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[ music ]
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Why Curiosity Matters - presented by Science@NASA
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Adam Steltzner doesn't sound much like an ordinary engineer.
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For instance, when we asked him if he would talk about Curiosity-
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and explain why the Mars rover matters to ordinary people--
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the former rock-n-roller responded
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'I'm totally down with that.'
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He really is down with that.
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Steltzner is the NASA engineer
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who helped take the country's new Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars
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with moves - and flair -
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even Evel Knievel would envy.
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Steltzner begins, 'I'm so thankful to Clara Ma for suggesting the name 'Curiosity.'
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It embodies a fundamental attribute that defines us as humans.'
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'Why do we explore? It's our nature,' he says.
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'Human curiosity is why you and I can talk across the country by phone.
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It's why I'm sitting 60 feet above the ground in a building made of alloys
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and other high-tech composite materials.
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We dominate this planet because we wonder what's around the next corner.'
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When people ask Steltzner
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'Is the new rover worth 2 1/2 billion dollars?'
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he has a compelling answer:
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'It's not 2 1/2 billion dollars we stuffed in a trunk and blew into space.
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It's thousands of high tech jobs spread over 37 states.
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It's honing and developing our skills in science, engineering, and math.
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'He notes that the U.S. has slipped to 14th in science education
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and 18th in math -
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in a world where we're competing for economic prosperity
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with nations 1 through 13.
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'This mission is an investment in high tech jobs,
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in inspiring the youth of our country,
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in stepping up rung by rung toward 1st place.
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It's the best stimulus you could imagine!'
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Okay, curiosity matters--
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but does it matter more than rock-n-roll?
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Steltzner played guitar in a rock band for years,
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so he has the chops to answer this question, too.
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'In some sense, exploration and music are both art forms,' he says.
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'They're both expressions of our humanity.
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But exploration can surprise us more
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- or at least differently -
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than music can.
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Music can surprise us only about what we find in ourselves.
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Exploration surprises us with what we learn of ourselves and of the universe.'
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Steltzner says music led him to exploration.
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During high school he played in a rock band.
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One night driving home from a gig
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he noticed that the constellation Orion was in a different place than it had been before.
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But why? 'I hadn't paid attention during high school classes at all.
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So I didn't know.'
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His curiosity made him decide to take an astronomy class.
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First, though, astronomy had prerequisites
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such as elementary algebra and conceptual physics.
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He took them all.
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'I basically redid my high school education at the community college.'
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The rest--which includes a bachelor's degree from UC Davis,
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a master's degree from Caltech, a job at JPL,
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and a daredevil landing on Mars--is history.
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After the glory of the Curiosity landing fades,
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what will this explorer do next?
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'Our solar system offers us grand challenges,' says Steltzner.
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'I'd like to see a Mars sample return.
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I'd like to land on the surface of Europa
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- the most likely place in the solar system for life.
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And third, I'd like to float a boat on the methane lakes of Titan.'
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'The solar system is calling out to us,' he says.
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'The wind's at our back. It's time to explore!'
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We're totally down with that.
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For more science news that matters, visit science.nasa.gov