1
01:03:23,933 --> 01:03:26,000
<b>Air LUCI is something that actually helps</b>

2
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:29,633
<b>not just a handful but all</b>

3
01:03:29,633 --> 01:03:32,633
<b>Earth-observing satellites that can use</b>

4
01:03:32,633 --> 01:03:34,966
<b>the Moon as a calibration reference.</b>

5
01:03:35,966 --> 01:03:39,900
<b>And this actually greatly can enhance the</b>

6
01:03:39,900 --> 01:03:41,800
<b>capacity for actually making accurate</b>

7
01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:42,733
<b>measurements of the Earth.</b>

8
01:03:48,099 --> 01:03:50,400
<b>Well, for one thing, it does give us the</b>

9
01:03:50,400 --> 01:03:52,066
<b>opportunity to make those</b>

10
01:03:52,066 --> 01:03:54,066
<b>improvements to our ability</b>

11
01:03:54,199 --> 01:03:55,300
<b>to observe the Earth.</b>

12
01:03:56,766 --> 01:03:59,666
<b>It's also something that hasn't been done</b>

13
01:03:59,666 --> 01:04:02,066
<b>before at this level of accuracy.</b>

14
01:04:02,333 --> 01:04:04,400
<b>So this is the most accurate measurements</b>

15
01:04:04,400 --> 01:04:06,733
<b>that have ever been made of moonlight.</b>

16
01:04:07,766 --> 01:04:13,466
<b>And moreover, up until our ability to do</b>

17
01:04:13,466 --> 01:04:17,300
<b>this, we really have not</b>

18
01:04:17,300 --> 01:04:20,099
<b>been able to predict accurately</b>

19
01:04:20,233 --> 01:04:21,733
<b>the amount of light coming off the moon</b>

20
01:04:21,733 --> 01:04:24,233
<b>at any given time within several percent.</b>

21
01:04:26,233 --> 01:04:28,933
<b>Our measurements are down less than a 1%</b>

22
01:04:29,199 --> 01:04:30,733
<b>accuracy, probably down</b>

23
01:04:30,733 --> 01:04:32,233
<b>to maybe as far as a half a</b>

24
01:04:32,233 --> 01:04:33,066
<b>percent accuracy.</b>

25
01:04:38,166 --> 01:04:42,199
<b>So essentially, Air Lucy allows us to use</b>

26
01:04:42,199 --> 01:04:44,400
<b>the Moon as a benchmark,</b>

27
01:04:45,333 --> 01:04:47,500
<b>which allows sound lights to make sure</b>

28
01:04:47,500 --> 01:04:48,966
<b>their measurements are accurate.</b>

29
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:51,199
<b>They can turn and look at the Moon and</b>

30
01:04:51,199 --> 01:04:54,000
<b>make sure that what they read from that,</b>

31
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:57,066
<b>which is well known, will then reflect in</b>

