1 00:00:05,940 --> 00:00:09,308 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:11,078 --> 00:00:14,947 narrator: The international space station is the ultimate extreme home. 3 00:00:16,801 --> 00:00:20,202 Don: Space is an environment where human beings were not meant to live. 4 00:00:21,472 --> 00:00:24,873 Narrator: The most expensive structure humans have ever built... 5 00:00:26,343 --> 00:00:30,212 Here in the most inhospitable environment known to man. 6 00:00:31,315 --> 00:00:36,502 Don: The only reason we can go there is by taking technology to provide us 7 00:00:36,537 --> 00:00:39,138 with everything that we need in order to stay alive. 8 00:00:41,075 --> 00:00:45,644 Narrator: With no air, food or water, 250 miles above the earth, 9 00:00:46,514 --> 00:00:49,181 it's an epic engineering challenge. 10 00:00:50,067 --> 00:00:51,533 Morgan: We, as engineers, 11 00:00:51,569 --> 00:00:54,303 are having to figure out how to make systems that 12 00:00:54,338 --> 00:00:58,273 provide all those functions that earth provides, in a tiny little can. 13 00:01:08,002 --> 00:01:10,569 Narrator: To reveal how the engineers pulled it off... 14 00:01:12,073 --> 00:01:15,074 We're going to take it apart... 15 00:01:15,943 --> 00:01:19,578 And uncover what's going on inside. 16 00:01:20,414 --> 00:01:24,199 How the international space station and its superstructure secrets 17 00:01:25,669 --> 00:01:29,071 will help our species reach other planets and beyond. 18 00:01:45,439 --> 00:01:49,808 Costing up to an astonishing $150 billion, 19 00:01:49,844 --> 00:01:53,345 this is an unprecedented home. 20 00:01:55,549 --> 00:01:58,500 Amos: The iss is an extraordinary feat of engineering, 21 00:01:59,036 --> 00:02:01,770 because not only do you have to make this big environment 22 00:02:01,806 --> 00:02:04,173 that people can live in which, you know, is 23 00:02:04,208 --> 00:02:08,410 non-trivial to do on earth, you have to do it in space. 24 00:02:10,681 --> 00:02:13,866 Narrator: It comprises millions of high-tech components. 25 00:02:15,803 --> 00:02:19,738 There are 16 pressurized modules with living quarters, 26 00:02:20,808 --> 00:02:23,108 sleeping bays, an observation deck, 27 00:02:24,145 --> 00:02:28,413 and six science labs, all connected via airtight tunnels. 28 00:02:30,568 --> 00:02:33,669 And there's plenty of parking for visitors, 29 00:02:33,904 --> 00:02:37,472 including spots reserved for russian soyuz capsules, 30 00:02:38,642 --> 00:02:44,246 the iss's lifeboats, which are on permanent standby in case of emergency. 31 00:02:46,934 --> 00:02:49,101 Unlike any other structure, 32 00:02:49,136 --> 00:02:53,505 the iss has to provide everything its astronauts need. 33 00:02:53,541 --> 00:02:55,207 If it fails... 34 00:02:55,242 --> 00:02:57,276 They die. 35 00:02:57,711 --> 00:03:00,679 Danielle: A human being can only survive for three weeks without food, 36 00:03:00,714 --> 00:03:03,565 three days without water and three minutes without air. 37 00:03:05,135 --> 00:03:09,037 Narrator: For humanity to successfully venture well away from earth, 38 00:03:09,073 --> 00:03:12,941 astronauts will need to be self-sufficient. 39 00:03:14,745 --> 00:03:18,780 If the iss can solve the challenges, it will prove humans can 40 00:03:18,816 --> 00:03:22,000 truly live in space. 41 00:03:22,770 --> 00:03:25,504 But before anyone can take up residence, 42 00:03:25,539 --> 00:03:30,008 the engineers behind the iss had to get it into space 43 00:03:30,311 --> 00:03:34,546 and it weights a colossal 460 tons. 44 00:03:34,782 --> 00:03:38,133 The same as about 300 cars. 45 00:03:38,168 --> 00:03:41,904 Danielle: It would be great if we could just build the international space station on 46 00:03:41,939 --> 00:03:44,673 the earth and then just blast it into space. 47 00:03:45,609 --> 00:03:49,044 Amos: You couldn't just fly the whole thing up there in one, one shot. 48 00:03:49,380 --> 00:03:53,315 You had to take a piece at a time and assemble it together like lego. 49 00:03:56,136 --> 00:04:00,772 Narrator: The iss began life as just two modules that had to be connected in space: 50 00:04:02,209 --> 00:04:05,010 One built by america and the other by russia. 51 00:04:06,647 --> 00:04:11,366 Allison: The first flight actually launched in November of 1998. 52 00:04:18,776 --> 00:04:23,278 It hadn't been that long since the end of communism in russia and here we were 53 00:04:23,314 --> 00:04:27,599 building a joint russian/us space station. 54 00:04:28,235 --> 00:04:32,004 So just the political milestone that that represented 55 00:04:32,039 --> 00:04:34,840 was pretty significant. 56 00:04:34,875 --> 00:04:37,509 Narrator: After the intense competition of the space race, 57 00:04:37,544 --> 00:04:40,445 it's suddenly all about collaboration. 58 00:04:41,315 --> 00:04:45,567 The orbiting russian module is known as zarya, which means sunrise. 59 00:04:46,537 --> 00:04:50,105 Next, the first american module, known as unity, 60 00:04:50,140 --> 00:04:52,874 sets off inside the cargo bay of 61 00:04:52,910 --> 00:04:55,177 space shuttle endeavor. 62 00:04:55,212 --> 00:04:58,013 Man (over radio): Lift off for the space shuttle endeavor. 63 00:04:58,048 --> 00:05:02,134 Narrator: Unity is now chasing zarya through space at more than 64 00:05:02,169 --> 00:05:05,537 17,000 miles per hour. 65 00:05:05,773 --> 00:05:09,474 Two modules from two super powers are about to dock. 66 00:05:10,077 --> 00:05:13,545 Don: The first thing we have to do is to open up the payload bay doors. 67 00:05:13,580 --> 00:05:17,165 Danielle: Can you imagine how important it is for these two modules to mate? 68 00:05:19,636 --> 00:05:22,704 Narrator: Unfortunately, before both modules were launched, 69 00:05:23,474 --> 00:05:26,074 engineers spotted a problem. 70 00:05:27,644 --> 00:05:30,579 Allison: Not all the pieces got to be integrated on the ground 71 00:05:30,614 --> 00:05:33,148 before they were launched. 72 00:05:33,484 --> 00:05:37,569 Narrator: Neither zarya nor unity were originally designed for the iss. 73 00:05:38,605 --> 00:05:41,740 Their docking systems wouldn't fit together. 74 00:05:42,042 --> 00:05:46,545 Don: The russian hatches are all round and our hatches are all square. 75 00:05:47,514 --> 00:05:50,148 Danielle: I mean, this is fundamental to the international space station, 76 00:05:50,184 --> 00:05:53,068 and what you have are two things that don't mate. 77 00:05:53,303 --> 00:05:56,538 Don: And so, what do you do? 78 00:05:56,740 --> 00:06:01,376 Well, you make an adaptor lego block connector thing. 79 00:06:01,412 --> 00:06:04,780 Narrator: The l shaped lego thing they came up with is called the 80 00:06:04,815 --> 00:06:08,667 pressurized mating adaptor or pma. 81 00:06:09,203 --> 00:06:12,104 Not only does this accommodate the different shaped hatches, 82 00:06:12,139 --> 00:06:14,039 it also has a precision 83 00:06:14,074 --> 00:06:18,610 engineered docking ring for grabbing hold of another module and 84 00:06:18,645 --> 00:06:21,279 perfectly aligning it. 85 00:06:21,715 --> 00:06:25,167 Vital, if a reliable airlock is to be made. 86 00:06:25,769 --> 00:06:28,870 This is the moment of truth. 