How We Got Into The Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Here's the behind-the-scenes ramble, on how we got access to JPL, and what it was like filming there!
Thanks to everyone at JPL. To see what the DSN's up to right now, visit eyes.nasa.gov/dsn
The videos from JPL:
How To Not Break A Mars Rover: • How To Not Break A Mar...
Voyager 1's Getting Closer To Earth Right Now: • Voyager 1's Getting Cl...
MATT: / unnamedculprit | TOM: / tomscottgo
~~ Photos ~~
We posted photos during the trip on our Instagrams:
instagr.am/unnamedculprit
instagr.am/tomscottgo
Matt's JPL photo album: www.flickr.com/photos/unnamed...
~~ Equipment ~~
Sony RX100 M II camera
Røde NTG2 microphone
A Roland R-44 recorder
And a monopod shoved into a rucksack.

[@mattandtom]

I swear the waterfall was really impressive in person. -- Tom

[@jiiniasmith7880]

Should've sat underneath it so it was in focus :P

[@alexw1779]

Matt and Tom don't worry, it was only excruciatingly annoying

[@namewarvergeben]

Matt, why didn't you lose your camera under the rover? :P

[@AviPars]

Matt and Tom and then the camera would have been broken

[@revelationofapencil]

Ì, uh, hadn't really noticed it..! xD

[@timothyalvis6654]

I would personally be just fine with a portion of my taxes going to feed one meal for Matt and Tom

[@hentaigod1963]

Timothy Alvis I'd be fine with all of my money going towards them.

[@rpgllama3036]

I’d be fine with my taxes going to all their meals.

[@bananya6020]

i mean, it's a better use than what it's being used for now

[@Mousy677]

matt getting so hyped about the Mars Rover is actually adorable

[@OrigamiMarie]

You can tell that Tom, tired as he is, is getting an energy boost just by watching Matt's excitement :-)

[@JustOneAsbesto]

Flat rock: The original park bench.

[@meetaverma8372]

Yeah, the flintstones used it

[@ragnkja]

To top this? Get Matt selected as an ESA astronaut.

[@jesusgonzalez6715]

Nillie is Britain still part of ESA?

[@tfkfunguy9109]

Yes but get him selected to go on an ESA mission as opposed to being a citizen of an ESA country

[@jesusgonzalez6715]

*****​ I know what you mean, but I'm not sure whether ESA allows people from not their countries in... Plus ESA does preciously little manned spaceflight

[@datenegassie]

"Congratulations Matt Gray, you officially became an astronaut. Do you have anything to say?" "Yes can I now go under spacelab to retrieve the picture-takey button from my camera?"

[@ncc74656m]

*sigh* It wasn't a rocket, it was Spacelab. DUH. ;)

[@danjenkinsdesign]

I appreciate that you don't default to jump cuts. I like the jump cut format for certain types of videos, perfectly acceptable style. But your content is better served with a narrative style, so I very much appreciate the effort you put in to your production.

[@AbsolXGuardian]

0:52 As someone who lives in Southern California, I have, at many times had a school speaker open with "hi I'm someone from JPL and here's some cool stuff I brought". I'm glad you can share that experience. (I think JPL has a PR/education outreach department that consists of whatever ideas their employees come up with)

[@quakquak6141]

there's a youtuber that actually worked on Curiosity, his name is Mark Rober, this is probably a useless information but I felt like sharing it

[@otherssingpuree1779]

Guy named Mark Rober has worked on the Mars Rover. Cool.

[@Her_Imperious_Condescension]

Likely more famous for making package bombs every christmas.

[@DanS044]

@@Her_Imperious_Condescension and making the world a better place

[@richardharrold9736]

@@Her_Imperious_Condescension and for waging war on squirrels, and losing.

[@ABaumstumpf]

Of course it has to look '"Shiny': Imagine you work there, controlling equipment in outer space worth millions of dollars - and all you get to see are some boring grey walls and a black-and-white console telling you in 8 pixel text the position of the satellites. they can at least spend a million or two for their own personal on the ground. Makes you want to work there just even more.

