Space News Update- June 21, 2013 -

In the News

Story 1: New Horizons Spacecraft ‘Stays the Course’ for Pluto System Encounter

Story 2:The Myth of the Supermoon

Story 3:

Reducing risk via ground testing is a recipe for SpaceX success 

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV HighlightsSpace CalendarFood for Thought

Space Image of the Week

New Horizons Spacecraft ‘Stays the Course’ for Pluto System

Encounter

The Myth of the Supermoon

Reducing risk via ground testing is a recipe for SpaceX success

The Night Sky

Friday, June 21· As Mercury fades and descends below Venus day by day, how long can you keep it in view? · After dark, look for fire-colored Antares to the lower right of the bright Moon.

Saturday, June 22· The largest full Moon of 2013 rises around sunset and shines all night. Tomorrow night it's almost as full and almost as large (for the longitudes of the Americas, since the Moon is exactly full at 7:32 a.m. Sunday morning EDT.) On both nights, though, this "supermoon" is only a trace larger than an average Moon: 7% wider. Read about the supermoon on our blog.

Sunday, June 23· This is the time of year when the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, are about equally high overhead shortly after dark. Arcturus is toward the southwest, Vega toward the east.Arcturus and Vega are 37 and 25 light-years away, respectively, and represent the two commonest types of naked-eye stars: a yellow-orange Kgiant and a white A main-sequence star. They're 150 and 50 times brighter than the Sun — which, combined with their nearness, is why they dominate the evening sky.

Monday, June 24· Look a third of the way from Arcturus to Vega for dim Corona Borealis, the semicircular Northern Crown. It has one moderately bright star, Alphecca (magnitude 2.2). Look two thirds of the way for the dim Keystone of Hercules, whose brightest star is magnitude 2.8.

Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities

Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

ISS For Denver:

Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears

Fri Jun 21, 9:47 PM 3 min 88° 35 above NW 25 above SE

Sat Jun 22, 8:58 PM 4 min 49° 32 above NNW 10 above ESE

Sat Jun 22, 10:33 PM

2 min 16° 10 above W 16 above SW

Sun Jun 23, 9:45 PM 4 min 29° 16 above W 16 above S

Mon Jun 24, 8:58 PM

4 min 55° 39 above W 10 above SE

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

June 24, Monday9 a.m. - ISS Expedition 36 Russian Spacewalk Coverage (Spacewalk scheduled at begin at 9:35 a.m. ET) - JSC (Public and Media Channels)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Jun 21 - Summer Solstice, 05:04 UTJun 21 - Resurs P-1 Soyuz 2-1B LaunchJun 21 - Asteroid 2013 LC2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)Jun 21 - Asteroid 327 Columbia Closest Approach To Earth (1.622 AU)Jun 21 - Max Wolf's 150th Birthday (1863)Jun 22 - Comet P/2006 F4 (Spacewatch) At Opposition (1.653 AU)Jun 22 - Comet 91P/Russell At Opposition (1.696 AU)Jun 22 - Asteroid 21619 Johnhopkins Closest Approach To Earth (1.362 AU)Jun 22 - Asteroid 4169 Celsius Closest Approach To Earth (2.602 AU)Jun 22 - 35th Anniversary (1978), Jim Christy's Discovery of Pluto's Moon CharonJun 23 - Comet 19P/Borrelly At Opposition (4.032 AU)Jun 23 - Asteroid 25924 Douglasadams Closest Approach To Earth (1.002 AU)Jun 23 - Asteroid 4148 McCartney Closest Approach To Earth (1.227 AU)Jun 23-25 - 25th Space Cryogenics Workshop, Girdwood, AlaskaJun 23-27 - 2013 Halophiles Conference, Storrs, ConnecticutJun 24 - O3b F-1, F-2, F-3 & F-4 Soyuz STB-Fregat LaunchJun 24 - Moon Occults PlutoJun 24 - Comet 112P/Urata-Niijima Perihelion (1.455 AU)Jun 24 - Comet P/2012 F2 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU)Jun 24 - Comet 201P/LONEOS At Opposition (3.452 AU)Jun 24 - Asteroid 4444 Escher Closest Approach To Earth (1.036 AU)Jun 24 - Asteroid 5676 Voltaire Closest Approach To Earth (1.419 AU)Jun 24 - Asteroid 13688 Oklahoma Closest Approach To Earth (1.755 AU)Jun 24 - Asteroid 4766 Malin Closest Approach To Earth (1.927 AU)

Food for Thought

Navigating the Solar System Using Pulsars as GPS

Space Image of the Week

Billion-Pixel View of Mars Comes From Curiosity Rover