32
01:04:57,066 --> 01:04:58,300
<b>terms of the accuracy of</b>

33
01:04:58,300 --> 01:04:59,766
<b>what they measure from Earth.</b>

34
01:05:00,766 --> 01:05:01,900
<b>Basically, measure the amount of light</b>

35
01:05:01,900 --> 01:05:03,333
<b>that's coming at different wavelengths,</b>

36
01:05:03,966 --> 01:05:06,099
<b>which is pack full of information about</b>

37
01:05:06,099 --> 01:05:07,133
<b>the surface of our Earth.</b>

38
01:05:12,099 --> 01:05:15,833
<b>So, Air Lucy will help facilitate making</b>

39
01:05:15,833 --> 01:05:16,866
<b>more accurate</b>

40
01:05:16,866 --> 01:05:18,099
<b>measurements using the moon.</b>

41
01:05:18,833 --> 01:05:22,733
<b>The moon is a pretty much perpetual</b>

42
01:05:22,733 --> 01:05:24,133
<b>reference that doesn't</b>

43
01:05:24,133 --> 01:05:25,766
<b>change past, present or future.</b>

44
01:05:25,966 --> 01:05:27,733
<b>Any measurements that are made by</b>

45
01:05:27,733 --> 01:05:30,433
<b>satellites in the past or</b>

46
01:05:30,433 --> 01:05:31,800
<b>ones made in the future can</b>

47
01:05:31,800 --> 01:05:33,433
<b>be inter-consistent over time.</b>

48
01:05:33,633 --> 01:05:35,766
<b>That means if they're consistent over</b>

49
01:05:35,766 --> 01:05:37,400
<b>time, we can do long-term</b>

50
01:05:37,400 --> 01:05:38,433
<b>measurements of the Earth</b>

51
01:05:39,033 --> 01:05:40,566
<b>that are consistent and</b>

52
01:05:40,566 --> 01:05:41,966
<b>don't have spurious trends.</b>

53
01:05:42,466 --> 01:05:44,733
<b>So those measurements actually now become</b>

54
01:05:44,733 --> 01:05:47,199
<b>a very good</b>

55
01:05:47,199 --> 01:05:50,466
<b>representation of changes in climate</b>

56
01:05:50,933 --> 01:05:52,133
<b>and our Earth system.</b>

57
01:05:56,866 --> 01:06:00,099
<b>The Euro 2 is an excellent aircraft for</b>

58
01:06:00,099 --> 01:06:01,900
<b>this particular exercise, in particular</b>

59
01:06:01,900 --> 01:06:03,000
<b>because it can fly</b>

60
01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:04,933
<b>above 95% of the atmosphere.</b>

61
01:06:05,466 --> 01:06:09,166
<b>That gives us basically a view of the</b>

62
01:06:09,166 --> 01:06:12,433
<b>Moon that is very similar to what</b>

63
01:06:12,433 --> 01:06:13,766
<b>satellites see from orbit.</b>

64
01:06:14,366 --> 01:06:16,666
<b>And we don't have to worry about as much</b>

65
01:06:16,666 --> 01:06:17,900
<b>the effects of the</b>

66
01:06:17,900 --> 01:06:20,466
<b>atmosphere and our measurements.</b>

67
01:06:22,233 --> 01:06:24,266
<b>Previous measurements that have been made</b>

68
01:06:24,266 --> 01:06:26,966
<b>of the Moon to date have been done from</b>

69
01:06:26,966 --> 01:06:29,066
<b>the surface of the Earth,</b>

70
01:06:29,733 --> 01:06:31,166
<b>more recently from mountaintops.</b>

71
01:06:32,866 --> 01:06:33,766
<b>But you still have a lot</b>

72
01:06:33,766 --> 01:06:35,166
<b>of atmosphere to go through.</b>

73
01:06:35,800 --> 01:06:37,866
<b>Air Lucy on the Euro 2 gives us an</b>

74
01:06:37,866 --> 01:06:39,633
<b>opportunity to be near space.</b>

75
01:06:45,066 --> 01:06:47,633
<b>Aerolucie is kind of non-intuitive in the</b>

76
01:06:47,633 --> 01:06:51,099
<b>sense that it actually helps build our</b>

77
01:06:51,099 --> 01:06:54,833
<b>capacity to measure how the earth is</b>

78
01:06:54,833 --> 01:06:57,233
<b>changing and how those processes are</b>

79
01:06:57,233 --> 01:06:59,266
<b>actually going on a global scale.</b>

80
01:07:00,300 --> 01:07:03,900
<b>So if we better understand how climate is</b>

81
01:07:03,900 --> 01:07:05,566
<b>changing, if we better understand how</b>

82
01:07:05,566 --> 01:07:07,833
<b>systems interact with each other in terms</b>

83
01:07:07,833 --> 01:07:15,433
<b>of weather, ocean currents, ecologies and</b>

