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Tomorrow
morning's moon is going to be special

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because it's going to be passing
into the shadow of the earth.

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If you're up early enough on Tuesday
morning, you'll

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actually get treated to seeing the moon
turn this reddish color.

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As the earth passes
between the moon and the sun,

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effectively blocking out the sun's rays
from reaching the lunar

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surface,

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the moon turns this
this reddish color during an eclipse

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for the same reason that we see
red sunrises and sunsets.

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Basically, Earth's atmosphere blocks out

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colors from the sun in the atmosphere.

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And so the red light is all that
we have left.

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That's why we have these beautiful
red sunrises and sunsets.

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Well, that red light is what actually goes
through the Earth's atmosphere

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and onto the lunar surface.

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So when you look up at the moon

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during a total lunar eclipse
and you see it

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turning red, you're actually seeing
the projection of every sunrise

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and every sunset on the
earth onto the lunar surface.

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NASA's Artemis

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program is this really exciting
next era of lunar exploration.

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50 years ago,
the Apollo 17 mission concluded

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the first era of crews
exploring the lunar surface.

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And what artists will do

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is usher in a new era of humans
visiting the lunar surface.

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What we hope to have happen with our Mass
one after the successful

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completion of that mission

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is the establishment of a regular Kings
of missions that go to the moon,

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sending astronauts
to the surface of the moon for six days

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and eventually building up the capability
of having astronauts live on the surface

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for extended periods of time.

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What we want to do with
Artemis is really leverage

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the lessons that we learned from Apollo
and usher in a new era of humans

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exploring the moon
and eventually going on to explore Mars

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over the last 13 years.

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The data from the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter has really helped us paint a

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a modern, vibrant picture of the moon.

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For me,
one of the most exciting discoveries

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that we've made
is the identification of craters

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that have formed
on the surface of the moon.

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In the time that we've been there,

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we're actually seeing the moon change
very gradually underneath our feet.

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Another really cool thing

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that we've learned from the moon
actually comes from these eclipses.

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Years ago,
we used to turn on one of our instruments

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that would actually measure

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the temperature change at the surface
of the moon during an eclipse.

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This very special configuration
the moon is going from being baked

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by the sun to the deep
cold of being in the Earth's shadow.

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And that happens very rapidly.

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And when you cool the lunar surface
rapidly,

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it cools down and we can measure
that temperature change.

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And by doing that, we gain insights
into the properties of the upper

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few centimeters of the lunar surface.

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If you've ever been on a beach a hot day,
the sand can get very hot.

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But if a cloud passes over,
the sand cools down very quickly.

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Well, we can measure that temperature
change from orbit, and now we do that

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from the Earth to understand
the properties of the surface of the moon

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really taking advantage
of these special eclipses.

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We want

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to send astronauts back
to the surface of the moon, really to help

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understand the history of the earth

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and moon system, the context for

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our very own planet
in our corner of the solar system.

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When we send astronauts on the moon,
they're not only collecting samples

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that revealed the lunar history.

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They also are telling us something
about the history of our own planet

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here on Earth.

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And so you know, the moon offers us

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this really unique window
into the rest of the solar system.

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The processes that are recorded on
the surface of the moon happen

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on every other object
impact craters interacting

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with radiation from the sun, from space.

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So when we learn about the moon,
we can apply that understanding

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to every object, whether it's Mercury or
Pluto or comets or asteroids or even Mars.

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And so what the moon affords us
this opportunity to do is really begin

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to better understand how planets work,
how planets evolve over time,

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and how they interact
with the universe around us.

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So my first

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advice for anybody who wants to learn
more is to go visit Moon

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Dot asked of a website
that has a wealth of information

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that can talk more about future
exploration plans to help

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you learn about the moon and help you
prepare for the eclipse tomorrow morning.

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One of the fascinating things
about the moon is that it has this

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almost pristine record
of the entirety of solar system history.

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We see impact craters that are on the moon
that are over 4 billion years old.

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We also see impact craters
that are formed within the last few years.

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And so this entire history of our solar
system is recorded

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in the surface of the moon.

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And so depending on
where we go on the moon, we can understand

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more about the earliest history
of the solar system or indeed

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what's happening today
with our atmosphere.

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You want to go explore the little lunar
South

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Pole, an area
we know that is not only very, very cold,

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but also may harbor volatiles, water
and other resources that we might use

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to further sustain human exploration
throughout the solar system.

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And so this record
of volatiles, of impacts of volcanism

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is uniquely recorded on the moon, on Mars.

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Those records get erased
relatively quickly

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because of the atmosphere at Mars.

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On the moon, we have no such atmosphere.

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And so that record remains largely
pristine for for millions of years.

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And so what we can do
is, is use that record and begin

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to understand
the importance of impact craters.

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When they form on the moon.

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They tell us something about the process

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that happens across the solar system
and indeed in other solar systems.

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So really,

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it's about applying the understanding
we have about geology from the Earth

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and the moon and extending that out
across the rest of the solar system.

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The Lunar

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Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission,
which has now been at the moon for over 13

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years, has really revealed a
an amazing object.

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We've done this through the collection
of incredibly high resolution

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data, data that tells us
about the dynamics of the moon.

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You know, it's
not just enough to map the moon once, but

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by mapping the moon
effectively every month

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since June of 2009,

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we're able to see the moon change the moon

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in its current state and how that state

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evolves on a human timescale.

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But we're also able to identify the places
that we want to send future

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human and robotic explorers.

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And by doing that,
we're in a much better position

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to explore the moon
and ask questions of the moon.

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When we go with a robotic lander
or with a crew of astronauts

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to prepare for an eclipse.

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What we do for
the spacecraft is several things.

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We know that the spacecraft under
normal operations sees the sunlight for

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about half of its orbit around the moon,
half of the orbits around the moon.

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It's in darkness during eclipse.

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We're in darkness
for an extended period of time.

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Now, the battery on LRO
is charged by solar power.

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And so when we lose that solar power
during an eclipse,

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what we have to do is really turn off
as much of the spacecraft as possible,

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go into a very low power mode
so that we don't drain the battery.

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We also heat the spacecraft up.

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During eclipse,
we lose that warmth of the sun.

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So we warm the spacecraft up beforehand
so that it can grab

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really cool as we go through
go through the eclipse.

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By doing those two things,
we put the spacecraft in its best shape,

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best position to get through the eclipse
with with flying colors.