Space's Deepest Secrets

Man: HUMANS HAVE BEEN EXPLORERS SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS --

FROM OUR BIRTH IN THE CRADLE OF AFRICA

AND SPREADING ACROSS THE SEVEN CONTINENTS.

THAT EXPLORATION WILL NEVER END.

IT'S SOMETHING VERY DEEP WITHIN US AS HUMAN BEINGS.

THIS STRETCHES BACK TO THE DAWN OF OUR SPECIES.

Man #2: AND LIFTOFF.

Narrator: TODAY, A NEW BREED OF EXPLORERS

ARE CAPTURING THE FIRST GLIMPSES OF WORLDS BEYOND OUR OWN.

WE ARE ABSOLUTELY PUSHING THE LIMITS

OF EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT SPACE EXPLORATION RIGHT NOW.

HANG ON TO YOUR SEATS,

BECAUSE THE ROLLER COASTER RIDE IS ON.

Narrator: MYSTERIOUS NEW IMAGES

REVEAL INCREDIBLE NEW DISCOVERIES.

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

JANUARY 2016 --

NASA RELEASES A NEW IMAGE OF A STRANGE STRUCTURE

ON THE SURFACE OF PLUTO.

IT APPEARS TO BE AN ENORMOUS ICE VOLCANO

ON WHAT SHOULD BE A GEOLOGICALLY DEAD PLANET.

ON THE FLANKS OF THIS BIG SUMMIT DEPRESSION

IS THE CALDERA OF THE VOLCANO.

NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS BEEN SEEN ANYWHERE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

IT'S GOT US BAFFLED.

Narrator: NOW SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT

JUST BENEATH THIS VOLCANO IS AN ENTIRE OCEAN OF WATER.

THE MYSTERIOUS IMAGE THAT TRIGGERED THIS DISCOVERY

IS ONE OF THOUSANDS

THAT SCIENTISTS ARE STILL DOWNLOADING

FROM A HISTORIC FLYBY OF PLUTO IN JULY 2015.

STAND BY FOR TELEMETRY.

THREE, TWO, ONE!

EVEN TODAY, MUCH OF THE DATA FROM THE FLYBY --

BETWEEN 35% AND 40% --

IS STILL UP ON THE SPACECRAFT AND NO HUMAN BEING HAS SEEN IT.

WE DON'T KNOW WHAT DISCOVERIES WILL BE IN THEM.

Narrator: HOW DID A TEAM OF EXPLORERS

BECOME THE FIRST PEOPLE IN HISTORY

TO CAPTURE IMAGES OF PLUTO'S SURFACE,

AND WHAT CAN EXPLAIN MYSTERIOUS NEW PHOTOGRAPHS

LIKE PLUTO'S VOLCANO?

A TEAM OF YOUNG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

AND SCIENTISTS SET ITS SIGHTS

ON THE LAST UNEXPLORED PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

YOU KNOW, IF SOMEBODY SAID,

"WELL, WERE YOU ALL OBSESSED WITH PLUTO?"

I THINK WE WOULD ALL HAVE TO PLEAD GUILTY.

Narrator: AT THE TIME, RALPH McNUTT

IS A PHYSICS PROFESSOR AT M.I.T.

McNutt: I THINK I DID ALWAYS DREAM OF BEING AN EXPLORER.

I'D BEEN A SPACE CADET SINCE I WAS A KID.

AND AT THAT TIME, PLUTO

WAS JUST THIS INCREDIBLE BIG QUESTION MARK.

ALL WE KNEW WAS THAT IT WAS A SPOT OF LIGHT

IN THE SKY.

Narrator: BUT WITH A DWARF PLANET THREE BILLION MILES AWAY

AND SMALLER THAN OUR OWN MOON, EVEN THE BEST TELESCOPE IMAGES

ARE TOO SMALL TO REVEAL ANY DETAIL.

McNutt: THE BEST IMAGE

FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OF PLUTO IS THIS FUZZY BALL

THAT'S ABOUT SIX SQUARE PIXELS BY SIX SQUARE PIXELS.

SO, HERE ARE THESE UPSTART KIDS

THAT WERE SAYING "WE OUGHT TO GO TO PLUTO.

WE OUGHT TO FINISH OUT THE EXPLORATION

OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM."