84
01:07:15,433 --> 01:07:18,633
<b>any type of process on the surface of the</b>

85
01:07:18,633 --> 01:07:21,233
<b>earth, these lead to things that affect</b>

86
01:07:21,233 --> 01:07:23,266
<b>humans on a daily basis.</b>

87
01:07:23,333 --> 01:07:25,599
<b>We are affected by weather. We want more</b>

88
01:07:25,599 --> 01:07:28,533
<b>accurate predictions of weather and how</b>

89
01:07:28,533 --> 01:07:30,433
<b>weather may be changing with climate. We</b>

90
01:07:30,433 --> 01:07:32,099
<b>want to know how this might be affecting</b>

91
01:07:32,099 --> 01:07:34,333
<b>agriculture, forest</b>

92
01:07:34,333 --> 01:07:37,800
<b>ecology, ocean ecology.</b>

93
01:07:38,633 --> 01:07:42,133
<b>And if we can make better accurate and</b>

94
01:07:42,133 --> 01:07:45,166
<b>more stable measurements from space, then</b>

95
01:07:45,166 --> 01:07:47,699
<b>Aerolucie is actually contributing to a</b>

96
01:07:47,699 --> 01:07:49,233
<b>lot, indirectly, to</b>

97
01:07:49,233 --> 01:07:50,300
<b>people's everyday lives.</b>

98
01:07:55,900 --> 01:07:58,966
<b>So interestingly enough what's really</b>

99
01:07:58,966 --> 01:08:01,133
<b>beneficial about Erlucie is we're kind of</b>

100
01:08:01,266 --> 01:08:04,333
<b>pulling together existing technologies</b>

101
01:08:04,333 --> 01:08:09,099
<b>such as the ER2 and you know NIST</b>

102
01:08:09,099 --> 01:08:12,666
<b>spectrometers and all those equipment</b>

103
01:08:12,666 --> 01:08:18,166
<b>that is very very well understood and</b>

104
01:08:18,166 --> 01:08:21,866
<b>and well known and bringing it to bear</b>

105
01:08:21,866 --> 01:08:23,733
<b>and this sense we're doing something</b>

106
01:08:23,833 --> 01:08:27,333
<b>new and innovative because we haven't</b>

107
01:08:27,333 --> 01:08:29,133
<b>made this accurate a measurement of the</b>

108
01:08:29,133 --> 01:08:32,433
<b>moon before. I would mention that you</b>

109
01:08:32,433 --> 01:08:35,399
<b>know we're using the best you know</b>

110
01:08:35,399 --> 01:08:37,733
<b>spectrometers from instrument systems</b>

111
01:08:37,733 --> 01:08:40,233
<b>these have been vetted by the National</b>

112
01:08:40,333 --> 01:08:41,766
<b>Institute of Standards and Technology.</b>

113
01:08:42,466 --> 01:08:46,533
<b>We're using National Institute of</b>

114
01:08:47,000 --> 01:08:51,133
<b>Standards and Technology sources so we're</b>

115
01:08:51,133 --> 01:08:52,133
<b>basically making everything</b>

116
01:08:52,266 --> 01:08:54,933
<b>internationally traceable in terms of</b>

117
01:08:54,933 --> 01:08:57,100
<b>making very accurate</b>

118
01:08:57,100 --> 01:09:01,100
<b>measurements but the beauty about what</b>

119
01:09:01,100 --> 01:09:03,133
<b>we're doing is we're taking the best of</b>

120
01:09:03,133 --> 01:09:04,933
<b>our existing technology and bringing it</b>

121
01:09:04,933 --> 01:09:07,233
<b>to bear to make this special measurement.</b>

122
01:09:17,199 --> 01:09:19,966
<b>Oh, I mean, the applications are great.</b>

123
01:09:19,966 --> 01:09:24,966
<b>It helps us learn more about the climate.</b>

