NARRATOR: THE KNOWN UNIVERSE IS FULL OF TREASURE,
IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO DIG.
MIKE: It's fun, just like, blowing stuff up.
NARRATOR: WE'RE ON A QUEST FOR COSMIC RICHES,
EACH TREASURE MORE PRECIOUS AND HARDER TO FIND THAN THE LAST
FROM GOLD AND DIAMONDS TO ENDLESS POWER AND EVEN
THE KEY TO LIFE ITSELF.
HOW FAR WILL WE PUSH?
ANDY: Supposedly, I'll be able to walk on water.
STEVE: More than likely, you're gonna sink.
ANDY: Hope there's something good down there.
NARRATOR: HOW MUCH WILL WE ENDURE?
MIKE: This is not a trick.
This is what I actually sound like right now.
NARRATOR: STRAP IN BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO THE ENDS OF
THE UNIVERSE ON THIS COSMIC TREASURE HUNT.
AN ASTEROID ABOUT THE LENGTH OF THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN IS ON A
COLLISION COURSE WITH NORTH AMERICA.
IT WILL STRIKE THE EARTH WITH THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER
OF 10 BILLION HIROSHIMA BOMBS.
BUT THIS MENACING BEAST WON'T DESTROY OUR PLANET.
IT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING OVER $1 TRILLION
WORTH OF TREASURE.
DAVID: Treasure, as we consider it, has a classic definition.
It's something that's rare, something that's very useful
or desired, and something that's extremely hard to find.
ANDY HOWELL: Here on Earth, everybody knows
what treasure is.
It's gold, silver, diamonds.
NARRATOR: TREASURE COMES IN ALL DIFFERENT SHAPES,
SIZES AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, VALUES.
AND WE'RE ABOUT TO SEARCH FOR THE BIGGEST PRIZES THE UNIVERSE
HAS TO OFFER.
THE FIRST STOP ON OUR GALACTIC TREASURE HUNT IS RIGHT HERE
ON PLANET EARTH -
A SMALL TOWN IN ONTARIO, CANADA, WHERE ONE TYPE OF TREASURE,
PRECIOUS METALS, IS BIG BUSINESS.
SPRAY: Here we are in the Sudbury Basin of Canada,
home to the largest metal deposits in North America.
Over a trillion dollars have been mined from this area over
the last century.
We have copper and nickel as some of the main products,
but in addition to that, we have platinum, as well as gold.
NARRATOR: SUDBURY'S BIG HAUL IS NICKEL,
MINING UP TO $2 BILLION WORTH IN A YEAR.
BUT THE FACT THAT THERE'S GOLD AND OTHER EXTREMELY VALUABLE
METALS MIXED IN WITH ALL THIS NICKEL MAKES SUDBURY A VERY
MYSTERIOUS AND PROFITABLE PLACE.
SPRAY: So here we are in the northern part of the Sudbury
structure, over 500 feet underground.
The ore deposits form veins, long linear systems.
They're only about a foot wide.
It almost looks as if someone's just taken a paintbrush and
just painted them on.
And so, even though this is only one foot wide or so,
it actually extends for hundreds of feet above us,
and hundreds of feet below us.
So this vein system in here is worth millions of dollars.
Many ore deposits in other situations in the world
typically are dominated by one main metal.
The intriguing thing about Sudbury is that it's got many
different metals.
And it's probably only one of two places in the world which
has such a rich variety.
NARRATOR: GOLD IS JUST A SMALL PART OF THE RICH VEINS RUNNING
THROUGH SUDBURY, YET IT STILL TOTALS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS IN TODAY'S PRICES.
AND THIS TREASURE'S USES GO BEYOND COINS AND JEWELRY.
MIKE: People like to have gold stuff.
It's able to conduct electricity,
it can reflect light, it's malleable.
You might consider that to be the ideal treasure.
NARRATOR: BUT AS MANY PEOPLE THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE FOUND,
GOLD IS ELUSIVE.
IF WE PUT THE AMOUNT OF GOLD PRODUCED IN THE ENTIRE WORLD
EACH YEAR IN ONE CUBE, IT WOULD FIT IN THE AVERAGE PERSON'S
LIVING ROOM.
AND IF WE TOOK THE AMOUNT OF GOLD PRODUCED THROUGHOUT ALL OF
HUMAN HISTORY, IT WOULD ONLY BUILD ABOUT ONE THIRD OF
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
SO WHY IS THERE SO LITTLE GOLD IN THE WORLD?
SIGRID: Gold is difficult to find on Earth because
it doesn't form other compounds like other metals do.
So these other metals float to the surface of the Earth,
but because the Earth has this strong gravitational pull,
it pulled most of the gold into the core of the Earth.
NARRATOR: BUT IN SUDBURY, EARLY MINERS FOUND GOLD MIXED IN WITH
ALL OF THE OTHER METALS.
IT'S A SIGN THAT SOMETHING HERE IS DIFFERENT.
SPRAY: So how do we know how the Sudbury Basin was
actually formed?
These are called shatter cones.
We cannot make these from dynamite or even
a nuclear weapon.
The only way you can form these special conical fracture systems
is by the hypervelocity impact of an asteroid hitting a planet.
NARRATOR: THE EVIDENCE OF AN ASTEROID IMPACT SOON REVEALS
A SHOCKING TWIST.
SCIENTISTS DISCOVER THAT THIS WAS NO ORDINARY ASTEROID.
