Transcript for January 25th and 26th

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for January 25th and 26th. We’re your hosts, Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
The Opportunity Mars rover celebrates its 12th year on Mars.

PAUL
Now this calls for a party.

RACHEL
Maybe a slice of Red Velvet cake?

PAUL
Perhaps.

RACHEL
Anyway, Opportunity was launched on July 7th 2003

PAUL
And designed for a 90 day mission on Mars.

RACHEL
However, JPL normally over-builds it spacecraft because of the harshness of spaceflight.

PAUL
Therefore, the rover has been traversing Mars for over 4,700 days so far.

RACHEL
Even though it travels more slowly than a human does...

PAUL
...yeah, 1/10th of a mile per hour...

RACHEL
...it has managed to cover over 27 miles of the Martian surface.

PAUL
This illustrates one of the benefits of using rovers in place of fixed spacecraft landers.

RACHEL
Opportunity has photographed dust devils crossing the surface.

PAUL
Which shows that Mars’ very thin atmosphere can push winds fast enough to lift small dust grains off the surface.

RACHEL
It’s also found the remains of old geothermal sites.

PAUL
We now know that Mars once had liquid water and magma interacting with each other like we see at Yellowstone.

RACHEL
It’s also discovered pristine meteorites laying on the Martian surface.

PAUL
That’s an indication that there’s too little liquid water on the surface of Mars today to chemical weather the meteorites.

RACHEL
So be sure to celebrate the anniversary of Opportunity’s landing on Mars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 25th and 26th of January.

RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.