Idaho Skies Transcript for December 4th and 5th

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for December 4th and 5th. We’re your hosts, Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Do you remember the names of two rovers that are still traversing the Martian surface?

PAUL
Sure, one is Opportunity and the other is Curiosity.

RACHEL
Opportunity landed in 2004 and has traveled over 28 miles across the Martian surface.

PAUL
Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 and it has covered over 10 miles of Martian terrain.

RACHEL
There are two other Mars rovers, Spirit and Sojourner.

PAUL
And it all began with the first, Sojourner, which was launched 21 years ago this Monday.

RACHEL
After an eight month flight, she landed on Mars on Independence Day, 1997.

PAUL
Sojourner was a secondary payload to the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft.

RACHEL
Which was the third American spacecraft that landed on Mars.

PAUL
This was 21 years after the previous two landers, Viking 1 and Viking 2.

RACHEL
Since the Viking landers non-discovery of life was a little bit of a letdown, there was little interest in trying to land on Mars again.

PAUL
Which is a shame, since Mars is actually quite an interesting place.

RACHEL
Sojourner’s success is what led to the rovers exploring Mars today.

PAUL
The Sojourner rover was only the size of a microwave oven.

RACHEL
The Sojourner rover was solar powered and depended on the Mars Pathfinder lander for communication with Earth.

PAUL
JPL sent Sojourner out to sample neighboring rocks using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer.

RACHEL
JPL designed the little rover to function for seven days, but it ended up operating for 82.

PAUL
And she drove a bit more than 300 feet during that time.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 4th and 5th of December.

PAUL
Be sure to read our blog at idahoskies.blogspot.com for additional information.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.