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the mightiest s03e01 Episode 1 Engsub
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00:05Some machines are made to work, but others, the most impossible machines in the world,
00:12change the way things work. Carving new paths. A one-of-a-kind plane.
00:18No one else has tried to build an aircraft like this before.
00:22A gravity-defying funicular. And an exceptional telescope. Machines designed for a special purpose.
00:32Surpassing all expectations.
00:40Deep in the Mojave Desert, a remote facility is buzzing with activity.
00:52This is Stratolaunch, an aerospace company on a mission to design, manufacture, and launch air and space vehicles into orbit.
01:03Good ignition. Good ignition.
01:05It's home to the largest fixed-wing aircraft in the world. A one-of-a-kind icon of the air.
01:12Meet The Rock.
01:17You cannot take your eyes off it.
01:20It dominates the landscape.
01:23It's just so large, and you can't even imagine its scale until you're sitting out in front of it on
01:29the runway.
01:29Your eyes are not deceiving you. This plane has not one, but two bodies. And attached to them is a
01:36wing that's as long as a football field.
01:40When you contrast The Rock's wingspan to other large aircraft, it totally dwarfs them in size.
01:47Its wingspan is nearly 49 meters wider than a Boeing 747.
01:54It's 50 meters wider than the Air Force's largest plane, the C-5 Galaxy.
02:01And it takes 19 fighter jets placed wing tip to wing tip to equal The Rock's reach.
02:08The biggest wing in the world.
02:12It's hard to imagine that a giant like this could ever be built, let alone be able to take off
02:18and fly.
02:18But that gigantic wing serves a gigantic purpose.
02:22A wing that's this high and straight and long, combined with two underslung fuselages, it's optimized for maximum lift.
02:30That means the aircraft can take off while carrying unbelievably heavy loads.
02:36To take, you know, something this massive and then, you know, put it in flight, it's kind of magical.
02:43The continuous wing is designed not for what its two bodies hold, but for what's between them.
02:50The Rock was named after a mythological flying bird, and it was known for carrying elephants.
02:58And so that's very analogous to exactly what Rock is.
03:01Basically carrying very large, heavy objects, which is exactly its purpose and why it's such a unique aircraft.
03:07Like a mama bat carries its pups in flight, The Rock transports vehicles into the air from the underside of
03:13its enormous wing, nestled between its two bodies.
03:16And The Rock is capable of lifting incredibly heavy payloads.
03:21Imagine a 500,000 pound rocket strapped underneath the center wing of this aircraft, dropping it at 35,000 feet,
03:30launching that rocket and carrying it up to orbit.
03:34Booster rockets, like the Atlas of the Falcon, that launch satellites into orbit, use incredible amounts of energy to escape
03:41Earth's gravity.
03:42Typically, more than 90% of a rocket's total weight is fuel.
03:47The space shuttle was an even greater burden, demanding even bigger boosters.
03:53All these missions had to take place on enormous launch sites, like Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.
03:59That's where The Rock is different, and has reimagined the concept of the rocket launch.
04:05Rockets at a launch site are typically constrained to that geographic location.
04:10So they're stuck to that pad or that space where they have to take off from.
04:14An air launch platform like Rock is unique because we can take off from here in Mojave this morning,
04:20but we could get out to any location and drop a very large payload or a very large rocket.
04:26The Rock can effectively turn any tarmac into a shuttle launch pad.
04:30No need for NASA. As long as you have a large enough runway, The Rock can do its thing and
04:35launch rockets from anywhere.
04:38The team of engineers, test pilots and crew at Stratolaunch are continuously pushing the boundaries of aviation.
04:45It's been that way from the start.
04:47The utterly reimagined aircraft, a plane with two bodies that will haul rockets to the edge of space,
04:53was conceived in 2010 as just a sketch on a napkin.
04:58Initially, The Rock was designed to carry large payloads and satellites into orbit.
05:03But that evolved into the flight testing of hypersonic vehicles, launching an eight-year journey into the stratosphere.
05:14Building one of the biggest aircraft in the world meant they needed a really big hangar.
05:19The result was the 30,000 square meter facility at the Mojave Air and Space Point.
05:25Things moved quickly with construction getting underway in 2011.