124
01:09:24,966 --> 01:09:27,399
<b>It gets used to calibrate satellites</b>

125
01:09:27,399 --> 01:09:28,533
<b>that are looking at climate,</b>

126
01:09:28,533 --> 01:09:29,366
<b>and it's really fun to</b>

127
01:09:29,366 --> 01:09:30,300
<b>come out here to NASA,</b>

128
01:09:30,833 --> 01:09:32,033
<b>fly on this beautiful plane.</b>

129
01:09:33,333 --> 01:09:35,000
<b>So it's been a fun project that way too.</b>

130
01:09:38,899 --> 01:09:41,199
<b>Air Lucy's a telescope</b>

131
01:09:41,199 --> 01:09:43,500
<b>attached to a spectrograph.</b>

132
01:09:43,500 --> 01:09:45,133
<b>So the telescope collects the light,</b>

133
01:09:45,133 --> 01:09:46,000
<b>and then the spectrograph</b>

134
01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:47,300
<b>splits it into different colors</b>

135
01:09:47,300 --> 01:09:48,500
<b>or wavelengths of light.</b>

136
01:09:49,166 --> 01:09:52,133
<b>And then we can calibrate that instrument</b>

137
01:09:52,133 --> 01:09:52,966
<b>so that we know the</b>

138
01:09:52,966 --> 01:09:54,633
<b>amount of light very precisely.</b>

139
01:09:55,433 --> 01:09:56,933
<b>And the idea is then to</b>

140
01:09:56,933 --> 01:09:58,633
<b>fly that in an airplane,</b>

141
01:09:58,633 --> 01:09:59,633
<b>have it point at the moon,</b>

142
01:09:59,633 --> 01:10:00,533
<b>and measure the light</b>

143
01:10:00,533 --> 01:10:02,000
<b>from the moon very precisely.</b>

144
01:10:05,899 --> 01:10:10,566
<b>So the data we collect primarily impacts</b>

145
01:10:10,566 --> 01:10:13,733
<b>the ability for the satellites that are</b>

146
01:10:13,733 --> 01:10:15,899
<b>looking at the Earth to make high-quality</b>

147
01:10:15,899 --> 01:10:17,366
<b>measurements that are used from</b>

148
01:10:17,366 --> 01:10:19,266
<b>everything from weather to</b>

149
01:10:19,266 --> 01:10:20,633
<b>climate change measurements.</b>

150
01:10:22,100 --> 01:10:24,300
<b>And really being able to improve those,</b>

151
01:10:24,300 --> 01:10:26,666
<b>you know, billion-dollar instruments with</b>

152
01:10:26,666 --> 01:10:30,199
<b>a relatively inexpensive measurement so</b>

153
01:10:30,199 --> 01:10:31,766
<b>that they can make climate quality</b>

154
01:10:31,766 --> 01:10:33,733
<b>measurements is really exciting.</b>

155
01:10:37,899 --> 01:10:40,600
<b>Yeah, so it's these measurements are used</b>

156
01:10:40,600 --> 01:10:42,533
<b>to help calibrate the instruments that</b>

157
01:10:42,533 --> 01:10:43,133
<b>are making the</b>

158
01:10:43,133 --> 01:10:45,100
<b>measurements of the earth and climate.</b>

159
01:10:45,833 --> 01:10:47,533
<b>So those instruments spend most of their</b>

160
01:10:47,533 --> 01:10:49,633
<b>time looking at the light reflected off</b>

161
01:10:49,633 --> 01:10:52,399
<b>the earth, but to calibrate them we want</b>

162
01:10:52,399 --> 01:10:53,766
<b>them to turn and look at the moon.</b>

163
01:10:54,133 --> 01:10:57,100
<b>So if we can measure the moon precisely,</b>

164
01:10:57,100 --> 01:10:59,600
<b>then they can get a good calibration off</b>

