1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:01,580 The digital show NASA’s Explorers 2 00:00:01,580 --> 00:00:03,870 Has a few different tag lines. 3 00:00:03,870 --> 00:00:08,130 One of them is “We follow intrepid explorers into the field.” 4 00:00:08,130 --> 00:00:11,170 And that is true. 5 00:00:11,170 --> 00:00:16,000 And it’s sometimes to places that are remote or -um- can be hostile. 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,880 We went to one location that I would not consider remote or hostile. 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:25,150 But it was an adventure anyway. It was Boise, Idaho. 8 00:00:25,150 --> 00:00:30,340 Narrator: This mobile laboratory has been deployed for a very specific reason. 9 00:00:30,340 --> 00:00:37,380 The Shady Fire is burning nearby. And this team is gathering data that you can only get at night. 10 00:00:37,380 --> 00:00:40,470 -Music- 11 00:00:40,470 --> 00:00:46,180 Title: NASA Explorers 12 00:00:46,180 --> 00:00:50,900 Episode Two. Follow That Plume! Behind the Scenes 13 00:00:50,900 --> 00:00:55,200 Lauren: We were with a team of scientists who were tracking smoke, understanding the 14 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,180 Chemistry of smoke. It was really around the wild fire season. 15 00:00:59,180 --> 00:01:03,940 Controlled burns. But just what smoke was doing to the air, what fires were doing to the land. 16 00:01:03,940 --> 00:01:08,870 We had the opportunity to follow this team who you meet in one of the episodes. 17 00:01:08,870 --> 00:01:13,900 Bruce Anderson and his team out of Langley. We thought “Aagh, you know…” 18 00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:18,300 “…It was ninety-degrees that day. Like we’re just going to sleep in the car and it’ll be fine.” 19 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:22,930 Katy: Hi NASA Expeditions followers! I’m Katy, I’ve been doing 20 00:01:22,930 --> 00:01:25,080 A lot of the tweeting and posting that you’ve been seeing. And here we have Lauren. 21 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,630 Lauren: Hi guys! Katy: And driving our car we have Ellen. Ellen: Hello! 22 00:01:28,630 --> 00:01:32,950 Katy: She’s not going to talk too much because she’s driving. Umm, we’re the communications team in the field 23 00:01:32,950 --> 00:01:37,580 With the FIREX-AQ mission this week. And we thought we’d give a little behind the scenes peek. 24 00:01:37,580 --> 00:01:40,210 At, um, what it’s like to be in the field. 25 00:01:40,210 --> 00:01:44,160 Lauren: So we’ll be warm enough - it’ll be great. And we’ll just follow them throughout the night as they take all these measurements. 26 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:55,290 Sooo…You know…Almost instantly when the sun goes down, the temperature drops from around ninety or ninety-five, 27 00:01:55,290 --> 00:01:58,860 Somewhere in there, to nineteen-degrees. 28 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:04,540 Bruce Anderson: We’ll set out, drive up there. Find a place to position the - the van 29 00:02:04,540 --> 00:02:06,820 Then, uh, start cranking up instruments. 30 00:02:06,820 --> 00:02:10,680 Lauren: And we’re frozen. We’re absolutely frozen in the car. And the thing is that the team 31 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,550 Is waking up throughout the night. You know, the scientists collecting data emptying filters. 32 00:02:15,550 --> 00:02:21,170 And so we’re trying to capture all these moments. It means there’s not a lot of sleep. It’s really cold, but you 33 00:02:21,170 --> 00:02:26,700 have to stay somewhat awake so that you can catch the team working. 34 00:02:26,700 --> 00:02:32,440 I think what that experience allowed us to have was this real relationship with the scientists. 35 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,870 In the field. And, especially Bruce Anderson. You know, there’s a moment when we’re talking 36 00:02:36,870 --> 00:02:44,220 to Bruce in the show and he’s talking about how he, um…Why he does what he does. 37 00:02:44,220 --> 00:02:50,310 And, I asked him this question that I, you know I tend to ask most people. And I think it’s a really common question among 38 00:02:50,310 --> 00:02:54,030 producers. Um, but we asked him “Why do you do what you do?” 39 00:02:54,030 --> 00:03:03,060 And, the response he gave was one I probably won’t ever forget, because it was so based in his life experience 40 00:03:03,060 --> 00:03:09,310 and a genuine desire to make a positive impact on the world. 41 00:03:09,310 --> 00:03:16,030 Narrator: For some of our scientists, understanding pollution has defined the course of their lives work. 42 00:03:16,030 --> 00:03:23,660 Bruce Anderson: I’m a physical chemist. But, I’m also from what Sixty-Minutes called the most polluted city in America. 43 00:03:23,660 --> 00:03:30,360 Anniston, Alabama. When the opportunity came along to do this type of work, I really resonated with it. 44 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:37,060 Lauren: He of course was interested in the actual science, but Bruce took this incredibly seriously. You know, 45 00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:44,010 He decided that he was going to pursue science. He was going to understand pollution. Um, all over the United States, all over the world 46 00:03:44,010 --> 00:03:49,620 And be able to produce hard data that could help communities make better decisions about the way they wanted to live. 47 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:56,400 We wouldn’t have gotten that story from Bruce had we not spent this time with him in the field. 48 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:06,310 If we hadn’t gotten to know them as people, um, and I think being able to do NASA Explorers - it presents the opportunity to be humble 49 00:04:06,310 --> 00:04:09,920 About other people’s stories and other people’s motivations. 50 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:16,050 To understand that they are multi-dimensional people. Who do the things they do because they’re interested 51 00:04:16,050 --> 00:04:21,530 In science, but often there’s a deeper reason and a deeper connection to the science they do. 52 00:04:21,530 --> 00:04:30,080 And it’s our responsibility to tell them with dignity and respect. And um, we try to do that with our stories at NASA Explorers. 53 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:45,291 So that’s a little behind the scenes of how we got that story and how we got those shots.