SIGRID: The asteroid that hit in the Sudbury region in Canada was
the second biggest asteroid that we know of to ever hit
the Earth.
Certainly, it was an extinction class event.
NARRATOR: THIS IS THE SAME MASSIVE ASTEROID THAT HIT NORTH
AMERICA 1.85 BILLION YEARS AGO AND IT'S THE CREATOR OF
SUDBURY'S HUGE TREASURE CHEST.
BUT HOW DOES IT PULL OFF THIS IMPRESSIVE FEAT?
WHEN IT HITS, THE ASTEROID CREATES A BOWL-SHAPED CRATER
AROUND 100 MILES WIDE.
AT THE BOTTOM, MOLTEN ROCK AND LIQUID METAL BEGIN TO CHURN AT
TEMPERATURES MORE THAN TWICE AS HOT AS LAVA
FROM A VOLCANO.
INSIDE THIS SWIRLING INFERNO, COPPER, NICKEL,
AND OTHER VALUABLE ELEMENTS, INCLUDING GOLD,
ARE SINKING TO THE BOTTOM AND THEN START TO FORM RICH VEINS
DEEP INSIDE THE CRUST.
ON THE SURFACE, THE LIQUID ROCK COOLS,
FORMING A HARD SHEET THAT COVERS OVER THE VALUABLE DEPOSITS,
CREATING A CACHE OF BURIED TREASURE WAITING
TO BE DISCOVERED.
AND THAT'S JUST WHAT ENGINEER AND ASTRONAUT MIKE MASSIMINO
AND SCIENTIST STEVE JACOBS HOPE TO DO WITH AN AIR CANNON,
METAL BALL, AND BLOCK OF ICE.
MIKE MASSIMINO: An asteroid impact seems pretty simple:
Boom! Big hole in the ground.
All that Sudbury treasure didn't end up where it is by sheer luck
There's a reason it ended up there,
and this little cannonball is gonna show us why.
What we're hoping to create is a small version of what
happened at Sudbury.
This cannonball's gonna be the asteroid.
The block of ice is gonna represent the area at Sudbury.
And we're gonna fire this thing into that block of ice.
MIKE: What're we gonna do with this thing?
STEVE JACOBS: We know there'll be a crater or a hole
or a depression.
MIKE: Makes sense.
STEVE JACOBS: That makes perfect sense.
But that's not exactly what we're interested in.
There's gonna be possibly some other phenomena.
Cause, you know when that asteroid comes towards the
Earth, it's got a lot of kinetic energy.
And then, all a sudden, it hits the Earth.
And where's the energy go?
MIKE MASSIMINO: It's gotta go into the Earth.
STEVE JACOBS: It's gotta go into the Earth.
NARRATOR: WHEN ENERGY LIKE THAT HITS THE PLANET,
A CRATER IS EASY TO LOCATE, BUT THERE'S A LOT MORE GOING ON
AROUND IT THAN YOU'D REALIZE, UNLESS YOU TAKE A CLOSER LOOK.
STEVE: You ready to launch this asteroid?
MIKE MASSIMINO: I'm ready to launch it. How 'bout you?
STEVE JACOBS: I think we're gonna see something really neat.
MIKE MASSIMINO: 3, 2, 1...launch!
Holy cow!
STEVE JACOBS: Oh yeah! That was great!
MIKE MASSIMINO: Oh my goodness! You know, it's cool.
Man, it's fun just like blowing stuff up.
STEVE JACOBS: Check this out. This is incredible.
You can tell where it impacted, right here.
The things kinda mashed, right?
And a lot of transfer of energy, that's what blew all
the ice off, right?
So that's kind of an inverted crater.
But what was left behind?
Don't...don't...ignore this for a second. Look around.
See what you see all the way around the impact site.
MIKE MASSIMINO: Well, you see, you see cracks.
And you see...what's interesting is you see the cracks inside.
NARRATOR: THIS WEB OF CRACKS IS WHERE THE TREASURE IS HIDING.
STEVE JACOBS: Here's some liquefied minerals represented
by this dye.
If you see a fissure or a line, just kinda dribble
that on there, and let's just see what happens.
Kinda go over the whole surface of that.
You can see it going down the cracks inside.
That's just amazing.
Look at the pattern that's being created.
MIKE MASSIMINO: So what was cool about the red liquid,
is it actually illuminated the cracks and fissures.
We...we created them, couldn't see them so well just by looking
at them, but then the red liquid made them come to life.
NARRATOR: AND JUST LIKE THE DYE, AFTER THE ASTEROID IMPACT,
GOLD AND OTHER METALS FIND THESE CRACKS AND FILL THEM IN,
FORMING A HIDDEN VAULT OF PRECIOUS METAL VEINS.
MIKE: The little veins that were created inside the block of ice,
just like they were created in Sudbury.
NARRATOR: AFTER SCIENTISTS FIGURED OUT HOW THESE STORES
OF UNDERGROUND TREASURE WERE CREATED,
ANOTHER QUESTION STILL REMAINED.
WHERE DID THE PRECIOUS METALS ORIGINALLY COME FROM?
MANY THEORIZED THAT THE THEY ARRIVED ON THE ASTEROID ITSELF,
AN INTERGALACTIC TREASURE SHIP THAT CRASHED TO EARTH.
SIGRID: Asteroids and comets, they giveth and they also
taketh away.
We talk a lot about how asteroids and comets create
mass extinction, for instance, the dinosaurs.
What we don't talk about as much is how they actually bring heavy
metals to Earth.
