ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joel Levine - Planetary and atmospheric scientist
Joel Levine studies the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, looking at their origin, evolution, structure and chemistry and climate change. He's the principal investigator of the proposed ARES Mars Airplane Mission.

Why you should listen

Joel S. Levine is a senior research scientist in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA's Langley Research Center, and the principal investigator and chief scientist of the proposed ARES Mars Airplane Mission. ARES (Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey) is a robotic, rocket-powered Mars airplane designed to investigate the atmosphere, surface and sub-surface of Mars.

In his research, he studies the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, tracking their development and changes: How similar are they? What can Earth learn from Mars?

His work as an atmospheric scientist had an interesting sideline, as he wrote in this Q&A for students:  

From 1998 to 2001, at the request of the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., I formed and led a team of NASA scientists to solve the mystery of why tiny white spots were forming in the hermetically sealed encasements containing the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Using noninvasive techniques that were originally developed to measure trace gases in Earth's atmosphere, we solved the problem. We measured very high concentrations of water vapor in the hermetically sealed encasements. The high concentrations of water vapor chemically reacted with the glass encasements, causing the leaching out of alkaline material from the glass, resulting in the formation of the mysterious white spots. The situation was corrected in 2001, when personnel at the National Archives and Records Administration removed the documents from the original encasements, put them in brand-new encasements and put them back on display at the National Archives. This was a unique opportunity to apply NASA-developed technology to solve a non-aerospace problem of great national interest and concern -- the preservation of the founding documents of the United States of America! 

More profile about the speaker
Joel Levine | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxNASA

