rocket propellant. 278 00:16:37,500 --> 00:16:40,721 Is the most powerful rocket propellant we know today. 279 00:16:40,721 --> 00:16:44,460 (rocket engine roars) 280 00:16:44,460 --> 00:16:47,080 That's where the real money is. 281 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,350 Lunar refueling stations, 282 00:16:49,350 --> 00:16:52,050 where customers like SpaceX and NASA 283 00:16:52,050 --> 00:16:55,010 will pay top dollar for the liquid hydrogen they need 284 00:16:55,010 --> 00:16:59,773 to get back to earth or elsewhere in the solar system. 285 00:17:01,420 --> 00:17:04,260 Water is like the oil of the solar system. 286 00:17:04,260 --> 00:17:05,910 And we're after our first gusher. 287 00:17:08,180 --> 00:17:11,810 The next wave of millionaires and billionaires 288 00:17:11,810 --> 00:17:15,280 just like we had the oil billionaires 289 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,673 of the past will be the water billionaires of space. 290 00:17:19,702 --> 00:17:22,285 (gentle music) 291 00:17:27,980 --> 00:17:30,963 And this is how it all begins. 292 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,670 A crew of four completing a journey 293 00:17:34,670 --> 00:17:37,193 not taken since the 1970s. 294 00:17:39,837 --> 00:17:43,004 (rocket engine roars) 295 00:17:45,825 --> 00:17:48,170 They're here to make the Moon into humanity's 296 00:17:48,170 --> 00:17:51,543 first permanent home on another world. 297 00:17:54,530 --> 00:17:56,680 And from the first small step 298 00:17:58,310 --> 00:18:01,783 survival is a constant challenge. 299 00:18:05,170 --> 00:18:08,413 Imagine talcum powder made of broken glass. 300 00:18:09,730 --> 00:18:12,580 That's the lunar soil known as regolith 301 00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:16,193 and it eats space suits for lunch. 302 00:18:17,810 --> 00:18:20,250 On Apollo 17 the seals on the pressure suits 303 00:18:20,250 --> 00:18:23,490 were badly affected by the regolith, by the dust. 304 00:18:23,490 --> 00:18:26,263 They brought lunar dust into the lunar module. 305 00:18:27,370 --> 00:18:29,710 You get those small particles of silica 306 00:18:29,710 --> 00:18:31,780 deep in the respiratory tract 307 00:18:31,780 --> 00:18:33,480 and it causes a lot of irritation. 308 00:18:35,770 --> 00:18:39,080 The regolith isn't just hard and sharp, 309 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,133 it's also radioactive. 310 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,700 Cosmic rays bombard the Moon every second. 311 00:18:47,700 --> 00:18:50,540 Looming over every colonist is the prospect 312 00:18:50,540 --> 00:18:54,470 of early death from radiation related diseases. 313 00:18:54,470 --> 00:18:56,640 It's a very harsh radiation environment 314 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,363 and spacesuits do not protect against radiation. 315 00:19:00,900 --> 00:19:02,970 Astronauts walking around the Moon all the time 316 00:19:02,970 --> 00:19:04,870 in spacesuits, that's not gonna happen 317 00:19:08,420 --> 00:19:11,290 That's why when the first human colonists 318 00:19:11,290 --> 00:19:15,533 arrived on the Moon, a shelter is already waiting for them. 319 00:19:30,940 --> 00:19:33,240 These astronauts are opening the door 320 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,763 on a new era in human history. 321 00:19:45,808 --> 00:19:48,641 (buttons beeping) 322 00:19:50,740 --> 00:19:54,633 This is humanity's first home on another world. 323 00:20:15,810 --> 00:20:19,090 In 2015 the European Space Agency 324 00:20:19,090 --> 00:20:23,340 unveiled a visionary concept for a lunar village 325 00:20:23,340 --> 00:20:26,040 inhabited by astronauts and robots 326 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:27,803 from countries around the world. 327 00:20:31,180 --> 00:20:34,030 To prepare the colony robots could be sent 328 00:20:34,030 --> 00:20:36,700 to construct habitats years in advance 329 00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:38,543 of the first human arrivals. 330 00:20:39,550 --> 00:20:40,810 We can't take all the building 331 00:20:40,810 --> 00:20:43,800 materials from Planet Earth, concrete is kind of heavy. 332 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:45,910 Rather than that we want to use the material 333 00:20:45,910 --> 00:20:49,230 that's already there, the soil the dust materials. 334 00:20:49,230 --> 00:20:52,470 And 3D print that into building blocks, 335 00:20:52,470 --> 00:20:53,693 bricks on the Moon. 336 00:21:00,030 --> 00:21:02,080 The robot assembled habitat 337 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,233 will support the colonists at first. 338 00:21:09,650 --> 00:21:12,993 But soon a delivery arrives, 339 00:21:13,940 --> 00:21:16,743 the colony is about to expand. 