Transcript: June Week 2

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the second week of June. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon reaches the first quarter phase on the 10th.

RACHEL
Even in binoculars, the half moon provides great views of mountains and craters.

KRIS
Your best views of these terrain features are along the lunar terminator or the boundary between day and night.

RACHEL
Mountains 12,000 feet tall are visible in the lunar north around the Sea of Serenity

KRIS
That’s the big lunar maria at the top of the moon.

RACHEL
You’ll see the greatest number of craters in the lunar south.

KRIS
That’s because the lunar highlands are an old lunar surface packed shoulder to shoulder with craters.

PAUL
Did you remember that last week was the fifth anniversary of the launch of Mars Express?

RACHEL
Well, June 10th is the 5th anniversary of the launch of America’s Mars Exploration Rover-A

KRIS
M-E-R, A is more commonly known by the name Spirit.

RACHEL
Since landing on Mars on January 4th, 2004, Spirit has traveled over seven miles as it has explored Bonneville Crater and the Columbia Hills.

KRIS
One of the specifications for Spirit called for it to operate for a minimum of 90 days.

RACHEL
But so far, Spirit has functioned for over 1,400 days.

KRIS
Its extended lifetime has given Spirit the chance to make discoveries impossible for a stationary lander.

RACHEL
For example, results from Spirit tell us that some of the rocks near its landing site were altered by water.

KRIS
However, the water probably came from a geothermal source rather than pools of liquid water.

RACHEL
Since Spirit has one bad wheel, it drives best when driving backwards and dragging its stuck wheel.

PAUL
Although, there has been a benefit as its bad wheel has churned up a lot of Martian soil.

KRIS
This led to last year’s discovery of a patch of Martian soil white with salt.

RACHEL
That’s more evidence of water in the Martian past.

KRIS
The salt was most likely deposited in a hot spring, like those at Yellowstone National Park.

RACHEL
And that’s a location where life is plentiful on Earth.

PAUL
Another of Spirit’s discoveries is dust devils.

KRIS
Martian dust devils are important to the rover because over time, dust settles on Spirit’s solar array.

RACHEL
As dust accumulates, it blocks sunlight and reduces the ability of the array to produce power that the rover needs to function.

KRIS
Fortunately, for Spirit, dust devils have winds strong enough to clear most dust off the array, raising their energy output.

RACHEL
Even though Spirit shows other signs of aging, like a worn out rock grinder and failed spectrometers, JPL continues to nurse the rover to get the most science possible out of it.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of June. Next week is the first day of summer. Hear about that and how astronomers classify the elliptical shape of an orbit.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: June Week 1

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the first week of June. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Five years ago on the 2nd, Mars Express left earth

KRIS
It was launched on a Russian rocket booster and was Europe’s first interplanetary space mission.

RACHEL
The spacecraft was made quickly and inexpensively because it’s constructed from satellite components traditionally used on many earth orbiting spacecraft.

KRIS
Mars Express has been returning data since it entered Martian orbit on Christmas day, 2003.

PAUL
What kind of data?

RACHEL
For one, it’s returning high resolution images of the Martian terrain

KRIS
These images include maps showing the location of various minerals on the Martian surface.

RACHEL
The location of minerals like hematite indicate places where pools of water once stood on Mars

KRIS
Mars Express is also scanning the planet’s subsurface with MARSIS.

PAUL
MARSIS?

RACHEL
Yes, MARSIS. MARSIS consists of two 44 foot long radio antennas protruding from the spacecraft.

KRIS
The antennas transmit radio signals that bounce off the Martian surface.

RACHEL
However, because the radio waves penetrate the ground, MARSIS can detect ice and meteor craters hidden beneath the Martian surface.

PAUL
Didn’t Mars Express discover methane gas seeping out of the Martian surface?

KRIS
Yes, one of its spectrometers did in March 2004.

RACHEL
Methane is chemically unstable in the Martian atmosphere, so it must be continuously generated.

KRIS
The source of the Martian methane could be active volcanism or buried microorganism.

RACHEL
And both sources would be a surprise as neither is expected to be occurring on Mars today.

PAUL
Speaking of Mars, the moon will help you find it on the 7th.

KRIS
That’s the night when the moon passes within 5 lunar diameters of Mars.

RACHEL
Mars appears as the orange colored star to the moon’s upper right.

