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Transcript/Script The Week in Space (TV)
HEADLINE: First Look at Venus while Storm Sinks Starlink Satellites
TEASER: NASA delivers first-ever images of Venus taken from space; Starlink suffers setback
PUBLISHED AT: Thursday, 02/10/2022
BYLINE: Arash Arabasadi
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: AP/ SPACEX/ EDDIE IRIZARRY-SOCIEDAD DE ASTONOMIA DEL CARIBE/ NASA
SCRIPT EDITORS: Bowman, BR
PRODUCER:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP/ SPACEX/ EDDIE IRIZARRY-SOCIEDAD DE ASTONOMIA DEL CARIBE/ NASA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:59
VID APPROVED BY: BR
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: ))
[[INTRO: NASA captures a first-ever photo op from our solar system. Starlink suffers a storm-caused setback, and a dusty piece of space history gets the spa treatment. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.]]
((mandatory cg SPACEX))
((NARRATOR))
Bad news this week for Starlink, the global broadband subsidiary of private spaceflight company SpaceX. The company reports losing as many as 40 of the 49 recently deployed Internet-delivery satellites after a solar storm sent them tumbling out of orbit.
((mandatory cg EDDIE IRIZARRY-SOCIEDAD DE ASTRONOMIA DEL CARIBE))
((NARRATOR))
This video appearing to show the satellites re-entering the atmosphere was captured by the Caribbean Astronomy Society in Puerto Rico.
SpaceX says a geomagnetic storm late last week ((Friday)) thickened the atmosphere, which increased drag on the satellites, and ultimately led to their doom. Ground teams tried to control the satellites’ descent, but the pull was too great. The company says the falling satellites pose no threat to Earthlings.
((mandatory cg NASA))
((NARRATOR))
In other news, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission, the fifth mission to land astronauts on the Moon and bring them back to Earth. Apollo 16 was the second mission carrying a lunar rover, and astronauts collected samples, snapped some photos, and conducted first-of-their-kind experiments using an ultraviolet camera on the Moon.
((NARRATOR))
Today, the Apollo 16 capsule that carried three astronauts half a century ago rests at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Delayed by the pandemic, the capsule now gets a long-awaited cleaning.
[RADIO TRACK: Retired NASA astrobiologist, Richard B. Hoover, tells the Associated Press Apollo’s spa-treatment is well earned.]
((Richard B. Hoover, Retired NASA Astrobiologist))
“This is a piece of history that human beings should be able to enjoy millennia from now, not just in the next few decades or centuries. But it should be kept and preserved, because it represents one of the greatest triumphs of the space program of the planet Earth.”
((NARRATOR))
Considering its age, those working on the project say the capsule is in “pretty good shape.” Impressive, considering it didn’t always live in a glass case, and museum visitors could walk up and touch it.
[RADIO TRACK: Consultant Ed Stewart worked on the project and spoke with AP.]
((Ed Stewart, Consultant))
“The case is not completely hermetically sealed, which is actually an important thing. You don’t want to completely seal it off and have no air circulation. And so we do occasionally get insects and fluff and those sorts of things in there. Sometimes some foreign debris makes it in there by people trying to do things.”
((NARRATOR))
Foreign debris like business cards, pencils, money, spoons, and even a tube of lip balm. Workers delicately using various cleaning methods plan to have the spacecraft looking its best by the 50th anniversary of its April 16, 1972, flight.
((mandatory cg NASA))
((NARRATOR))
Finally this week, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe captured the first visible-light images of Earth’s inhospitable neighbor, Venus. The images, turned into this video, reveal features like continental regions, plains and plateaus along with a halo of oxygen surrounding the planet.
Parker’s Wide-Field Imager, or WISPR, caught the images in a pair of flybys observing the same visible spectrum our eyes can see. Scientists say learning about Venus can help them understand how Earth supports life and why Venus does not.
Arash Arabasadi, VOA News
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 10, 2022 17:01 EST
BylineArash Arabasadi
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