87 00:06:33,777 --> 00:06:37,345 Latches on the inside of the docking ring finally make the connection and 88 00:06:38,382 --> 00:06:41,666 pull the modules together. 89 00:06:43,504 --> 00:06:46,738 Astronaut (over radio): Houston, endeavor, we have captured zarya. 90 00:06:46,774 --> 00:06:50,075 Narrator: The international space station is born. 91 00:06:50,110 --> 00:06:51,777 Astronaut (over radio): It was amazing. 92 00:06:51,812 --> 00:06:53,078 I mean, here we are. 93 00:06:53,113 --> 00:06:54,579 We got airborne, 94 00:06:54,615 --> 00:06:56,882 we had unity in the bay and when we left, we left a functioning 95 00:06:56,917 --> 00:06:59,501 space station ready for the next module to come up. 96 00:06:59,536 --> 00:07:01,670 Narrator: In the 20 years that follow, 97 00:07:01,705 --> 00:07:05,107 engineers from all round the world join the project, 98 00:07:05,375 --> 00:07:08,944 building their own space laboratories and bigger living quarters. 99 00:07:10,380 --> 00:07:13,248 But every one of the modules was constructed on earth, 100 00:07:13,934 --> 00:07:16,935 and it takes a supreme international effort to 101 00:07:16,970 --> 00:07:19,538 launch them all successfully into space. 102 00:07:20,574 --> 00:07:22,407 Danielle: It took a long time to build the space station. 103 00:07:22,443 --> 00:07:24,876 We have to fly everything up, we have to connect all the modules, 104 00:07:24,912 --> 00:07:28,046 put them together, so that took over 40 missions. 105 00:07:28,081 --> 00:07:30,215 Modules came from all over the world. 106 00:07:30,250 --> 00:07:32,334 We have the us modules from nasa, 107 00:07:32,369 --> 00:07:33,668 we have the russian modules, 108 00:07:33,704 --> 00:07:36,004 we have the japanese modules and the european module; 109 00:07:36,039 --> 00:07:37,539 you name it. 110 00:07:37,574 --> 00:07:41,143 Narrator: And it costs around $10,000 to send every pound of weight 111 00:07:41,178 --> 00:07:43,578 up here from earth. 112 00:07:43,847 --> 00:07:47,115 Suni: So, right now we're in the japanese laboratory. 113 00:07:47,134 --> 00:07:50,235 It's one laboratory out of many here on the international space station. 114 00:07:50,838 --> 00:07:53,738 This is columbus, the european module. 115 00:07:53,774 --> 00:07:56,274 It has science experiments all over. 116 00:07:56,310 --> 00:07:58,510 You can see it looks a little bit crowded. 117 00:07:58,545 --> 00:08:01,046 Here we are in the us laboratory. 118 00:08:01,081 --> 00:08:04,766 Again, this is a laboratory with science experiments on all of the walls here. 119 00:08:05,369 --> 00:08:07,369 Now we're going into the russian segment. 120 00:08:07,437 --> 00:08:08,503 Be ready. 121 00:08:08,539 --> 00:08:10,605 You don't need a passport either. 122 00:08:14,211 --> 00:08:17,812 And what's cool about this module, it is actually the very first piece 123 00:08:17,848 --> 00:08:20,182 of the space station that came up in 1998. 124 00:08:23,604 --> 00:08:26,505 Danielle: It's been occupied continuously ever since then. 125 00:08:26,540 --> 00:08:31,209 So, if you think for 18 years, there has always been a human presence in space. 126 00:08:35,082 --> 00:08:37,933 Narrator: Today, the iss is enormous. 127 00:08:38,769 --> 00:08:42,571 By far the largest space station ever created. 128 00:08:48,145 --> 00:08:51,246 Jeff: It's actually big enough, if you have a good pair of binoculars and 129 00:08:51,281 --> 00:08:54,933 when it's flying over, right overhead, you can actually see it. 130 00:08:56,203 --> 00:08:58,203 Normally you look at a satellite and it's just a little dot, 131 00:08:59,106 --> 00:09:01,973 but the iss is big enough that you can actually 132 00:09:02,009 --> 00:09:04,042 see it as an extended object. 133 00:09:09,716 --> 00:09:14,135 Narrator: It's so vast, in fact, that it would dwarf times square. 134 00:09:14,972 --> 00:09:20,008 At an astonishing 357 x 240 feet it has more 135 00:09:20,544 --> 00:09:24,446 living space than a five-bedroom home. 136 00:09:25,015 --> 00:09:28,934 But the larger the international space station becomes, 137 00:09:28,969 --> 00:09:32,704 the larger a very obvious issue becomes, too. 138 00:09:33,340 --> 00:09:35,407 Air... 139 00:09:35,442 --> 00:09:38,176 In space there is none. 140 00:09:39,546 --> 00:09:42,380 Danielle: It doesn't provide a life support system for us: 141 00:09:42,416 --> 00:09:43,715 Air, oxygen. 142 00:09:43,750 --> 00:09:48,270 And so, if we have a home in space, we need to provide all of that. 143 00:09:49,740 --> 00:09:53,608 Narrator: The average adult breathes close to 4,000 gallons of air per day. 144 00:09:55,379 --> 00:10:00,048 With a crew that can be up to nine, the iss must supply a huge amount of it, 145 00:10:01,401 --> 00:10:05,003 and it's not coming from outside those windows. 146 00:10:17,301 --> 00:10:21,870 ♪ ♪ 147 00:10:24,207 --> 00:10:26,574 narrator: Cruising outside the earth's atmosphere, 148 00:10:26,610 --> 00:10:29,511 the international space station has to 149 00:10:29,546 --> 00:10:32,547 provide everything the astronauts need to live. 150 00:10:33,283 --> 00:10:36,201 And breathable air is first on the list. 151 00:10:38,505 --> 00:10:42,774 Morgan: Their very survival really depends on the things that we provide them, 152 00:10:42,809 --> 00:10:46,311 and you're also having to deal with the fact that at any point in time, 153 00:10:46,346 --> 00:10:49,014 if one of your system fails, 154 00:10:49,049 --> 00:10:53,168 you have a very limited amount of time to either get something from earth 155 00:10:53,203 --> 00:10:55,637 or to get back to earth as quickly as you can. 156 00:10:58,208 --> 00:11:02,977 Narrator: In a crisis, an emergency supply of oxygen can be sent up by rocket. 157 00:11:04,214 --> 00:11:07,365 Man (over radio): Five, four, three, two, one. 158 00:11:08,001 --> 00:11:11,836 Narrator: With technological advances, spacecraft can now rendezvous with the 159 00:11:11,872 --> 00:11:15,940 iss in six hours, if everything goes to plan. 160 00:11:29,406 --> 00:11:33,308 But even when a cargo delivery is successful, there's a price to pay. 161 00:11:34,778 --> 00:11:37,312 The cost of each mission is colossal: 162 00:11:37,347 --> 00:11:40,115 Almost $200 million. 163 00:11:40,150 --> 00:11:43,535 Jeff: It's expensive to bring a kilogram of anything up to the space station and 164 00:11:43,570 --> 00:11:47,505 to spend all that money just to bring 165 00:11:47,541 --> 00:11:50,642 up water and oxygen would be an incredible waste. 166 00:11:51,878 --> 00:11:55,080 Narrator: The iss needs to make its own air. 167 00:11:55,115 --> 00:11:59,801 Danielle: The oxygen on the iss can come from a delivery from earth and 168 00:11:59,836 --> 00:12:01,703 then they're stored in tanks, 169 00:12:01,738 --> 00:12:05,407 but the iss is also capable of generating oxygen on board. 170 00:12:07,177 --> 00:12:09,711 Narrator: On earth, we take air for granted. 171 00:12:10,313 --> 00:12:16,634 In space, each astronaut must be supplied with 1.85 pounds of oxygen per day 172 00:12:17,738 --> 00:12:21,873 365 days a year to avoid suffocating. 