KRIS
While the moon makes a great binocular object, Mars will just appear as a bright orange star near the moon.

PAUL
And here’s help finding Saturn.

RACHEL
The ringed-world forms a small celestial triangle with the moon and the star Regulus on the 8th.

KRIS
The grouping is small enough that all three will fit within your binoculars.

RACHEL
In your binoculars, Saturn is the cream colored star at the top, the moon is the crescent below Saturn, and Regulus is the yellow star on the bottom right.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of June. Listen next week when we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the launch of another spacecraft aimed at Mars, the Spirit rover.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: May Week 4

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the last week of May. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Mars will receive a new robotic visitor on the 26th.

KRIS
The visitor is the American Phoenix Mars Lander.

RACHEL
Unlike the rovers now active on Mars, Phoenix doesn’t travel across the Martian surface.

KRIS
And also unlike the rovers, Phoenix is landing in the Martian arctic region.

PAUL
This will be the first time a spacecraft has visited this part of Mars.

RACHEL
Phoenix is going to Mars to study the history of water on the planet.

PAUL
Its studies of the Martian arctic will address issues like…

KRIS
Can the Martian arctic support microbial life?

RACHEL
What is the history of water in the Martian arctic?

KRIS
And how do the polar caps influence the Martian climate?

RACHEL
Phoenix carries a robotic arm. With it, Phoenix will dig trenches two feet deep into the Martian permafrost.

PAUL
Perhaps below its icy surface, there are ecological niches that Martian bacteria can take advantage of.

KRIS
Phoenix is equipped with science instruments to detect their presence, should they exist.

RACHEL
You can read more about Phoenix at its web site, phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

PAUL
The moon reaches the last quarter phase on the 27th.

KRIS
If you stay out late Tuesday night, you can observe this attractive moon phase through your binoculars.

RACHEL
The moon’s largest ocean is visible on the left side of the moon.

PAUL
In Latin it’s called Oceanus Procellarum.

KRIS
But you can call it by its English name, the Ocean of Storms.

RACHEL
The Ocean of Storms stretches over 1,500 miles across, which is half way across the United States.

KRIS
In your binoculars, you’ll notice that the Ocean of Storms is not as well defined as some of the other lunar maria.

RACHEL
This lunar ocean was visited by the Apollo 12 astronauts in November 1969.

KRIS
It was also visited by four unmanned spacecraft, two American and two Russian.

RACHEL
One of those American spacecraft was Surveyor 3.

KRIS
One of the goals of the Apollo 12 astronauts was to land near Surveyor 3 and retrieve pieces of it.

RACHEL
Surveyor 3 had landed 2 and ½ years earlier. NASA was very interested to see what that long exposure to the sun and moon and done to the spacecraft.

KRIS
The astronauts had no trouble locating the old Surveyor. That’s because their lunar module, Intrepid, landed only 600 feet away.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of May. Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari. Join us next month for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: May Week 3

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the third week of May. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on the 19th.

RACHEL
The full moon in May is often called the Flower Moon.

KRIS
This month’s full moon occurs less than a day before the moon reaches apogee, or its greatest distance from earth.

RACHEL
As a consequence, this month’s full moon is the smallest full moon of the year.

KRIS
The moon’s greatest distance from earth this month is 252,500 miles.

PAUL
On the 20th, the red giant lucida of Scorpius, Antares, is to the upper right of the moon.

RACHEL
How different these two astronomical objects are.

KRIS
That’s right. The moon is a cold dead world less than 250,000 miles away and just over 2,000 miles across.

RACHEL
Antares is a warm red giant star 1,400 times larger than the sun and 600 light-years away.

KRIS
Perhaps within a million years the massive Antares will die in a spectacular supernova explosion and leave the scorpion heartless.

PAUL
The 20th also marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of Pioneer Venus 1.

RACHEL
In 1978 this spacecraft was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.

KRIS
Previous Venusian spacecraft were flybys, direct descent landers, or atmospheric probes.

RACHEL
Pioneer Venus 1 was one of two Venusian spacecraft the United States launched that year

KRIS
The spacecraft spent 12 years in Venusian orbit where it recorded data on the atmosphere and ionosphere of Venus.

RACHEL
It used it dish antenna as a simple radar system to make topographical maps of the cloudy planet’s surface.