340 00:21:20,690 --> 00:21:22,840 Inflatable fabric shelled habitats 341 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,750 are a logical solution to quickly adding more workspaces 342 00:21:26,750 --> 00:21:28,963 and living quarters to a Moon base. 343 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:34,253 But can any fabric stand up to the stresses of space? 344 00:21:37,940 --> 00:21:40,433 This man may have the answer. Wow! 345 00:21:45,390 --> 00:21:48,673 Maxim De Jong designs fabrics for space. 346 00:21:50,380 --> 00:21:52,913 Sometimes he tests them himself. 347 00:21:55,286 --> 00:21:57,920 De Jong's fabrics not only keep him up in the air 348 00:21:58,810 --> 00:22:01,200 they are the key component of his prototypes 349 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,443 for inflatable lunar habitats. 350 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,110 With an inflatable habitat we can package it 351 00:22:07,110 --> 00:22:09,960 in the nose of a rocket, we can make it small. 352 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,627 On orbit it deploys and we can make it huge. 353 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,823 You pump air in it and it blows up like an air mattress. 354 00:22:20,130 --> 00:22:23,000 But this is more than a guest bed. 355 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,330 De Jong's prototypes are made of Kevlar 356 00:22:25,330 --> 00:22:29,020 and other high stress, high impact materials. 357 00:22:29,020 --> 00:22:32,370 When fully inflated like a pneumatic tire 358 00:22:32,370 --> 00:22:36,653 the outside feels as tight and tough as a concrete wall. 359 00:22:39,420 --> 00:22:43,153 NASA designed inflatable space habitats decades ago, 360 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,553 but the projects were abandoned along with the Moon. 361 00:22:48,470 --> 00:22:52,450 In the early 2000s hotel magnate Robert Bigelow 362 00:22:52,450 --> 00:22:55,323 bought the patents and developed them further. 363 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,050 De Jong's company Thin Red Line 364 00:22:59,050 --> 00:23:01,080 helped design the first functioning 365 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,153 inflatable habitats for Bigelow. 366 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:07,110 A fabric structure like this Bigelow module 367 00:23:07,110 --> 00:23:09,050 on the International Space Station 368 00:23:09,050 --> 00:23:11,860 can weigh half as much as a metal habitat. 369 00:23:11,860 --> 00:23:16,500 So it takes less fuel and money to launch it into space. 370 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:19,750 And it can be compressed to half its width. 371 00:23:19,750 --> 00:23:23,543 That frees up payload space and also saves money. 372 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,963 At Thin Red Line's headquarters in British Columbia, 373 00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:34,370 De Jong is working to perfect his habitats 374 00:23:34,370 --> 00:23:35,783 for deployment on the Moon. 375 00:23:38,630 --> 00:23:42,280 When it comes to the extended stay six months or longer 376 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,600 on the lunar surface it can't leak. 377 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,080 This unit for example is using 378 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,500 full fidelity life support grade gas barrier. 379 00:23:51,500 --> 00:23:56,400 Only one thin layer of five thousandth of an inch, 380 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,600 and yet this has been inflated at roughly 381 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,883 the same pressure for eight years. 382 00:24:03,820 --> 00:24:05,270 To make sure they'll be safe 383 00:24:05,270 --> 00:24:07,130 for deployment in space, 384 00:24:07,130 --> 00:24:10,353 De Jong pushes his test habitats to the limit. 385 00:24:11,828 --> 00:24:14,078 (explodes) 386 00:24:29,370 --> 00:24:32,640 But can future colonists really trust these habitats 387 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,283 to protect them from every danger on the Moon. 388 00:24:39,180 --> 00:24:44,100 Out there in space we have micrometeorite showers 389 00:24:44,100 --> 00:24:48,440 and they come at you at speeds tens to hundreds times 390 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,213 the speed of our high-power rifle. 391 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,789 Everybody thinks balloon is going to pop. 392 00:24:55,789 --> 00:24:58,539 (dramatic music) 393 00:25:16,110 --> 00:25:18,550 In reality the shell of the habitat 394 00:25:18,550 --> 00:25:20,740 acts like a bulletproof vest, 395 00:25:20,740 --> 00:25:23,270 distributing the energy of the impact 396 00:25:23,270 --> 00:25:26,323 through multiple layers of high strength material. 