NARRATOR: BUT LOOKING CLOSER AT THE MAKEUP OF THE GROUND AND
ROCKS AROUND SUDBURY SHOWS THAT THIS TREASURE WASN'T A PASSENGER
ON A TRAVELING ROCK. ITS ORIGINS WERE MUCH BIGGER.
SPRAY: So one of the big mysteries about Sudbury
is actually where the metals came from,
and if you look at these rocks here, you'll get a clue.
NARRATOR: NORMALLY, MINUTE ATOMS OF METAL WOULD BE SPREAD
THROUGHOUT THE ROCKS IN THIS AREA.
BUT THAT'S NOT THE CASE HERE AT SUDBURY.
SPRAY: If you look in detail at these for metals,
we wouldn't find any.
The metals have sunk to the bottom.
NARRATOR: WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT BEFORE THE ASTEROID,
THE GOLD AND OTHER METAL ATOMS WERE ALL TOO SMALL AND WIDELY
DISPURSED TO MINE.
BUT WHEN THE ASTEROID HIT, THE IMPACT CAUSED THE GOLD ATOMS TO
MELT AND FUSE TOGETHER INTO RICH MINEABLE VEINS.
SPRAY: In many ways, I think it's true to say that the
treasure was already here in Sudbury region before the impact
But the impact itself concentrated those treasures
into truly phenomenal economic deposits.
NARRATOR: BUT PRECIOUS METALS ARE JUST THE BEGINNING.
WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING TREASURE IN THE UNIVERSE,
AN ASTEROID IMPACT MAY MAKE US RICH.
BUT DIAMONDS WILL MAKE US KINGS.
AND THERE IS A LOT MORE OUT THERE THAN WE REALIZE.
HOW GOLD AND OTHER METAL DEPOSITS FORM IS ONE OF EARTH'S
MOST COMPLICATED PROCESSESS.
BUT IT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT IT TAKES TO FORM ANOTHER
VALUABLE TREASURE, ONE THAT GRABS EVEN MORE ATTENTION
THAN GOLD - DIAMONDS.
ANDY HOWELL: Diamonds are cool because they're sparkly.
So that's why most people like them.
But I like them as a scientist because they're crystalline
carbon. That's pretty cool.
And they're super hard and they're super rare.
So all those things combined make them very valuable.
SIGRID: A diamond forms when you have carbon graphite and it's
exposed to both intense pressure and very high temperatures.
You need both in order to basically crush and then form
this diamond.
NARRATOR: THE LARGEST DIAMOND EVER FOUND WAS
THE CULLINAN DIAMOND, WEIGHING IN AT 3,106.75 KARATS,
ITS PRICETAG WAS ESTIMATED AT OVER $400 MILLION DOLLARS.
NOT A BAD PAY DAY FOR A LUMP OF CARBON.
A DIAMOND IS AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE COMMODITY AND PRETTY
HARD TO FIND. WHY?
IT HAS TO DO WITH THE SEVERE CONDITIONS NEEDED TO CREATE THEM
NEARLY 100 MILES BELOW THE SURFACE.
HERE, DEEP INSIDE THE MANTLE, TEMPERATURES LIQUIFY METAL AND
PRESSURES APPROACH ONE MILLION POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH.
IT'S HELL ON EARTH, BUT THE PERFECT ENVIRONMENT
FOR CARBON ATOMS TO CRYSTALLIZE INTO DIAMONDS.
IN ORDER TO REACH THE SURFACE, THE DIAMONDS HITCH A RIDE FROM
A BURST OF BLAZING MAGMA TRAVELING AT SUPERSONIC SPEEDS.
THE SUDDEN RUSH CREATES A KIMBERLITE PIPE,
A CONE SHAPED STRUCTURE THAT REACHES THE SURFACE AND ENCASES
THE DIAMOND IN THE RAPIDLY COOLING ROCK BELOW.
SO HOW DOES CARBON DEEP INSIDE THE EARTH TRANSFORM
INTO DIAMONDS?
DAVID: Diamonds are the hardest substance known to humankind.
The carbon atoms are arranged in this crystal lattice,
such that the structure's so tight that you can't deform it.
It's produced under incredible pressure.
NARRATOR: PRESSURE CAN ACCOMPLISH SOME PRETTY
UNBELIEVABLE THINGS.
TO SEE JUST HOW ASTONISHING, ASTRONOMER ANDY HOWELL IS GOING
TO USE PRESSURE TO TURN A LIQUID TO A SOLID AND MAKE THE ULTIMATE
LEAP OF FAITH.
ANDY HOWELL: We're going to see if a couple of tons corn starch
plus a little bit of pressure can allow me to walk on water.
Uhhhh...
STEVE JACOBS: Okay, this is about right.
ANDY HOWELL: Oh, there we go. This is harder than it looks!
STEVE JACOBS: Yeah, it is. That's why you're doing it.
ANDY HOWELL: Wearing a wetsuit today because sometimes you just
gotta get out of the laboratory and get your hands dirty.
So we've got a couple of tons of this watery goo that's over in
this dumpster back here.
Supposedly, the pressure of my feet is going to make this
cornstarch into a solid. I'll be able to walk on water.
STEVE JACOBS: What do I have here Andy?
ANDY HOWELL: Looks like about a 10 pound weight or so?
STEVE JACOBS: That's exactly what it is.
And I'm going to set it here and see what happens
to the 10 pounds.
I'm gonna set it right there. And...Oops!
