WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000
[slate]

2
00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:04.090
[slate] This is a great

3
00:00:04.110 --> 00:00:08.220
time this weekend, the next week or so to go outside and look at Mars

4
00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:08.340
in the evening. The reason is that Mars and Earth in their

5
00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:12.530
in the evening. The reason is that Mars and Earth in their respective

6
00:00:12.550 --> 00:00:16.610
orbits are lining up on the same side of the sun which means

7
00:00:16.630 --> 00:00:20.710
that Mars is relatively close and will look quite bright in the sky.

8
00:00:20.730 --> 00:00:24.840
If you go out right after sunset and look up in the southeast

9
00:00:24.860 --> 00:00:29.030
sky, you'll see the moon rising but you'll also see Mars nearby

10
00:00:29.050 --> 00:00:33.160
a very bright, reddish looking object in the sky

11
00:00:33.180 --> 00:00:37.270
and you'll know that you're seeing Mars at one of its closest times.

12
00:00:37.290 --> 00:00:41.470
[slate]

13
00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:45.510
We're so pleased that because Mars is fairly close

14
00:00:45.530 --> 00:00:49.660
to Earth now we were able to look at Mars with the Hubble Space Telescope and

15
00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:53.840
get a new image. And because of Hubble's exquisite capabilities we can see

16
00:00:53.860 --> 00:00:57.910
a lot of detail. We can see features that are smaller than even 30 miles across.

17
00:00:57.930 --> 00:01:01.960
So if you look at our new image of Mars, you'll see all kinds of interesting

18
00:01:01.980 --> 00:01:06.060
detail. In the middle you see this orange looking

19
00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:10.160
region of desert plains with cratered features. On the right

20
00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:14.340
hand side you see a cloudy region. Those are actually clouds surrounding a dormant

21
00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:18.400
volcano. You can see dark bedrock regions to the north

22
00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:22.480
and south. You can see the polar regions. They look white

23
00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:26.590
The polar cap is a little small, it's summer in the northern hemisphere

24
00:01:26.610 --> 00:01:30.760
on Mars. And you can see wispy clouds around the region. It's a beautiful

25
00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:34.780
picture to look at. [slate]

26
00:01:34.800 --> 00:01:38.890
Well because the Hubble

27
00:01:38.910 --> 00:01:43.050
Space Telescope has been in operation now for more than 26 years

28
00:01:43.070 --> 00:01:47.110
we've been able to watch the planets in solar system over time

29
00:01:47.130 --> 00:01:51.210
We've learned that they're very dynamic. For example Jupiter with its

30
00:01:51.230 --> 00:01:55.340
beautiful atmosphere is changing. That giant is red

31
00:01:55.360 --> 00:01:59.500
spot for example, a big storm, is actually shrinking over time.

32
00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:03.550
Other storms cropping up. We're also looking at places like Saturn

33
00:02:03.570 --> 00:02:07.650
and because Hubble has ultraviolet eyes, we can see things like

34
00:02:07.670 --> 00:02:11.740
the aurorae on the poles coming and going. Such interesting

35
00:02:11.760 --> 00:02:15.880
dynamics weren't possible to see before over such long periods of time

36
00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:20.060
We've also looked at things like comets and asteroids and found out that our solar system

37
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.070
is a very active place.

38
00:02:24.090 --> 00:02:28.220
[slate] Well the Hubble Space Telescope

39
00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:32.260
is actually in wonderful scientific condition right now.

40
00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:36.310
Because the astronauts that have visited Hubble from time to time over the years

41
00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:40.400
have done a wonderful job servicing this observatory

42
00:02:40.420 --> 00:02:44.510
The last time in 2009 did a wonderful job of putting in

43
00:02:44.530 --> 00:02:48.660
new instruments and capabilities. So Hubble is giving us the best science

44
00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:52.730
we've ever had now. And we anticipate for the next few years that Hubble will keep

45
00:02:52.750 --> 00:02:56.810
doing superb science looking not only at the solar system but also

46
00:02:56.830 --> 00:03:00.930
at star forming regions in our galaxy, places where

47
00:03:00.950 --> 00:03:05.080
stars are actually dying and emitting their outer atmospheres. Looking

48
00:03:05.100 --> 00:03:09.140
at other galaxies and seeing stars form in them. And also looking

49
00:03:09.160 --> 00:03:13.240
at very distant galaxies to understand how the universe was shortly after

50
00:03:13.260 --> 00:03:17.350
it was formed. So we anticipate Hubble will be operating for years to

51
00:03:17.370 --> 00:03:21.520
come and will soon be joined in 2018 by the James

52
00:03:21.540 --> 00:03:25.600
Webb Space Telescope. That's a NASA facility we're really looking forward

53
00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:29.700
to which will be an inferred giant space telescope

54
00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:33.820
and both of these facilities will continue to give us outstanding new information

55
00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.850
about the universe.

56
00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:41.900
[slate] With the Hubble Space Telescope

57
00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:45.970
looking at Mars, we can see the planet as a whole.

58
00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:52.350
This gives us information about its global conditions. We can already

59
00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:56.400
see in this new image all these interesting features and the cloud cover. In the past when we looked at Mars

60
00:03:56.420 --> 00:04:00.480
sometimes we've seen even global dust storms. That helps us understand

61
00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:04.590
the global dynamics and it goes well with the information

62
00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:08.730
that we get from the probes and the rovers that are already at Mars.

63
00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:12.770
Sampling its atmosphere, telling us about its soil. All

64
00:04:12.790 --> 00:04:16.820
this information is telling us about Mars composition

65
00:04:16.840 --> 00:04:20.910
its history, its present and its future.

66
00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:25.030
And it also tells us something about planet Earth. What's our history.

67
00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:29.240
How is our history related to the history of Mars. It's preparing

68
00:04:29.260 --> 00:04:33.300
us also for a future human mission to Mars. So all of these observatories

69
00:04:33.320 --> 00:04:37.390
and tools work together to give us a complete picture of Mars

70
00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:41.400
and the interesting science we can learn there.

71
00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:45.600
[slate] The Hubble Space Telescope

72
00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:49.690
has taught us interesting things. I think some of my favorite

73
00:04:49.710 --> 00:04:53.780
discoveries with Hubble include understanding that stars

74
00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:57.930
formation is a very active process that we can actually

75
00:04:57.950 --> 00:05:02.150
watch in terms of seeing young stars at different phases of their formation

76
00:05:02.170 --> 00:05:06.210
We're also learning that the universe as a whole has changed in spectacular

77
00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:10.300
ways over time. With Hubble we've been able to see infant galaxies

78
00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:14.450
over 13 billion light years away showing

79
00:05:14.470 --> 00:05:18.490
us what conditions were like in the universe shortly after it began and we can compare

80
00:05:18.510 --> 00:05:22.550
that with our own Milky Way galaxy is like today. So I think

81
00:05:22.570 --> 00:05:26.630
looking at the activity as well as the beauty of the universe

82
00:05:26.650 --> 00:05:30.750
has been my favorite achievements of the Hubble Space Telescope.

83
00:05:30.770 --> 00:05:34.870
[slate]

84
00:05:34.890 --> 00:05:39.020
You can see more of Hubble's images including this beautiful new image of Mars

85
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.110
at nasa.gov/hubble or on Twitter

86
00:05:43.130 --> 00:04:25.190
@NASA_Hubble.

87
00:04:25.210 --> 00:05:46.893
How is our history related to the history of Mars is preparing