397 00:25:27,740 --> 00:25:29,760 A micro-meteoroid hits it so hard 398 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,093 that it basically almost vaporizes. 399 00:25:36,980 --> 00:25:40,300 De Jong is confident that in the near future 400 00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:43,163 his designs can be safely deployed on the Moon. 401 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:44,993 All right. 402 00:25:49,350 --> 00:25:53,883 Although on the Moon safety is never guaranteed. 403 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:00,890 Sometimes the surface is rocked 404 00:26:00,890 --> 00:26:04,093 by earthquakes like tremors called moonquakes. 405 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,443 No one knows how they're caused or when they'll strike. 406 00:26:09,450 --> 00:26:13,003 But these quakes can reach 5.5 on the Richter scale. 407 00:26:15,620 --> 00:26:17,973 And can go on for ten minutes or more. 408 00:26:21,610 --> 00:26:24,703 And there's a danger that's even more destructive. 409 00:26:25,970 --> 00:26:30,287 See those craters they're not all billions of years old. 410 00:26:32,364 --> 00:26:35,114 (dramatic music) 411 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,010 Just in the last few years several meteors 412 00:26:42,010 --> 00:26:46,113 have hit the Moon so hard, the impact was seen on earth. 413 00:26:49,310 --> 00:26:52,380 A 90-pound rock can slam into the Moon 414 00:26:52,380 --> 00:26:54,987 with the force of five tons of TNT. 415 00:26:55,918 --> 00:26:58,668 (dramatic music) 416 00:27:02,285 --> 00:27:05,368 (meteorite explodes) 417 00:27:08,990 --> 00:27:11,740 (alarms beeping) 418 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,160 To ensure long-term survival, 419 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,040 at least some of the colony will need 420 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,643 to be located underground. 421 00:27:48,860 --> 00:27:50,620 Orbiting space probes have found 422 00:27:50,620 --> 00:27:54,053 more than 200 tunnels under the lunar surface, 423 00:27:54,900 --> 00:27:59,280 with natural entrances called skylights. 424 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,780 They are lava tubes from long dead volcanoes, 425 00:28:02,780 --> 00:28:04,763 similar to ones found on earth. 426 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,760 We have lava tubes in Hawaii all over the place. 427 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:10,853 They run 20 or 30 miles. 428 00:28:12,130 --> 00:28:15,463 Some of the ones that are here 15 feet in diameter. 429 00:28:17,380 --> 00:28:20,250 Thanks to the Moon's one-sixth gravity 430 00:28:20,250 --> 00:28:23,113 some lunar lava tubes can be even bigger. 431 00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:28,130 A Japanese orbiter recently discovered a skylight 432 00:28:28,130 --> 00:28:30,330 leading to a lava tube big enough 433 00:28:30,330 --> 00:28:32,483 to hold the city of Philadelphia. 434 00:28:33,990 --> 00:28:36,780 There are also lava tubes on Mars, 435 00:28:36,780 --> 00:28:39,250 so if we can learn to live in them on the Moon 436 00:28:40,690 --> 00:28:43,500 it will pave the way for future colonization 437 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:44,583 of the Red Planet. 438 00:28:45,990 --> 00:28:49,320 But before you can build a habitat in a lava tube 439 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,033 you have to fully explore and map it. 440 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,300 And the futuristic technology to do that 441 00:29:00,300 --> 00:29:03,233 is being developed in a surprising place. 442 00:29:04,180 --> 00:29:07,350 America's former industrial heartland, 443 00:29:07,350 --> 00:29:09,143 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. 444 00:29:11,660 --> 00:29:13,930 By a company headquartered in what was once 445 00:29:13,930 --> 00:29:18,323 a steel stamping facility, Astrobotic. 446 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,480 Unlike the older generation of space racers, 447 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:29,183 CEO John Thornton wasn't inspired by men but by machines. 448 00:29:36,410 --> 00:29:38,840 I still remember the Mars Pathfinder landing 449 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,670 on the surface of Mars and I was just awestruck. 450 00:29:41,670 --> 00:29:43,460 I remember in the fifth grade my teacher 451 00:29:43,460 --> 00:29:45,970 assigned the project to build something related 452 00:29:45,970 --> 00:29:48,370 to the news and I chose the Mars rover 453 00:29:48,370 --> 00:29:50,370 and I built a little Lego model of that. 454 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:57,580 Thornton is overseeing 455 00:29:57,580 --> 00:30:00,870 several next-generation lunar probes. 456 00:30:00,870 --> 00:30:04,720 Including a drone that can fly by itself through a skylight. 