165
01:10:59,600 --> 01:11:01,300
<b>the moon and go back to looking at the</b>

166
01:11:01,300 --> 01:11:02,633
<b>earth and make great measurements.</b>

167
01:11:06,766 --> 01:11:10,533
<b>Oh boy, it's, so usually we do this kind</b>

168
01:11:10,533 --> 01:11:11,466
<b>of work in a very</b>

169
01:11:11,466 --> 01:11:13,566
<b>controlled laboratory environment.</b>

170
01:11:14,033 --> 01:11:16,000
<b>And to come in here to an aircraft hangar</b>

171
01:11:16,000 --> 01:11:18,399
<b>and make a high quality</b>

172
01:11:18,399 --> 01:11:19,766
<b>calibration measurement,</b>

173
01:11:20,000 --> 01:11:21,966
<b>you know, you can see the lights coming</b>

174
01:11:21,966 --> 01:11:24,833
<b>in, the temperature is not controlled.</b>

175
01:11:25,699 --> 01:11:28,666
<b>So that's a real challenge for us.</b>

176
01:11:28,666 --> 01:11:30,166
<b>And then of course the instrument itself</b>

177
01:11:30,166 --> 01:11:32,233
<b>is going to fly up at 70,000 feet.</b>

178
01:11:32,233 --> 01:11:33,966
<b>It's minus 40 or 60</b>

179
01:11:33,966 --> 01:11:36,000
<b>degrees Celsius up there.</b>

180
01:11:36,233 --> 01:11:38,699
<b>So designing the instrument so it can</b>

181
01:11:38,699 --> 01:11:40,866
<b>operate in that environment has also been</b>

182
01:11:40,866 --> 01:11:41,966
<b>a real challenge for us.</b>

183
01:11:46,133 --> 01:11:48,966
<b>The idea is, so this, our telescope</b>

184
01:11:48,966 --> 01:11:51,633
<b>usually looks at the moon, so we make a</b>

185
01:11:51,633 --> 01:11:52,333
<b>light source that</b>

186
01:11:52,333 --> 01:11:53,533
<b>kind of mimics the moon,</b>

187
01:11:54,066 --> 01:11:56,033
<b>and then we brought some instrumentation</b>

188
01:11:56,033 --> 01:11:58,066
<b>that can measure the light coming from</b>

189
01:11:58,066 --> 01:11:59,699
<b>that source very precisely,</b>

190
01:12:00,466 --> 01:12:01,633
<b>and then the telescope's</b>

191
01:12:01,633 --> 01:12:02,733
<b>going to look at that source.</b>

192
01:12:03,166 --> 01:12:04,500
<b>And that's kind of how we</b>

193
01:12:04,500 --> 01:12:06,766
<b>say, "transfer the calibration."</b>

194
01:12:06,766 --> 01:12:07,733
<b>So we have our</b>

195
01:12:07,733 --> 01:12:09,466
<b>well-calibrated instrumentation.</b>

196
01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:10,833
<b>It looks at the source.</b>

197
01:12:11,133 --> 01:12:13,266
<b>Our telescope looks at the source, and we</b>

198
01:12:13,266 --> 01:12:13,833
<b>can take our</b>

199
01:12:13,833 --> 01:12:15,666
<b>well-calibrated instrumentation</b>

200
01:12:16,100 --> 01:12:18,533
<b>and kind of transfer that level of</b>

201
01:12:18,533 --> 01:12:21,633
<b>accuracy to the telescope instrument.</b>

202
01:12:25,233 --> 01:12:28,366
<b>So the ER-2 is a high-altitude aircraft.</b>