173 00:12:24,144 --> 00:12:30,448 In the very heart of the iss is an unassuming machine about the size of a trash can. 174 00:12:33,336 --> 00:12:38,139 It's this that holds the secret to keeping astronauts alive. 175 00:12:38,775 --> 00:12:43,144 Incredibly, it generates oxygen from nothing more than water. 176 00:12:43,947 --> 00:12:46,247 Danielle: So, what happens is you have some water. 177 00:12:46,283 --> 00:12:48,967 You feed some electricity through that water and the electricity will 178 00:12:49,002 --> 00:12:52,771 split that water into hydrogen and oxygen. 179 00:12:53,039 --> 00:12:56,541 Narrator: The oxygen comes off as bubbles at the positive electrode, 180 00:12:56,576 --> 00:12:58,643 the hydrogen at the negative. 181 00:12:59,246 --> 00:13:02,847 But again, being in space turns something that's straightforward on 182 00:13:02,883 --> 00:13:06,167 earth into a major engineering challenge: 183 00:13:07,170 --> 00:13:11,606 The bubbles of gas won't come out of the water. 184 00:13:12,909 --> 00:13:17,512 Jeff: In your high school chemistry lab, the gas just bubbles up to the surface 185 00:13:17,981 --> 00:13:21,966 because the gas is lighter than the water and, therefore, it goes up. 186 00:13:23,703 --> 00:13:26,171 Gas is not lighter than liquid in space, 187 00:13:26,206 --> 00:13:28,306 because gas doesn't have any weight and liquid 188 00:13:28,341 --> 00:13:29,941 doesn't have any weight. 189 00:13:29,976 --> 00:13:33,745 So, you produce gas bubbles and they just sit there. 190 00:13:34,014 --> 00:13:36,848 And what we generally do is we centrifuge it, 191 00:13:36,883 --> 00:13:39,834 so you spin it all around and the liquid, 192 00:13:39,870 --> 00:13:42,937 being denser, it doesn't weigh any more, 193 00:13:42,973 --> 00:13:45,607 but it still has mass, so it's denser and it 194 00:13:45,642 --> 00:13:50,478 goes to the outside and you can then separate the liquid from the gas. 195 00:13:50,947 --> 00:13:52,647 Danielle: The hydrogen gets thrown away... 196 00:13:52,682 --> 00:13:57,202 It gets pumped into space and the oxygen is used for the iss air supply. 197 00:13:58,605 --> 00:14:02,674 Narrator: There's enough capacity on board to generate 5 to 20 pounds 198 00:14:02,709 --> 00:14:05,176 of oxygen a day. 199 00:14:05,212 --> 00:14:07,278 More than enough for the crew. 200 00:14:09,115 --> 00:14:11,933 In the extreme environment of space, 201 00:14:11,968 --> 00:14:15,103 making air is just the first challenge. 202 00:14:15,138 --> 00:14:18,306 The iss has to keep it. 203 00:14:18,542 --> 00:14:22,844 But it's under constant threat of a breach in its hull. 204 00:14:23,613 --> 00:14:26,214 Danielle: There is so much space junk up there now. 205 00:14:26,750 --> 00:14:29,467 Morgan: There's the potential for it to puncture the outer wall of the space station. 206 00:14:30,203 --> 00:14:34,873 Don: I was taking pictures out one of the windows and it was a nice clear window. 207 00:14:35,742 --> 00:14:39,210 I came back some time later to take another picture and there was a great big 208 00:14:39,246 --> 00:14:42,347 ding in the window about 5/8th of an inch 209 00:14:42,949 --> 00:14:46,267 in diameter from a micro meteorite impact. 210 00:14:46,303 --> 00:14:48,736 We had to take pictures, close up pictures, 211 00:14:48,772 --> 00:14:51,039 send it down to the ground and it had to be analyzed to 212 00:14:51,074 --> 00:14:54,909 see whether it was going to be a threat when we entered. 213 00:14:55,178 --> 00:14:58,346 If you pop a hole in a space station, the atmosphere is going to 214 00:14:58,381 --> 00:15:00,348 leave very, very quickly. 215 00:15:00,383 --> 00:15:04,269 Narrator: No atmosphere means no oxygen and the consequences of 216 00:15:04,304 --> 00:15:07,071 that are obvious. 217 00:15:07,107 --> 00:15:12,911 So, how does the iss deal with the threat of colliding with meteorites? 218 00:15:27,010 --> 00:15:30,144 ♪ ♪ 219 00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:34,215 narrator: The international space station is the largest manmade object 220 00:15:34,250 --> 00:15:36,968 that's ever orbited the earth. 221 00:15:37,170 --> 00:15:40,638 And it's racing around our planet at 5 miles a second, 222 00:15:41,541 --> 00:15:44,509 but on board that's hard to appreciate. 223 00:15:45,111 --> 00:15:47,378 Jeff: How do we sense speed if you're in a car, for instance? 224 00:15:47,414 --> 00:15:50,048 You know, you have the road noise, you have the wind going by, 225 00:15:50,083 --> 00:15:52,900 you have billboards or trees going by your window. 226 00:15:53,536 --> 00:15:56,371 None of that exists in space. 227 00:15:57,107 --> 00:16:01,476 The only way you get a visceral sense of how fast I was going is, you know, 228 00:16:01,778 --> 00:16:04,779 you're going over the pacific ocean and then ten minutes later 229 00:16:04,814 --> 00:16:07,215 you fly over new york and then ten 230 00:16:07,250 --> 00:16:10,101 minutes after that you're flying over london. 231 00:16:10,337 --> 00:16:13,871 Narrator: If the iss was orbiting closer to earth, we'd all see how 232 00:16:13,907 --> 00:16:16,207 terrifying its speed is. 233 00:16:17,010 --> 00:16:20,144 It would cross the us from coast to coast in just ten minutes, 234 00:16:21,648 --> 00:16:24,999 lapping the earth more than 5,500 times a year. 235 00:16:26,603 --> 00:16:30,271 Dava: It's actually travelling 26,000 kilometers per hour or 236 00:16:30,306 --> 00:16:32,540 17,500 miles per hour. 237 00:16:32,575 --> 00:16:35,276 So you would definitely be breaking the speed limit, right? 238 00:16:36,179 --> 00:16:39,347 Narrator: Speed on earth can be incredibly dangerous, 239 00:16:39,649 --> 00:16:43,368 but in space, at the velocity the iss hurtles at, 240 00:16:43,403 --> 00:16:47,972 the consequences of a collision can be off-the-scale catastrophic. 241 00:16:49,809 --> 00:16:52,110 Jeff: Space debris is going by you at about five miles a second, 242 00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:56,247 so if there's a big piece of debris that happens to have your number on it, 243 00:16:56,282 --> 00:16:59,500 it's moving so fast you'd never see it. 244 00:17:00,904 --> 00:17:03,905 Narrator: March 23rd, 2012. 245 00:17:03,940 --> 00:17:06,507 Mission control radio's the crew. 246 00:17:06,943 --> 00:17:09,544 Man (over radio): And how about relative velocity, any idea? 247 00:17:09,579 --> 00:17:11,279 Man 2 (over radio): Checking. 248 00:17:11,314 --> 00:17:14,365 Narrator: Something is heading straight for the space station. 249 00:17:14,801 --> 00:17:16,868 Man: The time of closest approach of this fragment of 250 00:17:16,903 --> 00:17:19,237 space debris is 11 minutes from now. 251 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,007 Narrator: No-one knows how big this object is. 252 00:17:24,978 --> 00:17:29,514 Don: Well, you do what you're trained to do and, and even though you got 253 00:17:29,849 --> 00:17:31,599 woken up in the wee hours of the morning, 254 00:17:31,634 --> 00:17:33,201 you know what the reason is. 255 00:17:33,236 --> 00:17:36,304 Narrator: The crew must prepare the space station for impact. 