05:29By using surplus aircraft and off-the-shelf parts whenever possible,
05:34they were able to expedite the process because they could be designing and building as they went along.
05:40Design and build were done in parallel. They didn't have to start from scratch.
05:44All of the guts and the components inside that make the aircraft function, all were taken from two existing 747
05:53aircraft.
05:54We took all those 747 components, the living, breathing systems, we designed them into this new airframe structure,
06:02and we made the aircraft come alive here in Mojave.
06:06The Rock aircraft was designed with two fuselages spread far apart.
06:11It allows a very large space such that we can carry these payloads up to 500,000 pounds.
06:18Though they look identical, only the right one as a cockpit.
06:22It's largely preserved from one of the scrap 747s.
06:24You've got bits like the throttles, the foot pedal, even some of the old analog displays.
06:29It's a bit strange looking, but having twin bodies provides balance and stability for that very large wingspan.
06:35Legacy components were married to state-of-the-art ones.
06:38It's the Jumbo Jet Reborn.
06:41The structure of the plane, the bones that hold it all together, had to be new.
06:45And it's made of some of the largest composite components ever built in the world.
06:50And they were made by hand by fabricators on site.
06:54This is an aircraft formed from a wild imagination to carry two fuselages, tons of fuel, and six jet engines.
07:02Not to mention the other aircraft or rockets it would carry.
07:05It had to be strung just to get off the ground.
07:07It's a pretty bold idea.
07:09No one else has tried to build an aircraft like this before just because of the sheer undertaking.
07:15There comes a point in every test program where you do all the design work, and you do all your
07:22work on the computer, and you do all the ground testing in the world.
07:26But that day comes that you just have to go fly.
07:29And so that day came April 13, 2019.
07:34It was a huge day.
07:35We all came out and saw an amazing moment.
07:40The world's largest aircraft takeoff from Mojave Air and Space Station.
07:49The Rock is rated for a maximum takeoff weight of nearly 600 tons.
07:56Getting that much weight into the air requires a lot of engines.
08:00The Rock has not one, not two, but six engines.
08:05We can't move the aircraft without the engines.
08:08So we got three on either wing.
08:10These are Pratt & Whitney 4056s.
08:13Put out a lot of thrust.
08:15We did a lot of thrust to lift this airplane.
08:17This is the most thrust that any aircraft has ever flown with.
08:20It's got 56,000 pounds of thrust from each of those six engines.
08:25Because the aircraft, made up of two planes, is so heavy, the thrust coming from its six engines simultaneously is
08:33essential.
08:34When you kick in all six engines, it's fairly quick.
08:38It gives you a little bit of a kick in the pants, and then it starts just bouncing all over
08:41the place.
08:42It starts getting very dynamic.
08:43Think of it like letting go of an inflated balloon.
08:47The air rushing out the back causes the balloon to move forward.
08:51The heavier the aircraft, the more thrust is needed to overcome its weight and drag.
08:56The gleaming exterior of the plane might be quite new, but the engines themselves are getting their second chance.
09:03They're a little bit older engines, so these engines have a lot of hours on them.
09:07But yeah, they still work really well for us.
09:10These jumbo vets are not ready for the scrapyard yet, but they demand more inspection to ensure they're ready for
09:18takeoff.
09:19Engine inspection is one of the first and last things we do.
09:22Constantly doing work on these guys, making sure everything looks good, making sure everything runs well.
09:27We do maintenance on them constantly.
09:30It's not just the engines that are meticulously checked.
09:33Every inch of the aircraft is inspected to ensure a successful launch.
09:38We're going to start doing power-on checks.
09:41Primarily we move the aircraft axes, make sure the rudders, the ailerons, elevators are all moving the way they're supposed
09:47to.
09:47Height systems, pressure looks good.
09:50By the time we're done with our testing, we'll check all 14 flaps, all 12 ailerons, with four elevators, four
09:58rudders, 24 brakes, and we've checked all of that for us to be ready to go fly tomorrow.
10:08The rock was designed to bridge the gravity gap between the ground and space, providing a launch pad to Earth
10:15orbit.
10:15Now it has a new passenger, a machine designed not for space, but for speeds that were once unimaginable in
10:23Earth's atmosphere.
10:24Forget supersonic. These are hypersonic.
