Space News Update- March 25, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: Tough Choices Ahead for NASA's Planetary Program

Story 2:NASA, ULA Showcase Delta IV Boosters for Orion EFT-1

Story 3: Curiosity Pulls into Kimberly and Spies Curvy Terrain for Drilling Action

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

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The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

Image ofthe Week

SpaceCalendar

Tough Choices Ahead for NASA's Planetary Program

Story #2

Story #1

Story #3

The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

Image ofthe Week

SpaceCalendar

NASA, ULA Showcase Delta IV Boosters for Orion EFT-1

Story #2

Story #1

Story #3

The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

Image ofthe Week

SpaceCalendar

Curiosity Pulls into Kimberly and Spies Curvy Terrain for Drilling Action

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Story #1

Story #3

The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

Image ofthe Week

SpaceCalendar

The Night Sky

Sky & Telescope

Tuesday, March 25 • The biggest and brightest asteroids, 1 Ceres and 4

Vesta respectively, are only about 2° apart in eastern Virgo in the early morning hours, some 12° northeast of Mars. They've brightened to magnitudes 7.3 and 6.1, respectively. They'll be at opposition in mid-April.

Wednesday, March 26 • As dawn brightens on Thursday morning the 27th,

you'll find Venus near the thin waning crescent Moon, as shown here.

Thursday, March 27 • On the traditional divide between the winter and spring

sky is the dim constellation Cancer. It's between Gemini to its west and Leo to its east. Cancer holds a unique object: the Beehive Star Cluster, M44, in its middle. The Beehive shows to the naked eye as a dim, cloudy glow if your sky is fairly dark. Look for it a little less than halfway from Pollux to Regulus. With binoculars it's a snap even in a polluted sky.

Friday, March 28 • The huge, bright Winter Hexagon nearly fills the

southwestern sky at dusk. Start with bright Sirius in the south, marking the Hexagon's lower left corner. High above Sirius is Procyon. From there look even higher to Pollux and Castor with bright Jupiter below them, then from Castor farther lower right to Menkalinen and Capella, then lower left to Aldebaran, then duck lower left around to Rigel at the bottom of Orion, and back to Sirius. Within the Hexagon shine Jupiter and Betelgeuse.

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The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

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SpaceCalendar

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

Tue Mar 25, 4:29 AM < 1 min 10° 10 above NNE 10 above NNE

Tue Mar 25, 6:04 AM 3 min 13° 10 above NNW 11 above NE

Wed Mar 26, 5:14 AM 2 min 11° 10 above NNW 10 above NNE

Thu Mar 27, 4:26 AM < 1 min 10° 10 above N 10 above NNE

Thu Mar 27, 6:01 AM 3 min 19° 10 above NNW 18 above NE

Fri Mar 28, 5:12 AM 3 min 15° 10 above NNW 13 above NE

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The NightSky

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NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASAMAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASAMAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASA

March 25, Tuesday

• 7:45 a.m. - ISS Expedition 39 In-Flight Event for JAXA with the Mainichi Newspapers and the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology - JSC (NTV-1 and NTV-3)

• 4:15 p.m. - ISS Expedition 39/40 Soyuz TMA-12M Launch Coverage (Launch scheduled at 5:17 p.m. ET; includes video B-roll of the crew’s pre-launch activities at 4:25 p.m. ET) - JSC via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

• 7 p.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 39/40 Soyuz TMA-12M Pre-Launch, Launch Video B-Roll and Post-Launch Interviews - JSC (All Channels)

• 10:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 39/40 Soyuz TMA-12M Docking Coverage (Docking scheduled at 11:04 p.m. ET) - JSC (All Channels)

March 26, Wednesday

• 12:15 a.m. - ISS Expedition 39/40 Soyuz TMA-12M Hatch Opening and Other Activities (Hatch Opening scheduled at 12:45 a.m. ET) - JSC via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

• 2:30 a.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 39/40 Soyuz TMA-12M Docking, Hatch Opening and Other Activities - JSC (All Channels)

• 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. - NASA’s Asteroid Initiative Opportunities Forum - HQ (NTV-1, NTV-3)• 2 - 2:30 p.m. - NASA Exploration Design Challenge - JSC (NTV-2)

March 27, Thursday

• 11:40 a.m. - ISS Expedition 39 In-Flight Interviews with KSNV-TV, Las Vegas and KUSA-TV, Denver - JSC (All Channels)

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NASA-TV

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Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

• Mar 25 - Soyuz TMA-12M Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 38S)

• Mar 25 - NROL-67 Atlas 5 Launch

• Mar 25 - Comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura Closest Approach To Earth (2.338 AU)

• Mar 25 - Asteroid 3122 Florence Closest Approach To Earth (1.546 AU)

• Mar 26 - Comet C/2014 C3 (NEOWISE) At Opposition (1.075 AU)

• Mar 26 - Asteroid 2013 FD8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.085 AU)

• Mar 26 - Asteroid 149244 Kriegh Closest Approach To Earth (1.047 AU)

• Mar 26 - Asteroid 249519 Whitneyclavin Closest Approach To Earth (1.559 AU)

• Mar 26 - Asteroid 624 Hektor Closest Approach To Earth (4.141 AU)

• Mar 27 - Comet 17P/Holmes Perihelion (2.057 AU)

• Mar 27 - Comet 288P At Opposition (2.664 AU)

• Mar 27 - Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu Perihelion (3.056 AU)

• Mar 27 - Asteroid 294727 Dennisritchie Closest Approach To Earth (1.825 AU)

• Mar 27 - Asteroid 6042 Chesirecat Closest Approach To Earth (3.441 AU)

• Mar 27 - 45th Anniversary (1969), Mariner 7 Launch (Mars Flyby Mission)

• Mar 28 - Asteroid 11365 NASA Closest Approach To Earth (1.404 AU)

• Mar 28 - Asteroid 4659 Roddenberry Closest Approach To Earth (1.870 AU)

• Mar 28 - Asteroid 2099 Opik Closest Approach To Earth (2.142 AU)

• Mar 28 - Asteroid 15417 Babylon Closest Approach To Earth (2.899 AU)

• Mar 29 - Asteroid 38086 Beowolf Closest Approach To Earth (1.117 AU)

• Mar 29 - Asteroid 10866 Peru Closest Approach To Earth (1.136 AU)

• Mar 29 - Asteroid 1430 Somalia Closest Approach To Earth (1.872 AU)

• Mar 29 - Asteroid 10799 Yucatan Closest Approach To Earth (1.942 AU)

• Mar 29 - Asteroid 17768 Tigerlily Closest Approach To Earth (2.124 AU)

• Mar 29 - Asteroid 2866 Hardy Closest Approach To Earth (2.448 AU)

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NASA-TV

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Food for ThoughtNASA's Van Allen Probes Reveal Zebra Stripes in

Space

New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the ScaleNew Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

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The NightSky

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NASA-TV

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Space Image of the Week

The Antennae Galaxies in Collision Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA;

Processing & Copyright: Davide Coverta