256 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:38,606 Astronaut (over radio): Can you see it? 257 00:17:38,641 --> 00:17:40,641 Yeah. Oh, oh, oh, yeah. 258 00:17:41,344 --> 00:17:43,845 Don: You go through and you close every single hatch on the station, 259 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,180 which takes about 45 minutes. 260 00:17:46,216 --> 00:17:49,067 Man (over radio): And from which direction? 261 00:17:50,770 --> 00:17:52,937 Yeah, we don't know. 262 00:17:52,972 --> 00:17:57,108 Narrator: The hatches can withstand a sudden loss of pressure that would come from 263 00:17:57,143 --> 00:17:59,310 the hull being breached. 264 00:17:59,345 --> 00:18:02,013 Man (over radio): Coming up on the six-minute mark. 265 00:18:04,567 --> 00:18:07,568 Narrator: If there is a puncture, any loss of air could lead 266 00:18:07,604 --> 00:18:09,737 to a serious emergency. 267 00:18:11,708 --> 00:18:14,075 Man (over radio): Coming up on the three-minute mark until the time 268 00:18:14,110 --> 00:18:16,127 of closest approach. 269 00:18:16,146 --> 00:18:18,146 Narrator: The crew take no chances. 270 00:18:18,181 --> 00:18:20,748 They make for the escape vehicles. 271 00:18:20,784 --> 00:18:26,104 Don: We floated into our soyuz spacecraft with initial preparations for 272 00:18:26,139 --> 00:18:29,907 undocking if space station were to be hit. 273 00:18:30,210 --> 00:18:32,343 Man (over radio): We've got one minute for a tca. 274 00:18:32,378 --> 00:18:35,546 Don: And you just kinda hunker down and hope it doesn't hit you and you 275 00:18:35,582 --> 00:18:38,166 just sit there and wait. 276 00:18:46,309 --> 00:18:50,011 Man (over radio): It looks like that's it. 277 00:18:52,382 --> 00:18:55,566 Narrator: Fortunately, this time it's a near miss, 278 00:18:57,570 --> 00:19:01,005 but the iss cannot rely on luck. 279 00:19:01,407 --> 00:19:06,110 Allison: The international space station is designed to work in the low earth orbit, 280 00:19:06,946 --> 00:19:08,980 which is full of space debris. 281 00:19:09,015 --> 00:19:11,599 Danielle: A lot of space junk is human made. 282 00:19:12,335 --> 00:19:14,569 You know, they are things that, that we have put up there... 283 00:19:14,604 --> 00:19:16,671 Satellites largely. 284 00:19:18,441 --> 00:19:22,710 Narrator: Nasa has identified more than half a million orbiting objects that could 285 00:19:22,745 --> 00:19:26,480 pose a risk to the integrity of the space station's hull. 286 00:19:29,235 --> 00:19:33,671 Jeff: Luckily, most of the stuff that's big enough to hurt us we can track. 287 00:19:35,008 --> 00:19:40,178 There are a few objects up there which are too small really to be tracked well, 288 00:19:41,414 --> 00:19:43,414 but they're big enough to do damage. 289 00:19:43,449 --> 00:19:46,300 Narrator: The iss is constantly bombarded. 290 00:19:46,336 --> 00:19:48,069 Most of the debris is tiny, 291 00:19:48,104 --> 00:19:51,072 but even a half-inch fleck of paint could inflict the same 292 00:19:51,107 --> 00:19:54,609 damage as a motorcycle crashing at 60 m-p-h. 293 00:19:57,313 --> 00:19:59,013 To be a viable home, 294 00:19:59,048 --> 00:20:04,335 the iss has to be able to take the hit without losing all its air. 295 00:20:04,637 --> 00:20:07,004 Amos: The iss, basically, has a bullet-proof vest. 296 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,825 So, just like a bullet-proof vest which has different layers of kevlar 297 00:20:10,843 --> 00:20:13,344 that can rip as a bullet enters it, 298 00:20:13,379 --> 00:20:15,746 the iss has different layers in its outer skin. 299 00:20:17,116 --> 00:20:20,801 Narrator: The space station's skin is known as whipple shield. 300 00:20:21,404 --> 00:20:24,705 The outer wall is made from a thin sheet of aluminum less than 301 00:20:24,741 --> 00:20:27,742 1/10th of an inch thick. 302 00:20:27,777 --> 00:20:33,314 Beyond that is a blanket of woven material and a further thin wall of aluminum. 303 00:20:35,201 --> 00:20:39,337 It seems too delicate to protect the iss from a direct hit. 304 00:20:41,574 --> 00:20:46,644 Jeff: It turns out that a solid piece of metal does not offer as much protective power 305 00:20:48,081 --> 00:20:53,668 as if you cut that metal into very thin sheets, spread them out a little bit. 306 00:20:58,341 --> 00:21:02,043 Narrator: When there's an impact with a high-speed micro meteoroid, it hits 307 00:21:02,078 --> 00:21:06,414 the outer wall of the iss and pulverizes. 308 00:21:08,167 --> 00:21:11,936 Some fragments pass through the first layer of aluminum, 309 00:21:12,438 --> 00:21:15,139 which disperses some of the energy. 310 00:21:15,174 --> 00:21:19,443 Then there are layers of kevlar and nextel, a ceramic fiber that's 311 00:21:19,479 --> 00:21:21,912 stronger than some metals. 312 00:21:22,682 --> 00:21:27,401 As the fragments hit this blanket, they break up even more and 313 00:21:27,437 --> 00:21:30,972 don't have enough energy to penetrate the hull. 314 00:21:32,675 --> 00:21:34,909 Jeff: It's kind of counterintuitive when you think about it. 315 00:21:34,944 --> 00:21:40,047 You know, that a whole bunch of sheets of aluminum foil could somehow give 316 00:21:40,583 --> 00:21:44,235 you more protection than putting them all together. 317 00:21:44,270 --> 00:21:46,704 But that's the way it is in space. 318 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,374 Narrator: The whipple shield has protected the space station from 319 00:21:50,410 --> 00:21:53,244 micro meteoroids for over 20 years. 320 00:21:54,414 --> 00:21:57,248 But it's ineffective against anything larger. 321 00:22:01,704 --> 00:22:05,039 If a large object on a potential collision course is identified, 322 00:22:05,975 --> 00:22:09,977 the only option is to move the whole iss out of its way. 323 00:22:11,547 --> 00:22:15,366 Allison: Space command monitors most of the space debris that is out in orbit. 324 00:22:16,269 --> 00:22:19,503 They notify our mission control here at nasa. 325 00:22:20,573 --> 00:22:24,408 We look at that and we have a green zone, a yellow zone, a red zone. 326 00:22:25,878 --> 00:22:30,381 Narrator: Objects that fall within the red zone have a one in 10,000 chance 327 00:22:30,416 --> 00:22:33,434 of hitting the iss: Too dangerous to ignore. 328 00:22:34,871 --> 00:22:38,305 Allison: If we think that something is coming within the red zone, 329 00:22:38,341 --> 00:22:39,840 the space station 330 00:22:39,876 --> 00:22:44,311 can adjust its orbit and give itself a little boost to get out of the way. 331 00:22:44,614 --> 00:22:49,767 Narrator: Small thrusters change the iss's trajectory, but using them is expensive. 332 00:22:51,738 --> 00:22:55,039 Danielle: Now, these thrusters, you can think of them almost like tiny rockets 333 00:22:56,509 --> 00:23:01,645 and those rockets are using propellant and that propellant isn't infinite. 334 00:23:03,750 --> 00:23:06,167 Narrator: It all has to be sent up from earth, 335 00:23:06,202 --> 00:23:09,703 at a cost of $10,000 per pound of propellant. 336 00:23:11,541 --> 00:23:15,076 This brings engineers face to face with the greatest challenge of all: 337 00:23:16,279 --> 00:23:19,680 How to reduce the station's reliance on earth? 