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EXPLORATIONS
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Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.
Undersea Explorer
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Sylvia Earle: I never thought it was unusual to feel self-contained, or to entertain myself for long periods of time with nature. It's endlessly fascinating. You never know what you were going to see, and it changes all the time, even the same place every minute is different. The wind blows, the trees move, butterflies come in, somebody takes up and leaves. You see birds come by, it's just constantly changing. And endlessly fascinating.
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Sylvia Earle: I suppose some people, many people, are afraid of being alone. But, for example when I go into the forest, I am not alone. There is life all around. If I go into the sea by myself, and I do it a lot, there is life everywhere. I feel sorry, I think, for astronauts who, if they were abandoned, if they were all by themselves on the moon, because that would be truly, truly alone. When Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were on the moon, they were alone. The closest living creature was Mike Collins out there in the spacecraft that was orbiting the moon. The next stop was earth. Underwater, every spoonful of water is filled with life. You are really never alone, it just depends on your perspective.
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The combination inspired the system that ultimately was devised. And that is to be deployed on the front end of a little submarine, the Star II from the University of Hawaii, that took me down like a taxi. I was a taxi cab passenger, but I was riding on the front end of the taxi instead of in the passenger seat. We went down to the bottom, 1,250 feet. A strap that kept me attached to the submarine was then released, and I walked off. I was still attached to the submarine by a communication line, but I was not attached back up to the surface by any cable. It's the only time that this atmospheric diving suit, or any of the atmospheric diving suits have been used in this way. Typically they do have the cable going back up to the surface.
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Donna Shirley
Mars Exploration Program
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I'm interested in leaving a world where my grandchildren -- I hope I have some -- are going to be able to thrive, instead of leaving a world where my generation has despoiled the planet, has fragmented into warring factions, has engendered hate and xenophobia, and all of these sorts of things, and then has pulled in and said, "We're not going to explore. We're just going to sit here and stew in our own juices." And to say, "We're going to spend all our money," -- throw money at problems that aren't solvable by just money, that have to have other kinds of solutions applied to them.
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[ Interview ] Donna Shirley |
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Mars Observer was launched in '92 and it was a failure. But, in the meantime, we started thinking about, "Okay, life lives on earth in many places where we wouldn't have believed that it would have lived." So, scientifically, we found life at the bottom of the ocean, living off of just the gases coming out of vents. No light, but there it is. We found life down in the Columbia River basalts, several kilometers down, just living off of rock and heat - life in Antarctica, in frozen, frigid conditions, inside rocks. So, anywhere there's liquid water on earth, there's life. So, we said, "Gee, you know, maybe there's life on Mars."
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[ Interview ] Donna Shirley |
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The lander camera could take pictures of the ramp the rover was coming down. And, there was a young scientist named Justin Mackie, who had figured out how to program the camera to turn, so that it would catch the rover as it was doing things. So, it would make a little -- like a jerky movie. And so, the camera -- the first picture comes back and there's just the ramp sitting there. And I'm thinking, "Oh, my God, the rover didn't get up," or whatever. And then, the next picture and then all of a sudden you see the ramp bend and then the rover comes into view. And then -- so there's six images for it to get down on the ground. And, this guy from Mission Control, Art Thompson says, "Six wheels on soil." And it was just the greatest experience, it was a terrific, really terrific high.
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[ Interview ] Donna Shirley |
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Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.
Discoverer of Lucy
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Donald Johanson: When I found Lucy in 1974, I was walking in a very desolate, remote part of Ethiopia known as Hadar. At the Hadar site we had found fossilized remains of all kinds of animals. Elephants, rhinos, gazelles, monkeys, and so on. But our main goal, of course, was to find as many human ancestor fossils as we could. We had found some things in 1973 that titillated us and alerted us to the fact that these geological deposits would, in fact, have human ancestor fossils. On this November morning, it was about noon, I was heading back to my Land Rover to drive back to camp. And I happened to look over my right shoulder. And as I did so, I saw a fragment of a bone which I recognized as coming from the elbow region in a skeleton, and that it was too small to be anything but one of these Hominids. And the anatomy was right. And almost instantaneously, I was with a student of mine at that time, Tom Gray, we realized that there were fragments of her, of this skeleton, that were distributed along a slope. There was a piece of a leg, there was a piece of a pelvis, there was a piece of a jaw, there was a piece of a skull. And I realized almost instantaneously that we had part of a skeleton. Normally, we are happy to find a fragment of jaw, a few isolated teeth, a bit of an arm, a bit of a skull. But to find associated body parts is extremely rare. I realized that no matter what it was, even if it was from a creature that we already knew about, another kind of human ancestor that had already been studied and named and so on, it was going to be important because so few discoveries had arms associated with legs, bits of skull associated with a pelvis. I realized immediately that this was a terribly important find, a terribly important discovery, but I didn't realize at the moment how important it would be until we had spent a lot of time in the laboratory studying her.