457 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,880 Explore a lava tube and report back 458 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,403 on whether it's suitable for human habitation. 459 00:30:11,650 --> 00:30:13,660 Flying a drone in and out of a cave 460 00:30:13,660 --> 00:30:14,870 is very, very challenging 461 00:30:14,870 --> 00:30:17,010 because of the high-speed nature that's involved 462 00:30:17,010 --> 00:30:18,680 and the amount of computing that's required 463 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,333 in the sensing that's required. 464 00:30:22,300 --> 00:30:24,020 They're testing the guidance system 465 00:30:24,020 --> 00:30:26,603 on a custom-built propeller-driven drone. 466 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:30,713 But the final version won't be able to use propellers. 467 00:30:31,930 --> 00:30:33,270 There's no atmosphere on the Moon 468 00:30:33,270 --> 00:30:34,680 so propellers won't work. 469 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:36,450 So that propulsive means on the surface 470 00:30:36,450 --> 00:30:39,370 of the Moon will potentially be a cold gas propulsion system 471 00:30:39,370 --> 00:30:41,720 or some other chemical means to get in and out. 472 00:30:45,140 --> 00:30:47,640 Drones will need to guide themselves. 473 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,933 But how can they do that in total darkness? 474 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:56,483 That's the other major problem Astrobotic is tackling. 475 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,720 My group is working on a very small propulsive vehicle. 476 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,220 Sometimes we call it Batbot 477 00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:04,380 because basically you're giving the machine 478 00:31:04,380 --> 00:31:06,753 the capabilities to navigate in the dark. 479 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,030 So our concept involves a Lunar Lander. 480 00:31:11,030 --> 00:31:14,900 This Lander would land close to the edge of the skylight. 481 00:31:14,900 --> 00:31:19,900 And once it landed it would deploy a smaller spacecraft 482 00:31:20,550 --> 00:31:23,653 that would be capable of exploring this lava tube. 483 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,260 Once you're inside your GPS denied, 484 00:31:27,260 --> 00:31:30,340 you won't know what it looks like before you get there 485 00:31:30,340 --> 00:31:32,240 and it's also gonna be extremely dark. 486 00:31:34,390 --> 00:31:36,680 That means Batbot will need sensors 487 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,873 connected to AI to register the tubes twists and turns. 488 00:31:43,490 --> 00:31:45,350 Make sure it doesn't run into walls. 489 00:31:45,350 --> 00:31:48,310 Detect areas that could possibly drill for resources 490 00:31:48,310 --> 00:31:51,210 or find resources inside a lava tube. 491 00:31:51,210 --> 00:31:52,830 We send the data back to earth 492 00:31:52,830 --> 00:31:54,410 and we could start to plan how to build 493 00:31:54,410 --> 00:31:56,103 a colony inside this lava tube. 494 00:32:04,870 --> 00:32:07,070 But even this won't protect colonists 495 00:32:07,070 --> 00:32:10,230 from the Moon's most insidious danger. 496 00:32:10,230 --> 00:32:14,223 The way it's one sixth gravity eats away at the human body. 497 00:32:15,100 --> 00:32:17,793 Leeching away bone and muscle mass. 498 00:32:20,270 --> 00:32:23,960 Lunar colonists exercise at least 2 hours a day 499 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,003 or they'll become too weak to work. 500 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:35,323 And living underground taxes the minds of the colonists. 501 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,680 Who have flown a quarter of a million miles 502 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,263 to find themselves cooped up inside a cave. 503 00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:57,430 I think we should build two Moon bases, 504 00:32:57,430 --> 00:32:59,760 one in the north and one on the south. 505 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,700 How we'll live on the Moon in the long term, 506 00:33:02,700 --> 00:33:05,520 not just survive from hour to hour 507 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,420 is a key problem being tackled 508 00:33:07,420 --> 00:33:10,483 at the International Moon based summit in Hawaii. 509 00:33:14,420 --> 00:33:17,760 What we all believe in is that the giant leap 510 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:21,503 the foundations are being laid right here. 511 00:33:23,470 --> 00:33:26,160 It's a gathering organized by Dutch visionary 512 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,000 and entrepreneur Hank Rogers. 