338 00:23:20,950 --> 00:23:26,036 The iss can't be self-sufficient if it relies on thrusters to move. 339 00:23:26,973 --> 00:23:31,308 But a clever trick hidden at its center means it doesn't have to. 340 00:23:46,342 --> 00:23:49,443 Narrator: The international space station has a problem. 341 00:23:50,313 --> 00:23:54,765 It orbits the earth every 90 minutes and has to be regularly reoriented. 342 00:23:56,536 --> 00:24:00,805 Using thrusters is one option, but that uses up precious propellant. 343 00:24:01,841 --> 00:24:03,240 Jeff: With the space station, 344 00:24:03,276 --> 00:24:04,975 if here's the earth, we, we want to keep 345 00:24:05,011 --> 00:24:06,744 the station usually... 346 00:24:06,779 --> 00:24:08,846 I mean, there are sometimes exceptions... 347 00:24:08,881 --> 00:24:12,633 But usually you want to keep the station in the same relative orientation 348 00:24:12,668 --> 00:24:14,135 towards the earth, 349 00:24:14,170 --> 00:24:17,104 so that the cupola is looking down at the earth. 350 00:24:17,140 --> 00:24:21,175 And in order to do that, of course, the space station is gonna be rotating once 351 00:24:21,210 --> 00:24:24,378 every orbit around the earth. 352 00:24:25,648 --> 00:24:30,434 Narrator: What the iss needs is a way to move that doesn't use propellant. 353 00:24:31,270 --> 00:24:35,272 Danielle: The solution for keeping the iss in the right altitude and 354 00:24:35,308 --> 00:24:39,977 also on track in direction is to use gyroscopes. 355 00:24:41,681 --> 00:24:45,299 Narrator: This is one of the iss's most innovative secrets. 356 00:24:45,568 --> 00:24:50,204 At the center of the sprawling space lab there's a quartet of small casings, 357 00:24:50,673 --> 00:24:53,374 each about the size of a small cupboard. 358 00:24:53,409 --> 00:24:57,244 They're known as control moment gyroscopes or cmgs. 359 00:24:58,581 --> 00:25:01,765 But how can they move a beast the size of a football field? 360 00:25:02,935 --> 00:25:07,071 Don: They're really, really clever in that you can change the altitude of 361 00:25:07,106 --> 00:25:09,640 the station without firing any thrusters. 362 00:25:16,549 --> 00:25:21,268 Narrator: The four cmgs are mounted on a truss near the very core of the iss. 363 00:25:23,873 --> 00:25:29,243 Inside each casing is a flywheel spinning at 6,600 rpm. 364 00:25:31,447 --> 00:25:36,734 The flywheels create a lot of angular momentum and simply by changing 365 00:25:36,802 --> 00:25:40,604 the rpm or tilting the plane they spin in; 366 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,742 they transfer that momentum to the iss and the whole thing moves. 367 00:25:45,945 --> 00:25:48,979 Jeff: If I were sitting here in a chair and I had a gyroscope spinning around in 368 00:25:49,015 --> 00:25:53,500 this direction and all of a sudden I put a brake on and slowed the gyroscope, 369 00:25:55,004 --> 00:25:57,504 the chair would start to spin around. 370 00:25:57,540 --> 00:26:01,108 You know, I would slow the gyroscope around and then wow, 371 00:26:01,143 --> 00:26:04,278 I would do a big spin because that angular momentum 372 00:26:04,313 --> 00:26:06,513 has to be conserved. 373 00:26:06,549 --> 00:26:11,802 Danielle: So, these four control moment gyroscopes can move the whole of the 374 00:26:11,837 --> 00:26:17,408 international space station and there is not one single drop of propellant used in 375 00:26:17,944 --> 00:26:19,877 order to make that movement. 376 00:26:19,912 --> 00:26:23,781 Narrator: But they do use electricity, as does just about every piece 377 00:26:23,816 --> 00:26:26,567 of equipment on board. 378 00:26:26,802 --> 00:26:32,039 To supply the iss's total power requirement, a whopping 75-90 kilowatts, 379 00:26:32,808 --> 00:26:36,744 engineers cleverly exploit the ferocious power of the sun. 380 00:26:38,547 --> 00:26:42,399 The station generates all its electricity for free. 381 00:26:42,802 --> 00:26:45,903 Jeff: The solar panels on the space station are absolutely essential, 382 00:26:46,472 --> 00:26:50,341 because they provide all of the power that the station needs. 383 00:26:50,576 --> 00:26:52,810 Narrator: The panels have to be enormous, 384 00:26:52,845 --> 00:26:55,212 which would have made them impossible to transport 385 00:26:55,247 --> 00:26:59,900 had nasa engineers not come up with a genius way to get them into space. 386 00:27:00,836 --> 00:27:02,903 Danielle: What's really impressive about the solar panels, 387 00:27:02,938 --> 00:27:04,371 not least their size, 388 00:27:04,407 --> 00:27:06,640 you know, around half an acre per array, 389 00:27:06,676 --> 00:27:09,777 but the fact that they are actually folded and 390 00:27:09,812 --> 00:27:13,213 then once they're in space, they were able to be unfolded. 391 00:27:13,416 --> 00:27:16,133 Now, that's an amazing thing to do in space. 392 00:27:16,769 --> 00:27:19,970 Narrator: Together they can generate 120 kilowatts. 393 00:27:20,006 --> 00:27:25,576 Ample for all the iss's needs and the equivalent of powering 40 homes. 394 00:27:25,945 --> 00:27:29,380 Jeff: In order to maximize the power you're getting you; 395 00:27:29,415 --> 00:27:33,000 you have to keep the solar panels continually 396 00:27:33,035 --> 00:27:36,337 pointed at the sun, which means as the station is moving, 397 00:27:36,372 --> 00:27:39,106 the panels have to turn. 398 00:27:39,141 --> 00:27:40,908 Don: And so we have gimbals. 399 00:27:40,943 --> 00:27:46,146 The solar panel we can gimbal this direction and then we can gimbal this direction. 400 00:27:50,036 --> 00:27:53,237 Narrator: One of the iss's greatest engineering triumphs, 401 00:27:53,272 --> 00:27:56,106 it's been generating its own power for over 402 00:27:56,108 --> 00:28:00,177 177,000 hours and counting. 403 00:28:01,247 --> 00:28:04,048 That enables round-the-clock air conditioning, 404 00:28:04,083 --> 00:28:06,900 fundamental to astronaut survival. 405 00:28:07,670 --> 00:28:08,836 Danielle: This cannot go down. 406 00:28:08,871 --> 00:28:11,038 It's not like a power cut in our homes where, you know, 407 00:28:11,073 --> 00:28:13,173 we can get a torch or light a candle or something. 408 00:28:13,209 --> 00:28:16,110 If this goes down, astronauts will die. 409 00:28:23,035 --> 00:28:26,537 Narrator: When the iss enters the shadow behind the earth, 410 00:28:26,572 --> 00:28:29,273 the temperature can drop to below anything 411 00:28:29,308 --> 00:28:32,042 ever experienced on our planet. 412 00:28:36,148 --> 00:28:39,233 Without the protective cocoon of the space station, 413 00:28:39,268 --> 00:28:43,804 the ferocious cold would kill astronauts in a matter of moments. 414 00:28:45,541 --> 00:28:47,741 Conversely, when in sunlight, 415 00:28:47,777 --> 00:28:49,910 the temperature can soar. 416 00:28:49,945 --> 00:28:52,646 Danielle: Temperature and managing temperature on the iss is very important. 417 00:28:52,681 --> 00:28:56,600 If you imagine the extreme temperatures that you can get on the iss 418 00:28:57,069 --> 00:28:58,335 if you're facing the sun 419 00:28:58,370 --> 00:29:02,172 or not could be plus 250 degrees or minus 250 degrees. 