10:29Hypersonic vehicles can travel at a velocity greater than Mach 5. That's five times the speed of sound.
10:35It can revolutionize military and civilian transportation by providing unprecedented speed and maneuverability.
10:42That's unbelievably fast. A trip from New York City to Los Angeles at Mach 5? That'd take you 30, maybe
10:5040 minutes.
10:51For Stratolaunch, this meant creating their own hypersonic vehicles.
10:55In 2016, 70 engineers toiled over four years to design the first operational model, the Talon A rocket.
11:05The Stratolaunch team uses the Talon to conduct high-speed experiments for both military and commercial applications.
11:12It's being tested to see how it holds up to immense heat-generated hypersonic flight, as well as testing for
11:18demand sensors, instrumentation, and guidance and navigation systems.
11:23So Talon A is a reusable hypersonic test spec. It's fully autonomous and unmanned.
11:29So the Talon is preloaded with a pre-flight trajectory and is used to fly various payloads and technologies.
11:36Usually, rockets are expendable vehicles that don't come back. We've all seen rockets that explode, burn up in space, or
11:43crash into the ocean.
11:44But what's amazing is the Talon A was designed as a reusable rocket that can fly mission after mission and
11:51safely land back on a runway.
11:53Ready? Now.
11:56The Talon A is the result of humanity's desire to be the fastest thing on the planet.
12:02But even this hypersonic vehicle needs a boost.
12:06Talon A is unable to take off straight from the ground.
12:08Air launch capability is pretty simple.
12:11You basically take an aircraft, and you take another aircraft, and you mount them to each other.
12:17You take off from a conventional runway, and you get up to a flying altitude, and you drop that other
12:25aircraft off of the Rock aircraft.
12:28The Rock has a unique way of cradling its precious cargo.
12:32Right now, we are under the wing of the Rock launch platform, and right to the right of me is
12:38our Pylon system.
12:39The Pylon system is used for connecting the Talon A vehicle with the Rock, and it is what allows us
12:47to safely separate when we're at high altitudes.
12:51The Pylon is a specialized mounting structure located on the center wing, and it's where the hypersonic vehicles are attached
12:58to the Rock.
12:58The Pylon has its own mini wing, 2.1 meters below the bottom of the main wing.
13:05This keeps the rocket at a safe distance when it's time to launch.
13:09The Pylon has a series of winches to load the hypersonic vehicle onto its platform from the ground.
13:15The Talon is basically hitching a ride on the coolest plane in the world.
13:19This is what the Rock was built to do.
13:23Once the winches raise the Talon up below the Rock's wing,
13:27the vehicle is attached to the Pylon at three different points by a series of explosive metal alloy bolts.
13:33After takeoff, when the Rock has reached 35,000 feet, the flight engineer triggers the detonation.
13:39The explosive within the bolts ignites cleanly, breaking the connection between the Talon and the Pylon.
13:46Once the Talon drops to the Rock, its rocket booster engine shoots it across the stratosphere.
13:51And when it completes its flight, a navigation system operated by Master Control guides the Talon back down to Earth
13:57for its landing.
13:58The Talon is the Flash, but the true MVP of the mission is the Rock, making all of this possible.
14:12Today, the Rock is running a test flight to get it ready for its next rocket launching mission.
14:17This airplane is going to do something that it has not done in the history of its existence.
14:22It's going to do a touch and go for the first time.
14:24It's going to be exciting. Everybody's excited to do anything with this airplane for the first time.
14:28A touch and go is a training maneuver where a pilot lands an aircraft on the runway
14:33and then immediately takes off again without stopping or exiting the runway.
14:38Touch and goes are essential.
14:40What it allows the pilot to do is practice the two most critical portions of a flight, takeoff and landing.
14:48This is going to be its only 25th flight ever.
14:51We're still kind of developing the airplane, so it's kind of cool to do it for the first time
14:55and really feel like you're a part of the development of the airplane.
15:00With only 25 flights under that big wing, there is no such thing as routine.
15:06Each mission is treated like the first.
15:09Every component is checked and double checked.
15:12So pre-flight check, you know, we do a pretty thorough job.
15:15There's a lot to check in this giant airplane.