SO, AT SOME POINT, THE MONIKER "PLUTO UNDERGROUND" WAS BORN.

Weaver: AND THE PLUTO UNDERGROUND --

I LIKE TO CALL THEM THE PLUTO MAFIA --

THESE ARE THE FOLKS WHO'VE SPENT

ALMOST THEIR ENTIRE CAREERS STUDYING PLUTO.

YOU KNOW, PLUTO IS THE ENDGAME.

THIS WAS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO FINISH THE TASK

OF THE EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

Narrator: YOUNG GRADUATE STUDENTS

UNITED BY THEIR FASCINATION WITH THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM,

THE PLUTO UNDERGROUND,

WANT NASA TO MAKE THEIR DREAM A REALITY,

AND ONE MAN WOULD LEAD THEM THERE --

DR. ALAN STERN.

WE WEREN'T GOING TO ANSWER SPECIFIC QUESTIONS.

WE WERE GOING TO COLLECT DATA SETS

WITH OUR EYES WIDE OPEN TO SEE WHAT WAS THERE,

LITERALLY EXPLORING,

LITERALLY FLYING INTO THE UNKNOWN.

Narrator: THE PLUTO UNDERGROUND FORM A PLAN TO FLY A SPACECRAFT

WITHIN 8,000 MILES OF PLUTO'S SURFACE --

ALMOST 30 TIMES CLOSER THAN THE MOON IS TO EARTH.

AS IT FLIES OVERHEAD,

THE PROBE WILL TURN AND SNAP THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHS

OF THE PLANET'S MYSTERIOUS TERRAIN.

BUT THE PLAN FACES AN UPHILL BATTLE.

NASA COULD BE DOING QUICKER MISSIONS CLOSER TO HOME,

AND TRYING TO MOUNT AN INEXPENSIVE MISSION

ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

IS A FOOL'S FOLLY.

ALAN -- ALAN IS A VERY UNIQUE PERSON.

AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS WAS ALMOST SUPERHUMAN ACT

OF ABSOLUTELY DOGGED DETERMINATION OVER THE YEARS

THAT MADE THIS HAPPEN.

Narrator: DR. STERN IS HOPEFUL

THAT THE IMAGES WILL SOLVE AN ANCIENT MYSTERY.

PLUTO ORBITS IN A MYSTERIOUS REGION

OF SPACE DENSELY PACKED

WITH UNUSUAL MOONS, DWARF PLANETS,

AND OTHER MISFIT OBJECTS.

THE FINAL FRONTIER IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

IS THE KUIPER BELT -- THIS REGION OF LEFTOVER OBJECTS

FROM THE FORMATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

AND PLUTO IS THE LARGEST OF THOSE OBJECTS.

IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT REGION

FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BIRTH OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

Narrator: THIS MEANS THAT PLUTO

IS A 4.5-BILLION-YEAR-OLD FOSSIL HOLDING CLUES

ABOUT HOW OUR OWN PLANET WAS FORMED.

Stern: THE KUIPER BELT WAS DISCOVERED,

AND PLUTO WENT FROM BEING THIS LONE MISFIT

IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM TO THE BIGGEST, THE BADDEST,

AND THE BRIGHTEST MEMBER OF THAT ENTIRE POPULATION.

THIS WAS A VERY RICH SCIENTIFIC TARGET.

AFTER ALL, IT'S A LONG WAY AWAY,

SO YOU BETTER HAVE AN AWFUL GOOD REASON.

Narrator: IN 2003,

THE PLUTO UNDERGROUND CONVINCES NASA,

AND THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION IS BORN.

WE HAD A LOT OF DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED

WITH GETTING TO PLUTO.

ONE OF WHICH IS IT'S THREE BILLION MILES AWAY.

WE'RE DRIVING TO, YOU KNOW, 33 TIMES

AS FAR FROM THE SUN AS THE EARTH IS.

Narrator: THE LONGER A SPACECRAFT TRAVELS,

THE GREATER CHANCE SOMETHING COULD GO WRONG.

SO THE TEAM WANTS TO REACH PLUTO WITHIN 10 YEARS OF LAUNCH.

Weaver: NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT

WAS GONNA BE THE FASTEST EVER TO LEAVE THE EARTH --

MORE THAN 30,000 MILES PER HOUR TAKING OFF.