ANDY HOWELL: 10 pounds, and it just goes right down. How's it
TEVE JACOBS: It goes right down, yeah.
ANDY HOWELL: how's this thing gonna support my weight?
I weight, like, 200 pounds.
STEVE JACOBS: Most of the liquids we deal with on a daily
basis are Newtonian, which means that if I put a pressure on the
fluid, it will exert that pressure over the entire surface
of the inside of the container.
So if I push a little bit right here,
that amount of pressure will be spread out over the entire
surface of the vessel it's contained in.
NARRATOR: THAT'S WHY IF YOU TRY TO WALK ON WATER,
YOU'LL BE IN OVER YOUR HEAD, BECAUSE IT CONTINUES TO BE
FLUID NO MATTER HOW MUCH FORCE YOU PUT ON IT.
STEVE: But this mixture of corn starch and water acts
non-Newtonianly, which means if I put a little bit of pressure
here the pressure doesn't spread quickly.
It changes the molecular structure of the mixture
temporarily into a solid, just for a few seconds.
NARRATOR: THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE CORN STARCH IS MADE UP OF LONG
CHAINS OF ATOMS AND WHEN PRESSURE IS PUT ON THEM,
THESE CHAINS GET TANGLED UP, BECOMING SOLID UNTIL THEY
QUICKLY UNTANGLE AND GO BACK TO BEING A LIQUID.
JUST LIKE COAL TURNING TO DIAMOND,
PRESSURE CHANGES THE STRUCTURE AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL.
ANDY HOWELL: Quick reaction means I can dance on this thing,
and it's a solid?
ANDY: I don't know about this stuff.
STEVE JACOBS: This is good. This is good.
UNIVERSE HAS LEAD ASTRONOMER ANDY HOWELL TO A DUMPSTER FULL
OF WATER AND CORN STARCH.
HE'S HOPING THE SAME FORCE THAT TURNS THE STUFF IN YOUR PENCILS
INTO PRICELESS DIAMONDS WILL KEEP HIM FROM SINKING INTO THE
QUICKSAND-LIKE GOO.
STEVE: This is good. This is good.
Look at this! Look at this! Alright, man! Whoo!
Man, you made it. I'm glad.
Do it again, do it again, do it again.
Here you go! Hahaha. Science came through, didn't it?
ANDY HOWELL: I'm gonna give a little aerobic show.
STEVE JACOBS: Now think that all that 200 pounds of yours is
applying a lot of pressure.
It's changing the molecular structure.
And you'll see that in nature a lot of places where the
molecular structures change via pressure.
ANDY HOWELL: So I guess this is how you turn carbon into diamond
NARRATOR: IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT EACH THUMP OF A FOOT ONTO
CORN STARCH HAS THE SAME EFFECT AS A MILLION POUNDS OF EARTH
PRESSING DOWN ON CARBON IN THE MANTLE.
AND THAT PRESSURE HAS TO BE CONTINUOUSLY APPLIED OR DIAMOND
WILL NEVER FORM. AND ANDY WILL TAKE A BATH.
ANDY: So if I stand still I'm gonna sink?
STEVE JACOBS: More than likely, you're gonna sink.
ANDY HOWELL: Hope there's something good down there.
STEVE JACOBS: You're doing this for science, my friend.
Ready to do that, Andy?
ANDY HOWELL: Yeah.
STEVE JACOBS: I'm proud of you, man. Go Andy! Andy!
ANDY HOWELL: Man, this is the strangest bath I've ever taken.
ANDY HOWELL: Why'd you put me in here, you crazy mad scientist?
STEVE JACOBS: You did the second half of the demonstration.
So first you showed what happens if you add pressure to a
non-Newtonian fluid and you stayed on top of it.
But when you quit adding pressure, you sank.
And you did that so elegantly.
NARRATOR: BUT DOES IT WORK BOTH WAYS?
CAN PRESSURE TURN A SOLID INTO A LIQUID?
JOHN EGGERT OF LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY
KNOWS IT CAN, SINCE HE'S CRANKED UP EXTREME PRESSURES THAT HAVE
LIQUIFIED ONE OF OUR GREATEST TREASURES.
JON EGGERT: So taking diamond and actually trying to get it
to melt is difficult because if you do it in air it'll burn,
if you do it in a vacuum it'll turn into graphite,
and then the graphite melts.
So you have to actually go up above, about, uh, 15, 000
atmospheric pressures in order to melt the diamond phase.
NARRATOR: IN THE LABORATORY, EGGERT WAS ABLE TO CREATE
PRESSURES 40 MILLION TIMES GREATER THAN A PERSON FEELS
AT SEA LEVEL.
HE THEN CRANKED UP THE TEMPERATURE USING A LASER.
EGGERT: So we're taking 3 kilogels of energy,
which is equivalent to throwing a refrigerator off the roof
of your house.
That forms, essentially, a rocket-like force that sends
a very large pressure weight into the diamond.
NARRATOR: USING THESE EXTREMES, HE FINALLY CRACKED THE CODE AND
WAS ABLE TO MEASURE WHAT IT TAKES TO MELT DIAMOND.
EGGERT: The surprising thing that happened when the diamond
melted was that the diamond would float on
the liquid carbon.
NARRATOR: ONCE EGGERT REALIZED THAT ANY REMAINING SOLID DIAMOND
FLOATED ON THE NEWLY LIQUIFIED DIAMOND,
HE BEGAN THINKING ABOUT WHERE SUCH EXTREME CONDITIONS MIGHT BE
FOUND OUTSIDE OF THE LABORATORY.