15:18General overall integrity for tires, overall servicing, I'm kind of just looking over it as kind of a final check.
15:25The pre-flight check isn't just for the airplane.
15:28The tarmac is checked as well.
15:31Something as small as a stray screw on the runway could be disastrous.
15:37We're doing a FOD walk, just picking up any of the debris on the pad that could cause issues, get
15:43stuck in tires and stuff.
15:45FOD prevention is a big deal in aviation.
15:48FOD is short for foreign object debris.
15:52FOD walk is a safety procedure where ground crew find and remove any objects that could be dangerous to the
15:57aircraft.
15:58Even the smallest object or debris on the tarmac could be catastrophic for the mission.
16:05In 2000, a piece of debris on the tarmac punctured a tire on the Air France Concorde.
16:11After takeoff, pieces from that tire struck the fuel tank, resulting in a fire and the plane crashing, killing all
16:18109 people on board.
16:20That's why FOD checks are so vital.
16:22They ensure that this one-of-a-kind aircraft gets safely airborne.
16:28I'm looking for any, like, big rocks or anything that could get stuck in an aircraft tire.
16:34Like, that's actually what I'm looking for.
16:36That's an aircraft fastener, so this could be off of a panel.
16:40It could be off of anything.
16:41Somehow ended up on the ramp.
16:43This is the kind of stuff we're trying to prevent.
16:45Final inspection is complete.
16:47Everything looks really good.
16:48We're good to fly.
16:52Once the FOD walk and all the safety checks are done, it's go time.
16:58The plane is lined up on the runway.
17:00Test control, you're cleared in.
17:02Card 9, bravo.
17:05All systems are go.
17:07Park and brake is released.
17:09Ready.
17:10Ready to go?
17:10Ready.
17:11And the rock is cleared for takeoff, ready for a short but critical journey.
17:20It's a cool feeling as soon as you get airborne.
17:24It's kind of like being in love.
17:27It's just a good feeling.
17:28Makes you feel a little warm inside, I guess.
17:36The pilots circle back and line up with the runway.
17:40With cool efficiency and steady hands, they maneuver the rock for multiple touch and goes.
17:53Easy 8, I'm going to do the runway 26 and then 210 at 6, clear at 2.0.
18:07After a final successful landing, the straddle launch crew gives itself a round of applause.
18:12Another milestone for this magnificent machine.
18:16Test went very well today.
18:19Nice and smooth.
18:20We had no surprises.
18:21Very successful.
18:22And another one in the books for Rock.
18:27The Rock's game-changing combination of payload capacity and support of hypersonic flight is revolutionary and has reshaped aviation.
18:37I'm extremely excited about the future of hypersonics.
18:41There's so many different applications out there and ways that we can use it to better our society.
18:46The Rock is one of the mightiest machines ever flown, pushing the boundaries of aerospace design and technology.
18:53What started as a sketch on a napkin has lifted aviation to new heights.
18:59And when this Titan takes off, it truly is the impossible made possible.
19:06The Stuspan funicular is a one-of-a-kind scenic ride in the Swiss Alps.
19:11A unique vehicle, unlike any other on the planet.
19:15Whizzing passengers up the steepest tracked incline in the world.
19:19It's the world's record.
19:23With jaw-dropping angles.
19:26And breathtaking mountain views.
19:31It's a marvel of gravity-defying engineering.
19:37A funicular is a cable-operated train system that's designed to go up and down very steep hills and mountains.
19:45Located in central Switzerland, the funicular's job is to carry passengers from the valley town of Schwitz up to the
19:52small mountain town of Stus.
19:53This one-of-a-kind climb of 744 metres to the very top takes only seven minutes.
20:01For a trendy steep, the funicular is the best option.
20:05The Stuspan ascends up the mountain in what seems like a near vertical incline.
20:10A 110% gradient.
20:13That gradient is so steep that if you tried to drive a car up this, it would topple.
20:19Pulling the two carriages of the funicular up and down the dizzying mountain heights takes a mighty engine to handle
20:27the heavy load.
20:28That's the main drive. It's an electric engine.
20:31This one has 1,000 kilowatt power.
20:34And we have two of them that we can drive at the same time.
20:38We need a lot of power because of the steepest from the funicular.
