20x04 - Beegu

[bunniefuu]

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look, it's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know
and ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look, it's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Captioning made possible by
u.s. Department of education

♪ Ooh... ♪

Burton: when astronaut
charles walker

First experienced earth
from space,

This is how he described
what he saw:

"My first view,

"A panorama of brilliant
deep blue ocean,

"sh*t with shades of green
and gray and white,

"Was of atolls and clouds.

"Close to the window,
I could see

"That this specific scene
in motion was rimmed

"By the great curved limb
of the earth.

"It had a thin halo of blue
held close,

And beyond--black space."

It is truly glorious to see
our planet from outer space.

From the first time our
astronauts looked at the earth,

They talked about how beautiful
and wonderful it was

To see our home
from out there.

One of my favorite
descriptions was

By veteran astronaut
edgar mitchell who saw

Laced with slowly swirling
veils of white

"Rising gradually
like a small pearl

"In a thick
sea of black mystery.

"It takes more than a moment
to fully realize

This is earth, our home."

Seeing the earth from space
makes me wonder if there are

Other creatures out there
looking back at us.

They would probably have
the same view of the earth
as our astronauts.

Now, if there are
creatures out there,

Do they wonder about us
the same way we do about them?

Well, in this book,

Beegu is a friendly
little space creature

Who accidentally lands
on earth.

She discovers
exactly what it's like

To live on a planet
very different from her own.

Her book is called "beegu."

Narrator: beegu was not supposed
to be here.

She was lost.

No one seemed
to understand her.

[Beegu speaking
alien language]

Some wouldn't even
stay still to listen.

[Alien language continues]

[Higher-pitched voice
speaking alien language]

From far away, she thought
she heard her mother calling...

[Telephone ringing]

But it wasn't her.

Beegu didn't like being alone.

She needed to find some friends,
and she did at last.

[Puppies whimpering]

"What on earth?"

But beegu wasn't
wanted there it seemed.

[Puppies barking]

Then she thought
she'd found the perfect place.

[Children chattering]

And it was!

♪ Concentration--cool! ♪

"Wow! Look at beegu."

[Laughter]

But not everyone thought so.

"Uh-oh.
Here comes the teacher."

"Oh, no.
Don't take beegu away--"

Wait! Her friends
wanted to say good-bye.

"Good-bye!"

Children: "bye-bye, beegu!"
"Bye, beegu!"

"I'll miss you."
"We'll miss you, beegu."

"Bye, beegu."
[Beegu speaks
alien language]

"Bye."
"Bye, beegu."

"Miss you, beegu.
Good-bye."

[Higher-pitched voice
speaking alien language]

Narrator: once again,
from far away,

She thought she heard
her mother calling.

[Higher-pitched alien voice
continues]

But she knew it couldn't be.

Could it?

[Higher-pitched alien voice
continues]

It was!

[Speaking alien language]

Beegu told her parents
all about life on earth--

How earth creatures
were mostly big and unfriendly,

But there were some small ones
who seemed hopeful.

Beegu would always remember
those small ones.

She hoped they would
remember her, too.

[Beegu speaking
alien language]

It's amazing how beegu
was curious,

Unafraid, and bold enough
to explore a strange new place,

And she also made
some new friends along the way.

She came to some important
conclusions about her encounter

And reported everything
she learned back to her parents.

Well, that's kind of the way
scientists find out about
new things.

They're always looking
for information about
what's out there,

Figuring out the importance
of what they find,

And then sharing that
information with us.

One place scientists have always
wondered about is the moon.

Does anything live there?
What is it made of?

Everyone agreed we should
go there and find out.

Man on radio:
tranquility base here.
The eagle has landed.

Burton: in 1969,
astronaut neil armstrong
walked on the moon.

Armstrong: that's
one small step for man,

One giant leap for mankind.

Burton: scientists studied
lunar rocks, core samples,

And dust from the moon's surface
and found that the moon was made
of ancient rock,

But there was
no evidence of life.

Although some people
were disappointed that
we didn't find life,

Most were excited that
our exploration helped us
get some answers.

So, scientists set out
to answer more questions

About the universe
and look for life elsewhere.

As space exploration reaches
further into the universe,

Scientists can gather more clues
about what kinds of creatures
could survive on other planets,

Like what kinds of atmosphere,

Temperature, and planet
surfaces exist

And whether there are
any signs of previous life.

When scientists share
real information with us,

We now have the tools
to dream up some very
imaginative creatures.

Woman: ok, so, we are
going to, right now

We're gonna use
our imagination.

We are going to make
an alien life form,

A being or creature that would
live on another planet or moon.