420 00:29:02,541 --> 00:29:05,209 Don: So, you have these huge temperature extremes, 421 00:29:05,244 --> 00:29:09,346 simply because of being sunlit or being in the shade 422 00:29:09,381 --> 00:29:12,199 and it's something that you have to keep in mind when you're doing 423 00:29:12,234 --> 00:29:15,402 your engineering. 424 00:29:15,438 --> 00:29:18,972 Narrator: Of these threats, overheating is the hardest to manage. 425 00:29:20,543 --> 00:29:25,078 Jeff: With lots of people and electronics inside a spacecraft, you tend to 426 00:29:25,114 --> 00:29:28,115 generate more heat than you know what to do with. 427 00:29:28,501 --> 00:29:32,302 And so the problem in general, at least in earth orbit, 428 00:29:32,338 --> 00:29:34,605 is that you've got to get rid of heat. 429 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:38,208 Narrator: If heat built up uncontrollably inside the iss, 430 00:29:38,244 --> 00:29:41,245 it would become a deadly incinerator. 431 00:29:41,514 --> 00:29:44,815 So, cooling the station is a crucial priority. 432 00:29:46,669 --> 00:29:50,804 Don: Standard ways of cooling that we're used to on earth don't work. 433 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:52,539 Convection does not work. 434 00:29:52,575 --> 00:29:54,858 Conduction does not work. 435 00:29:55,978 --> 00:29:58,879 Narrator: Conventional air-con would be ineffective. 436 00:29:59,148 --> 00:30:03,267 Scientists had to come up with a cooling system for radiating heat away 437 00:30:03,302 --> 00:30:05,269 from the iss. 438 00:30:05,304 --> 00:30:08,572 It needs to be liquid-based, but there's a dilemma. 439 00:30:09,742 --> 00:30:12,509 Danielle: Ideally what you'd like to be able to do is just put it through a 440 00:30:12,545 --> 00:30:16,380 water cooling system and then get rid of that excess heat. 441 00:30:17,416 --> 00:30:20,567 If they tried to get rid of that excess heat using water, 442 00:30:20,603 --> 00:30:22,202 the water would just freeze as 443 00:30:22,238 --> 00:30:25,239 soon as it went outside into space. 444 00:30:27,109 --> 00:30:29,810 Narrator: Water is not the solution. 445 00:30:29,845 --> 00:30:33,480 Curiously, gallons of a deadly poison is. 446 00:30:36,235 --> 00:30:41,438 Hidden inside the hull there's an intricate network of pipes picking up the heat, 447 00:30:42,575 --> 00:30:44,942 but they do carry water. 448 00:30:46,212 --> 00:30:51,965 The secret is the water goes through heat exchangers where ammonia-carrying pipes take 449 00:30:52,001 --> 00:30:56,069 the heat outside the iss. 450 00:30:56,539 --> 00:31:02,342 Huge radiators finally dissipate it into space. 451 00:31:02,645 --> 00:31:07,180 Ammonia is used because, unlike water, it doesn't freeze until minus 452 00:31:07,216 --> 00:31:10,334 107 degrees fahrenheit. 453 00:31:10,369 --> 00:31:14,271 It remains liquid and flows through the radiators, 454 00:31:14,306 --> 00:31:17,708 even when the iss is behind the earth. 455 00:31:17,743 --> 00:31:22,880 Don: Ammonia is used as a heat rejection system because it is one of the 456 00:31:22,915 --> 00:31:27,501 best thermodynamic fluids to use as a heat rejection fluid. 457 00:31:28,637 --> 00:31:33,073 Unfortunately, it's incredibly toxic and kills human beings on contact. 458 00:31:35,311 --> 00:31:40,881 Narrator: In may, 2013, for reasons unknown, ammonia is spotted leaking out 459 00:31:40,916 --> 00:31:43,267 of one of the cooling pipes. 460 00:31:43,302 --> 00:31:49,139 There is no alternative but for astronauts to climb outside the iss to fix it. 461 00:31:50,509 --> 00:31:54,144 Astronaut (over radio): Fireflies coming out of our space station. 462 00:32:09,545 --> 00:32:12,512 Narrator: The international space station has a network of 463 00:32:12,548 --> 00:32:15,565 vital cooling pipes that are filled with ammonia: 464 00:32:17,169 --> 00:32:20,037 A substance so toxic it can kill. 465 00:32:20,773 --> 00:32:23,874 Danielle: Now, there was a time in 2013 when chris hadfield and 466 00:32:23,909 --> 00:32:28,345 his crew spotted a leak from the ammonia pipes and they had to react very, 467 00:32:28,380 --> 00:32:30,681 very quickly to stop that leak. 468 00:32:31,183 --> 00:32:34,267 Narrator: The leak appears near one of the solar panels. 469 00:32:34,303 --> 00:32:38,305 There's only one viable response to this critical emergency. 470 00:32:38,340 --> 00:32:43,644 Astronauts chris cassidy and tom marshburn must exit the iss and investigate. 471 00:32:45,247 --> 00:32:46,446 Astronaut (over radio): Sunlight, 472 00:32:46,482 --> 00:32:49,099 I am putting my visor down. 473 00:32:52,871 --> 00:32:56,306 Narrator: They discover ammonia spewing out of what they think is a pump. 474 00:32:58,410 --> 00:33:00,911 Astronaut (over radio): Fireflies coming out of our space station. 475 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,747 Narrator: If they can't stop the flow, 476 00:33:03,782 --> 00:33:06,466 they might have to evacuate the space station. 477 00:33:07,136 --> 00:33:09,369 Astronaut (over radio): You've got a monitor for an ammonia leak. 478 00:33:09,405 --> 00:33:14,041 If some reason a flowing leak is observed, immediately stop turning. 479 00:33:14,076 --> 00:33:17,444 Narrator: The pair attempt to replace the suspect pump... 480 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:22,099 Hard work in cumbersome spacesuits and they must avoid contact with 481 00:33:22,134 --> 00:33:24,868 the potential lethal ammonia. 482 00:33:25,237 --> 00:33:28,105 Astronaut (over radio): Be careful no to put your hand inside that window and 483 00:33:28,140 --> 00:33:30,841 also the seals on fgdc are no touch. 484 00:33:32,044 --> 00:33:33,443 Astronaut 2 (over radio): No touch on the seals. 485 00:33:33,479 --> 00:33:36,413 Don't penetrate the window. Copy all. 486 00:33:36,448 --> 00:33:39,433 Narrator: Five and a half grueling hours later, 487 00:33:39,468 --> 00:33:42,602 the astronauts return to the iss unharmed. 488 00:33:43,505 --> 00:33:44,805 Astronaut (over radio): That's affirmative. 489 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,274 The ammonia valve is closing. 490 00:33:47,509 --> 00:33:50,043 Narrator: It was fortunate that the leak wasn't water, 491 00:33:50,079 --> 00:33:52,612 because along with oxygen, water is one of the 492 00:33:52,648 --> 00:33:56,166 precious commodities people cannot live without. 493 00:33:56,435 --> 00:34:01,004 It's so precious, in fact, that inventing equipment to recycle it was one of the 494 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,507 space station engineers highest priorities. 495 00:34:04,610 --> 00:34:08,945 Danielle: It's so important that we recycle as much of the water on the iss as possible, 496 00:34:10,249 --> 00:34:14,201 and that includes things just like the water in the air. 497 00:34:14,703 --> 00:34:19,306 Narrator: The end goal is for spacecraft to recycle 100% of their onboard water. 498 00:34:20,275 --> 00:34:23,777 That's far from straightforward, because much of it starts off 499 00:34:23,812 --> 00:34:25,979 inside the astronauts. 500 00:34:26,014 --> 00:34:29,232 Layne: Water vapor comes from the individuals as you breathe. 501 00:34:29,968 --> 00:34:33,437 You exercise, you sweat and then it comes off of the surface. 