0:00 >> We have a lot of technology
0:02 that we've developed
0:03 for different aeronautics
0:06 applications, that it allows us
0:08 to take technology
0:10 and really make sure that
0:12 we're helping firefighters
0:14 do their job,
0:15 giving them better support,
0:17 better tools to use,
0:18 and really also help hopefully
0:21 start to affect the outcomes
0:23 of some of these really large,
0:24 destructive fires
0:26 that destroy people's homes
0:28 and really impact
0:29 the communities that we live in.
0:30 Aeronautics is really
0:32 the piece that can help
0:33 a lot of those kind of
0:35 visions of the future
0:36 come to be reality.
0:44 My name is Kathryn Chapman,
0:45 and I'm an
0:46 Aeronautics Researcher
0:47 at NASA Ames.
0:48 Right now, I work on
0:49 the project, it's called ACERO,
0:51 the Advanced Capabilities for
0:53 Emergency Response Operations.
0:55 What we're doing is looking
0:56 at the current state
0:58 of wildland firefighting,
0:59 looking at the tools
1:01 and technologies
1:02 that firefighters use
1:03 to do their jobs.
1:04 This is really important
1:05 because wildfires
1:07 are just getting larger,
1:09 more destructive
1:10 and more frequent.
1:11 But a lot of
1:13 the current technology
1:14 and tools and techniques
1:16 used to fight wildfire
1:18 has remained pretty-
1:19 pretty unchanged
1:20 for the last several decades.
1:22 Some of the biggest issues
1:24 in firefighting have to do with
1:28 degraded visual environments,
1:29 which is when there's a lot
1:31 of smoke in the air
1:32 and you can't see,
1:33 or at night.
1:34 And also communication.
1:36 So degraded visual environments,
1:38 uh, these are times
1:41 when planes can't fly.
1:43 traditional aircraft
1:44 with a pilot.
1:45 It's really unsafe for them
1:47 to be flying
1:47 in these conditions
1:48 because they, they can't see
1:50 what's around them that well.
1:53 If we could start to expand
1:55 some of those operations
1:56 into the smoke,
1:57 into the night time with drones,
1:59 where we're not putting
2:00 a human operator at risk,
2:02 that would be huge
2:04 because it would allow us to-
2:06 to double, maybe even
2:07 triple the amount of resources
2:09 that are on a fire
2:11 and could really allow for
2:14 some big strides to be made
2:16 without having
2:17 to put more people at risk.
2:19 Another big issue
2:20 in firefighting
2:21 is communication.
2:23 Drones are helping
2:24 to solve the problem
2:25 of communications by serving
2:28 in a couple different ways.
2:29 They can be used effectively
2:31 as a cell tower in the sky
2:34 to bounce signal
2:35 between different remote areas,
2:38 and allow people
2:39 to communicate on a fire
2:40 that wouldn't otherwise
2:41 be able to do that.
2:43 They also allow for
2:45 a lot more complex data
2:47 than a radio would.
2:48 Right now, almost all
2:50 communication that happens
2:51 on a fire is over radio.
2:54 But if you begin to have drones,
2:56 this infrastructure.
2:57 You're really able to share
2:59 much more information
3:00 with intent and location
3:02 and fire behavior,
3:03 which then allows you
3:05 to plan a lot better
3:07 and have a good common
3:09 operating picture between
3:10 everyone on the fire.
3:12 I grew up in
3:13 Southern California,
3:15 and I was just very used
3:18 to fire being a part of
3:19 everyday life-- You know,
3:20 I know in the East Coast,
3:21 people have snow days.
3:23 Where I grew up,
3:23 we had fire days.
3:25 And, I think it's really
3:28 important to me,
3:30 working on this project,
3:31 because it feels like
3:34 I can see such a clear,
3:36 tangible application
3:37 of what I'm doing
3:38 and how it's going to
3:40 affect my life and affect
3:42 the lives of people around me,
3:44 and that means a lot to me.
3:45 That's something
3:46 that's really important to me,
3:48 is having this kind of
3:49 community benefit element
3:51 to the work that I do.
3:53 I obviously didn't go to school
3:54 expecting to be
3:55 researching fire.
3:56 I don't think a lot of
3:57 people do, but it's-
3:59 it's something that
4:01 when I started to learn more
4:02 about it, it really seemed
4:03 important to me.
4:04 I think kind of in the back
4:05 of my mind, I always had
4:07 the idea of NASA being
4:08 a cool place to work,
4:10 but it never really seemed
4:11 like a place that was
4:12 gonna make sense for me.
4:14 And, you know, eventually,
4:16 between my experience,
4:17 in kind of, aerospace related
4:21 research, I ended up
4:23 getting a job here.
4:25 You know, if you want to
4:26 get into aeronautics,
4:27 if you want to really pursue
4:31 this in the future,
4:33 I don't think there's
4:34 any one skill set
4:35 that really makes you able
4:37 to do aeronautics research.
4:39 So many people I work with
4:40 have completely different
4:41 backgrounds,
4:43 and I think the- the just
4:44 really important thing is
4:46 being able to communicate
4:49 what you think is important.
4:50 Being able to maybe work with
4:53 other people who have
4:54 a different background than you,
4:55 and make sure that you can
4:57 take your specialized knowledge
5:00 and make it useful to someone
5:02 who doesn't have the same
5:03 specialized background as you.
5:05 Really, the thing that has
5:07 helped me the most
5:08 in working at NASA
5:10 and working in aeronautics
5:11 is just being able to
5:13 communicate with people well,
5:15 and I think that's oftentimes
5:16 a really undervalued
5:18 and underrated aspect
5:19 of STEM as a whole.
5:21 STEM isn't one thing.
5:23 There are so many people
5:24 who have non-STEM backgrounds
5:28 and non-STEM roles
5:29 who still work at NASA
5:31 and support the NASA mission.
5:33 Focus on what you think
5:34 is interesting
5:35 and keep kind of following
5:37 where your curiosity
5:37 is leading you.
5:38 And I think that's really
5:41 a good way to find
5:42 some really interesting niches
5:45 that maybe you wouldn't
5:46 think about working in,
5:47 but end up being a great fit.
5:49 ♪♪
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