[@benradford847]

what'd be really interesting is if you could get into a guitar factory. it sounds obscure, but if you could visit somewhere like gibson, Fender, Crimson ect, and have them explain the science of why guitars are built the way they are, and what affects the sound. Or the science of pickups. I know there are all these videos explaining that kind of stuff online, but none of them are Tom Scott videos. Seeing your input on instrument making and the factories themselves/the master builders/luthiers could be fascinating!

[@jesusgonzalez6715]

Ben Radford there is a suburb of Erlangen (Germany) that is quite well known for instrument making. Mostly old timey handmade and whatnot

[@sinom]

Jesus Gonzalez just a 1-2h drive from there is also Bayreuth. It has a organ and violin "factory" and the Wagner Festspielhaus with the yearly Festspiele. (pretty famous.)

[@emilcarr7190]

Ben Radford yesss I want to see this

[@wolfgangmcq]

On a similar note, I went a few years ago to see a fascinating documentary on the Steinway factory. Most memorably, they have an entire (soundproof!) room full of machines banging on pianos.

[@chrisedwards3866]

Or the Steinway piano factory in New York would be good too. There is a lot of mathematics in the piano, particularly with the challenge of shrinking a concert grand piano down to a smaller size in a baby grand or upright piano.

[@skoobydoofus5997]

Waterfall might have been more visually impressive in person, but my ears greatly enjoyed it in the background. :)

[@s6th795]

With that title I expected something to the effect of "with careful use of fake ID"

[@chlod]

#SendMattAndTomToMars

[@allenshibu8631]

With a bench

[@jacobroeland]

And bring them back, please

[@jasonthehuman]

Lets start a GoFundMe

[@sjmww1235]

How you top this is get the tech diff crew in a parabolic plane and shoot some zero G stuff.

[@ThePixel1983]

Well, Tom did. Not Tech Diff, sadly, but himself.

[@sjmww1235]

@@ThePixel1983 yeah I know

[@sgnosymfoemos]

In front of me... I have some classic trivia- HUEEEGHHH

[@vlogerhood]

I once had a job interview at APL (applied physics laboratory) which is like the east coast version of that. I was also super excited when they were like "And through that glass is the clean room where we build the satellites" And "here is the shake table where we test components to survive launch". I wonder how my life would have gone if I had gotten an offer.

[@bobthecannibal1]

"Coming soon": Why do I get the feeling that you two went to Puerto Rico and saw a 300m hemispherical depression lined with aluminum with 900 tons of metal suspended over it?

[@stormbob]

I've never been a huge space nerd, but I couldn't help but smile at Matt's excitement over going to JPL. The way he lights up when talking about it is infectious.

[@paulbu6003]

U guys literally have the coolest job on earth!

[@OlliWilkman]

I'm watching this in 144p because my hotel wifi is crap. In Vienna for the European Geosciences Union general assembly. Bunch of Mars science stuff at this meeting too.

[@owendavies3786]

"NASA: We dont need to but its cool"

[@seanc6128]

I figured you guys would eventually be able to visit somewhere like JPL and I'm very happy to see it happen.

[@ncc74656m]

Matt's glee is just pure joy. I don't blame him, I'd probably be like that too. :D

[@petercrittenden]

Well that's the most IDYLLIC back drop you guys have had this whole show! Nice! I love it!

[@SticksTheFox]

Matt and Tom, experiencing the nerdy life I wish I had, but using the magic of KZbin letting me also experience it from the comfort of my chair.

[@G3HP]

The impression I get from this video is that 8 months of planning and organisation occured, and somehow they still ended up booking Matt and Tom in on what was essentially an early break-off day... Well done JPL XD (Having said that, I still take into consideration that maybe they were not authorised to enter on an active duty day, which is why they are in JPL on Mardi Gras)

[@flori8320]

Did you interview the rover ?

[@LPNeogetz]

I just love your infectious enthusiasm in this video. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@scruffyronin9382]

I opened the DSN website as I was watching this to see what was linked up. Downlinking from Voyager 1 right as I got into the website

[@tomoecchii]

Wow, at actual Mission Control. It must have felt so unreal. I can always count on you guys to surprise me.

[@_Egitor]

Seeing you two having an amazing time while making videos only increases my appreciation for them :)

[@TomBentsen]

I've seen Maggie and i had that exact same grin :D Best of all, thinking back on it now a few years later the grin comes back just as strong.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

Thank you two for the interesting content and concepts and numbers and wordy things!