Joel Levine: Why we need to go back to Mars

Filmed:
764,198 views

Planetary scientist Joel Levine shows some intriguing -- and puzzling -- new discoveries about Mars: craters full of ice, traces of ancient oceans, and compelling hints at the presence, sometime in the past, of life. He makes the case for going back to Mars to find out more.
- Planetary and atmospheric scientist
Joel Levine studies the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, looking at their origin, evolution, structure and chemistry and climate change. He's the principal investigator of the proposed ARES Mars Airplane Mission. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I want to talk about 4.6 billion years of history
0
0
5000
00:20
in 18 minutes.
1
5000
2000
00:22
That's 300 million years per minute.
2
7000
3000
00:25
Let's start with the first photograph NASA obtained
3
10000
4000
00:29
of planet Mars.
4
14000
2000
00:31
This is fly-by, Mariner IV.
5
16000
2000
00:33
It was taken in 1965.
6
18000
3000
00:36
When this picture appeared,
7
21000
2000
00:38
that well-known scientific journal,
8
23000
3000
00:41
The New York Times, wrote in its editorial,
9
26000
3000
00:44
"Mars is uninteresting.
10
29000
2000
00:46
It's a dead world. NASA should not spend
11
31000
3000
00:49
any time or effort studying Mars anymore."
12
34000
4000
00:53
Fortunately, our leaders in Washington
13
38000
2000
00:55
at NASA headquarters knew better
14
40000
2000
00:57
and we began a very extensive study
15
42000
4000
01:01
of the red planet.
16
46000
2000
01:03
One of the key questions in all of science,
17
48000
4000
01:07
"Is there life outside of Earth?"
18
52000
2000
01:09
I believe that Mars is the most likely target
19
54000
4000
01:13
for life outside the Earth.
20
58000
2000
01:15
I'm going to show you in a few minutes
21
60000
2000
01:17
some amazing measurements that suggest
22
62000
2000
01:19
there may be life on Mars.
23
64000
2000
01:21
But let me start with a Viking photograph.
24
66000
4000
01:25
This is a composite taken by Viking in 1976.
25
70000
4000
01:29
Viking was developed and managed at the
26
74000
3000
01:32
NASA Langley Research Center.
27
77000
2000
01:34
We sent two orbiters and two landers in the summer of 1976.
28
79000
4000
01:38
We had four spacecraft, two around Mars,
29
83000
4000
01:42
two on the surface --
30
87000
2000
01:44
an amazing accomplishment.
31
89000
2000
01:46
This is the first photograph taken from
32
91000
2000
01:48
the surface of any planet.
33
93000
2000
01:50
This is a Viking Lander photograph
34
95000
2000
01:52
of the surface of Mars.
35
97000
2000
01:54
And yes, the red planet is red.
36
99000
3000
01:57
Mars is half the size of the Earth,
37
102000
3000
02:00
but because two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water,
38
105000
3000
02:03
the land area on Mars
39
108000
3000
02:06
is comparable to the land area on Earth.
40
111000
2000
02:08
So, Mars is a pretty big place even though it's half the size.
41
113000
5000
02:13
We have obtained topographic measurements
42
118000
3000
02:16
of the surface of Mars. We understand
43
121000
2000
02:18
the elevation differences.
44
123000
2000
02:20
We know a lot about Mars.
45
125000
2000
02:22
Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system,
46
127000
4000
02:26
Olympus Mons.
47
131000
2000
02:28
Mars has the Grand Canyon
48
133000
2000
02:30
of the solar system, Valles Marineris.
49
135000
3000
02:33
Very, very interesting planet.
50
138000
2000
02:35
Mars has the largest
51
140000
3000
02:38
impact crater in the solar system,
52
143000
2000
02:40
Hellas Basin.
53
145000
2000
02:42
This is 2,000 miles across.
54
147000
2000
02:44
If you happened to be on Mars
55
149000
2000
02:46
when this impactor hit,
56
151000
2000
02:48
it was a really bad day on Mars.
57
153000
2000
02:50
(Laughter)
58
155000
2000
02:52
This is Olympus Mons.
59
157000
2000
02:54
This is bigger than the state of Arizona.
60
159000
3000
02:57
Volcanoes are important, because volcanoes
61
162000
2000
02:59
produce atmospheres and they produce oceans.
62
164000
3000
03:02
We're looking at Valles Marineris,
63
167000
3000
03:05
the largest canyon in the solar system,
64
170000
2000
03:07
superimposed on a map of the United States,
65
172000
3000
03:10
3,000 miles across.
66
175000
2000
03:12
One of the most intriguing features about Mars,
67
177000
3000
03:15
the National Academy of Science says
68
180000
2000
03:17
one of the 10 major mysteries of the space age,
69
182000
3000
03:20
is why certain areas of Mars
70
185000
3000
03:23
are so highly magnetized.
71
188000
2000
03:25
We call this crustal magnetism.
72
190000
2000
03:27
There are regions on Mars, where, for some reason --
73
192000
3000
03:30
we don't understand why at this point --
74
195000
3000
03:33
the surface is very, very highly magnetized.
75
198000
3000
03:36
Is there water on Mars?
76
201000
2000
03:38
The answer is no, there is no liquid water
77
203000
3000
03:41
on the surface of Mars today.
78
206000
2000
03:43
But there is intriguing evidence
79
208000
2000
03:45
that suggests that the early history of Mars