20:43Each motor produces enough energy to simultaneously operate 250 escalators.
20:49And these motors do it all electrically.
20:52The advantage of having an electric engine is it has a smaller footprint than a large diesel engine.
20:58It also means greater efficiency, it's more reliable, and obviously it's cleaner energy.
21:04So they're cutting down on emissions.
21:06A lot of people think that because electric engines are small and quiet, they don't have a lot of power.
21:11But don't be fooled.
21:12They pack a ton of energy and a ton of force relative to their size, especially compared to internal combustion
21:18engines.
21:19The motor's power enables to move from above to 1,500 passengers per hour in each direction.
21:24A steep climb demands more power.
21:27This tourist attraction packs a major traction.
21:30We are looking at two track wheels and the main rope.
21:34The main rope is fixed on both sides from each train.
21:40The cable is around three and a half kilometers long.
21:45It attaches the two trains that we can move both at the same time.
21:51The large cable goes from one train up the mountain and around a pulley system attached to a huge wheel
21:57and then back down to the other train.
21:59That means that as one goes up the slope, the other one goes down.
22:03Basically, each train acts as a counterweight for the other.
22:07The descending car's weight helps pull the other one up the mountain and it's all assisted by the electric motors.
22:17This vanicular travels a path so steep, it needs a special kind of passenger compartment.
22:23Each car adjusts according to the change in pitch.
22:27Even when the ascent is almost vertical, passengers feel grounded.
22:32We have an hydraulic system that ensures that we're always level.
22:37Each cabin gets balanced out separately.
22:39We have to rotate the cabin because we want to have the level when we walk in.
22:47Otherwise, we all fell on one side.
22:50Having the ability to handle such a sheer climb while keeping the vanicular's passengers upright is only possible because of
22:57its innovative hydraulics.
23:00Each cabin is equipped with two hydraulic cylinders.
23:03As the vanicular travels along the track, the cylinders respond to the steep gradient of the terrain.
23:10They adjust simultaneously, leveling the cabins within the frame.
23:15The hydraulics ensure that whether you are going up or down the track, the cabin and its passengers stay level
23:22at all times.
23:23A level cabin is a big departure from traditional funiculars which use fixed cars that make boarding more difficult on
23:32slope platforms.
23:33On the Stoospan, you can get in without any barriers, so it's more accessible.
23:39When it comes to mountains, getting up the hill is all part of the fun.
23:43But controlling the descent is paramount.
23:48Brakes are the most important thing because when you have something that's wrong or broken, the brunicular has to stop.
24:00And this is our chance to stop with.
24:03If you're traveling vertically up the side of a mountain, the brakes better do their job.
24:08And when it comes to brakes, redundancy is the name of the game.
24:13You want as many fail safes in place as possible, which is why this Stoospan is equipped with multiple brakes.
24:21We have here the safety brakes, two on this side and two on the other side.
24:25It's like the last chance that we can stop the funicular.
24:29We need four of them because on the steepest point we have to be sure that we can always stop
24:38the ride.
24:42One incredible thing about the Stoospan is that its regenerative braking system captures energy and converts it into heat.
24:49That heat is then used by the rooms in the hotel at the top of the mountain.
24:53The Stoospan is an essential means of transit, but it's not the first funicular to travel up this mountain.
25:00The tiny village of Stoos started as a settlement for agriculture and farming, but it gained popularity in the early
25:061930s as a popular skiing site.
25:09But since Stoos is a car-free village, it was very difficult to actually get to.
25:13So in 1933, the first funicular opened, connecting Stoos to the town further down the mountain.
25:18It was revolutionary for its era. The only funicular in the world to feature fully aluminum carriages.
25:26In 1933, that was cutting-edge technology, since most early funiculars used boxcars made out of wood.
25:33The original Schweitzer Stoos funicular had fixed capets. It operated for 84 years.
25:39But as technology reached new heights, what was cutting-edge became obsolete.
25:45For its time, the original funicular did an admirable job.
25:49But like many pieces of machinery, it's out with the old, in with the new.
25:54Innovation is key.
25:56Construction of the modern funicular began in 2013.
26:00To build the steepest funicular in the world was a monumental task.
26:04There was a lot of challenges in the construction.