502 00:34:33,939 --> 00:34:37,307 So that's the water vapor that gets out into the air and we're constantly 503 00:34:37,342 --> 00:34:40,243 ventilating the air through the module. 504 00:34:40,479 --> 00:34:44,014 Narrator: Water vapor from the air is collected in a condenser. 505 00:34:44,049 --> 00:34:46,099 Every droplet is valuable. 506 00:34:46,869 --> 00:34:48,301 Nothing is wasted. 507 00:34:48,337 --> 00:34:51,204 Even urine is recycled. 508 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:54,040 Samantha: Let's say up here on iss and you need to go to the rest room. 509 00:34:54,076 --> 00:34:58,478 You want to come to this cabin and the first thing you want to do is grab this 510 00:34:58,947 --> 00:35:02,833 piece of equipment and turn this water switch 90 degrees to the open position. 511 00:35:04,136 --> 00:35:08,772 What that does is it turns a fan which creates a suction effect 512 00:35:08,807 --> 00:35:10,474 in this hose so that 513 00:35:10,509 --> 00:35:14,344 you can use this yellow element for your number one. 514 00:35:16,381 --> 00:35:20,000 Narrator: After an astronaut uses the unusual facility, 515 00:35:20,035 --> 00:35:22,836 water products flow to the life support rack 516 00:35:22,871 --> 00:35:25,071 where filters get to work: 517 00:35:25,107 --> 00:35:27,541 The start of a sophisticated process. 518 00:35:28,610 --> 00:35:32,279 Morgan: So, the way the space station turns urine into water is that the 519 00:35:32,314 --> 00:35:34,948 urine goes into what we call the urine processing assembly. 520 00:35:35,384 --> 00:35:37,334 Narrator: There are a number of stages. 521 00:35:37,369 --> 00:35:41,188 The first is treating the urine to prevent buildup of bacteria or 522 00:35:41,206 --> 00:35:43,640 other dangerous microbes. 523 00:35:43,909 --> 00:35:46,977 Layne: That urine that we collect from the crew, 524 00:35:47,012 --> 00:35:50,380 we have to add chemicals to it in order to process it. 525 00:35:50,916 --> 00:35:53,834 Raw urine in and of itself would be a problem, 526 00:35:53,869 --> 00:35:56,169 because over time it becomes rancid and 527 00:35:56,205 --> 00:35:59,539 that's definitely a bad situation on the space station. 528 00:36:00,742 --> 00:36:03,877 So that's why this is a dark fluid instead of what you would normally 529 00:36:03,912 --> 00:36:06,146 think of as urine. 530 00:36:06,348 --> 00:36:08,315 Narrator: Clearly, that is not drinkable. 531 00:36:08,350 --> 00:36:09,933 It needs to be distilled, 532 00:36:09,968 --> 00:36:13,003 where pure water is boiled off to leave the toxic waste 533 00:36:13,038 --> 00:36:14,604 products behind. 534 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,073 Jeff: And then it goes through another cleaning process; 535 00:36:17,109 --> 00:36:18,909 there's lots of filters. 536 00:36:18,944 --> 00:36:21,545 And then some of the water is made available for drinking, 537 00:36:22,347 --> 00:36:23,847 and that's why we have the 538 00:36:23,882 --> 00:36:27,567 expression that the water recycling system is coffee to coffee. 539 00:36:27,603 --> 00:36:29,502 You can think about that. 540 00:36:29,538 --> 00:36:33,073 Layne: The water that gets to the crew now is effectively cleaner than 541 00:36:33,108 --> 00:36:34,441 any water that we drink here on earth, 542 00:36:34,476 --> 00:36:36,877 even that nice bottled water that everybody likes so much. 543 00:36:36,912 --> 00:36:38,545 It's cleaner than that. 544 00:36:38,580 --> 00:36:41,314 So this is the end point in the process. 545 00:36:41,350 --> 00:36:43,833 Astronaut (over radio): It tastes really good. 546 00:36:44,736 --> 00:36:49,439 Allison: In water recycling we are really trying to get to the point where we can recycle 547 00:36:49,474 --> 00:36:53,143 up to 90 or 95% of the water on the space station, which is really vital, 548 00:36:53,912 --> 00:36:56,146 not only for going someplace like mars, 549 00:36:56,181 --> 00:36:59,666 but also has consequences here on earth. 550 00:37:02,638 --> 00:37:06,539 Narrator: Recreating the conditions that support life on earth is one of 551 00:37:06,575 --> 00:37:08,842 the pillars of the iss. 552 00:37:09,711 --> 00:37:14,447 But much of its equipment is still operated by mission control in houston. 553 00:37:15,517 --> 00:37:20,070 The iss will have to break free from that if we're ever going to conquer deep space. 554 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:24,774 Man (over radio): We're gonna have you go to the ticker shroud removal. 555 00:37:25,010 --> 00:37:26,876 Astronaut (over radio): Okay, copy. 556 00:37:41,810 --> 00:37:44,044 Narrator: The international space station 557 00:37:44,079 --> 00:37:47,447 provides its own life support, but it's partly 558 00:37:47,482 --> 00:37:49,532 controlled from earth. 559 00:37:50,435 --> 00:37:53,036 Man (over radio): Go up a bit, up a bit. 560 00:37:53,071 --> 00:37:54,537 Astronaut (over radio): Affirmative. 561 00:37:54,573 --> 00:37:55,905 Yeah, I've got it. 562 00:37:55,941 --> 00:37:58,775 Okay swanny what do you want? 563 00:37:59,511 --> 00:38:02,178 (inaudible) 564 00:38:02,214 --> 00:38:05,181 allison: Our flight controllers on the ground can control the robot arm and 565 00:38:05,217 --> 00:38:07,133 move that from the ground. 566 00:38:07,169 --> 00:38:10,804 Narrator: That requires constant radio communication. 567 00:38:10,839 --> 00:38:12,472 A major challenge, 568 00:38:12,507 --> 00:38:15,342 because radio waves can't penetrate the earth and 569 00:38:15,377 --> 00:38:17,777 the iss is often behind it. 570 00:38:18,246 --> 00:38:21,164 Man (over radio): What a beautiful piece of hardware. 571 00:38:21,416 --> 00:38:24,301 Leslie: We can have significant loss of signal with the space station. 572 00:38:24,336 --> 00:38:28,238 We're talking the order of maybe 12 to maybe 40 minutes, 573 00:38:29,274 --> 00:38:31,308 maybe a little bit longer. 574 00:38:31,343 --> 00:38:33,276 Narrator: In the early apollo space missions, 575 00:38:33,312 --> 00:38:36,313 they tried to fix the problem with a fleet of jets 576 00:38:36,715 --> 00:38:39,299 that bounced radio signals between each other, 577 00:38:39,334 --> 00:38:41,401 ground bases and space capsules, 578 00:38:42,270 --> 00:38:44,471 but it was expensive and unreliable. 579 00:38:45,607 --> 00:38:48,641 The iss uses a more sophisticated system. 580 00:38:49,828 --> 00:38:53,480 Leslie: There are various assets that we are able to use to communicate with the 581 00:38:53,515 --> 00:38:57,267 international space station, so one are via satellite. 582 00:38:57,903 --> 00:39:02,972 Narrator: A network of high orbit satellites relay radio data between the iss and 583 00:39:03,008 --> 00:39:05,909 ground bases in several countries across the globe. 584 00:39:06,912 --> 00:39:10,613 Leslie: In mission control we're looking at various video feeds. 585 00:39:11,283 --> 00:39:14,834 So we have the first board over here we call it the six-pack and 586 00:39:14,870 --> 00:39:17,871 the international space station allows, 587 00:39:17,906 --> 00:39:23,043 at a minimum, six down link video channels and then we can be 588 00:39:23,078 --> 00:39:25,445 following the crew, what they're doing during their day. 589 00:39:26,615 --> 00:39:29,299 Woman (over radio): Station houston on space to ground two, you have a go 590 00:39:29,334 --> 00:39:31,968 for step six ingressing dragon. 