80
210000
3000
03:48
there may have been rivers
81
213000
2000
03:50
and fast flowing water.
82
215000
3000
03:53
Today Mars is very very dry.
83
218000
2000
03:55
We believe there's some water in the polar caps,
84
220000
3000
03:58
there are polar caps of North Pole and South Pole.
85
223000
3000
04:01
Here are some recent images.
86
226000
2000
04:03
This is from Spirit and Opportunity.
87
228000
3000
04:06
These images that show at one time,
88
231000
2000
04:08
there was very fast flowing water on the surface of Mars.
89
233000
4000
04:12
Why is water important? Water is important
90
237000
2000
04:14
because if you want life you have to have water.
91
239000
4000
04:18
Water is the key ingredient
92
243000
2000
04:20
in the evolution, the origin of life on a planet.
93
245000
4000
04:24
Here is some picture of Antarctica
94
249000
2000
04:26
and a picture of Olympus Mons,
95
251000
3000
04:29
very similar features, glaciers.
96
254000
2000
04:31
So, this is frozen water.
97
256000
2000
04:33
This is ice water on Mars.
98
258000
3000
04:36
This is my favorite picture. This was just taken a few weeks ago.
99
261000
3000
04:39
It has not been seen publicly.
100
264000
2000
04:41
This is European space agency
101
266000
3000
04:44
Mars Express, image of a crater on Mars
102
269000
2000
04:46
and in the middle of the crater
103
271000
2000
04:48
we have liquid water, we have ice.
104
273000
3000
04:51
Very intriguing photograph.
105
276000
2000
04:53
We now believe that in the early history of Mars,
106
278000
4000
04:57
which is 4.6 billion years ago,
107
282000
3000
05:00
4.6 billion years ago, Mars was very Earth-like.
108
285000
4000
05:04
Mars had rivers, Mars had lakes,
109
289000
3000
05:07
but more important Mars had planetary-scale oceans.
110
292000
4000
05:11
We believe that the oceans were in the northern hemisphere,
111
296000
4000
05:15
and this area in blue,
112
300000
2000
05:17
which shows a depression of about four miles,
113
302000
3000
05:20
was the ancient ocean area
114
305000
3000
05:23
on the surface of Mars.
115
308000
2000
05:25
Where did the ocean's worth of water on Mars go?
116
310000
3000
05:28
Well, we have an idea.
117
313000
2000
05:30
This is a measurement we obtained a few years ago
118
315000
3000
05:33
from a Mars-orbiting satellite called Odyssey.
119
318000
4000
05:37
Sub-surface water on Mars,
120
322000
2000
05:39
frozen in the form of ice.
121
324000
3000
05:42
And this shows the percent. If it's a blueish color,
122
327000
3000
05:45
it means 16 percent by weight.
123
330000
3000
05:48
Sixteen percent, by weight, of the interior
124
333000
2000
05:50
contains frozen water, or ice.
125
335000
3000
05:53
So, there is a lot of water below the surface.
126
338000
3000
05:56
The most intriguing and puzzling measurement,
127
341000
4000
06:00
in my opinion, we've obtained of Mars,
128
345000
3000
06:03
was released earlier this year
129
348000
3000
06:06
in the magazine Science.
130
351000
3000
06:09
And what we're looking at is the presence of the gas methane,
131
354000
4000
06:13
CH4, in the atmosphere of Mars.
132
358000
4000
06:17
And you can see there are three distinct regions of methane.
133
362000
4000
06:21
Why is methane important?
134
366000
2000
06:23
Because on Earth, almost all --
135
368000
2000
06:25
99.9 percent -- of the methane
136
370000
3000
06:28
is produced by living systems,
137
373000
3000
06:31
not little green men, but microscopic life
138
376000
4000
06:35
below the surface or at the surface.
139
380000
2000
06:37
We now have evidence
140
382000
2000
06:39
that methane is in the atmosphere of Mars,
141
384000
3000
06:42
a gas that, on Earth,
142
387000
2000
06:44
is biogenic in origin,
143
389000
2000
06:46
produced by living systems.
144
391000
2000
06:48
These are the three plumes: A, B1, B2.
145
393000
4000
06:52
And this is the terrain it appears over,
146
397000
3000
06:55
and we know from geological studies
147
400000
3000
06:58
that these regions are the oldest regions on Mars.
148
403000
4000
07:02
In fact, the Earth and Mars
149
407000
2000
07:04
are both 4.6 billion years old.
150
409000
4000
07:08
The oldest rock on Earth is only 3.6 billion.
151
413000
4000
07:12
The reason there is a billion-year gap
152
417000
3000
07:15
in our geological understanding
153
420000
2000
07:17
is because of plate tectonics,
154
422000
2000
07:19
The crust of the Earth has been recycled.
155
424000
3000
07:22
We have no geological record prior
156
427000
2000
07:24
for the first billion years.
157
429000
2000
07:26
That record exists on Mars.
158
431000
2000
07:28
And this terrain that we're looking at
159
433000
2000
07:30
dates back to 4.6 billion years
160
435000
4000
07:34
when Earth and Mars were formed.
161
439000
3000
07:37
It was a Tuesday.
162
442000
2000
07:39
(Laughter)
163
444000
2000
07:41
This is a map that shows
164
446000
2000
07:43
where we've put our spacecraft on the surface of Mars.
165
448000
4000
07:47
Here is Viking I, Viking II.
166
452000
3000
07:50
This is Opportunity. This is Spirit.
167
455000
3000
07:53
This is Mars Pathfinder. This is Phoenix,
