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Hello

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I’m Dr. Christyl Johnson

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the Deputy Center Director for Technology and Research Investments

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Investments at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

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In this role

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I’m responsible for shaping our missions of the future

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in Astrophysics,

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Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science

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and then establishing

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a portfolio of technology

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investments to enable

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the missions of the future.

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I love this role because every

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day for me is what I like to call

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“visioneering”.

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Establishing a vision of the future

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and then working backwards to figure out

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which barriers need to be removed

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and what gaps need to be filled

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in order to achieve that vision.

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Over the past couple of decades

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the global space community has had a vision

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of sending humans to Mars

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not just for a quick visit

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but to have a sustainable presence there.

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So if you’ll just humor

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me for a moment and

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envision with me that we have travelled

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a few decades into the future

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when we’ll have the ability to not only survive

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but thrive living on another planet.

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Envision living on Mars

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after the first humans arrive

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and set up an infrastructure that will support communities

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and even cities

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with significant populations.

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Working backwards from that vision

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there would be so many challenges

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that would have to be overcome

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to even have a chance of

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making that vision a reality.

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For example, creating streamlined

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long-duration

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radiation exposure space suits

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and above ground habitat

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materials that could shield the humans

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from extremely high levels

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harmful space radiation

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that will also handle extreme temperature swings.

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Once we leave

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the protection provided by the Earth’s

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magnetic fields

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it’s atmosphere and its radiation belts

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we are exposed to the Sun’s full radiation

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spectrum and all of its

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damaging effects.

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Mars has no global magnetic field

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to deflect energetic particles

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and its atmosphere is much thinner than

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Earth’s, so we will get only minimal

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protection even on the surface of Mars.

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This protection

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is so important because

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occasionally, giant explosions

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called solar flares

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occur on the surface of the Sun

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and release massive amounts of energy out

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into space in the form of x-rays,

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gamma rays, and streams of protons

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and electrons.

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This is called a solar particle event.

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These solar flares can have serious

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and even deadly

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consequences for humans

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and their equipment

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on the surface of Mars and even

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traveling to and from Mars.

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In order to thrive on any

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other planetary body

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we will have to move beyond watching

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the sun and giving people

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short notice to take cover.

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We will have to work hard to better understand

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the mechanisms that causes

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these solar eruptions so that we can

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accurately predict them because

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you certainly can’t predict something that

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you don't understand. So the global

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heliophysics community

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is already analyzing data from past

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and current missions and

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designing future missions to address this challenge.

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But even

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after we develop

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the new materials for suits

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and habitats that have been tested

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to survive long periods

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of extreme space radiation exposure

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and we are finally

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able to predict solar eruptions

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we will still have

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to address the communication challenge

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in order for those innovations to be

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effective in protecting our citizens

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on the surface and during

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travel to and from Mars.

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Right now

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here on Earth we have grown accustomed

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to getting information immediately.

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And that’s because we have established

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an infrastructure with

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communications satellites, GPS satelllites,

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repeater towers, and more.

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And we still experience

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dropped coverage, weak signals,

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and slow data transfer speeds on occasion.

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and slow data transfer speeds on occasion.

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Now envision

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an interplanetary internet

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where not only

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do we have to communicate and transfer

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information from coast

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to coast within one country

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or from one country

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country to another country

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but now we will be transferring information

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from one planet

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to another planet

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I believe we will always

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have that expectation

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that we will be able to get

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information almost instantly.

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So imagine all of the

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inventions that will have to happen

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to make that a reality.

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Before traveling to Mars

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all the way to Mars

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let’s envision what will be

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necessary to prepare for communications

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with humans who have a sustainable

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presence on the surface of the Moon.

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We will have

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to install sort of Lunanet

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which will require a constellation of satellites

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to be placed around the moon

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using multiple possible options

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to communicate back to Earth.

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One possible scenario

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would have them all to communicate

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directly back to Earth

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when their rotation in orbit is in the

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line of sight with the Earth

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or maybe they will communicate with each other

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and one of them sends a signal

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back to Earth.