[@Wordsnwood]

I was privileged to also have a tour back in Feb 2000 --- Fascinating fascinating place. No rovers back then, but I did get to see inside the spacecraft assembly building. Most of us were like Matt (jaws on floor the entire time).

[@laptop006]

Dave from EEVBlog recently did a really good series on the DSN as well, visiting the Canberra station (Tidbinbilla) worth a watch if you want more detail on the physical side of the DSN.

[@ieuanhunt552]

Matt and Tom have really increased their nerd cred in this one

[@maxximumb]

I am so envious. At least I can visit vicariously.

[@amberfallon2191]

Beautiful backdrop

[@AlexShawVlogs]

Next week on Things you didn't know, Elon Musk reveals Matt and Tom as the two tourists going to the moon

[@JordyValentine]

That site and the JPL videos are awesome

[@GunStinger]

I just opened the DSN link, and it's currently downloading data from Voyager 2. That is exceedingly awesome and coincidental :D

[@Rainst0rm4759]

I'm a little surprised you went for the Curiosity narrative in the video, since Opportunity is a couple of days away from exceeding it's operating plan by 13 years, although seeing Maggie probably had some influence. Great video, though. Maybe we'll get to see that interview some other time.

[@oleandreas9628]

Happy 10.000 sub's Matt!!

[@AalbertTorsius]

Title sounds like you _snuck_ in.

[@notdaveschannel9843]

Is there some forced-perspective thing going on here? Matt looks enormous, it's like a scene from Lord of the Rings!

[@CraftsWithEllen]

So awesome!

[@ATEAMDarkChemical]

Gotta love the focus! ;)

[@ahreuwu]

8:12 "I can't maths or concepts... hhhhhhA"

[@Herby-1620]

I must do a tour similar to this. It helps that you have a brother-in-law in the middle of such things. Maybe around Christmas.

[@TheTwick]

"Matt and Tom - Park Bench On Mars" - work on it!

[@GumSkyloard]

Guess what?

[@TheTwick]

NO! @@GumSkyloard

[@pearceburns2787]

The Mars Close approach was in May 2016, AND Mars made it's closest approach to Earth for the next 200 years in 2003, so when Matt says "we have been as close to Mars as we are getting"...

[@RMoribayashi]

Those screens save space by having useful data not taking up room at every position. I was watching Space Shuttle Mission Control on NASA TV in the early 90's when they debuted a program called DEMOS (my guess is Dynamic Earth Model and Orbiter Simulator) that showed the shuttle's relation to the Earth. It seemed to upgrade after almost every mission, improving the graphics and adding features. By the program's end it could show up to three way multiple POV split screen with accurate shadowing, displaying real time orbital vectors for several objects. The ISS version is even better.

[@StuReedy]

You could travel back in time and visit the VAB at the Cape. We got to see it, because of blessed serendipity. Go NASA!

[@ziploc53]

Awesome.

[@collinscody57]

Between this and Tom's main challenge they have almost 5 million subscribers if we each through in $20 I think we could get this to into low earth orbit for a few days

[@samclay950]

I want to get to go on any trip with Matt and Tom

[@aWildLupi]

Sojourner (And its mother lander, Pathfinder) were 1997, and set the stage for how we'd land things on Mars going forward, with the parachutes/aeroshell/tumble stuff

[@athenap.1081]

I bloody knew it was Pasadena!! It looked so familiar

[@georgeeden5835]

I hope you flew there and back safely, hopefully you got a nice seat not a good beat'in, like united

[@jameshanson3759]

I swear to God I live in Pasadena Ca. and have never visited JPL. I must get off my bumm (as you Brits say) and do this.

[@Nothinhappens]

2022 - Tom Scott is the next Doctor

[@_vampailen1163]

Well not exactly

[@Orillion123456]

How you can top this? I dunno, actually going to space? Bottom of the mariana trench? It's not gonna be easy.

[@Huttser17]

As an American rail fan, I winced at the Blue Peter reference.

[@cadiper3265]

Totally amazing videos, as always! Got a little thought, it would be awesome to see you guys do a collab with Destin from SmarterEveryDay. =)

[@turbo1431]

Something better than that would be going to Iceland and being able to go inside a dormant volcano. That's actually something you can do and I know because I did it and it was amazing

[@zJoriz]

That cliffhanger though...