EGGERT: Where else in our solar system would we find the
conditions similar to those where we found the
diamond melted?
The very high pressures, very high temperatures,
and lots of carbon.
The outer core of Neptune has very similar conditions.
It may very well represent the greatest trove of diamonds in
our solar system.
NARRATOR: A POTENTIAL VAST OCEAN FILLED WITH FLOATING DIAMONDS.
BUT NEPTUNE WON'T GRANT US EASY ACCESS TO ITS DIAMOND STOCKPILE.
IN ORDER TO REACH IT, WE'D NEED TO TEAR THROUGH THE THICK
ATMOSPHERE OF HYDROGEN AND HELIUM,
WITH WINDS NEARLY SIX TIMES STRONGER THAN THE WORST GUSTS
EVER RECORDED ON EARTH.
THEN WE'D HAVE TO SURVIVE THE LETHAL MANTLE MADE OF WATER,
AMMONIA, AND METHANE THAT REACHES TEMPERATURES HOTTER THAN
THE SURFACE OF THE SUN.
BUT AS WE PUSH PAST THESE BLAZING LAYERS,
THE TREASURE FILLED OUTER CORE EMERGES.
THE FLUID METALLIC CARBON WOULD COVER THE SURFACE
AND BE LITTERED WITH SOLID DIAMOND ICEBERGS.
BUT MINING THIS TITANIC SCORE IS JUST A PIPEDREAM.
SIGRID: The ability to get to the core of Neptune to get these
diamonds would be impossible.
There's so much gravitational traction that even if you could
get in without being crushed, it would be impossible to
be able to get out.
NARRATOR: BUT THERE ARE OTHER SOURCES OF VAST RICHES IN OUR
SOLAR SYSTEM AND THEY MAY BE MUCH MORE OBTAINABLE.
SIGRID: If we add up all the asteroids that we know of,
the volume that it encompasses is only about 1/2000th that of
the volume of Earth.
Having said that, all the metals on asteroids combined add up to
way more than what we've ever been able to mine here on Earth
throughout our history.
NARRATOR: EVERYTHING FROM COPPER TO SILVER TO GOLD CAN BE
FOUND INSIDE ASTEROIDS.
THE QUESTION IS HOW DO WE REACH THEM?
IT'S THE BEGINNING OF A NEW KIND OF GOLD RUSH.
A GREAT EXTRATERRESTRIAL TRESURE HUNT.
ASTEROIDS HAVE BEEN THE SOURCE FOR WELL OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS
WORTH OF TREASURE.
THEY CAN TURN TINY ATOMS INTO A HUGE STOCKPILE OF RICHES.
AND THEY ALSO TEND TO HAVE TREASURE OF THEIR OWN.
BUT NO ONE'S EXACTLY HOPING FOR ONE OF THESE MASSIVE ROCKS TO
TAKE A DETOUR TO OUR PLANET.
IF WE WANT THE TREASURE INSIDE AN ASTEROID,
WE HAVE TO GO TO THEM.
ANDY HOWELL: Where will we look for treasure in the universe?
Well, asteroids are a pretty good place because you don't
have to go as far as other planets.
NARRATOR: THE ASTEROID EROS WILL COME WITHIN NEARLY
17 MILLION MILES OF EARTH,
RIGHT IN OUR BACKYARD, ASTRONOMICALLY SPEAKING.
THE AMOUNT OF TREASURE CONTAINED INSIDE EROS IS STAGGERING -
SO STAGGERING THAT THIS ASTEROID, APPROXIMATELY
THE SIZE OF LAKE TAHOE, CONTAINS MORE METAL THAN HAS
EVER BEEN EXCAVATED IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION.
WE COULD STACK UP THE METAL FROM EVERYTHING WE'VE EVER BUILT,
FROM THE EIFFEL TOWER TO THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE.
EVERY SKYSCRAPER, EVERY CAR, ALL OF IT PILED UP ADDS UP TO ONLY A
TINY CHUNK OF THE METAL CONTAINED INSIDE EROS.
WITH THE RESOURCES CONTAINED INSIDE THIS FLOATING TREASURE
TROVE, WE COULD BUILD AN ENTIRE EARTH'S WORTH OF STRUCTURES ON
THE MOON, MARS, AND BEYOND.
DAVID: The total value of Eros - you count up all the metals that
are in it - it's about $20 trillion DOLLARS.
That's an incredible amount of value just in a single asteroid.
NARRATOR: BUT THE VALUE OF THE TREASURE INSIDE OBJECTS LIKE
EROS IS A LOT BIGGER THAN JUST A HUGE PAYDAY.
SIGRID: If we're going to colonize space,
we need to become self sufficient,
and that means actually taking advantage of the resources that
are out there, as opposed to bringing it with us.
MIKE: It costs money to take stuff with you.
You know, when they were coming to the New World hundreds of
years ago, we needed to build a house.
Better they came to the New World and they were able to use
the trees that were already there.
NARRATOR: BUT BEFORE WE CAN EVEN THINK ABOUT TAPPING INTO THESE
LOADED STOCKPILES, WE NEED TO REACH ONE FIRST.
A FEW MISSIONS, LIKE THE 2003 JAPANESE PROBE HYABUSA,
HAVE BRIEFLY VISITED AND EVEN SAMPLED SOME OF OUR NEAREST
ROCKY NEIGHBORS.
