Episódio 37: Exploring Space (Explorando o espaço)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Em agosto de 2016, Jason Achilles Mezilis mandou um e-mail que mudou sua vida.

A mensagem era pra um cientista da Nasa, a agência espacial norte-americana.

A NASA tava preparando uma nova missão pra Marte.

I wanted to help NASA do something new and original: capture sound from Mars.

It seemed like such a cool thing to capture sound from another planet — millions of miles away!

Jason queria muito ouvir o som de Marte e passou centenas de horas pesquisando os melhores microfones pra mandar pro espaço.

Agora, ele só tinha que convencer a Nasa de que a ideia era boa.

I read the email at least ten times, and then, finally, I clicked: “send.”

Welcome to “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os protagonistas falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Hoje vamos conhecer duas pessoas que deixaram sua marca na exploração espacial.

Tem gente que tem a visão muito desenvolvida...

Outras pessoas têm o olfato supersensível.

Já Jason é obcecado por sons… Tanto que ele é músico profissional!

I fell in love with music before I could even speak.

Well, that’s what my parents say.

When I watched movies, I mainly paid attention to the music because I loved how it made me feel.

Star Wars e Star Trek eram alguns dos filmes e séries preferidos de Jason quando ele era pequeno.

Ele era apaixonado pelas trilhas sonoras.

I always wondered what space sounded like.

Was it like the movies or was it completely different?

Essa pergunta surgiu numa noite em que Jason tava com um amigo que tinha trabalhado nas missões pra Marte.

We started talking about his work with NASA.

And I couldn’t stop thinking about hearing the sounds of Mars.

What would it sound like? I thought it was probably incredible.

Quando Jason teve a ideia de gravar o som de Marte, o amigo dele ficou fascinado.

Jason não acreditava como ninguém nunca tinha feito aquilo antes.

As soon as I got home that night, I spent hours searching online for audio from Mars.

I found out that, for more than twenty years, people have tried to record sounds from Mars.

They even brought microphones there, but for various reasons, it never worked.

Quando soube que ninguém nunca tinha ouvido o som de Marte, Jason resolveu que ele iria tentar captar esse som.

Como era músico, ele entendia bastante de microfones e decidiu que, o que não sabia, ia aprender bem rápido.

In my free time, I read every article about recording sound in space.

I learned that people already recorded sound on Venus, so there was some information about the equipment that works on other planets.

But Mars is a different world, which means there are different things that can go wrong.

I knew if I wanted to convince NASA to let me help, I had to do my research.

Jason sabia que seria difícil conseguir que alguém da Nasa ouvisse sua proposta, ou pitch, mas ele decidiu tentar.

I spent six months researching and preparing my pitch to NASA.

I really wanted this project to happen, and it was probably my only opportunity to record sound on Mars.

So, I knew my pitch needed to be perfect.

Depois de vários meses de preparo, Jason tava pronto pra apresentar pra Nasa a ideia de mandar um microfone pro espaço pra gravar o som de Marte.

Na proposta, ele detalhou toda a pesquisa que tinha feito e explicou por que a Nasa devia ouvir sua ideia.

I read the pitch over and over, and I changed a few words.

Then, it was finally ready.

So, I sent it.

Assim que clicou pra enviar, Jason entrou em pânico.

I thought, “This is a crazy idea!” I didn’t think a NASA engineer was going to listen to me.

I’m a musician, not a scientist.

So, why would they pick me to help with a space project?

Mas depois de só duas horas, Jason recebeu uma resposta.

I was so excited when I opened the email.

I read it a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

NASA said yes! I couldn’t believe it.

The engineer said he was impressed by all of my research.

Then, he explained that they were already planning to bring a microphone to Mars, so they really wanted my help.

NASA wanted my help! I couldn’t believe it was actually going to happen.

Essa troca de e-mails foi em 2016.

A próxima missão pra Marte não aconteceria antes de 2020, então Jason teve bastante tempo pra trabalhar no projeto.

Ele fez desenhos e descreveu em detalhes como seria o microfone.

Instead of building a whole new microphone, NASA wanted to buy one.

So, I spent months researching the best microphone.

It needed to have good audio quality and be the right weight and size.

Also, it couldn’t interfere with the important science experiments they needed to do.

Depois de várias idas e vindas, Jason encontrou o modelo certo, e a Nasa instalou o microfone no rover, que é o veículo espacial.