[Burton laughs]

Burton: it's amazing
what creatures you can think up

With just a little fact
and a lot of imagination.

I'm making an alien
that lives on pluto,

And it's all different colors,
and it eats ice.

Its name is cody.

Look, that's its head.

I like it so far.

He's from...venus.
Venus.

And his name
is vene.

Boy: his habitat is
really the moon,

And the moon is
where he only could be.

Why does he
have horns?

Because he doesn't
eat with his mouth.

So he eats with
his horns.
Teacher: oh, ok.

Second girl:
a creature that
lives on the moon.

Yeah, in the moon.

And its name is
the weirdo.

Yes! Ha!

Teacher: it's hard
to put in, right? Aah!

It eats hot stuff.

Boy: it--everything--
it throws it.

Second boy:
we decided to make
this the belly

And that the head.

So we can make it
like a big dragon.

It eats wax.
Ah, that's how
it survives.

Girl: this is ben,
and he's from the moon,

And his head is blue because
he eats a lot of berries.

Second girl: she jumps.
Teacher:
she jumps. Oh, ok.

It can live
without the head
for a long time,

Because it--the head
is meant to fall off.

Boy: is it just me,
or is it just getting weird?

[Burton laughs]

Wow.
Talk about inventive thinking.

You know, with enough
scientific info,

You could dream up
an entire trip to mars.

And that's exactly
what casey hanson did
in his winning story

For our "reading rainbow"
young writers contest

Called, "my adventures
on mars."

Boy: "my adventures
on mars,"

Written and
illustrated
by casey h.

Here I am getting ready
to go to mars.

It was a sunny day.

My blastoff went well--
better than the time
I went to the moon.

It took me 2 months
to get to mars.

Then one whole day
to put up my pop-up space tent.

Tomorrow I will explore mars.

The next day, I was digging
for rocks when...

A mars monster popped
out of the ground!

[Shudders]

I tamed him
with a doggy treat from home.

He ended up being a very good
rock collector.

Soon it was time to go home.

My monster friend
didn't want me to leave,

So he came along with me.

When we landed, there was
a huge celebration.

[Fanfare and cheering]

I was given a medal of honor

And even shook
the president's hand.

[Cheering]

Ha ha ha!

Well, traveling to mars
to gather data was once a dream,

But scientists at nasa's
jet propulsion laboratory

Have found a way
to do just that.

Now they are collecting
new information on mars
every day

In lots of interesting ways.

We can actually see mars
from earth in the night sky,

And people have always wondered
if there's life there.

Like the moon, scientists
knew the only sure way
to find out was to go there.

In 1969, the mariner spacecraft
flew close enough

To take pictures and send them
back to earth.

And in the 1970s,
a viking lander actually
set down on mars.

The information collected
by these missions proved

Mars did not have
advanced life forms,

But it still left open
the possibility

That simple living creatures had
once existed there in the past.

Scientists decided to research
that possibility.

And to do so,
they needed a way to travel

Across the surface and explore
more of the planet.

Nasa's jet propulsion lab
designed 2 robot rovers

That could land
and move about on mars.

They would explore


Collect data,
and transmit

High-resolution
photos back to earth.

If the rovers found
any trace of water,

The location and amount
they found could help

Answer the question about life.

Nasa finally launched
the 2 rovers in 2004.

Public excitement surrounding
this mission was great.

It would be incredible
to discover life on mars.

A contest was held to name
the 2 robot rovers.

The winner was a young girl
named sophie

Who had a special story.

She was born in siberia
and adopted by a family
in the united states.

"I used to live
in the orphanage.

"It was dark
and cold and lonely.

"At night, I looked up
at the sparkly sky.

"I felt better.

"I dreamed I could fly there.

"In america, I can make
all my dreams come true.

Thank you for the spirit
and the opportunity."

[Applause]

Burton: finally,
the big day arrived.

"Spirit" was the first
rover to launch.

Man: engine ignition.

And liftoff of
the delta 2 rocket

With the mars
exploration rover.

Burton: the spacecraft
hurtled across 400 million
miles of space

Toward its destination--mars.

A lot was riding
on this mission.

Scientists were counting
on the rovers to find out

If there had ever
been life on mars.

If they failed, the question
would remain unanswered.

But no one knew for sure
if the robots could withstand

The difficulties
they would face.

Could they land
on a bumpy, rocky planet

Millions of miles from home
and then function effectively?

A huge amount of work had to go
into preparing the rovers

Before they were launched.

That was the job of
the engineers at nasa's
jet propulsion lab.