BUT NASA HAS EVEN BIGGER PLANS.
DON YEOMANS: The human mission to an asteroid was outlined in
the Obama Administration's space policy goals to take place
around 2025.
So that's probably quick One of the challenges for human
exploration to an asteroid is that the asteroids don't have
much in the way of gravity.
So you just can't come down on the asteroid and start
walking around.
You would put yourself in orbit rather quickly.
NARRATOR: AN ASTEROID'S LACK OF GRAVITY IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO
ITS SMALL MASS, MAKING NAVIGATING ONE AND EVENTUALLY
EXPLORING IT NO EASY TASK.
HERE ON EARTH, ROCK CLIMBERS SEEM TO FIGHT THE SAME
GRAVITATIONAL BATTLE.
BUT WHEN WE LOOK CLOSER, IT'S NOT EXACTLY A PERFECT MATCH -
SOMETHING PROFESSOR IAN GARRICK-BETHELL OF UC SANTA CRUZ
HAS BEEN TRYING TO NAIL DOWN.
IAN GARRICK-BETHELL: One of the greatest challenges in exploring
an asteroid is the very low gravity.
To affix yourself to the asteroid, you might use anchors,
much like a mountain climber.
However, on an asteroid, the surface is not covered in solid
rock, but loose powder and gravel known as regolith.
And if you put your anchor into this material,
it would very easily come right out.
NARRATOR: AND WITHOUT A WAY TO ATTACH TO THE ASTEROID,
THE LACK OF GRAVITY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD.
IAN: Something as simple as this would send you flying off
into space.
A mountain climber relies on gravity to keep him attached
to a rock face.
Without that gravity, mountain climbers would
simply float away.
NARRATOR: SO IS THERE A SOLUTION OR WILL ASTEROID'S TREASURE
REMAIN OUT OF REACH?
IAN: One way that you might be able to keep an astronaut stable
on the surface is to wrap a strong ribbon, like Kevlar,
all the way around the asteroid, if the asteroid is small enough.
Then, astronauts could use this to keep them affixed to
the surface.
NARRATOR: IAN'S IDEA MIGHT JUST SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS OF STAYING ON
AN ASTEROID BY KEEPING ASTRONAUTS STRAPPED
TO ITS SURFACE.
A KEVLAR RIBBON WRAPS AROUND THE ENTIRE ROCK AND ATTACHES TO THE
EXPLORER WITH A METAL HARNESS - A GIANT SEAT BELT THAT PUSHES
THE ASTRONAUT DOWN, CREATING A TYPE OF ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY THAT
ALLOWS HIM TO EXPLORE THE ENTIRE SURFACE,
AND PREVENTS HIM FROM FLYING OFF AND LOSING HIS ASTEROID.
ONCE WE'RE ABLE TO MASTER STANDING ON AN ASTEROID'S
SURFACE, A SEEMINGLY LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF METALS WILL BE
AT OUR DISPOSAL.
BUT IN TERMS OF TREASURE, METAL ISN'T SPACE'S MOST
VALUABLE PRIZE.
OUR THIRST FOR POWER WILL DRIVE US TO FIND THE BIGGEST
CACHE OF TREASURE YET.
NARRATOR: THERE'S ANOTHER GREAT TREASURE OUT THERE IN SPACE.
BUT UNLIKE GOLD OR DIAMONDS, WE CAN'T TOUCH IT.
WE CAN'T EVEN SEE IT.
BUT IT MAY BECOME ONE OF THE MOST VALUEABLE TREASURES IN THE
UNIVERSE - HELIUM 3.
BECAUSE IT'S MISSING ONE NEUTRON,
HELIUM 3 IS AN EXCELLENT FUEL TO CREATE ENERGY.
SIGRID: Helium 3 is a rare isotope of helium that's
basically used to create fusion without all the dangerous
effects of radiation.
NARRATOR: FUSION, OR PUSHING ATOMS TOGETHER TO CREATE ENERGY,
IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF CLEAN, ABUNDANT POWER.
AND ITS HELIUM 3'S POTENTIAL AS FUEL THAT HAS CAUGHT THE EYE OF
DR. GERRY KULCINSKI AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.
GERRY: We've been studying the feasibility of producing helium
3-helium 3 reaction.
NARRATOR: THE PROBLEM IS SUSTAINABLE FUSION POWER IS
STILL MANY YEARS AWAY, BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP KULCINSKI FROM
TAKING THE FIRST STEPS.
GERRY: The machine on my right here is called Helios.
What we're seeing is fusion reactions.
They emit light, and that's the glow that you see.
LAB ASSISTANT: Seeing an 80% increase in the neutron rates,
with a 25% increase in the voltage.
NARRATOR: IF KULCINSKI CAN PERFECT FUSION ON A LARGE SCALE,
THEN HELIUM 3 COULD BECOME THE MOST VALUABLE TREASURE IN
THE UNIVERSE.
GERRY: 1 ton of helium 3 would produce the electricity
equivalent to 10,000 megawatt years of electricity,
and that would serve a population of 10 million people
for a full year.
NARRATOR: THE ONLY CATCH IS HELIUM 3 IS EXTREMELY RARE ON
EARTH, COMING MOSTLY FROM THE DECAY OF THERMONUCLEAR WEAPONS.
GERRY: We want to do power production, electricity.
We need tons of helium 3.
The production from weapons is about 2 kilograms a year
and dropping.
NARRATOR: AND THAT MAKES HELIUM 3 VERY VALUABLE.