Até que finalmente chegou julho de 2020, a data do lançamento, ou launch.

Jason tava supernervoso.

Ele tinha investido quase quatro anos nesse projeto, mas não tinha ideia se o plano funcionaria.

Luckily, the launch was a success! But I still had to wait.

It was going to take the rover six months to get to Mars.

That meant that I had to wait six months to know if the microphone worked.

All the other people who tried to record the sound of Mars failed.

Was it going to be different this time?

Depois de longos seis meses e mais de 480 milhões de quilômetros, no dia 18 de fevereiro de 2021, o Perseverance Rover aterrissou em Marte.

I was so excited to find out if the microphone recorded anything.

And after several days, I finally got a text from one of the leaders of the mission.

He said he had the audio.

I replied in all capital letters, saying, “SEND IT TO ME!”

Depois de anos de trabalho, Jason finalmente ia ouvir o som de Marte!

I cried as I played it over and over again.

It was just the sound of wind but it was from Mars — a planet millions of miles away.

It probably doesn’t sound very interesting to a lot of people, but to me, it was pretty incredible!

Pela primeira vez na história, os humanos podiam ouvir o som de Marte.

E aquela ideia espontânea que Jason teve enquanto tava com um amigo foi decisiva.

I never expected to be a part of a space mission.

But it shows that, if you have an idea, even if it sounds crazy, you should try to do it.

You never know how far it will take you — maybe even to Mars!

Jason participou de uma pequena parte da missão a Marte, e só isso já foi superestressante.

Agora imagine como foi pra Tom Jones ter sido responsável pela montagem do laboratório mais caro da história, que ficava no espaço.

Era uma ala inteira da Estação Espacial Internacional.

Before I got the assignment, I was an astronaut for NASA for seven years.

I even went to space three times! But this was going to be my hardest job.

A Estação Espacial Internacional, ou ISS na sigla em inglês, começou a orbitar a Terra em 1998.

Mas ainda faltava seu componente mais importante: um laboratório que permitisse que os cientistas fizessem suas pesquisas sem a força da gravidade.

E era aí que entrava Tom!

NASA selected five astronauts to take the laboratory to space, and get it working.

It was an honor to be a part of such an important mission, but I was terrified.

The laboratory was the most important part of the ISS.

It was also worth more than one billion dollars.

We had to succeed — there was only one laboratory!

Tom teve três anos pra se preparar pra missão.

E não foi nada fácil.

Eles teriam que ir pro espaço com o laboratório, aterrissar de forma segura na estação espacial e ainda conferir se tudo tava funcionando antes de voltar pra casa!

We had to learn everything, including connecting the laboratory to the station and setting up everything inside, like the lights and the air ventilation.

But the best part of training was learning how to walk in space!

Cada astronauta tinha uma tarefa específica.

Tinha os pilotos dos ônibus espaciais, ou shuttles, aqueles que controlavam os robôs e mais duas pessoas responsáveis por organizar o laboratório fora da estação – no espaço! Tom era um deles.

In my previous missions to space, I never left the shuttle.

Walking in space was going to be a whole new experience.

It was amazing! I was actually going to be outside, without the protection of the shuttle.

Pra simular o trabalho no espaço, Tom passou muito tempo treinando embaixo d’água e de cabeça pra baixo, ou upside-down.

I spent hundreds of hours in my space suit underwater.

The training was exhausting.

Working underwater is so difficult.

Especially when you are upside down.

And I had to do it over and over again.

Finalmente, depois de treinar por três anos, a equipe tava pronta pro dia do lançamento.

We did hundreds of hours of training, and we practiced every possible scenario.

But, as we got closer to the launch day, I was anxious.

I realized there was no more time to prepare.

I hoped that I was ready.

O ônibus espacial decolou… e alcançou 27 mil quilômetros por hora.

The launch was amazing! Less than two days later, we arrived at the space station without any problems.

I was calm and ready to work.

But there was a lot to do and not enough hours to do it.

So, my partner, astronaut Bob Curbeam, and I began working right away.

Our new office was space.

Tom e Bob colocaram seus trajes e saíram da estação espacial flutuando.

A primeira coisa que Tom percebeu é que não era tão frio quanto ele achava.

Outside, I immediately felt the sun as it warmed my arms and legs.

