2026 Challenge | Identify Earth Locations that Analog the Permanent Moon Base Locations and Mars — Transcript

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1. 0:01[music]
2. 0:03>> I am Sid Ahmed Boukabara from NASA Earth
3. 0:05Science Division and I'm the [music]
4. 0:07challenge author for the NASA Space App
5. 0:09Challenge that's called Identify Earth
6. 0:12locations that analog [music] the
7. 0:14permanent moon base locations in Mars.
8. 0:17>> [snorts]
9. 0:18>> Now, as humanity prepares to return to
10. 0:21the moon through the NASA Artemis
11. 0:23campaign that you probably have heard
12. 0:25about,
13. 0:26>> [music]
14. 0:26>> establishing a sustained human presence
15. 0:29and establishing a permanent base on the
16. 0:31moon
17. 0:32and eventually explore Mars, we face a
18. 0:36fascinating question that I would like
19. 0:38you to contribute
20. 0:42That question is what can our own planet
21. 0:46Earth teach us about [music] exploring
22. 0:48other worlds and in particular the moon
23. 0:51and planet Mars.
24. 0:54As you know, Earth is the planet we know
25. 0:57best and across Earth we find
26. 1:00extraordinary environments,
27. 1:02>> [music]
28. 1:02>> deserts, polar regions, volcanoes,
29. 1:05impact craters, mountains, caves and
30. 1:09lava tubes, extreme cold temperatures,
31. 1:13dust, ice and exposed geological
32. 1:16formations. We all find [music] that on
33. 1:19Earth.
34. 1:20Some of these environments share
35. 1:22important characteristics with places on
36. 1:25the moon or Mars and that is where the
37. 1:29challenge begins.
38. 1:31We want you to use [music] NASA
39. 1:33observations, either the Earth, the moon
40. 1:37or Mars data sets,
41. 1:39to search with us our planet for
42. 1:42locations, environments or even physical
43. 1:46processes that could help us prepare for
44. 1:49[music] Artemis, the future permanent
45. 1:51moon base operations and eventually the
46. 1:54exploration of Mars.
47. 1:57But there is an important twist to this.
48. 1:59We are not simply asking you to find a
49. 2:02place that just looks like the moon or
50. 2:04Mars.
51. 2:05We want you to think scientifically.
52. 2:09What do we mean by that
53. 2:11is
54. 2:12try to perhaps find a location that has
55. 2:14similar geology or minerals.
56. 2:17Perhaps it has extreme temperatures and
57. 2:20usual illumination,
58. 2:22ice, permafrost.
59. 2:25Perhaps it has dust processes such as
60. 2:28dust storms, volcanic terrain, caves, or
61. 2:32underground [music] environments.
62. 2:34Or perhaps its terrain provides a usable
63. 2:37environment for testing the things that
64. 2:40will actually be needed to establish and
65. 2:43operate a lunar base, the landing, the
66. 2:46navigation, mobility,
67. 2:48robotics,
68. 2:50constructions, [music] resource
69. 2:52utilizations, or even human operations
70. 2:55in general.
71. 2:56And [music] keep in mind, no analog has
72. 2:59the has to be perfect. In fact, none of
73. 3:03those analogs will be perfect. Earth
74. 3:06cannot reproduce lunar gravity and
75. 3:09vacuum, Martian atmospheric conditions,
76. 3:12or the radiation environment of either
77. 3:14world.
78. 3:15>> [music]
79. 3:15>> So, we are not asking you to find the
80. 3:18ideal or the perfect analog.
81. 3:21Part of your scientific challenge
82. 3:22[music]
83. 3:23is therefore to tell us where the
84. 3:25analogy works, how well it works,
85. 3:28>> [music]
86. 3:28>> and where it breaks down and doesn't
87. 3:30work.
88. 3:32You probably know that we already know
89. 3:35some famous planetary analogs such as
90. 3:39the Atacama Desert, Antarctica, Iceland,
91. 3:43Hawaii, the Mojave Desert, [music]
92. 3:46the Death Valley, and the Haughton
93. 3:48impact crater.
94. 3:50But haven't we
95. 3:52discovered other things? What haven't we
96. 3:54discovered yet?
97. 3:56NASA
98. 3:58observes the entire Earth.
99. 4:00That gives [music] you an enormous
100. 4:02laboratory to explore.
101. 4:05You could investigate one remarkable
102. 4:08location. You could compare locations
103. 4:10around the world.
104. 4:12Or you could go much further and develop
105. 4:14[music] a map, a similarity metric, an
106. 4:17interactive application, a machine
107. 4:19learning approach that systematically
108. 4:22searches Earth for previously
109. 4:25unrecognized planetary analogs that we
110. 4:28don't know about.
111. 4:30You [music] have extraordinary data
112. 4:32available to you.
113. 4:34NASA Earth data is an example. World
114. 4:37View is another one. They provide
115. 4:39observations of our planet.
116. 4:42NASA's planetary data system gives you
117. 4:44[music] access to observations of the
118. 4:46Moon and Mars.
119. 4:48Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data can
120. 4:50tell you about lunar topography,
121. 4:52temperatures, surface properties, and
122. 4:55other characteristics.
123. 4:57And data sets from other agencies, other
124. 4:59space agencies, [music]
125. 5:00can expand your search even further.
126. 5:04So,
127. 5:05don't just search for something that
128. 5:07somebody has already found.
129. 5:10We want you to [music] surprise us. Find
130. 5:13an unexpected place. Discover an
131. 5:16unexpected connection. Or invent a new
132. 5:19way of comparing Earth with the Moon and
133. 5:21Mars.
134. 5:23Because as Artemis takes us back to the
135. 5:26Moon and toward [music] a sustained
136. 5:28human presence there,
137. 5:31and ultimately on Mars, some of the
138. 5:34knowledge that helps us [music] explore
139. 5:36another world may be waiting to be
140. 5:39discovered
141. 5:39>> [music]
142. 5:40>> right here on our own planet Earth.
143. 5:43Good luck, and we look forward to seeing
144. 5:46what you have to discover
145. 5:47>> [music]
146. 5:48>> and share with us.