KRIS
In addition, the spacecraft carried a gamma ray detector. Astronomers hoped the detector would indicate whether the mysterious gamma ray bursts that satellites had discovered a decade earlier originated close to the solar system or in distant space.

RACHEL
At the end of its mission, Pioneer Venus 1 was allowed to enter the scorching Venusian atmosphere and burn up.

PAUL
Here’s a neat treat, on the 22nd Mars passes through the fringes of the Beehive star cluster.

KRIS
If you’re familiar with the Beehive, then on the 22nd you’ll see what looks like a new bright orange member to the cluster.

RACHEL
This is the kind of astronomical event you should watch for a few days before and after as Mars travels through the cluster.

KRIS
Be sure to use your binoculars for the best view and look for them low in the west.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of May. Next week’s show is about the Phoenix lander and the Ocean of Storms.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: May Week 2

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the second week of May. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
On the 12th, the moon, Regulus, and Mars put on a show.

KRIS
They’ll form a triangle small enough to fit within your binoculars.

RACHEL
In binoculars you’ll see the waxing gibbous moon on the left.

KRIS
Mars and Regulus will appear star-like and form the triangle’s two other corners on the right.

RACHEL
Regulus will be the slightly brighter than Mars and white in color. Compare that to the orange color of Mars

PAUL
May 14th is the 35th anniversary of the launch of Skylab.

KRIS
Skylab was America’s first space station.

RACHEL
As NASA anticipated the end of the Apollo moon missions, they started developing new uses for their Apollo hardware.

KRIS
Two of the possible uses were a space telescope mounted to the Lunar Module and a space station based on the third stage of the Apollo moon rocket.

RACHEL
Because of budget constraints, NASA combined the telescope and space station into a single program called Skylab.

PAUL
Skylab’s goal was to prove humans could function in space while performing useful tasks, like astronomical observations.

KRIS
Using the last Saturn 5 booster, Skylab rocketed into space as the booster’s third stage.

RACHEL
Skylab was launched as a complete space station; so the astronauts wouldn’t have to perform any construction to get it up and running.

KRIS
NASA referred to this space station design as a dry lab.

RACHEL
In 1973, the first two stages of the last Saturn 5 successfully placed Skylab into a 270 mile high orbit.

KRIS
However, during its ascent into space, the station’s micrometeorite shield deployed away from the space station.

PAUL
This was not designed to happen until Skylab entered earth orbit.

RACHEL
As a result of its early deployment, aerodynamic forces ripped the micrometeoroid shield off Skylab.

KRIS
So once in orbit, a portion of Skylab was bare, unprotected, and exposed to the sun and space.

PAUL
Skylab carried two large solar arrays for power.

RACHEL
However, when the micrometeoroid shield was ripped off, one of Skylab’s two solar arrays partially deployed also.

KRIS
So when Skylab’s thruster rockets fired to place Skylab into the proper orbit, their exhaust hit the deployed array and ripped it off too.

RACHEL
The remaining solar array was trapped beneath debris from the accident and was unable to deploy.

KRIS
Fortunately, Skylab’s telescope was undamaged and its solar array deployed properly.

PAUL
In the end, Skylab was left in a safe orbit but with rising temperatures and very little power.

RACHEL
The first manned visit to Skylab was scheduled to launch a day after Skylab, but because of the damage to the space station, their launch was rescheduled for ten days later.

KRIS
During that time, NASA developed a plan for the Apollo astronauts to repair Skylab.

RACHEL
The repairs were successful and allowed all three planned astronaut crews to visit the space station.

KRIS
The longest mission was flown by the third crew in 1974 and they resided in the space station for 84 days.

RACHEL
After the third crew left, NASA hoped Skylab could remain in orbit until the Space Shuttle could perform a recovery mission.

KRIS
However, increased solar activity expanded earth’s atmosphere into the orbit of Skylab. This thicker atmosphere created more drag on Skylab, causing it to return to earth sooner than expected.

PAUL
As a result, the 100 ton Skylab returned to earth on July 11th, 1979 before the first Space Shuttle could be launched

RACHEL
Portions of the massive and out of control space station landed in Australia and the Indian Ocean. Fortunately, no people or property were harmed.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of May. Next week the moon and Antares put on a show as does Mars and the Beehive star cluster.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL.. and Rachel.