513 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,040 The man who brought the video game Tetris 514 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:32,323 from Russia to the world. 515 00:33:33,460 --> 00:33:37,013 Now he wants to bring humans back to the Moon. 516 00:33:38,790 --> 00:33:40,540 I believe that to survive in space, 517 00:33:40,540 --> 00:33:44,130 to survive on other planetary bodies like the Moon and Mars 518 00:33:44,130 --> 00:33:46,290 we have to create the most amazing spaces 519 00:33:46,290 --> 00:33:49,630 that people have ever been in to make it attractive. 520 00:33:49,630 --> 00:33:51,140 There's gotta be a kitchen. 521 00:33:51,140 --> 00:33:52,656 Of course, yes. 522 00:33:52,656 --> 00:33:56,310 It can't just be like a replicator or whatever. 523 00:33:56,310 --> 00:33:58,810 Something that spits up, meal is ready for eating. 524 00:33:59,890 --> 00:34:03,670 You're absolutely right, that the human being 525 00:34:03,670 --> 00:34:07,103 first needs too feel comfortable. 526 00:34:11,310 --> 00:34:14,510 My plan for that is to have windows 527 00:34:14,510 --> 00:34:18,340 in the underground structure that look out 528 00:34:18,340 --> 00:34:21,140 into fake scenes of Earth. 529 00:34:21,140 --> 00:34:22,740 Just like in a flight simulator. 530 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,180 So I would put cameras on earth 531 00:34:26,180 --> 00:34:29,890 and record a week's worth of someplace. 532 00:34:29,890 --> 00:34:31,810 And then play that in all of the windows 533 00:34:31,810 --> 00:34:32,913 of the Moon base. 534 00:34:45,870 --> 00:34:47,870 With a safe and sizable habitat 535 00:34:47,870 --> 00:34:51,333 established underground, the base grows. 536 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,463 (gentle music) 537 00:35:20,380 --> 00:35:22,750 The initial group of four astronauts 538 00:35:22,750 --> 00:35:25,220 is now a settlement of 40, 539 00:35:25,220 --> 00:35:27,430 each working on the Moon for a year 540 00:35:27,430 --> 00:35:29,383 before rotating back to earth. 541 00:35:31,943 --> 00:35:34,526 (gentle music) 542 00:35:41,647 --> 00:35:44,320 The Moonbase enters its second decade, 543 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,563 the human colonists spend most of their time underground, 544 00:35:49,010 --> 00:35:52,263 while robots work 24/7 above-ground. 545 00:35:59,100 --> 00:36:00,873 With billions to be made, 546 00:36:01,730 --> 00:36:03,680 control of these robot miners 547 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,763 is the key to the Moon's treasure. 548 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,230 At the headquarters of the European Space Agency 549 00:36:19,230 --> 00:36:23,410 in the Netherlands, engineers are developing ways 550 00:36:23,410 --> 00:36:25,270 for astronauts to prospect 551 00:36:25,270 --> 00:36:28,593 the lunar surface by remote control. 552 00:36:32,580 --> 00:36:35,163 (upbeat music) 553 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,820 They've experimented with advanced joysticks, 554 00:36:43,820 --> 00:36:46,100 but more complex maneuvers require 555 00:36:46,100 --> 00:36:49,363 a closer melding of man and machine. 556 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:55,000 This is the Sensory Arm Master or SAM, 557 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:56,890 an exoskeleton with sensors 558 00:36:56,890 --> 00:36:59,140 at each of its seven joints. 559 00:36:59,140 --> 00:37:02,763 They transmit precise movements to a robot arm. 560 00:37:03,820 --> 00:37:05,880 It's designed in the smart way, alright. 561 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:08,030 And there's also more direct correlation 562 00:37:08,030 --> 00:37:10,690 between your shoulder, your elbow, the hand. 563 00:37:10,690 --> 00:37:14,590 And the shoulder, elbow and hand of the robot, right? 564 00:37:14,590 --> 00:37:17,500 Yes, and I can also receive the force feedback 565 00:37:17,500 --> 00:37:20,080 from the robot set on all the joints. 566 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:22,280 Force feedback sensors on the arm 567 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,560 give the robot a sense of touch 568 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:26,593 that the controller can feel. 569 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:29,690 There's also safety attached to it 570 00:37:29,690 --> 00:37:31,860 like if I have a stuck rock here. 571 00:37:31,860 --> 00:37:35,260 It's stuck like that I don't know how big it is, right? 572 00:37:35,260 --> 00:37:37,340 I pull on it and nothing happens, 573 00:37:37,340 --> 00:37:38,890 perhaps I want to stop pulling on it 574 00:37:38,890 --> 00:37:40,410 before this thing snaps, right? 