Narrator: THAT'S MORE THAN 50 TIMES FASTER THAN A JETLINER.

Stern: TO CROSS A THREE-BILLION-MILE OCEAN OF SPACE

REQUIRED US TO TRAVEL AT THIS CRAZY SPEED.

WHEN I WAS A BOY,

APOLLO MISSIONS TOOK THREE DAYS TO REACH THE MOON.

NEW HORIZONS WAS GOING TO REACH THE MOON IN NINE HOURS.

HOW'S THAT FOR SPEED?

Narrator: TO ACHIEVE THAT RECORD-BREAKING SPEED,

NEW HORIZONS MUST BE LIGHT.

THE LESS WEIGHT A LAUNCH VEHICLE

HAS TO PUSH AGAINST EARTH'S GRAVITY,

THE FASTER IT CAN GO.

THE SIZE OF A SMALL PIANO,

NEW HORIZONS WILL WEIGH JUST 1,000 POUNDS.

AND IT CAN CARRY ONLY ENOUGH FUEL

FOR MINOR COURSE CORRECTIONS.

ONCE IT REACHES PLUTO,

IT CANNOT SLOW DOWN AND ENTER ORBIT.

Weaver: THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE.

YOU'RE FLYING BY. THERE'S NO STOPPING IT.

THE SPACECRAFT IS ON A PATH, A BEELINE, PAST PLUTO.

EITHER YOU WERE GONNA GET IT OR YOU WEREN'T.

AND IT'S TERRIFYING, TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH.

Narrator: BUT IF IT WORKS, NEW HORIZONS

WILL CAPTURE THOUSANDS OF IMAGES IN INCREDIBLE CLOSE-UP DETAIL.

Man: THREE, TWO, ONE.

WE HAVE IGNITION AND LIFTOFF OF NASA'S NEW HORIZONS.

Weaver: IT WAS A PICTURE-PERFECT LAUNCH.

IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN ANY BETTER.

BUT STILL, IT WAS YET ANOTHER 9 1/2 YEARS

BEFORE WE FINALLY GET TO PLUTO.

Narrator: BUT THERE'S PLENTY TO DO WHILE THE TEAM WAITS,

INCLUDING A CLOSE PASS OF ANOTHER PLANET.

WE NEEDED TO PICK UP SOME EXTRA ENERGY

IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY GET TO PLUTO ON SCHEDULE.

Weaver: WE HAD THIS OPPORTUNITY

TO FLY NEAR JUPITER, STEAL A LITTLE, YOU KNOW,

GRAVITY ASSIST FROM JUPITER,

AND INCREASE OUR SPEED BY 20%

AND CUT THREE YEARS OFF THE TRAVEL TIME TO PLUTO.

Narrator: IN FEBRUARY 2007,

JUPITER'S GRAVITY PROPELS NEW HORIZONS

LIKE A SLINGSHOT TOWARD ITS DESTINATION.

AFTER NEARLY 9 1/2 YEARS OF TRAVELING THROUGH SPACE,

NEW HORIZONS

IS A MERE 10 DAYS AWAY FROM ITS HISTORIC FLYBY.

I GET A FRANTIC CALL FROM ALAN STERN,

THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR,

AND I COULD TELL THAT HE WAS BREATHING HARD,

HE WAS RUNNING DOWN THE HALLWAY. AND HE SAID,

"WE'VE LOST COMMUNICATION WITH THE SPACECRAFT."

Stern: THIS HAD NEVER HAPPENED IN 9 1/2 YEARS OF FLIGHT.

HOW COULD IT BE HAPPENING TODAY AT THE LAST MINUTE,

JUST ON THE VERGE OF SUMMITING MOUNT EVEREST?

WHY NOW? HOW? WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

Narrator: 10 DAYS FROM A HISTORIC ENCOUNTER WITH PLUTO,

THE NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT GOES SILENT.

WE HAVE NO SPACECRAFT, NO SIGNAL,

NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT'S GOING ON.

IT STARTED TO SINK IN

THAT WE MAY BE EXPERIENCING SOMETHING

THAT'S ABNORMAL ON THE SPACECRAFT.

AND I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW THAT FEELS.

Narrator: ALICE BOWMAN IS THE M.O.M.,