Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
How to visit Mars with a tiny satellite, static electricity and ion thrusters
Posted
January 1, 2018
Views
12,937
Likes
179
Engagement
1.38%
January 1, 2018
12,937
179
1.38%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
5:41Now PlayingCubesats, low-cost, bite-sized satellites inspired by the tubes used to hold Beanie Babies, were invented in 1999 as educational tools.
Now, aerospace suppliers and governments across the globe see the tools as the future of space commercialization and deep space exploration. Some say the tiny satellites could even fend off an asteroid attack.
But there’s still one big problem: CubeSats can’t move once they’re in space -- which limits their survival and makes them dangerous.
Paulo Lozano, director of the Space Propulsion Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is leading the way in the development of mini thrusters for CubeSats.
To understand how his invention works, you'll need a few drops of water and a fuzzy sweater.
For more:
Creators:
Nsikan Akpan
Matt Ehrichs
Video Editor:
Matt Ehrichs
Producers:
Jenny Marder
Richard Coolidge
Patti Parson
Sara Just
Nick Massella
Graphics:
Adam Sarraf
Special Thanks:
Priscilla Shanks
Deep See Films LLC
Music (via Free Music Archive):
“Bell Club” by Podington Bear
“Tomie’s Bubbles” by Candlegravity
“Bounce” by Evan Schaeffer
“Lips” by Plurabelle
“Clockwork Outro” by Parvus Decree
“Closer to the Sun” by Rest You Sleeping Giant
“The Break” by Monplaisir
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