203
01:12:28,366 --> 01:12:30,800
<b>It'll fly up above 65,000 feet.</b>

204
01:12:31,333 --> 01:12:32,166
<b>And one of the challenges</b>

205
01:12:32,166 --> 01:12:33,433
<b>of making these measurements,</b>

206
01:12:34,100 --> 01:12:34,899
<b>like we, you know,</b>

207
01:12:34,899 --> 01:12:35,933
<b>everyone can see the moon,</b>

208
01:12:35,933 --> 01:12:36,600
<b>why not measure it</b>

209
01:12:36,600 --> 01:12:37,533
<b>from down here on Earth?</b>

210
01:12:38,000 --> 01:12:40,133
<b>And the reason is that the atmosphere</b>

211
01:12:40,266 --> 01:12:41,166
<b>scatters some of the</b>

212
01:12:41,166 --> 01:12:42,266
<b>light coming from the moon</b>

213
01:12:42,333 --> 01:12:44,333
<b>before it gets down here to the Earth.</b>

214
01:12:44,933 --> 01:12:46,533
<b>And figuring out how</b>

215
01:12:46,533 --> 01:12:47,566
<b>much light you've lost</b>

216
01:12:47,566 --> 01:12:49,199
<b>on that path is hard.</b>

217
01:12:49,199 --> 01:12:50,899
<b>So that kind of degrades our ability</b>

218
01:12:51,066 --> 01:12:52,466
<b>to measure from down here.</b>

219
01:12:52,966 --> 01:12:54,100
<b>Putting it on this plane,</b>

220
01:12:54,100 --> 01:12:55,300
<b>we're flying above 95%</b>

221
01:12:55,699 --> 01:12:56,766
<b>of the Earth's atmosphere.</b>

222
01:12:57,733 --> 01:13:00,199
<b>So it's much less scattering.</b>

223
01:13:00,199 --> 01:13:00,666
<b>That little bit</b>

224
01:13:00,666 --> 01:13:04,133
<b>that's left is the accuracy</b>

225
01:13:04,300 --> 01:13:07,100
<b>which we can estimate that is good enough</b>

