Idaho Skies Transcript for October 1st and 2nd

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for October 1st and 2nd. We’re your hosts, Rachel…

PAUL
…and Paul.

RACHEL
Happy birthday NASA!

PAUL
President Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 29th, 1958. And it became operation 60 years ago on the 1st. Did you know that Eisenhower created NASA to be our nation’s civilian agency to lead its peaceful use of space?

RACHEL
However, he grudgingly created it in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1. Grudgingly because the launch of Sputnik 1 lead many Americans to think that the US was backwards in space technology. When he understood that we were not.

PAUL
Meanwhile, a different organization, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA, was created to manage the development of our nation’s military space technology. So things like spy satellites fell under the prevue of ARPA. Now before NASA, there was an organization called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA. And it was responsible for leading our nation in aeronautical research. But it was dissolved on October 1st, 1958 and all its facilities were turned over the NASA.

RACHEL
One of NASA’s first tasks was putting an American into space and returning him safely. Later, President Kennedy tasked it with putting a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth. Meanwhile, NASA was also seeing to the launch of unmanned spacecraft that have explored the solar system. And today it is responsible for space telescopes that have located massive black holes and exoplanets.

PAUL
One of its challenges today is to incorporate commercial spaceflight into its explorations. With companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 1st and 2nd of October.

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.