Download Level One

Space Today Script
Version 4/29/2017 9:19:00 PM
Script
Media
Space Today Logo
Opening Title and Music
----- ----(After music is over, step on foot pedal to zoom in camera
and brighten lights.)
Good afternoon and welcome. This is Space Today,
XXXXX reporting.
In our top story, a look back at 25 years of the Hubble
Space Telescope. But first…
In our last report, we looked at Rosetta. The spacecraft had
just arrived at Comet 67P/C-G and mission managers had
decided on a landing spot for the lander, Philae (Fee-lay).
As you may remember from our previous broadcasts, the
Rosetta spacecraft was launched in March 2004.
After a 10 year journey, which included gravity assists from
Earth and Mars flybys, Rosetta arrived at its destination,
Comet 67P on August 6, 2014.
Since the initial rendezvous, the flight team has reduced the
distance between Rosetta and the comet to just 18.5 miles
from the surface. That’s just three times higher than the
cruising altitude of commercial airlines.
Next came the search for a suitable spot to set down the
lander, Philae (Fee-lay).
Five regions were identified as potential landing spots but
all had difficult terrains. Cliffs, craters, and boulders
populated each of the potential landing sites.
Using data collected by Rosetta, the best choice was
narrowed down to a spot on the smaller end of the comet.
On November 12th, 2014 Rosetta deployed Philae (Fee-lay)
to the surface. Seven hours later Philae touched down – not
once but three times.
Philae's anchoring harpoons failed to fire and the lander
bounced several times before finally settling down on the
comet in the shadow of an ice cliff.
Cut off from sunlight for much of the day, the solarpowered lander went into hibernation, but not before
completing its initial round of science observations on the
comet's surface and sending the information back to
Rosetta.
Top Story Title Slide
Launch Photo
Flight Path image
August 11 image
Rosetta Philae graphic
Landing Sites image
Landing Site J image
Philae Landing image
Philae Landing image with Final
landing spot callout
Close up of Philae
P 1 of 4
p2 of 4
Script
Project scientists are currently debating whether to have
Rosetta preform a close fly-by of where Philae is believed
to sit. But Rosetta is limited on fuel, so this could mean
sacrificing other mission goals.
As for Rosetta, the spacecraft will continue to accompany
the comet as it approaches perihelion (per-uh-hee-lee-uhn).
Perihelion is when the comet will be closest to the sun.
This will take place on August 13, 2015. Along the way, it
will measure plasma, dust and gas that is expected to
increase as the comet gets closer to the Sun. We will
continue to provide updates on the Rosetta mission in
future broadcasts as more information becomes available.
Media
Rosetta Selfie
And now, for our top storyThis year marks the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space
Telescope. After a very rocky start, it is hard to imagine
that 25 years later, the Hubble Space Telescope is still
going and going stronger than ever.
Do you remember where you were on April 24th, 1990?
That is the day the Hubble Space Telescope was launched
on the first Shuttle mission after the Challenger disaster.
Soon after Hubble’s launch, it was discovered that
Hubble’s mirror was flawed and not producing clear, sharp
imagery and NASA had a real problem on its hands.
Despite this flaw, it was clear that Hubble could do things
that no ground based telescope could do, like imaging Pluto
and its moon Charon (Sharr-on).
Or, Tracking rare storms in the atmosphere of Saturn,
And viewing an incredible jet emanating from a
Supermassive Black Hole in the center of the galaxy M87.
However, it wasn’t until Hubble’s first servicing mission in
1993, to correct the optics that Hubble began to take its
place as arguably the greatest telescope of all time.
The mission was a tremendous success and the new Wide
Field Planetary Camera 2 began to provide the kind of
imagery that the telescope was capable of - the images we
now know and love.
One of the fascinating things that the Hubble studied was
global dust storms on Mars. Dr. Steve Lee, Space Science
Curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science was
one of the scientists who used the Hubble to study Mars.