575 00:37:40,410 --> 00:37:42,630 Exactly so you actually gets a sense of touch 576 00:37:42,630 --> 00:37:45,253 and this is the power of the human in the loop. 577 00:37:55,540 --> 00:37:58,270 With this technology lunar astronauts 578 00:37:58,270 --> 00:38:02,243 are firmly in control and out of harm's way. 579 00:38:03,770 --> 00:38:05,250 You're gonna be living in the bunker 580 00:38:05,250 --> 00:38:07,323 operating the robots by remote control. 581 00:38:10,370 --> 00:38:12,490 You won't be doing long excursions 582 00:38:12,490 --> 00:38:13,863 on the surface of the Moon. 583 00:38:21,060 --> 00:38:22,870 For those hoping to strike it rich 584 00:38:22,870 --> 00:38:25,020 on the Moons helium-3, 585 00:38:25,020 --> 00:38:26,950 the highest soil concentrations 586 00:38:26,950 --> 00:38:29,113 are only 50 parts per billion. 587 00:38:31,230 --> 00:38:34,670 We might have to excavate more than 200 square miles 588 00:38:34,670 --> 00:38:37,280 of the Moon to get enough to power 589 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,683 all of the United States for a year. 590 00:38:42,530 --> 00:38:44,640 That's one reason China is interested in 591 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,853 exploring the far side of the Moon. 592 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,490 It's exposed to more solar wind 593 00:38:50,490 --> 00:38:54,123 which might have created higher concentrations of helium-3. 594 00:38:56,180 --> 00:38:59,600 China estimates the Moon may have enough helium-3 595 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,140 to take over the world's entire electrical grid 596 00:39:03,140 --> 00:39:05,970 for the next hundred centuries. 597 00:39:05,970 --> 00:39:07,630 You have to process a lot of regolith 598 00:39:07,630 --> 00:39:08,730 to get a little bit of helium-3 599 00:39:08,730 --> 00:39:10,953 but it's potentially a game-changer. 600 00:39:18,110 --> 00:39:20,830 For the colonists it will be a non-stop 601 00:39:20,830 --> 00:39:23,733 struggle to keep the mining robots operational. 602 00:39:25,630 --> 00:39:28,030 On the Moon the dust is electrostatically charged 603 00:39:28,030 --> 00:39:31,440 which means it's more likely to stick to our robots 604 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:33,100 and our cameras and our solar panels 605 00:39:33,100 --> 00:39:34,623 as we operate on the surface. 606 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,280 Humans can wipe dust off with their hands 607 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,710 but typically robots aren't designed to do that. 608 00:39:40,710 --> 00:39:43,720 So we are worried about the dusts accumulate 609 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:46,050 on the surface over robots over time 610 00:39:46,050 --> 00:39:48,083 and reducing our ability to operate. 611 00:39:52,090 --> 00:39:54,580 The contrast between day and night 612 00:39:54,580 --> 00:39:57,213 doesn't make things any easier on the robots. 613 00:39:58,540 --> 00:40:01,040 At night the temperatures are liquid nitrogen cold, 614 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,490 during the day they're as hot as a low temperature oven. 615 00:40:04,490 --> 00:40:08,450 And electronics batteries and even mobility components 616 00:40:08,450 --> 00:40:11,400 like drivetrain components are a challenge to survive that. 617 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:16,430 If replacement parts can't be assembled 618 00:40:16,430 --> 00:40:20,003 or 3D printed on the Moon they'll need to be delivered. 619 00:40:21,990 --> 00:40:24,590 The colony's survival depends on a reliable 620 00:40:24,590 --> 00:40:27,670 delivery system between the Earth and Moon. 621 00:40:38,700 --> 00:40:41,080 On earth delivering a spare part 622 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:43,530 or any other package is routine, 623 00:40:43,530 --> 00:40:46,683 thanks to reliable vehicles guided by GPS. 624 00:40:48,660 --> 00:40:51,743 That kind of infrastructure doesn't exist on the Moon. 625 00:40:56,950 --> 00:41:01,032 But that's what the team at Astrobotic is building. 626 00:41:01,032 --> 00:41:03,615 (gentle music) 627 00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:09,570 This is Pelegrine our lander 628 00:41:09,570 --> 00:41:11,930 This is the delivery vehicle that will carry payloads 629 00:41:11,930 --> 00:41:13,040 up to the surface of the Moon. 630 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:15,000 So payloads attach above and below 631 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:16,700 these this deck right here. 632 00:41:16,700 --> 00:41:18,460 So some Rovers will attach underneath 633 00:41:18,460 --> 00:41:20,610 and drop down to the surface. 634 00:41:20,610 --> 00:41:23,920 Some payloads will stay attached on top of the vehicle. 