26:07For example, drill heads would get stuck in the hard rock.
26:11They had to use a custom design machine that laid prefabricated concrete tracks while moving uphill.
26:19The funicular's opening was two years later than initially scheduled, and took four years in total to complete.
26:25By the time the project was finished in 2017, it ended up costing 54 million euros.
26:34The new funicular means that a larger number of passengers get to enjoy this incredible ride.
26:40Over 500,000 people travel on the Stoosbahn every year.
26:45But it isn't just a tourist attraction. The funicular is a lifeline for the Alpine locals.
26:50It's the fastest and easiest means of travel between Schwyz below and Stoos above, and vice versa.
26:58The village is pretty remote. There's only one road to go up to the village of Stoos.
27:02People who live up here, they're dependent on the funicular.
27:05Otherwise, a lot of people who live up in a village, they can't get home.
27:12And the Stoosbahn moves more than just people. It serves as the delivery service for everything the village depends upon.
27:20The funicular is designed to transport all kinds of cargo and materials up the mountain.
27:24Things like concrete, sand, or stones. But then also food, beverages, luggage.
27:30Anything that people need has to get carried up the mountain.
27:37The funicular is used for transporting the material that gets brought up.
27:42If someone wants to build a house or something like that, then all the building materials get transported up with
27:48the funicular.
27:50The funicular can carry 136 people and up to one ton of freight each journey.
27:57Without passengers, the funicular can transport up to six tons of material on its freight platform.
28:06That's enough tonnage to build the framework of a small house.
28:11Without it, people would have a problem.
28:13It would take around two or three hours to hike up the mountain, but it's a really steep hike and
28:19not really a comfortable one.
28:20And if you have a lot of material, yeah, it's got to be difficult.
28:26The Stu's funicular operates through every season, and this being Switzerland, it, of course, runs like clockwork.
28:33They operate regardless of the weather. It doesn't matter how much it snows, how much it vins.
28:40The Stu's Bond is a technological marvel. A smooth and seamless seven-minute climb into the clouds.
28:48It's quite spectacular, and the engineering is fantastic and amazing.
28:52This machine is a triumph of human ingenuity and problem solving.
28:56Mounting a 110-degree incline has pushed the boundaries of funicular design.
29:02Whether you live in Schwyz or Stu's, or you're just visiting, this futuristic funicular is like nothing else in the
29:10world.
29:15At the top of Mount Graham, more than 3,000 meters up, there's a mechanical marvel.
29:25Eight stories high and 13 times heavier than a house.
29:30A pair of specialized eyes that see deep into the heavens.
29:36Capturing light that has traveled billions of years to reach us.
29:41This is the Large Binocular Telescope, the LBT.
29:50The reason the Large Binocular Telescope was placed at the top of Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona was to take
29:57advantage of its high elevation, dry climate, and lack of light pollution.
30:01These are all essential for maximizing the performance of the telescope.
30:08LBT is the only one binocular telescope in the world.
30:12It is unique because it allows with optics to observe the same part of the sky with the double the
30:19resolution.
30:20We study everything from nearby stars, newly forming planets around those stars, to some of the most distant objects in
30:28the universe.
30:28The optical technology in the LBT is so incredible that it produces images up to 10 times sharper than the
30:36Hubble Space Telescope.
30:39With its 360-degree view, the LBT has made numerous discoveries and revealed the nature of the Hercules Dwarf Galaxy,
30:47a companion to the Milky Way.
30:51And it also provides images of planets from outside our solar system, known as exoplanets, that are more than 127
31:00light-years away from Earth.
31:02The telescope is important and powerful because we can take images very similar to the ones you only could get
31:12when you go very close to the planet with the spacecraft.
31:17Recording never-before-seen images of galaxies and stars is the strength of the LBT.
31:24But none of that is possible if the telescope doesn't have the ability to move quickly and efficiently.
31:32The LBT can be configured in 20 minutes or less with the help of four powerful motors.
31:39We're standing about 30 feet away from the telescope.
31:43Those silver C-rings there are what the telescope slides on to be able to point down all the way
31:49to horizon and then all the way up right now pointing straight up into the sky.
31:53A few molecules thick of oil is going to support the 650 tons of that telescope.
