Space News Update- April 11, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: Scientists reconstruct ancient impact that dwarfs dinosaur-extinction blast

Story 2: NASA's Hubble Extends Stellar Tape Measure 10 Times Farther Into Space

Story 3: European Satellite Dodged Space Debris Hours After Reaching Orbit

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Scientists reconstruct ancient impact that dwarfs dinosaur-

extinction blast

NASA's Hubble Extends Stellar Tape Measure 10 Times Farther Into Space

European Satellite Dodged Space Debris Hours After Reaching Orbit

The Night Sky

Sky & Telescope

Friday, April 11The waxing gibbous Moon shines under Leo tonight. Leo is where you get if you follow the pointer stars of the Big Dipper far enough backward. Saturday, April 12This evening, look far lower left of the waxing gibbous Moon for fiery, glary Mars. By about midnight they're lined up horizontally in the south. Sunday, April 13Vesta, the brightest asteroid, is at opposition. Ceres, the biggest asteroid, is just 2½° from Vesta and only 2 days from opposition. They're in Virgo, easy in binoculars at magnitudes 5.8 and 7.0, respectively. Use our finder chart for Ceres and Vesta. Monday, April 14Total lunar eclipse late tonight for the Americas! See April's Total Eclipse of the Moon with map and timetable, also in the April Sky & Telescope, page 60.Meanwhile Mars is shining near the Moon, and Mars is closest to Earth tonight. And Spica is much closer to the Moon (for the Americas). Tuesday, April 15After dark, look east for the lineup of Mars, Spica, and the just-past-full Moon, in that order from top down. 

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 Apr 11, 8:13 PM 3 min 21° 21 above NNW 10 above NNE

Fri Apr 11, 9:50 PM 2 min 10° 10 above NNW 10 above NNE

Sat Apr 12, 9:01 PM 2 min 12° 11 above NNW 10 above NNE

Sat Apr 12, 10:38 PM

< 1 min 10° 10 above NNW 10 above NNW

Sun Apr 13, 8:12 PM 2 min 13° 13 above NNW 10 above NNE

Sun Apr 13, 9:50 PM 2 min 11° 10 above NNW 11 above NNE

Mon Apr 14, 9:02 PM

2 min 10° 10 above NNW 10 above NNE

Mon Apr 14, 10:38 PM

< 1 min 12° 12 above NNW 12 above NNW

Tue Apr 15, 8:13 PM 2 min 11° 10 above NNW 10 above N

Tue Apr 15, 9:50 PM 2 min 15° 11 above NNW 15 above NNE

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

April 11, Friday8:15 a.m. - 5 p.m. - NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge - MSFC (NTV-2)

April 12, Saturday8:15 a.m. -  5 p.m. - NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge - MSFC (NTV-1, NTV-2)  April 13, Sunday9 a.m. - SpaceX-3/Dragon Prelaunch News Conference - KSC (All Channels)10 a.m. - SpaceX-3/Dragon Science and Technology Cargo News Conference - KSC (All Channels) 

April 14, Monday3:45 p.m. - Coverage of the Launch of the SpaceX/Dragon Cargo Craft to the ISS (Launch scheduled at 4:58 p.m. EDT) - KSC (All Channels)  April 15, Tuesday1 p.m. - Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Gala (held Friday April 11, 2014 in Houston, Texas) -- JSC (All Channels)4 p.m. - Replay of Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Gala (held Friday April 11, 2014 in Houston, Texas) -- HQ (All Channels)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Mar 28 - [Mar 22] Asteroid 2014 FF Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)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 28 - Asteroid Grand Challenge Virtual SeminarMar 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)Mar 29 - Asteroid 588 Achilles Closest Approach To Earth (4.257 AU)Mar 29 - 40th Anniversary (1974), Mariner 10, 1st Mercury FlybyMar 30 - European Summer Time - Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (European Union)Mar 30 - BelarusSat 1 CZ-3B/E LaunchMar 30 - Comet 46P/Wirtanen Closest Approach To Earth (2.022 AU)Mar 30 - Comet 138P/Shoemaker-Levy At Opposition (3.602 AU)Mar 30 - Asteroid 2012 EA Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU)Mar 30 - Asteroid 2009 FW25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)Mar 30 - Asteroid 9000 Hal Closest Approach To Earth (1.429 AU)Mar 30 - Asteroid 469 Argentina Closest Approach To Earth (1.689 AU)Mar 31 - Cartosat 2C/IMS 1B/NEMO-AM/ SRE-2/ CAN-X4/CAN-X5 PSLV LaunchMar 31 - Comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy Closest Approach To Earth (1.948 AU)Mar 31 - Come 6P/d'Arrest At Opposition (2.389 AU)Mar 31 - Comet C/2013 J3 (McNaught) At Opposition (4.270 AU)Mar 31 - Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain Closest Approach To Earth (1.613 AU)Mar 31 - Asteroid 2022 WestiClosest Approach To Earth (1.979 AU)Mar 31 - Asteroid 30826 Coulomb Closest Approach To Earth (2.548 AU)Mar 31 - Asteroid 5661 Hildebrand Closest Approach To Earth (3.479 AU)Apr 01 - Asteroid 3902 Yoritomo Occults HIP 26571 (6.5 Magnitude Star)Apr 01 - Asteroid 2009 SA100 Near-Earth Flyby (0.044 AU)Apr 01 - Asteroid 2010 GD35 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)Apr 01 - Asteroid 2009 FD Near-Earth Flyby (0.101 AU)Apr 01 - Asteroid 3297 Hong Kong Closest Approach To Earth (2.584 AU)

Food for Thought

Did a Lake Once Cover Spirit Rover’s Landing Site On Mars?

Space Image of the Week

Supernova Sweeps Away Rubbish In New Composite Image