GERRY: I'm holding in my hand here about 1 liter of helium 3.
Helium 3 now goes for a street value of about $3,000 a liter.
To translate that, it's worth $8 million a pound.
NARRATOR: BUT IN SPACE, HELIUM 3 IS MUCH MORE PLENTIFUL.
SIGRID The sun is the greatest source of helium 3,
and the reason why we don't find it basically here on Earth is
because we have a magnetosphere.
This magnetosphere captures all of these particles.
That means that helium 3 is much more abundant in space than it
would ever be on Earth.
NARRATOR: ON THE MOON, THERE COULD BE OVER A MILLION TONS OF
THIS VALUABLE TREASURE.
GERRY: There's enough helium 3 on the moon that if it was
liquefied, could fill this entire stadium and would provide
the present world with energy use for 5,000 years.
NARRATOR: BUT THAT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO THE VAST QUANTITIES
OF HELIUM 3 WE COULD FIND IN GAS GIANTS,
SUCH AS URANUS AND NEPTUNE.
GERRY: If we looked at areas outside the moon,
we'd fill all the stadiums in the Big 10 and provide energy
for longer than anybody can imagine.
NARRATOR: FINDING HUGE STORES OF HELIUM 3 MAY BE THE CATALYST
THAT USHERS IN THE ULTIMATE GALACTIC GOLD RUSH.
ON URANUS, THERE'S ENOUGH HELIUM 3 TO MEET EARTH'S ENERGY NEEDS
FOR THE NEXT 4 BILLION YEARS.
TO COLLECT THIS GAS, SCIENTISTS HAVE PROPOSED USING GIANT
BALLOONS - A LITERAL MINE IN THE CLOUDS -
WHERE THE BALLOONS HEAT HYDROGEN FROM THE ATMOSPHERE
SO THEY CAN FLOAT IN THE SKY AND EXTRACT THE VALUEABLE HELIUM 3.
AT THE BASE OF THE BALLOONS IS A FACTORY THAT GATHERS IN THE
GASES AND PROCESSES THE HYDROGEN AND HELIUM INTO SEPARATE
PROPELLANT TANKS.
A TRANSFER SHIP DOCKS WITH THE BALLOON, COLLECTING ABOUT
1,000 POUNDS OF PRECIOUS HELIUM 3.
AND IT ALSO TAKES THE HYDROGEN AS FUEL FOR ITS RETURN TRIP,
AND THE FACTORY BEGINS ITS PROCESS AGAIN.
WITH JUST 1% OF THE HELIUM 3 ON THIS TREASURE FILLED PLANET,
WE COULD POWER LARGER SHIPS TO TRAVEL TO EVERY STAR IN THE
MILKY WAY GALAXY AND CARRY MILLIONS OF PASSENGERS.
SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. WOULD IT ACTUALLY WORK?
TO FIND OUT, MIKE MASSIMINO HAS SET UP A TEST.
MIKE: Mining gas can be a little tricky,
because you can't use your hammer and your chisel on gas.
NARRATOR: FORTUNATELY, THERE'S A SOLUTION.
MIKE But what we can do is float something inside of that gas
and collect it.
NARRATOR: THE ONLY CATCH, TO MINE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL
TREASURE IN THE UNIVERSE, HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO SURVIVE HIS OWN
PRIVATE GAS CHAMBER.
HELIUM 3 IS POTENTIALLY THE GREATEST TREASURE WE CAN IMAGINE
- A SOURCE OF SEEMINGLY ENDLESS ENERGY.
BUT HOW CAN WE MINE ONE SPECIFIC GAS ON A PLANET FILLED WITH
LOTS OF THEM?
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO HOW DENSE EACH ONE IS.
WE CAN SEE HOW THIS WORKS HERE ON EARTH BY MIXING THREE
DISTINCT GASES IN A TANK, EACH WITH A DIFFERENT DENSITY -
AIR, CARBON DIOXIDE, AND SOMETHING CALLED
SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE.
MIKE: So what is sulfur hexafluoride?
I had the same question.
It's a gas that is six times more dense than air,
and if I inhale it, my vocal chords will have to work a
little bit harder to produce a sound,
kind of like the opposite of what happens if
I were to inhale helium.
This is what it makes me sound like.
This is not a trick, this is what I actually sound like now.
STEVE: Alright, here we go.
NARRATOR: MIKE IS GOING TO DROP INTO THE TANK AND RELEASE EACH
GAS SEPARATELY, CREATING A MIXTURE OF GASES,
JUST LIKE THERE WOULD BE ON A PLANET WE MIGHT WANT TO MINE.
STEVE: We're just doing the sulfur hexaflouride right now.
NARRATOR: THIS FIRST EXTREMELY DENSE GAS FALLS TO THE BOTTOM OF
THE TANK, JUST LIKE THE LOWEST PART OF A PLANET'S ATMOSPHERE.
STEVE: Alright, Mike, it's time to put in the second gas.
Remember, it's carbon dioxide.
And it should, if all works well,
float on top of the sulfur hexafluoride.
NARRATOR: HELIUM 3 IS LIKE THIS LAYER OF CARBON DIOXIDE -
IT FLOATS ON THE DENSER ATMOSPHERE BELOW IT,
BUT IT'S STILL SEPARATE FROM THE LESS DENSE GAS ABOVE IT.
TIME TO MINE SOME GAS, OR IN THIS CASE,
DROP IN A BALLOON THAT IS HEAVIER THAN AIR BUT LIGHTER
THAN THE SULFUR HEXAFLOURIDE.