31:57The LBT uses high-pressure oil bearings to essentially float the massive structure holding the primary mirrors.
32:06The oil evenly distributes their colossal weight, ensuring smoother movement and eliminating any friction that could jeopardize the telescope's image
32:15-capturing capability.
32:16Two small motors on each side are going to drive those gears and bring that telescope down to where it's
32:22pointing straight out the front of the enclosure.
32:24So what you're going to see is 650 tons of steel and glass and electronics and instruments in motion.
32:31While the telescope moves to track the skies, the enormous 1,800-tonne structure surrounding the telescope is also moving.
32:41Because the building and the telescope move independently, they have to stay in sync.
32:46So the telescope operator operates the telescope and the building basically follows the telescope to stay in sync so that
32:52the openings in the building are where the telescope is pointing.
32:56Both the telescope and the supporting structure match each other's movements in a perfectly synchronized ballet of motion.
33:04The telescope rotates on an inner rail while the building itself rotates on an outer rail.
33:11No wobbles, jittering or lag. It's all perfectly smooth so the LBT can seamlessly capture the perfect images.
33:24The fortress of the LBT sits on the bogey level. This is where you find all the wheels that support
33:30its rotating housing.
33:33We're here on the top of the concrete here that supports this 2,000-ton enclosure above us that wraps
33:38around the telescope.
33:39And behind me, this is the bogey, one of four that allows that building to move.
33:46That's an enormous ask for these wheels. They are attached to a singular frame.
33:51But the weight they have to bear is staggering, with each of the 20 wheels supporting 91 tons.
33:59The reason it's moving is because the telescope is being pointed to a certain direction and the building is going
34:04to follow the telescope.
34:05So the bogey drives are keeping the building aligned with the view of the telescope.
34:11The components that make the LBT scientifically invaluable are the two eight and a half meter diameter mirrors mounted side
34:20by side at its base.
34:22This telescope has the largest mirrors in existence.
34:25Telescope performance is a function of its size, primarily because a larger lens or mirror collects more light and provides
34:33higher resolution.
34:35So a bigger lens allows astronomers to see fainter and more distant objects and produce sharper and more detailed images.
34:44Together, the resolution of these two mirrors is greater than that of the telescope twice their size.
34:52The twin mirrors of the LBT were cast at the University of Arizona in 1997 and 2000.
34:59Molten glass was spun in a huge oven, forming a natural bowl-shaped curve, while also creating a honeycomb structure
35:07inside for strength and reduced weight.
35:09This made the mirrors more thermally stable than solid glass.
35:14These high precision mirrors are the key to the entire operation.
35:17They allow the large binocular telescope to pinpoint specific locations that scientists want to learn more about,
35:24then collect and focus the light they pull in from outer space to create the stunning images that the LBT
35:30is known for.
35:33The balancing system of the LBT helps it remain fixed on one spot in space.
35:39As the light from the stars passes through the atmosphere, turbulence in the air distorts and blurs the light.
35:46Adaptive optics corrects for the blurring, using secondary mirrors with magnets on their back that change the mirror's shape more
35:53than 1,000 times per second.
35:55The corrected light is deflected towards the center of the telescope, where it's combined and captured as high-resolution images
36:03by the camera.
36:04The secondary mirrors are actually remarkable because they can reverse the distortions, very similar to noise-canceling headphones and sound
36:13waves.
36:13This was the first implementation of this technology at any telescope in the world that allows us to make incredible
36:20measurements that rival what you can do from space.
36:23The mirrors can read the chemical fingerprints or the unique patterns of stars, planets, galaxies and even black holes, turning
36:31a faint glimmer of light into a clear window to the universe.
36:38Every time the observatory dome opens to let the telescope scan the skies, the primary mirrors are exposed to the
36:47elements.
36:48The primary mirror is very fragile. It's all glass. And it takes about three years to produce another mirror if
36:58something happens to this one. The amount of time that we would lose if something happened, it would be extremely
37:04expensive.
37:07With the universe's secrets at stake, these oversized peepers need to be cleaned and refreshed regularly. And that requires an
37:16incredibly specialized machine.
37:19Enter the Bell Jar, a nine-meter-in-diameter vacuum chamber that is used to resurface the mirrors.