Even though I was wearing a thick space suit, I could feel the sun so intensely.

It was a completely new and different feeling.

And the views were amazing.

The Earth was right in front of me.

In a universe full of stars, that view is unforgettable.

Mas Tom não tinha muito tempo pra apreciar aquela vista impressionante.

Ele tinha muita coisa pra fazer.

Everything was going well.

Bob and I were working hard, then I heard him say something you never want to hear on a dangerous mission in space: “Uh oh.”

Tom não conseguia ver Bob, então perguntou pelo rádio o que tava acontecendo.

Bob explicou que tinha um vazamento num duto de resfriamento cheio de amônia.

That was not good.

Ammonia is a toxic chemical, but the laboratory really needed it.

Without the ammonia, the laboratory would get too hot, and might break.

The whole mission would fail.

Eles tinham se preparado pra muitas coisas, mas pra aquilo… não.

In space, you can’t do things too quickly.

There’s no gravity, so I couldn’t just put everything “down” and go help Bob.

I tried to get to him as fast as I could, but I was worried it wouldn’t be fast enough.

Bob tentou cortar o fornecimento.

Mas, sem gravidade, não era fácil girar a manivela.

Aí, depois de muitas tentativas, ele conseguiu fechar a válvula – e viu que a amônia parou de vazar, ou leak.

By the time I got to Bob, the ammonia wasn’t leaking anymore.

Bob fixed it quickly.

But now he was covered in ammonia.

And it wasn’t a gas anymore — because it was so cold in space, the ammonia changed into small crystals that looked like snow.

A amônia é mortal se for inalada.

Dentro dos trajes espaciais, Tom e Bob estavam protegidos.

Mas se levassem amônia com eles pra estação espacial, podiam contaminar o ambiente.

We needed to get it off his suit! I knew that ammonia was extremely dangerous, so we had to be very careful.

Our whole mission was in danger.

We have a problem.

Tom e Bob ligaram pra estação espacial pelo rádio.

Eles foram instruídos a usar um pincel da caixa de ferramentas pra tirar a maior quantidade possível da amônia cristalizada.

Depois, os dois deveriam dar um jeito de fazer o resto da amônia evaporar com o sol.

In space, the sun is really powerful.

The crew told Bob to float in the sunlight so that the rest of the ammonia would evaporate.

A maioria dos astronautas nunca tem a chance de passar tempo no espaço.

Isso é considerado um verdadeiro privilégio.

Mas pra Tom, aqueles 45 minutos foram uma tortura.

Ele só conseguia pensar que se tivesse perdido muita amônia no vazamento, o laboratório não funcionaria.

E isso significava que toda a missão teria sido em vão.

After the ammonia evaporated, we finished the rest of our work and prepared to go back inside the space shuttle.

But we weren’t sure that all the toxic gas was gone.

If we brought any ammonia inside, it might hurt the other crew members.

Pra garantir, Tom e Bob limparam seus trajes mais uma vez, e a tripulação usou máscaras de oxigênio por meia hora.

Luckily, all the toxic gas was gone.

And more importantly, we didn’t lose much ammonia during the leak.

Only five percent.

I couldn’t believe it! It was all because Bob fixed the leak with his quick reactions.

Those years of training really did prepare us.

After a few more days of work, we successfully finished the job.

The space station’s laboratory was ready!

Mission complete!

Desde 2001, muitas pesquisas inovadoras foram feitas nesse laboratório da estação.

Soon after that mission, I retired.

So that was the last time I went to space.

I worked for NASA for 11 years, but that mission was definitely the most memorable.

Every time I look at the sky at night, and I see the space station orbiting the Earth, I think to myself, “Wow, I helped create that.” And it’s the best feeling in the world!

Tom já não é mais astronauta, mas ainda trabalha na área espacial como cientista planetário, assessorando a Nasa sobre o que explorar no sistema solar no futuro.

Ele conta as histórias da sua experiência como astronauta no livro Sky Walking.

Nosso primeiro narrador, Jason Achilles Mezilis, recebeu 650 mil dólares da Nasa em 2021 pra desenvolver uma câmera que gravasse o primeiro vídeo e áudio de um rover aterrissando na Lua.

E depois disso… Marte!

Esse episódio foi produzido por Paige Sutherland, uma jornalista que mora em Boston.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!