They had built the rover
and had to test it thoroughly.

Man: here at nasa's
jet propulsion laboratory,

We continue to test
our autonomous navigation
and mobility software

On these sorts of planetary
rover prototypes.

This is rocky viii, one of
our several rover prototypes

That we use in order
to develop our technology
for mars exploration.

Right now we're
in the mars yard at jpl.

This is our outdoor test bed.

The rocks here are patterned
in the same kind of way

That they are on mars.

And so we can test to see
how the rover can navigate.

Tunstel: we use this test bed
to test op all the different
techniques that we use

To get from point "a"
to point "b" on rough
and rugged terrain on mars.

Burton: the tests showed
that the rovers could
handle mars' surface,

But the engineers had
to make sure the robots
could also land safely.


Fire.

We got a good deployment.

Burton: they designed a special
parachute that would pop out

And a lander that would
drop down on a long cord
with the rover inside.

Huge air bags would then inflate
to protect the lander.

To test the design,
engineers positioned the lander

Above a large ramp
and planned to drop it

On a fake surface
that was like mars.

We're in 5 seconds,




Burton: as the switch
was thrown, the lander
inflated and fell.

The test showed how many
layers of air bags were needed
to keep the rover safe.

So we have greater--
we have, like, 60%.

Huh? Huh?
Very nice.

Yeah. Ha!
Very nice.

Classical.
Ha ha ha.

Burton: the engineers
were satisfied with the results.

All right. Yeah!

Burton: all the testing
paid off, when 7 months
after its launch,

"Spirit" entered
mars' atmosphere.

Man on radio: hemispheric entry.



The vehicle has now hit the top
of the martian atmosphere.

The velocity will continue
to increase for the next minute

As the thickness of
the atmosphere at this height

Of an altitude is not sufficient
to slow the vehicle's fall.

We are now at an altitude
of 73 miles, moving at a speed
of 12,192 miles per hour.

Down range distance to
landing site is 437 miles.

Expected parachute deploy
in 5 seconds...



Mark.

Current altitude should be
approximately 25,000 feet,

Moving at a velocity of
mach 0.6, 304 miles per hour.

We are awaiting confirmation
the parachute has deployed.

We see a parachute.
Parachute's been detected.

[Cheering]

Spacecraft reporting
the heat shield has--

Lander separation event
has been detected.

Spacecraft reporting
lander has separated.

We expect that radar will lock
on the ground in approximately


Current altitude 8,000 feet,

Moving at a speed of


We are near
our terminal velocity.

Spacecraft reporting
that the radar is in lock

And we have good sources
on the ground.

Expected retro rocket
ignition on my mark.

Mark.

Awaiting confirmation from
spacecraft that retro rocket
ignition has occurred.

At this point in time,
we should be on the ground.

Stand by.

Burton: everything went
exactly as planned.

"Spirit" bounced and landed
like a big ball full of energy.

Man on radio: deep space network
tracking stations

In canberra and goldstone
are still searching for
the primary signal.

Burton: the mission team
anxiously waited for the rover
to confirm that it was ok.

And finally, it did.

[Cheering]

[Whistling]

Burton: back on mars, "spirit"
unfolded out of its lander

And went to work.


"Spirit" sent back
its first photos of mars.

Man: oh, wow.
Look at this!

Look at this sh*t.

There it is.
The surface of mars.

The surface of mars.

Burton: the photos kept coming.

[Wild cheering]

Woman:
...images right now.

Man: we have rocks; this is...
Oh, gosh, this is...

Burton: once acclimated,
"spirit" ventured forth

Snapping picture after picture.

The photos showed details
never seen before,

And the scientists began
to think that the images

Might reveal the presence
of water and life.

"Spirit" was programmed
to drill into the rocky surface

And gather close-up images
to send back home.

By digging deep into the rock,

Scientists could look for
traces of water

Or certain minerals
that would indicate water
had once been there.

"Spirit" continued
on its mission,

Traveling across
the surface of mars

Gathering more and more data.

"Spirit's" companion rover
"opportunity" landed safely
on the other side of mars.

Man on radio: f*ring solution.

Retro rocket ignition
on my mark--mark.

Second man: rocket has fired.
We have confirmation.

[Cheering]

At this time, we are


It should be bouncing
on the ground.

As the spacecraft is bouncing
on the surface,

The bars are rolling around,

The antennas are pointed
in many different orientations.

Burton: "opportunity's"
destination was

A tremendous crater that would
give nasa a completely different
view of the planet.

Man on radio: we seem
to have another rover
on mars, it would appear.