168
458000
2000
07:55
we just put two years ago.
169
460000
2000
07:57
Notice all of our rovers and all of our landers
170
462000
4000
08:01
have gone to the northern hemisphere.
171
466000
2000
08:03
That's because the northern hemisphere
172
468000
3000
08:06
is the region of the ancient
173
471000
2000
08:08
ocean basin.
174
473000
2000
08:10
There aren't many craters.
175
475000
2000
08:12
And that's because the water protected the basin
176
477000
3000
08:15
from being impacted by asteroids and meteorites.
177
480000
4000
08:19
But look in the southern hemisphere.
178
484000
3000
08:22
In the southern hemisphere there are impact craters,
179
487000
2000
08:24
there are volcanic craters.
180
489000
2000
08:26
Here's Hellas Basin,
181
491000
2000
08:28
a very very different place, geologically.
182
493000
3000
08:31
Look where the methane is, the methane is in a very
183
496000
3000
08:34
rough terrain area.
184
499000
4000
08:38
What is the best way to unravel
185
503000
2000
08:40
the mysteries on Mars that exist?
186
505000
3000
08:43
We asked this question 10 years ago.
187
508000
4000
08:47
We invited 10 of the top Mars scientists
188
512000
3000
08:50
to the Langley Research Center for two days.
189
515000
4000
08:54
We addressed on the board
190
519000
2000
08:56
the major questions that have not been answered.
191
521000
3000
08:59
And we spent two days deciding
192
524000
3000
09:02
how to best answer this question.
193
527000
3000
09:05
And the result of our meeting
194
530000
3000
09:08
was a robotic rocket-powered airplane we call ARES.
195
533000
6000
09:14
It's an Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Surveyor.
196
539000
4000
09:18
There's a model of ARES here.
197
543000
2000
09:20
This is a 20-percent scale model.
198
545000
3000
09:23
This airplane was designed at the Langley Research Center.
199
548000
4000
09:27
If any place in the world
200
552000
2000
09:29
can build an airplane to fly on Mars,
201
554000
2000
09:31
it's the Langley Research Center,
202
556000
2000
09:33
for almost 100 years
203
558000
2000
09:35
a leading center of aeronautics in the world.
204
560000
3000
09:38
We fly about a mile above the surface.
205
563000
3000
09:41
We cover hundreds of miles,
206
566000
2000
09:43
and we fly about 450 miles an hour.
207
568000
3000
09:46
We can do things that rovers can't do
208
571000
3000
09:49
and landers can't do:
209
574000
2000
09:51
We can fly above mountains, volcanoes, impact craters;
210
576000
3000
09:54
we fly over valleys;
211
579000
2000
09:56
we can fly over surface magnetism,
212
581000
2000
09:58
the polar caps, subsurface water;
213
583000
3000
10:01
and we can search for life on Mars.
214
586000
2000
10:03
But, of equal importance,
215
588000
2000
10:05
as we fly through the atmosphere of Mars,
216
590000
3000
10:08
we transmit that journey,
217
593000
3000
10:11
the first flight of an airplane outside of the Earth,
218
596000
3000
10:14
we transmit those images back to Earth.
219
599000
3000
10:17
And our goal is to inspire the American public
220
602000
4000
10:21
who is paying for this mission through tax dollars.
221
606000
3000
10:24
But more important we will
222
609000
3000
10:27
inspire the next generation of scientists,
223
612000
3000
10:30
technologists, engineers and mathematicians.
224
615000
3000
10:33
And that's a critical area of national security
225
618000
4000
10:37
and economic vitality, to make sure
226
622000
4000
10:41
we produce the next generation
227
626000
2000
10:43
of scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technologists.
228
628000
3000
10:46
This is what ARES looks like
229
631000
3000
10:49
as it flies over Mars.
230
634000
2000
10:51
We preprogram it.
231
636000
2000
10:53
We will fly where the methane is.
232
638000
2000
10:55
We will have instruments aboard the plane
233
640000
3000
10:58
that will sample, every three minutes, the atmosphere of Mars.
234
643000
3000
11:01
We will look for methane
235
646000
2000
11:03
as well as other gasses
236
648000
2000
11:05
produced by living systems.
237
650000
2000
11:07
We will pinpoint where these gases emanate from,
238
652000
4000
11:11
because we can measure the gradient where it comes from,
239
656000
3000
11:14
and there, we can direct the next mission
240
659000
3000
11:17
to land right in that area.
241
662000
3000
11:20
How do we transport an airplane to Mars?
242
665000
3000
11:23
In two words, very carefully.
243
668000
3000
11:26
The problem is we don't fly it to Mars,
244
671000
4000
11:30
we put it in a spacecraft
245
675000
3000
11:33
and we send it to Mars.
246
678000
2000
11:35
The problem is the spacecraft's
247
680000
2000
11:37
largest diameter is nine feet;
248
682000
4000
11:41
ARES is 21-foot wingspan, 17 feet long.
249
686000
5000
11:46
How do we get it to Mars?
250
691000
2000
11:48
We fold it,
251
693000
2000
11:50
and we transport it in a spacecraft.
252
695000
3000
11:53
And we have it in something called an aeroshell.
253
698000
3000
11:56
This is how we do it.
254
701000
2000
11:58
And we have a little video that describes the sequence.