[@rodbotic]

Matt - Have you tried Destinations with your vive yet? There is a mars area created from the data from curiousity's photos.

[@gayowulf]

How I get into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory: my brother and my sister-in-law are both engineers there, and they take me for a tour every time I visit.

[@barbaratomlinson5959]

It's not going to top NASA, but I'd love to see your take on the Oroville Dam situation. The California DNR keeps an up to date photo album of repair work but I want more!

[@KaathKilo]

Oh, back here

[@socialmediumspace]

I went to JPL with my summer camp Sci-Tech West

[@alexw1779]

I like this

[@crax83]

You should try to get access to Pionen in the White Mountains, Stockholm.

[@FuriousGrizz]

You guys should visit the Johnson Space Center in Texas

[@ChloeStandingUpstairs]

Matt, I got your firefly reference at 3:21

[@georgiadreamingbb1245]

Just in case your missing the mustang.... BEANS!!!!!! I wish Matt would begin his own channel too so we could support him traveling and getting to tour space x ect. And see the world and I wish KZbin PA well enough to do it. I know he would be loved and you two together are great as well.

[@mattandtom]

I’ve had my own channel for years! Linked in the description of every video :D -Matt

[@xzonia1]

So cool!!! :D

[@jomialsipi]

Canadian Space Agency next ? We have a Canadarm replica and training station

[@traviskbracken7457]

After watching this video I'm not certain Matt is my spirit animal. :D

[@sinom]

"it feels so much gooder - i'm just going to continue" well at least you noticed it

[@ivan_thespacebiker]

Did you bring the narrowboat rover to try it out?

[@mdmenzel]

3:34 reminds me of the Simpsons: all these monitors are for measuring TV ratings.

[@billkammermeier]

You can get even closer to Mars. There is a town in Pennsylvania called Mars :)

[@Br3ttM]

So, does Tom being roommates with an astronaut on an icebreaker in the arctic beat visiting the JPL?

[@infrabread]

"I can't maths."- Matt Grey 2k17.

[@jinjysbro]

Was the park bench filled in the hahamongna watershed park?

[@admiraladama5877]

For the buffet it probably didn't come from taxes. Maybe a collected pool or people bringing in food due to federal restrictions on funds but I'm not sure if they're civil servants at JPL or contracted

[@nothanks3510]

you should try to get on a zero g flight and explain parabolic dives while weightless.

[@MrHSX]

That tease at the end tho...

[@diamondrel5190]

I know how to top it! The Technical Difficulties: ON THE MOON!!!!

[@dapeach06]

How old are you guys? Sojourner was in the late 90s, I remember when it was launched and how big of a deal it was, and when it was named, and I'm 30

[@nayaazhashim5539]

Yay I'm early! Cool stuff!

[@nayaazhashim5539]

I really enjoyed the video on Tom's channel, by the way!

[@zacchambers2418]

cool

[@notthere83]

It seems to me that people might vastly underestimate the helpfulness of visualizations.

[@Thenomnomfairy]

Definitely not on par with JPL, but the college I attend (Maryland Institute College of Art) partners with Johns Hopkins University's HEMI (Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute) to bridge the gap between art/design and some heavy duty research. The more exciting bit is the stuff they're testing out. I'd definitely recommend a google, it's a pretty exciting rabbit hole

[@jackielinde7568]

+Matt and Tom Have you guys ever thought about writing a how-to book about editing video and audio for KZbin? Then, when you get someone who doesn't know what a B Roll is, just hand over a signed copy of the book. ;) BTW, I'd buy that book. (Eventually. Got to get past a new AC and Braces for the little one.)

[@maxk4324]

7:13 RIIIIIIIIIP!

[@AidanRatnage]

So there is functionality to redundant lights in sci-fi movie contraptions?

[@DeserdiVerimas]

Sojourner was from the 90s. Did you get the name of the software that they were using for controlling the rovers? I know they used to use GESTALT, but I'm not sure what they're using at the moment...

[@jesusgonzalez6715]

Alastair Codd Gestalt is also a German word. Coincidence?

[@barneymiller3689]

Please do movie recommendations

[@mitigatekeeps1371]

When's citation needed coming out?