Idaho Skies Transcript for May 14th and 15th

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 14th and 15th. We’re your hosts, Rachel…

PAUL
…and Paul.

RACHEL
America’s first space station, Skylab, was launched 45 years ago on May 14th.

PAUL
Skylab was the converted third stage of the mighty Saturn V rocket that sent astronauts to the moon.

RACHEL
Unfortunately, Skylab suffered damaged reaching Earth orbit.

PAUL
But astronauts were able to repair well enough over two missions.

RACHEL
One of the tasks for Skylab astronauts was to observe the sun.

PAUL
You see, or don’t see, Earth’s atmosphere blocks a lot of solar radiation.

RACHEL
That means there’s a lot of solar information hidden from us by our atmosphere.

PAUL
Which is why a space-based observatory was been a goal of astronomers ever since the Space Age began. 

RACHEL
The telescopes on Skylab were built into an unused lunar module descent stage.

PAUL
With their own solar array, the entire assembly was called the Apollo Telescope Mount.

RACHEL
The ATM, or Apollo Telescope Mount was attached to the top of Skylab by unfolding a scaffolding structure.

PAUL
The space station was pointed at the sun so the observatory’s telescopes could watch the sun from infrared light to all the way to extreme ultraviolet.

RACHEL
Behind the telescopes were film-based cameras rather than digital ones.

PAUL
So each telescope’s film cartridge had to be retrieved by an astronaut.

RACHEL
This meant making a spacewalk from the airlock to the top of Skylab.

PAUL
Astronomers (oops, was suppose to be Astronauts) performed this spacewalk or EVA at the end of their mission and prior to their return to Earth.

RACHEL
In all, three crews of three astronauts each spent a total of six months on Skylab.

PAUL
And some of our listeners might remember that the abandoned Skylab made a fiery returned to Earth back in July 1979.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 14th and 15th of May.

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

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.