Idaho Skies Transcript for February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. We’re your hosts, Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
The first spacecraft to successfully land on another astronomical body was Luna 9.

PAUL
The spacecraft set down on the moon on February 3rd, 1966.

RACHEL
It was a Soviet spacecraft and one of the early volleys fired in the Space Race between the US and USSR.

PAUL
Luna 3 weighed 250 pounds and it was mounted on top of a crasher stage.

RACHEL
A crasher stage is designed to slow down a payload, but not to land soft enough to survive the landing itself.

PAUL
So at the last moment, the crasher stage ejected the Luna 9 lander.

RACHEL
The spherical Luna 9 rolled a short distance away from the crash site and then opened up its four metal petals.

PAUL
The spacecraft was equipped with a television camera, which it used to send the first pictures of the lunar surface.

RACHEL
These images proved the moon’s surface was strong enough to support the weight of a spacecraft.

PAUL
And it proved that the surface would not engulf future astronauts like alien quicksand.

RACHEL
On the 4th, we celebrate the birth of American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

PAUL
Tombaugh is known for his 1930 discovery of Pluto.

RACHEL
Some, but not many, late 19th and early 20th century astronomers had predicted the existence of a 9th planet based on supposed errors in the position of Neptune.

PAUL
As an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, Tombaugh took nightly pictures of the sky.

RACHEL
By comparing two pictures of the same part of the sky on two different nights, he could detect changes in position that indicated a planet in motion.

PAUL
After finding hundreds of asteroids, Tombaugh finally found a distant planet.

RACHEL
But today we know Pluto is actually one of millions of icy asteroid-like bodies in cold depths of the solar system and not an actual planet.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of February.

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.