We have an exclusive interview with Dr. Lee now.
HST Title Slide
Anniversary image
Comet 67P/C-G outgassing
image
Launch or Repair image
Newsweek cover or cartoons
Pluto Charon image 1990
Saturn 1991 image
BH jet 1992
1st Servicing Mission image 1993
Galaxy M100 before & after
Mars 2001 image
Dr. Steve Lee Title Slide
p3 of 4
Script
When did you first use the Hubble Space Telescope and
how do you go about using the Hubble Space Telescope?
Media
Ask the Expert Video
What did you learn about Mars that you couldn’t learn
using ground-based telescope?
What is your favorite memory of Hubble?
Thank you Dr. Lee.
(pause for Dr. Lee’s response)
Through the years, the Hubble has undergone several more
servicing missions to improve its capabilities and repair
crucial systems. After the Shuttle Columbia tragedy,
accident repair missions were stopped and Hubble found
itself ailing and in much need of repair. There was a lot of
debate and public outcry, and thus a new servicing mission
was approved. It was by far the most ambitious repair
mission ever attempted, and in 2009 it was completed
flawlessly.
The newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 produced even
more stunning images like this planetary nebula called the
Butterfly Nebula. The mission was a huge success!
Hubble Repair mission 2009
Butterfly nebula 2009
In celebration of the 25th year anniversary, the Hubble
revisited a part of sky that had been imaged in 1995. This
star forming region in the Eagle Nebula was dubbed the
“Pillars of Creation”.
Here is the image that was released this year showing just
how much Hubble’s abilities had improved after its 2009
serving mission.
In addition, Hubble’s new camera can also see in the
infrared spectrum, revealing a very different and
extraordinary picture of the Eagle nebula.
The Hubble Space Telescope has taken many iconic images
in its 25 year history. It is still going strong and scientists
are confident that it will make it to its 30th anniversary and
maybe even its 35th.
Pillars of Creation 1995
In our final story today, the New Horizon Spacecraft that
was launched in 2006 has now awoken from its final
hibernation and will fly-by Pluto this July.
New Horizon’s Title Slide
Pillars 2015
Eagle nebula 2015
Iconic images collage
p4 of 4
Script
New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft ever launched. It left
Earth at an impressive 36,000 miles per hours. It reached
the orbit of the moon just nine hours after it was launched,
which is ten times faster than the Apollo missions.
During its nine year and 3 billion mile journey since
launch, it has gone through several periods of hibernation.
During one of the periods between hibernations, New
Horizons flew past Jupiter and captured several images.
This is the the first spacecraft to fly-by Jupiter since the
Galileo probe finished its mission in 2003.
New Horizon’s mission is to study the geology and
atmosphere of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon (Sharron) as well as to map both of their surfaces. To do this,
scientists will utilize the seven instruments aboard the
spacecraft, which include multiple imagers and
spectrometers.
At its closest approach, New Horizons will fly just 6,000
miles above Pluto’s surface. If you flew over New York
City at the same altitude, you could count the ponds in
Central Park. During this encounter New Horizons will
produce images that are one-thousand times higher
resolution than the images of Pluto taken by the Hubble
Space Telescope.
This will help scientists answer questions such as: Is
Pluto’s surface old or young? Are there liquids on the
surface? Are there geysers or mountains on Pluto? New
Horizons will also obtain unprecedented images of Pluto’s
smaller moons: Nix, Kerberos (kur-ber-uh s), Styx, and
Hydra.
We anxiously look forward to New Horizon’s arrival at
Pluto this coming summer and we will continue to update
you on this exciting mission as it develops. That is our final
story for the day.
Thank you for joining us for this edition of Space Today.
Until next time, this is xxxxx, signing off.
Media
Launch video
Animation
New Horizon’s Spacecraft and
Instruments Image
HST image
Artist’s conception New
Horizon, Pluto, and Charon
Artist’s conception of New
Horizon at Pluto
Space Today Slide
Credits