226
01:13:07,233 --> 01:13:08,800
<b>to make our measurements.</b>

227
01:13:10,166 --> 01:13:11,899
<b>So yeah, getting above the atmosphere</b>

228
01:13:11,899 --> 01:13:14,066
<b>is a real important thing for us.</b>

229
01:13:14,066 --> 01:13:15,233
<b>And the satellites are of course</b>

230
01:13:15,733 --> 01:13:17,000
<b>above all of the atmosphere.</b>

231
01:13:17,000 --> 01:13:19,966
<b>So we want to know the amount of light</b>

232
01:13:20,066 --> 01:13:22,366
<b>that's up at the top of the atmosphere,</b>

233
01:13:22,399 --> 01:13:23,699
<b>not what we're getting down here.</b>

234
01:13:28,199 --> 01:13:31,199
<b>So the instrument itself needs to,</b>

235
01:13:32,899 --> 01:13:35,266
<b>like we can't communicate directly with</b>

236
01:13:35,266 --> 01:13:36,300
<b>it during the flight.</b>

237
01:13:36,300 --> 01:13:37,366
<b>It's operated by the</b>

238
01:13:37,366 --> 01:13:38,800
<b>pilot and he's just got</b>

239
01:13:39,733 --> 01:13:42,966
<b>a few on-off switches that he can push</b>

240
01:13:43,133 --> 01:13:44,366
<b>to operate the instrument.</b>

241
01:13:44,600 --> 01:13:46,100
<b>He's busy, you know,</b>

242
01:13:46,100 --> 01:13:47,366
<b>mostly busy flying the plane.</b>

243
01:13:47,366 --> 01:13:48,966
<b>He can't do a whole lot.</b>

244
01:13:48,966 --> 01:13:51,233
<b>So he had to program the instrument</b>

245
01:13:51,366 --> 01:13:53,133
<b>so that the pilot just</b>

246
01:13:53,133 --> 01:13:54,833
<b>right before takeoff,</b>

247
01:13:54,833 --> 01:13:56,000
<b>he pushes one switch to</b>

248
01:13:56,000 --> 01:13:56,800
<b>let the instrument know</b>

249
01:13:56,866 --> 01:13:57,600
<b>we're taking off.</b>

250
01:13:57,966 --> 01:13:59,300
<b>When he gets to altitude,</b>

251
01:13:59,300 --> 01:14:00,300
<b>he pushes another switch</b>

252
01:14:00,300 --> 01:14:01,699
<b>that deploys the telescope.</b>

253
01:14:02,833 --> 01:14:04,766
<b>Then it automatically finds the moon</b>

254
01:14:05,266 --> 01:14:06,399
<b>and stays tracked on the</b>

255
01:14:06,399 --> 01:14:07,766
<b>moon while we collect the data.</b>

256
01:14:08,366 --> 01:14:10,166
<b>Then after about 20</b>

257
01:14:10,166 --> 01:14:11,833
<b>minutes, we've got enough data.</b>

258
01:14:11,833 --> 01:14:13,533
<b>He pushes another switch to</b>

259
01:14:13,533 --> 01:14:15,500
<b>tell it, you know, to shut down.</b>

260
01:14:15,899 --> 01:14:16,766
<b>So it's all operated</b>

261
01:14:16,766 --> 01:14:17,866
<b>on just a few switches</b>

262
01:14:17,866 --> 01:14:19,166
<b>and a lot of good</b>

263
01:14:19,166 --> 01:14:21,533
<b>programming from our computer guy.</b>

264
01:14:25,133 --> 01:14:27,600
<b>So the interesting thing about the Moon</b>

265
01:14:27,600 --> 01:14:30,566
<b>is its reflectance is very constant.</b>

266
01:14:30,933 --> 01:14:32,699
<b>So you look up, you know, any night in</b>

267
01:14:32,699 --> 01:14:34,000
<b>the sky, the amount of</b>

268
01:14:34,000 --> 01:14:35,466
<b>light is changing all the time.</b>

269
01:14:35,899 --> 01:14:38,000
<b>But its reflective properties, it's just</b>

270
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:40,100
<b>reflecting sunlight off its</b>

271
01:14:40,100 --> 01:14:41,566
<b>surface and we're seeing that.</b>

272
01:14:41,866 --> 01:14:43,666
<b>That reflectance is very constant.</b>

273
01:14:43,899 --> 01:14:46,466
<b>So if we can make a few really good</b>

274
01:14:46,466 --> 01:14:50,866
<b>measurements and then make a</b>

275
01:14:50,866 --> 01:14:53,600
<b>model using the reflectance,</b>

276
01:14:53,933 --> 01:14:57,500
<b>then you can use that model to predict at</b>

277
01:14:57,500 --> 01:14:59,866
<b>any time where you are knowing where you</b>

278
01:14:59,866 --> 01:15:01,600
<b>are and the Moon is and the Sun is,</b>

279
01:15:02,199 --> 01:15:03,366
<b>how much light you would see.</b>

280
01:15:07,466 --> 01:15:09,866
<b>So, it's really more</b>

281
01:15:09,866 --> 01:15:11,166
<b>on the calibration side.</b>

282
01:15:12,000 --> 01:15:16,133
<b>We've used, and it's some stuff we've</b>

283
01:15:16,133 --> 01:15:17,066
<b>been doing at NIST over</b>

284
01:15:17,066 --> 01:15:18,533
<b>the last, say, 20 years,</b>

285
01:15:18,533 --> 01:15:22,300
<b>using tunable lasers to calibrate the</b>

286
01:15:22,300 --> 01:15:24,600
<b>spectrograph and developing techniques</b>

287
01:15:24,600 --> 01:15:26,899
<b>to get the spectrograph calibrated well</b>

288
01:15:26,899 --> 01:15:28,933
<b>that have really been key</b>

289
01:15:28,933 --> 01:15:30,933
<b>to making a high-quality measurement.</b>

290
01:15:34,866 --> 01:15:40,833
<b>Yeah, so right now the way satellites try</b>