Yeah!
Yeah! Whoo!

Yes!

Burton: when "opportunity"
began to transmit pictures,

The nasa scientists were
even more impressed than before.

Man on radio: and we have
a report that the data
is flowing.

[Cheering]

Bingo!
[Applause]

Man: it's time
for instant analysis,
dr. Squires.

It's the weirdest,
most beautiful thing
I've ever seen.

[Laughter]

Burton: as each picture
flew across the miles
and emerged on the screen,

It extended the boundaries
of human knowledge.

Scientists could now learn
new things about the planet

And explore its weather,
atmospheric conditions,
geography,

And physical makeup.

They could also come closer
to solving the mystery

Of whether mars had ever
supported life.

For the proud scientists
who had hoped and believed
this day would come,

The excitement was as huge
and endless as space itself.

...science analysis,
because it looks like

Nothing I've ever seen
before in my life.

We knew going into this that...

Burton: working together,
scientists and engineers made

This dream of
space exploration come true.

After several months,
"spirit" and "opportunity"
had major breakthroughs.

They both found minerals
that suggested water might
have once been present on mars.

This amazing discovery
takes us one step closer

To finding the truth
about life on mars.

Science is all about
learning more,

And the more you know,
the more you can wonder.

So, if you're exploring
space from the internet,

Your own backyard,
or if you even plan
to be an astronaut,

Here are 3 books that will
help your imagination soar,

But you don't have to take
my word for it.

My name is
jasmine amena lawrence,

And the book I read
was "space exploration."

I like this book, because it
tells you about the solar system

And it teaches you about
different sizes of the planets

And what it has around it
and how far it is from the sun.

The words and pictures
go together very well.

And the pictures are very big.

This book helps you
to understand science
and make it interesting.

I just learned that
a constellation is

When you have stars
and when you connect them,
they shape into pictures,

Like bears and different things.

I would recommend this book
to my friends

And everybody else
who likes to read.

My name is alexander, and I just
finished a great book,

"Rise the moon."

"Rise the moon" is a long poem.

It's like a lullaby,
but it didn't put me to sleep,

'Cause it was exciting.

In this poem, everyone
is attracted to the moon.

On this page, the girl
is dancing on the rooftop.

And here the man's baking and
the cat is howling at the moon.

This is my favorite page,
because there's a lot of
wolves and they're howling.

[Howls like wolf]

Oww!

All the pictures are drawn
with a lot of blue and yellow.

I really like this book.

I think you could find this book
in your school library.

"Rise the moon."

I'm isa, and I want
to tell you about this
great book I just read.

It's called "planets,"
and it's about all the planets.

If you're young and you want to
learn about planets,

This is a good book
to start on.

On the first page,
there's the first planet,
and it tells you about it.

Then on the second page,
there's the first planet

And then the second planet,
and it tells you about
the second planet.

Then on the next page,
there's the first planet
and the second planet

And then the third planet,
and it tells you about it.

And the last page has
all the planets on it.

Here are some cool facts:

"Venus was the first planet
to be visited by spacecraft
from earth."

Here's another one:

"You can't hear anything
in space, because space
has no atmosphere."

Listen to this one:

"Mercury's daytime temperature
is 4 times hotter than earth's."

Now, here's another one:

"Mars has a pink sky."
That's weird.

If you're ever bored, this is
a really good book to read.

Believe me.
I know these things.

Burton: scientists find out
as much as possible

About the unknown
and then piece it together
like a giant puzzle.

Now, from what
we've learned so far,

We can really imagine
what it might be like
to visit other planets

And what type of life
we might find there.

Now, we might not be able
to live on mars or the moon yet,

But we've come this far,
because scientists are curious.

They truly are
the modern day explorers.

So, with a knowledge of science,
the help of a telescope,

Some good books,
even a computer,

Just imagine: you can become
a space explorer, too.

I'll see you next time.

Burton: today's
"reading rainbow" books are:

"Beegu," written and illustrated
by alexis deacon,

Published in the united
states by farrar, straus
and giroux, llc.

"Space exploration"
by david glover.

Published by two can publishing.

"Planets: a solar system sticker
book," by ellen hasbrouck.

Illustrated by scott mcdougall.
Published by little simon.

"Rise the moon,"
by eileen spinelli.

Pictures by raul colon.

Published by dial books
for young readers,

A division of penguin
young readers group.

Hi. I'm levar burton.

In uncertain times, there's no
more effective way to make your
kids feel good and safe

Than to spend time with them.

We at "reading rainbow" suggest
sharing a book with your family.

Read for fun,
read for family,

Read for our future.