Transcript for August 2 - 8

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the first week of August. We’re your hosts, Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Astronaut Neil Armstrong was born 85 years ago on the 5th.

PAUL
In July 1969, he became the first human to step foot onto another celestial body, the moon.

RACHEL
That occurred six hours after Apollo 11’s successful landing on the moon.

PAUL
Did you know that Apollo 11 was not Armstrong’s first space mission?

RACHEL
That’s right; his first trip into space was onboard Gemini 8, which nearly ended in disaster.

PAUL
One objective of Gemini 8 was to complete the first piloted docking between two spacecraft in Earth orbit.

RACHEL
Testing orbital docking was critical for the upcoming Apollo moon missions.

PAUL
Initially, the docking between Armstrong’s Gemini 8 and the unmanned Agena spacecraft went smoothly.

RACHEL
However, soon after docking, a spacecraft thruster malfunctioned and sent the docked spacecraft spinning faster and faster.

PAUL
If not stopped, the spinning would eventually destroy both spacecraft.

RACHEL
At the same time, astronauts Armstrong and Scott were at risk of blacking out.

PAUL
Armstrong quickly undocked the two spacecraft thinking it was the Agena that had failed.

RACHEL
Rather than slow down however, the spinning of Gemini 8 increased.

PAUL
Indicating it was the Gemini 8 spacecraft that had failed.

RACHEL
Armstrong shut down all the Gemini thrusters and use a backup set of thrusters to stop the spinning and save the spacecraft.

PAUL
Since the backup set was only used for reentry, the Gemini 8 had to return to Earth at the first opportunity.

RACHEL
So ended the short but eventful mission of Gemini 8.

PAUL
August is meteor month,

RACHEL
And our next shower peaks on the 6th.

PAUL
It’s called the Southern Iota Aquarids and it’s a weak shower.

RACHEL
However, the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower, the Northern Iota Aquarids meteor shower, and the Perseid meteor shower are all active right now.

PAUL
Even better, the moon is rapidly approaching new and its light will no longer interfere with the meteors showers by next week.

RACHEL
So keep sky watching and you’ll be rewarded with shooting stars.

PAUL
Do you get up early on Saturdays?

RACHEL
If so, be sure to look in the east at around 4:00 AM on the 8th to see two iconic star clusters of winter.

PAUL
They’re the Pleiades and the Hyades.

RACHEL
Between them, you’ll see the moon.

PAUL
The Pleiades or Seven Sisters will be the star cluster above the moon.

RACHEL
What’s that orangish star to the lower left of the moon and in the Hyades star cluster?

PAUL
Why it’s Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the Bull.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of August. Do you know who was the first person to understand the cause of earthshine? We’ll tell you next week.

PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.