STEVE: Let's see what happens with a balloon. Eureka!
That balloon, overall, is less dense than the layer of carbon
dioxide but lighter than the sulfur hexafluoride below it.
Let me try blowing some bubbles. Let's see what they do.
They're floating on a layer of carbon dioxide.
STEVE: It's floating on the gas.
STEVE: Yeah, they're staying up high,
and at different altitudes because they have
different mass.
MIKE: So if we wanted to mine this layer of gas,
we'd use our bubbles.
If we wanted another type of gas that's even more dense,
you'd come down here with the balloon.
STEVE: That's right. That's absolutely right.
You have your own atmosphere.
NARRATOR: AND THAT'S HOW WE MINE SOMETHING WE CAN'T EVEN SEE.
WE CAN NAVIGATE A MAZE OF GASES ON A PLANET LIKE URANUS USING
DENSITY TO BUILD A TREASURE MAP.
BUT HELIUM 3 ISN'T THE ULTIMATE CATCH.
BEYOND ENERGY, THERE'S ONE TREASURE WE NEED MORE
THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
THE MOST VALUEABLE RESOURCE IN THE UNIVERSE.
MIKE: The most important thing we need, uh, to live is water.
We need water.
We don't have water, we're in a lot of trouble.
NARRATOR: THE HUMAN BODY CAN BE UP TO 65% WATER,
AND WE WON'T LAST LONG WITHOUT IT.
FORTUNATELY, EARTH HAS AROUND 60 QUINTILLION GALLONS FOR US
TO DRINK.
BUT EXTREME TEMPERATURES IN SPACE AND ON OTHER PLANETS MAKES
LIQUID WATER ONE OF THE RAREST AND POSSIBLY MOST PRECIOUS
TREASURES WE COULD EVER HOPE TO FIND.
ANDY: If you think a bottle of water is expensive on Earth,
just imagine how much it costs in space.
NARRATOR: WITH WATER POTENTIALLY THE MOST VALUEABLE TREASURE IN
THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, SCIENTISTS HAVE TRIED TO LOCATE IT IN
ACCESSABLE PARTS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
AND MUCH TO THEIR SURPRISE, IN 2009,
THEY FOUND IT A LOT CLOSER THAN THEY EXPECTED,
WITH AN OPERATION CALLED L-CROSS.
COLAPRETE: There's this possibility of water on the
moon, so L-Cross went there to help determine the potential of
these things for further exploration.
NARRATOR: THAT EXPLORATION KEYED IN ON THE ONE AREA OF THE MOON
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE HAD THE POTENTIAL TO HOLD WATER.
COLAPRETE: When the moon goes around the sun,
it never gets sunlight to the poles,
and the floors of these craters, you will never see sunlight for
maybe 1 billion, 2 billion or more years.
NARRATOR: AND IT WAS IN THESE CRATERS WHERE OUR MOST VALUEABLE
TREASURE MIGHT BE HIDING, SO L-CROSS WAS DESIGNED TO FIRE A
PROBE ON A SUICIDE MISSION INTO THE MOON WHILE ANOTHER PIECE OF
THE SHIP REMAINED IN ORBIT TO ANALYZE THE EXPLOSIVE DEBRIS.
COLAPRETE: This little inset, this little area here,
is where the impact cloud is.
This is about 20 seconds after impact. We'll zoom in.
This image here, where we've enhanced the dust cloud so you
can see it more clearly, this is about 6 miles across.
We saw the ejector come up.
We saw water and we saw water ice.
The amount of water that we saw coming up into our field of view
was about 150 kilograms or so.
NARRATOR: THAT WORKS OUT TO ABOUT 40 GALLONS OF WATER IN
JUST THIS ONE IMPACT CLOUD.
IT SEEMS LIKE A SMALL AMOUNT, BUT IT REVEALED SOMETHING THAT
SHOCKS MANY SCIENTISTS.
COLAPRETE: When we look at how much dust we threw up and the
water related to how much dust we threw up, uh,
we saw about 5% by weight water - about twice as wet as the
average water concentration in the Sahara Desert.
That, actually, is amazing to me,
that there are places on the moon wetter than places
on Earth.
NARRATOR: OVER THE NEXT YEAR, SCIENTISTS WERE ABLE TO
DETERMINE THAT THE CRATER L-CROSS IMPACTED ACTUALLY
CONTAINED ABOUT ONE BILLION GALLONS OF WATER ICE -
ENOUGH TO FILL 1,500 OLYMPIC SIZE SWIMMING POOLS.
AND WITH OTHER SITES IN THE POLAR REGION WITH THE POTENTIAL
FOR MORE WATER, WE MAY HAVE FINALLY DISCOVERED THE TREASURE
THAT UNLOCKS THE RICHES OF THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE.
MIKE: The treasure and the value of things change a lot in space.
These things that are valuable here on Earth,
they don't help you.
Credit cards and cash don't go very far in space,
but water and air and materials and things that are gonna help
you, it's more like a survival situation -
what you need to live, as opposed to what do you need
to...to decorate.
ANDY: We start out with mining stuff on Earth, like gold,
that takes to get us to space.
We can go to asteroids, where we can mine metals,
and then we can go to the gas giants,
where we can get helium 3, and that will be fuel
for even longer voyages
NARRATOR: yages. And then there's actually water
throughout the solar system.
It's almost like the solar system is a treasure map.