635 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,820 We have 12 small attitude control thrusters 636 00:41:26,820 --> 00:41:29,270 scattered all over the vehicle high and low. 637 00:41:29,270 --> 00:41:32,690 These are used to orient the spacecraft in space. 638 00:41:32,690 --> 00:41:34,750 So we use that to make sure that the spacecraft 639 00:41:34,750 --> 00:41:36,780 is pointed in the correct direction. 640 00:41:36,780 --> 00:41:39,660 We have five 100-pound force engines 641 00:41:39,660 --> 00:41:42,200 that provide the thrust to slow the vehicle down 642 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:44,250 as it approaches the surface of the Moon. 643 00:41:47,900 --> 00:41:50,920 For lunar deliveries to become routine, 644 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:53,220 Thornton needs his fleet of delivery vehicles 645 00:41:53,220 --> 00:41:54,913 to land autonomously. 646 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,970 On earth you can use GPS to automatically 647 00:41:58,970 --> 00:42:02,360 position a spacecraft for a precise landing. 648 00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:05,943 But on the Moon there are no GPS satellites. 649 00:42:07,530 --> 00:42:10,993 So are autonomous landings even possible? 650 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:14,363 Thornton is about to find out. 651 00:42:21,020 --> 00:42:24,120 This is the first full test of Astrobotic's 652 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:25,743 landing guidance system. 653 00:42:26,860 --> 00:42:29,860 It uses cameras to scan the surface 654 00:42:29,860 --> 00:42:32,360 and match the features it sees 655 00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:35,330 to onboard maps stored in its memory. 656 00:42:35,330 --> 00:42:37,380 What that allows us to do is our spacecraft 657 00:42:37,380 --> 00:42:39,060 can navigate down to the surface of the Moon 658 00:42:39,060 --> 00:42:41,363 and know where it is at all times. 659 00:42:42,630 --> 00:42:45,750 Once it locates the intended landing area, 660 00:42:45,750 --> 00:42:47,470 it's designed to automatically 661 00:42:47,470 --> 00:42:50,310 reorient itself to avoid hazards. 662 00:42:50,310 --> 00:42:53,523 Like the rocks strewn across this desert landscape. 663 00:42:54,870 --> 00:42:56,770 As we're descending down to the surface of the Moon 664 00:42:56,770 --> 00:42:59,500 that same technology can be used to look for rocks 665 00:42:59,500 --> 00:43:00,870 and obstacles and slopes 666 00:43:00,870 --> 00:43:02,920 that might interfere with a safe landing. 667 00:43:05,670 --> 00:43:09,110 If this test succeeds it will be the first time 668 00:43:09,110 --> 00:43:11,440 a free-flying rocket-propelled vehicle 669 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:15,633 has landed autonomously without the aid of GPS. 670 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,330 Our sensors were looking out over the field 671 00:43:19,330 --> 00:43:22,323 as we were descending and looking for obstacles. 672 00:43:23,310 --> 00:43:26,190 The spacecraft saw some rocks that we had 673 00:43:26,190 --> 00:43:27,383 placed in the area. 674 00:43:34,805 --> 00:43:37,722 (ebullient music) 675 00:43:43,935 --> 00:43:45,580 And it landed successfully. 676 00:43:45,580 --> 00:43:48,070 And that was the very first time that that occurred live 677 00:43:48,070 --> 00:43:50,873 on board of a propulsive free flyer here on earth. 678 00:43:54,570 --> 00:43:55,980 That means that we can do landings 679 00:43:55,980 --> 00:43:59,723 on the surface of the Moon to very precise spots. 680 00:44:03,327 --> 00:44:06,940 (rocket engine roars) 681 00:44:06,940 --> 00:44:08,500 While some delivery vehicles 682 00:44:08,500 --> 00:44:10,653 will be launched directly to the Moon, 683 00:44:11,530 --> 00:44:14,400 others will bring their cargo to a point in space 684 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:18,313 about 38,000 miles beyond the far side of the Moon. 685 00:44:19,590 --> 00:44:22,680 This is a Lagrange point, 686 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:26,270 named for an 18th century French mathematician. 687 00:44:26,270 --> 00:44:28,030 It's one of a handful of areas 688 00:44:28,030 --> 00:44:30,580 between the Sun, Earth and Moon 689 00:44:30,580 --> 00:44:34,060 where gravity is basically balanced. 690 00:44:34,060 --> 00:44:37,340 It's a gravity neutral point. 691 00:44:37,340 --> 00:44:40,320 So if you can go there you don't need a lot of fuel 692 00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:44,000 to stay there and you stay at the same point over the Moon 693 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:46,570 instead of going round and round. 694 00:44:49,150 --> 00:44:52,283 The Lagrange point becomes a wait station in space. 695 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:55,793 A place to store fuel and supplies. 