255
703000
4000
12:02
Video: Seven, six. Green board. Five, four, three, two, one.
256
707000
5000
12:07
Main engine start, and liftoff.
257
712000
3000
12:20
Joel Levine: This is a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
258
725000
3000
12:29
This is the spacecraft taking nine months
259
734000
2000
12:31
to get to Mars.
260
736000
2000
12:33
It enters the atmosphere of Mars.
261
738000
3000
12:36
A lot of heating,
262
741000
2000
12:41
frictional heating. It's going 18 thousand miles an hour.
263
746000
2000
12:43
A parachute opens up to slow it down.
264
748000
4000
12:47
The thermal tiles fall off.
265
752000
3000
12:50
The airplane is exposed to the atmosphere for the first time.
266
755000
3000
12:53
It unfolds.
267
758000
3000
12:56
The rocket engine begins.
268
761000
2000
13:05
We believe that in a one-hour flight
269
770000
3000
13:08
we can rewrite the textbook on Mars
270
773000
3000
13:11
by making high-resolution measurements of the atmosphere,
271
776000
3000
13:14
looking for gases of biogenic origin,
272
779000
3000
13:17
looking for gases of volcanic origin,
273
782000
3000
13:20
studying the surface, studying the magnetism
274
785000
3000
13:23
on the surface, which we don't understand,
275
788000
2000
13:25
as well as about a dozen other areas.
276
790000
3000
13:28
Practice makes perfect.
277
793000
2000
13:30
How do we know we can do it?
278
795000
2000
13:32
Because we have tested ARES model,
279
797000
4000
13:36
several models in a half a dozen wind tunnels
280
801000
3000
13:39
at the NASA Langley Research Center for eight years,
281
804000
3000
13:42
under Mars conditions.
282
807000
2000
13:44
And, of equal importance
283
809000
2000
13:46
is, we test ARES in the Earth's atmosphere,
284
811000
4000
13:50
at 100,000 feet,
285
815000
3000
13:53
which is comparable to the density and pressure
286
818000
3000
13:56
of the atmosphere on Mars where we'll fly.
287
821000
3000
13:59
Now, 100,000 feet, if you fly cross-country to Los Angeles,
288
824000
3000
14:02
you fly 37,000 feet.
289
827000
2000
14:04
We do our tests at 100,000 feet.
290
829000
3000
14:07
And I want to show you one of our tests.
291
832000
3000
14:10
This is a half-scale model.
292
835000
2000
14:12
This is a high-altitude helium balloon.
293
837000
2000
14:14
This is over Tilamook, Oregon.
294
839000
3000
14:17
We put the folded airplane on the balloon --
295
842000
4000
14:21
it took about three hours to get up there --
296
846000
2000
14:23
and then we released it on command
297
848000
2000
14:25
at 103,000 feet,
298
850000
2000
14:27
and we deploy the airplane and everything works perfectly.
299
852000
4000
14:31
And we've done
300
856000
2000
14:33
high-altitude and low-altitude tests,
301
858000
2000
14:35
just to perfect this technique.
302
860000
5000
14:40
We're ready to go.
303
865000
2000
14:42
I have a scale model here.
304
867000
2000
14:44
But we have a full-scale model
305
869000
2000
14:46
in storage at the NASA Langley Research Center.
306
871000
3000
14:49
We're ready to go. All we need is a check from NASA headquarters
307
874000
4000
14:53
(Laughter)
308
878000
2000
14:55
to cover the costs.
309
880000
2000
14:57
I'm prepared to donate my honorarium for today's talk
310
882000
3000
15:00
for this mission.
311
885000
2000
15:02
There's actually no honorarium for anyone for this thing.
312
887000
4000
15:06
This is the ARES team;
313
891000
2000
15:08
we have about 150 scientists, engineers;
314
893000
4000
15:12
where we're working with Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
315
897000
2000
15:14
Goddard Space Flight Center,
316
899000
2000
15:16
Ames Research Center and half a dozen major universities
317
901000
3000
15:19
and corporations in developing this.
318
904000
2000
15:21
It's a large effort. It's all at NASA Langley Research Center.
319
906000
7000
15:28
And let me conclude by saying
320
913000
3000
15:31
not too far from here,
321
916000
2000
15:33
right down the road in Kittyhawk, North Carolina,
322
918000
3000
15:36
a little more than 100 years ago
323
921000
2000
15:38
history was made
324
923000
2000
15:40
when we had the first powered flight of an airplane on Earth.
325
925000
3000
15:43
We are on the verge right now
326
928000
2000
15:45
to make the first flight of an airplane
327
930000
3000
15:48
outside the Earth's atmosphere.
328
933000
2000
15:50
We are prepared to fly this on Mars,
329
935000
3000
15:53
rewrite the textbook about Mars.
330
938000
2000
15:55
If you're interested in more information,
331
940000
3000
15:58
we have a website that describes this exciting
332
943000
3000
16:01
and intriguing mission, and why we want to do it.
333
946000
3000
16:04
Thank you very much.
334
949000
2000
16:06
(Applause)
335
951000
3000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joel Levine - Planetary and atmospheric scientist
Joel Levine studies the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, looking at their origin, evolution, structure and chemistry and climate change. He's the principal investigator of the proposed ARES Mars Airplane Mission.