591 00:39:32,404 --> 00:39:33,703 Astronaut (over radio): Copy that. 592 00:39:33,739 --> 00:39:36,272 Narrator: The live links are so reliable and fast, 593 00:39:36,308 --> 00:39:38,541 there is now less than a second's delay when 594 00:39:38,577 --> 00:39:40,343 astronauts communicate with earth. 595 00:39:40,379 --> 00:39:42,846 Rob (over radio): Hi dad. Hi dad. 596 00:39:43,181 --> 00:39:44,514 How are you? 597 00:39:44,549 --> 00:39:46,032 Astronaut (over radio): Hey rob. 598 00:39:46,068 --> 00:39:48,301 Hey bud, how's it going? 599 00:39:48,570 --> 00:39:51,738 Leslie: Currently you are looking at what we call the world map. 600 00:39:51,773 --> 00:39:56,042 It would show that the international space station is currently about to start 601 00:39:56,078 --> 00:39:59,746 swinging north of antarctica. 602 00:40:01,983 --> 00:40:05,368 Another cool feature about the world map that we keep in front of the 603 00:40:05,404 --> 00:40:08,772 control room is the fact when other missions go on launch, 604 00:40:08,807 --> 00:40:11,074 we'll also see those vehicles, where they are 605 00:40:11,109 --> 00:40:13,910 relative to the international space station. 606 00:40:14,413 --> 00:40:17,247 Man (over radio): Three, two, one. 607 00:40:17,616 --> 00:40:18,915 Engine ignition. 608 00:40:18,950 --> 00:40:21,768 Lift off of the falcon nine rocket. 609 00:40:22,270 --> 00:40:26,439 Narrator: The iss may still be in our local space neighborhood, 610 00:40:26,475 --> 00:40:29,676 with the luxury of near instant communications, 611 00:40:29,911 --> 00:40:32,545 but it's also our first stepping stone to 612 00:40:32,581 --> 00:40:35,048 reaching other planets and beyond. 613 00:40:35,083 --> 00:40:37,600 Man (over radio): Science for today and for 614 00:40:37,636 --> 00:40:40,136 deep space exploration tomorrow. 615 00:40:40,172 --> 00:40:44,641 Narrator: Inside this rocket is an experimental new module known as beam. 616 00:40:50,449 --> 00:40:54,467 Man (over tv): The first human rated expandable structure to be flown in space, 617 00:40:54,503 --> 00:40:57,770 now attached to the international space station. 618 00:40:58,106 --> 00:41:02,976 Narrator: After docking with the iss, astronauts test its unique feature. 619 00:41:03,278 --> 00:41:06,312 It blows up like a balloon. 620 00:41:06,348 --> 00:41:09,165 Everett: It's an inflatable module that's attached to the space station. 621 00:41:09,201 --> 00:41:12,936 It's kinda unique in the fact it is inflatable. 622 00:41:13,205 --> 00:41:15,371 Man (over radio): It looks great. It looks pristine. 623 00:41:15,407 --> 00:41:19,742 Narrator: Pressurized air pumped into the extraordinary new module transforms 624 00:41:19,778 --> 00:41:22,412 it into a rigid structure. 625 00:41:23,181 --> 00:41:26,232 Everett: One of the things about beam is that because it is collapsible, 626 00:41:26,268 --> 00:41:30,103 you don't need as large of a launch vehicle to carry it. 627 00:41:30,138 --> 00:41:33,439 Also, potentially less weight, because of less structure with it. 628 00:41:33,708 --> 00:41:38,144 Narrator: If successful, the iss's brand new living quarters could lead to much 629 00:41:38,180 --> 00:41:40,513 bigger space structures. 630 00:41:40,549 --> 00:41:45,535 Ultimately, the plan is to house far more than the 220 people that have so 631 00:41:45,570 --> 00:41:48,338 far been to the space station. 632 00:41:48,773 --> 00:41:52,375 Jeff: We've been very privileged: We've seen our home planet from a very 633 00:41:52,410 --> 00:41:54,644 different perspective. 634 00:41:54,679 --> 00:41:57,313 First of all, it's incredibly beautiful. 635 00:41:57,349 --> 00:42:01,434 I mean, you look at the thin blue line that's our atmosphere, 636 00:42:01,469 --> 00:42:04,470 you look at the aurora, you look at thunderstorms, 637 00:42:04,506 --> 00:42:07,707 you look at the beautiful oceans. 638 00:42:07,742 --> 00:42:11,477 When you start looking a little closer, there are some troubling things. 639 00:42:13,848 --> 00:42:18,601 You basically see the impact that humans have had on our planet and 640 00:42:19,437 --> 00:42:22,822 that can be pretty scary at times. 641 00:42:22,841 --> 00:42:28,378 Narrator: The long game for humanity could be to stop being a one-planet species. 642 00:42:29,214 --> 00:42:33,466 The iss is the first step towards that future. 643 00:42:34,069 --> 00:42:36,135 Dava: In the future we're gonna have hundreds, thousands, 644 00:42:36,171 --> 00:42:38,838 I hope it's ten thousands of people living and working in 645 00:42:38,873 --> 00:42:40,440 lower earth orbit. 646 00:42:40,475 --> 00:42:43,977 Narrator: Research on the iss is heavily-geared towards improving life 647 00:42:44,012 --> 00:42:47,413 for astronauts who will travel much further than ever before. 648 00:42:48,883 --> 00:42:52,535 Dava: It's phenomenal, so it really is the world's great laboratory. 649 00:42:55,340 --> 00:42:56,506 Allison: On space station, 650 00:42:56,541 --> 00:42:59,375 a lot of the experiments that they're doing are human-based 651 00:42:59,411 --> 00:43:02,245 experiments in order to learn more about the human body, 652 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:04,247 so that we can endure a two, 653 00:43:04,282 --> 00:43:07,967 two-and-half-year mission to mars and back. 654 00:43:09,304 --> 00:43:11,471 Narrator: From fitness to food production, 655 00:43:11,506 --> 00:43:14,874 the focus is on long term self-sufficiency for astronauts. 656 00:43:16,811 --> 00:43:20,046 Allison: And we are developing the orion capsule here, 657 00:43:20,515 --> 00:43:24,567 which we'll be launching in the first manned mission in 2022. 658 00:43:25,470 --> 00:43:28,271 Man (over tv): And lift off at dawn. 659 00:43:28,306 --> 00:43:31,874 The dawn of orion and a new era of american space exploration. 660 00:43:33,211 --> 00:43:37,213 Narrator: Missions in the coming years are only possible because the 661 00:43:37,248 --> 00:43:39,432 international space station 662 00:43:39,467 --> 00:43:43,169 has solved so many of the problems that space presents. 663 00:43:44,673 --> 00:43:48,841 Don: The future for space is bright and it's going to be exciting. 664 00:43:50,045 --> 00:43:55,415 Allison: Everybody is excited and feel like as though in this development phase 665 00:43:55,450 --> 00:43:58,134 you can really make a difference. 666 00:43:58,403 --> 00:44:01,604 Narrator: The iss is an incredible superstructure. 667 00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:05,675 A piece of earth-like habitat floating above our planet, 668 00:44:05,710 --> 00:44:07,910 where every component has taken 669 00:44:07,946 --> 00:44:10,980 breathtaking engineering. 670 00:44:11,216 --> 00:44:15,802 It's now a vital springboard for deep space travel that generations 671 00:44:15,837 --> 00:44:18,671 to come might thank us for. 672 00:44:23,178 --> 00:44:24,644 Captioned by cotter captioning services.