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From the Depths: Views of the Sea with Dr. Earle
Dr. Shirley Earle is one of the world's foremost undersea explorers. In her interview she describes the wonder she has always felt for nature and the vastness of the sea. Research Dr. Earle's life, work, and current undersea exploration projects. Develop a multimedia slide show to present the work of this marine explorer. Use undersea photos from various web sites to illustrate the amazing world Dr. Earle encounters in the depths of the ocean.
Mars Profile
Donna Shirley talks about the need for exploration and the possibility of life on Mars.
Exploratory missions to Mars like the Pathfinder space probe have already taught scientists new things about the red planet. Research the information we have gained about Mars during the last decade because of Mars exploration projects. Use your information to develop an interactive cluster map that describes and illustrates new findings connected to exploratory project.
Lucy the Magnificent
Dr. Donald Johanson describes the November morning when he discovered Lucy. He knew the discovery was an important one. Indeed, it changed forever the field of paleontology and our knowledge of the origin and development of the human species. Read Dr. Johanson's complete interview in the Gallery of Science. Conduct further research to trace the history of the discovery of Lucy and the new knowledge it contributed. Use your information to create a multimedia tribute to both Dr. Johanson and his incredible Lucy.
Why Exploration Matters: The Benefits of Oceanic Research
Oceans have been described as our life support system on earth. Keeping our ocean healthy is one of the most critical issues facing our environment today. Ocean exploration helps us learn more about how to take care of this critical life-supporting resource. There are other benefits to be gained by supporting ocean exploration. What are they? How might ocean exploration help us find cures for human disease and teach us more about the origins of the earth? Research the scientific and human benefits of ocean exploration. Develop a persuasive speech that supports the use of public funds for exploration under the sea.
Exploration: The Importance of Technology
In both undersea and space exploration new technology has been critical to recent discoveries and advances. Donna Shirley describes her excitement as sophisticated cameras sent images of the robotic rover as it rolled down the ramp onto the surface of Mars. Dr. Sylvia Earle describes the little submarine that took her 1,250 feet beneath the ocean surface and kept her tethered as she freely explored the ocean floor in an atmospheric suit. Research the different types of leading-edge technologies that have aided space and undersea exploration. Develop an interactive illustrated report that describes these innovations and their benefits to exploration.
A Top Ten Paleontology List
The discovery of Lucy by Dr. Donald Johanson was one of the most important discoveries in the field of paleontology. Since then, there have been a variety of amazing discoveries about prehistoric life on earth including the recent discovery of 3-5 million-year-old remains found in Kenya. Research prehistoric explorations and findings during the last twenty years. Use your information to develop a top ten list of important discoveries that have contributed to our knowledge of prehistoric life and the origin of the human species. Add multimedia elements to your list to illustrate these findings and describe your reasons for including each selection.
Our Final Frontier: Exploring the Oceans
The oceans are the final frontier on Earth. Scientists have recently started a new era of ocean exploration. Dr. Shirley Earle's work is part of this effort. Exploring the earth's final frontier may hold clues to the origin of life, cures for human disease, answers to questions about how to achieve sustainable use of our oceans, and information to protect the endangered species in the sea. Research Dr. Earle's work and other leading ocean exploration projects currently in progress. Develop a three-page website plan that highlights exciting exploration projects, technologies that make these projects possible, and findings that add to our knowledge of this final frontier.
Mars Visions: The Case for Mars Exploration
Review the complete interview with Donna Shirley that describes her exploratory work of the planet Mars. Why is it important to validate the existence of life on Mars? What will it take to move the exploration further to a manned flight to the red planet? What are the risks? What might be the benefits from this type of space exploration? Research past, current, and proposed Mars-related space exploration projects. Use your information to develop an argument either for or against continued or increased spending for Mars exploration. Present your argument in the form of a newspaper editorial.
Our Ancient Family Tree
Dr. Donald Johanson's discovery of Lucy provided us with a link in our ancient family tree. Current explorations by paleontologists worldwide continue to add to our understanding of how our human family tree developed. Research recent findings in the area of human origins. Use your information to develop a multimedia ancient family tree that demonstrates your understanding of the key discoveries and their importance.
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