Why you should listen

Joel S. Levine is a senior research scientist in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA's Langley Research Center, and the principal investigator and chief scientist of the proposed ARES Mars Airplane Mission. ARES (Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey) is a robotic, rocket-powered Mars airplane designed to investigate the atmosphere, surface and sub-surface of Mars.

In his research, he studies the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, tracking their development and changes: How similar are they? What can Earth learn from Mars?

His work as an atmospheric scientist had an interesting sideline, as he wrote in this Q&A for students:  

From 1998 to 2001, at the request of the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., I formed and led a team of NASA scientists to solve the mystery of why tiny white spots were forming in the hermetically sealed encasements containing the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Using noninvasive techniques that were originally developed to measure trace gases in Earth's atmosphere, we solved the problem. We measured very high concentrations of water vapor in the hermetically sealed encasements. The high concentrations of water vapor chemically reacted with the glass encasements, causing the leaching out of alkaline material from the glass, resulting in the formation of the mysterious white spots. The situation was corrected in 2001, when personnel at the National Archives and Records Administration removed the documents from the original encasements, put them in brand-new encasements and put them back on display at the National Archives. This was a unique opportunity to apply NASA-developed technology to solve a non-aerospace problem of great national interest and concern -- the preservation of the founding documents of the United States of America! 

More profile about the speaker
Joel Levine | Speaker | TED.com