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Or perhaps they all communicate to a relay

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whether that is a relay on the surface

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of the Moon or an orbiting relay

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that processes the information

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and sends it back to Earth.

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We would also need to go beyond laser

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or optical communication

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which right now can already

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transmit data at rates

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10 to 100 times better

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then radio systems.

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And then, ultimately using long range

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quantum communication systems

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to achieve capabilities that are arguably

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impossible using classical methods.

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Once we have

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this kind of communication

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infrastructure, we will we be able

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to see mechanisms that predict a

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solar eruption, send it to the LunaNet

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to be processed and sent down

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to the surface of the Moon

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and then be registered on a hand-held

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device or heads-up visor

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warning the person of the

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solar event giving them ample time

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to get to the closest safe shelter.

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But following that

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train of thought a little further

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how will the person

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know where the closest safe location

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is so that they can get there quickly?

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Well,

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there will have to be a navigation element

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to this LunaNet. And when most

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people think of navigation

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they think of GPS.

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But now, I’d like for you

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envision that we have gone

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beyond GPS.

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Right now our GPS system

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has about 31 satellites orbiting the Earth

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and contact with at least 4

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of those satellites is necessary

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to determine your exact location.

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The logistics of establishing

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a complete communications

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capability along with GPS

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for each planetary body that we

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explore would be a nightmare.

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So,

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what if we considered

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at least for the navigation piece

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of the system, not even using

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satellites. Yes,

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I’m saying a GPS system

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with no satellites.

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What if we

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use neutron stars

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to help us navigate?

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I know, some of you

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are thinking,“what is a neutron star

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and how in the world

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could we use one to navigate?”

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Well, neutron stars

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are formed in the supernova explosions

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that mark the end of life

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for some stars.

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We know that they are small and extremely dense.

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They are the size of a city

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yet they contain the mass of 2

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2 suns compressed down

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to that small star.

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A neutron star emits beams of

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electromagnetic radiation

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out of its magnetic poles.

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But we can only see this light when a beam

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of emission is pointing directly towards the Earth

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kind of like a lighthouse.

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That is why it looks to us

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like pulses of light

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thus the name pulsar.

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They are the strongest magnets known

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and can spin hundreds of times per second.

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Because of their predictable pulsations

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pulsars can provide high-precision

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timing just like

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atomic-clock signals

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supplied through the GPS.

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So instead of using

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GPS satellites for local navigation

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on and between planetary bodies

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where the signal

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gets weaker the further we go

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from each planetary body

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we could use these pulsars

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for interplanetary navigation.

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That would eliminate the need to build so many

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satellites and insert them into the

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proper orbits and the need

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to replace those satellites at the end

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of their useful life.

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Fortunately, pulsars have lifetimes

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ranging from hundreds of thousands

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of years to millions of years.

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And there are

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currently over 2000 known pulsars

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with the potential of hundreds

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of thousands of others

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in our galaxy.

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So we could use 4 or more

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of these pulsars to pinpoint

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location and enjoy

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very precise galactic travel.

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So I've given you just a few

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examples of the visioneering needed

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for humans to thrive on Mars.

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But there are so many other

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challenges that will inspire

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visioneers around the world to create

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the necessary solutions or inventions.

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But now coming

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back to the present day

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There people debating daily

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about whether or not we

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already have the technology

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necessary to go to Mars.

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Some say it will be 10, 20,

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or even 30 years.

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People are also debating whether

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or not humans should even venture to Mars

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and what our objective

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would be in sending them there.

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So now

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I’ll leave you with one thought.

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No matter what objective

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we as a global community have

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in sending humans to Mars

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and no matter how long it takes us

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to establish a clear vision

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and then achieve it

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one of the greatest parts of this journey

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will be all of the impossible

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feats we as a Nation

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and global community will have to

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overcome in order to succeed.

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We will have to advance some technologies

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and invent completely new ones.

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And while inventing

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technologies for impossible goals

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we will inevitably

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find that some the technologies

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that fail to meet our requirements

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turn out to accidentally

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provide revolutionary

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improvements in our capabilities

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right here on planet Earth.

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Thank You.

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