37:27Every year, one of the two primary mirrors gets a facelift, where the Bell Jar applies a fresh, reflective coating
37:35of aluminum. With most telescopes, their mirror would be cleaned in a lab.
37:40But with the LBT, its mirrors stay on the telescope. This eliminates the massive undertaking of bringing them down the
37:47mountain in order to carry out this process.
37:50The cleaning phase is the first step for resurfacing the mirrors. All the aluminum is chemically stripped away. Then, the
37:5923-ton Bell Jar is hoisted up by a crane.
38:03It's carefully put in place on top of the mirror, creating a pressurized seal to begin the process.
38:09So what you're doing is you're creating a vacuum chamber between this structure, the Bell Jar, and the primary mirror
38:17of the large binocular telescope.
38:18These are vacuum pumps and their controllers to pull the vacuum, and it pulls all the air and the moisture
38:25out of the Bell Jar.
38:27Getting a good vacuum is critical to a good recoat.
38:31Once the vacuum seal is complete, a small quantity of aluminum is vaporized and falls in a layer across the
38:38mirror.
38:38This aluminum is what gives the mirrors their highly reflective capabilities.
38:45In order to work at their optimum capacity, the instruments of the LBT have to be kept at a temperature
38:51of minus 196 degrees Celsius.
38:56If they were to overheat, the images taken by the telescope would have digital noise or distortion, making them useless.
39:05So, liquid nitrogen is used to keep things chilly.
39:10Liquid nitrogen is a perfect coolant for sensitive instruments due to its low temperature and its ability to absorb large
39:18amounts of heat.
39:19This makes it ideal for users in medicine, science, and electronics where precision and stability are critical.
39:26This is what cools the instruments on the telescope.
39:32Every morning and every afternoon, we have to transfer out of these to the instruments that are up on the
39:39telescope.
39:40With an instrument, it creates heat from the electronics and it distorts the pictures if they see a heat trace,
39:48so we must cool them all down.
39:51A heat trace appears as an increase in thermal noise or static in the detector, which can overwhelm the signal
39:58from faint sources in the sky.
40:03The LBT isn't just cold.
40:06It's the coolest set of astronomical binoculars on Earth.
40:10But building them was a huge undertaking.
40:14The steel skeleton of the telescope took shape in Italy in 2002.
40:19And the massive structure was shipped across the ocean and up the mountain to be assembled.
40:24The enormous mirrors were created in Arizona, but they too had to be transported up the mountain.
40:30The last stretch of which is a very winding route.
40:35In 2008, the LBT was finally put to work, ogling the universe with both eyes open to record the incredible
40:43images that have made it famous in the science community.
40:46This is an international project.
40:50The telescope is a collaboration between the scientific institutions from the USA, Italy and Germany.
40:57Italian scientists have made the LBT even more powerful by adding a system of instruments called the shark.
41:06The shark is made up of sophisticated optical instruments that increase the visual capacity of the telescope and produce incredibly
41:13high resolution images.
41:15The shark is optimized to capture not only visible light, but also near infrared light.
41:20Near infrared light has wavelengths just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum, making it invisible to the human
41:27eye.
41:28So these instruments are highly sensitive.
41:31It gives us the most magnification in the world astronomy.
41:36Shark collects the light through the telescope by means of two mirrors that sense the light inside the instrument.
41:44We look at the brightness at every specific color, which contains a huge amount of information about these objects we
41:51can see sometimes billions of light years away.
41:54This is the most important instrument because it exploits the potential of the telescope and gives us the maximum magnification
42:02we can achieve with the larger binocular telescope.
42:04It also can record very fine objects close to bright sources. For example, we can see a fly flying around
42:15a street lamp from 400 kilometers far away.
42:24In humanity's eternal quest to understand our place in the cosmos, few machines have proven mightier than the large binocular
42:32telescope.
42:33This telescope is a time machine. It takes light to travel from those objects out in space to reach us.
42:40As we look to more and more distant objects, we're looking further and further back in time.
42:44We can look back through 90% of the history of the universe with this telescope.
42:51This set of eyes captures the past, present and future of our universe.
42:56Every day, the LBT reminds us that Earth's mightiest machines aren't only built to conquer land, sea or sky, but
43:05to stretch our vision across time itself.
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