696 00:44:57,150 --> 00:45:00,820 And for cargo deliveries a port of entry, 697 00:45:00,820 --> 00:45:03,480 where it takes only a small amount of thrust 698 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:05,623 to get down to the lunar surface. 699 00:45:18,210 --> 00:45:21,070 The delivery of the much-needed replacement part 700 00:45:21,070 --> 00:45:24,623 means a rare opportunity to step outside. 701 00:45:33,850 --> 00:45:35,500 Every once in a while we'll send the astronauts 702 00:45:35,500 --> 00:45:37,462 out to do a repair mission. 703 00:45:37,462 --> 00:45:40,045 (gentle music) 704 00:45:49,750 --> 00:45:52,263 The repair mission has to be fast. 705 00:45:53,460 --> 00:45:56,533 Radiation exposure needs to be kept to a minimum. 706 00:45:57,506 --> 00:46:00,256 (dramatic music) 707 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:20,763 And there are less predictable dangers. 708 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:29,440 A moonquake, 5.5 on the Richter scale 709 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:31,083 and there's nowhere to run. 710 00:46:43,326 --> 00:46:45,050 A hundred years ago in the heroic era 711 00:46:45,050 --> 00:46:47,610 of Antarctic exploration when people died, 712 00:46:47,610 --> 00:46:49,810 it was just an accepted part of exploration. 713 00:46:52,070 --> 00:46:53,410 Accept the fact that people will die 714 00:46:53,410 --> 00:46:54,860 and that's the price you pay. 715 00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:02,333 In space death is the cost of doing business. 716 00:47:04,230 --> 00:47:06,710 And as long as money can be made, 717 00:47:06,710 --> 00:47:08,463 the colonizing will continue. 718 00:47:13,810 --> 00:47:18,343 Mistakes will be learned from, technology will advance. 719 00:47:19,900 --> 00:47:23,430 Stronger habitats and spacesuits will be built. 720 00:47:23,430 --> 00:47:27,363 Risks will never be eliminated but they'll be reduced. 721 00:47:29,070 --> 00:47:31,680 If the Moon is the 8th continent 722 00:47:31,680 --> 00:47:33,970 then it'll be developed like one. 723 00:47:33,970 --> 00:47:37,270 With an eye on the bottom line and the expectation 724 00:47:37,270 --> 00:47:41,360 that today's 330 billion dollar space industry 725 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,003 is only the beginning. 726 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:47,650 What we wanna do at Moon Express 727 00:47:47,650 --> 00:47:50,570 is move the economic sphere of Earth outward 728 00:47:50,570 --> 00:47:53,343 from Earth orbit to the Moon, 729 00:47:54,540 --> 00:47:56,680 and that will transform our society 730 00:47:56,680 --> 00:47:58,480 and benefit everybody here on earth. 731 00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:10,150 By the end of a century 732 00:48:10,150 --> 00:48:12,670 what started as a primitive Moon base 733 00:48:12,670 --> 00:48:16,070 has grown into a colony where dozens of people live 734 00:48:16,070 --> 00:48:18,540 for more than a year at a time. 735 00:48:18,540 --> 00:48:21,610 And the first colony has been joined by others, 736 00:48:21,610 --> 00:48:24,810 a European village, a Russian base, 737 00:48:24,810 --> 00:48:26,883 a Chinese mining operation. 738 00:48:28,030 --> 00:48:31,810 Each colony mines helium-3 and ships it to earth 739 00:48:31,810 --> 00:48:36,133 providing energy to millions and a fortune to investors. 740 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:41,400 And each mixes Moon made propellant 741 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,590 and flies it to depots parked at a Lagrange point 742 00:48:45,630 --> 00:48:49,423 to refuel rockets headed for Mars. 743 00:48:52,390 --> 00:48:57,143 The Moon is now a stepping stone to other planets. 744 00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:06,440 The Moon is the place we're gonna go 745 00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:08,560 to extract resources and turn that 746 00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:10,300 into useable things for us. 747 00:49:10,300 --> 00:49:13,283 To refuel our spacecraft and go deeper into space. 748 00:49:14,121 --> 00:49:16,783 So the Moon is our gateway to our solar system. 749 00:49:19,130 --> 00:49:20,430 It's the stepping stone. 750 00:49:22,950 --> 00:49:25,390 We have to become a multiplanetary species 751 00:49:25,390 --> 00:49:29,090 for safety reasons for lots and lots of reasons. 752 00:49:29,090 --> 00:49:31,350 If humankind wants to expand, 753 00:49:31,350 --> 00:49:33,000 we've got to get off this planet. 754 00:49:37,010 --> 00:49:41,280 It's this epic right now where all future generations 755 00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:43,630 of humanity we'll look back and say this was the time 756 00:49:43,630 --> 00:49:45,580 that we moved out to space permanently. 757 00:49:53,614 --> 00:49:56,197 (gentle music)