291
01:15:40,833 --> 01:15:45,666
<b>to maintain their calibration is to bring</b>

292
01:15:45,666 --> 01:15:47,566
<b>up a solar reflector of their own.</b>

293
01:15:48,233 --> 01:15:51,600
<b>So they bring up kind of a white plaque</b>

294
01:15:51,600 --> 01:15:54,566
<b>that the satellite can put in front and</b>

295
01:15:54,566 --> 01:15:57,000
<b>bounce some sunlight off</b>

296
01:15:57,000 --> 01:15:58,266
<b>of to do the calibration.</b>

297
01:15:59,033 --> 01:16:01,000
<b>That takes up space, it takes up mass,</b>

298
01:16:01,233 --> 01:16:04,233
<b>it's not the most</b>

299
01:16:04,233 --> 01:16:05,633
<b>expensive part of the satellite.</b>

300
01:16:06,166 --> 01:16:09,966
<b>But particularly as people are going</b>

301
01:16:09,966 --> 01:16:12,066
<b>towards smaller satellites and CubeSats</b>

302
01:16:12,066 --> 01:16:13,133
<b>and stuff like that,</b>

303
01:16:13,133 --> 01:16:15,433
<b>having something like that on board is</b>

304
01:16:15,433 --> 01:16:17,233
<b>way too much for them.</b>

305
01:16:17,800 --> 01:16:19,333
<b>So if they could just turn and look at</b>

306
01:16:19,333 --> 01:16:21,066
<b>the moon instead of having to carry up</b>

307
01:16:21,066 --> 01:16:22,399
<b>some equipment of their own</b>

308
01:16:22,399 --> 01:16:23,800
<b>to maintain their calibration,</b>

309
01:16:24,433 --> 01:16:26,233
<b>that would be a big advance for those.</b>

310
01:16:26,233 --> 01:16:28,066
<b>Then you could have smaller, more</b>

311
01:16:28,066 --> 01:16:31,066
<b>cost-effective satellites in the future.</b>

312
01:16:35,033 --> 01:16:36,466
<b>The challenges are...</b>

313
01:16:38,933 --> 01:16:42,699
<b>So another thing that usually doesn't</b>

314
01:16:42,699 --> 01:16:44,899
<b>happen back in the lab is no one says,</b>

315
01:16:45,633 --> 01:16:48,033
<b>"Okay, at 102, you need to start your</b>

316
01:16:48,033 --> 01:16:49,699
<b>calibration and be done in an hour."</b>

317
01:16:50,566 --> 01:16:53,633
<b>But here, the plane's just been fueled,</b>

318
01:16:54,066 --> 01:16:55,000
<b>we've turned on the</b>

319
01:16:55,000 --> 01:16:56,266
<b>instrument, it's warming up.</b>

320
01:16:56,733 --> 01:16:58,833
<b>In about 15 minutes, we need to start</b>

321
01:16:58,833 --> 01:17:00,300
<b>calibrating, and it needs</b>

322
01:17:00,300 --> 01:17:01,633
<b>to be finished an hour later,</b>

323
01:17:01,800 --> 01:17:03,433
<b>and then they tow the plane out.</b>

324
01:17:04,833 --> 01:17:07,033
<b>Something goes wrong, then</b>

325
01:17:07,033 --> 01:17:08,366
<b>the whole schedule goes off.</b>

326
01:17:08,566 --> 01:17:11,300
<b>So doing this all on schedule is another</b>

327
01:17:11,300 --> 01:17:13,433
<b>challenge for us, and</b>

328
01:17:13,433 --> 01:17:14,766
<b>makes things really exciting.</b>

329
01:17:19,233 --> 01:17:21,666
<b>We're just hoping for some good weather</b>

330
01:17:21,666 --> 01:17:24,300
<b>and some good luck and really looking</b>

331
01:17:24,300 --> 01:17:25,533
<b>forward to being up in the air.</b>

