Space News Update- February 25, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: Cassini’s 100th Titan Flyby with a Look Back

Story 2:BUDGET 2015: Flying SOFIA Telescope to be Shelved for ‘Higher-Priority’ Programs Like

Cassini

Story 3: Construction of Giant Telescope in Hawaii Could Begin This Summer

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Cassini’s 100th Titan Flyby with a Look Back

BUDGET 2015: Flying SOFIA Telescope to be Shelved for ‘Higher-Priority’

Programs Like Cassini

Construction of Giant Telescope in Hawaii Could Begin This Summer

The Night Sky

Sky & Telescope

Tuesday, March 11 •Late twilight is when Sirius now stands due south, and twilight is also a time when the atmospheric seeing sometimes steadies. So it may be a good time to try to detect the faint white-dwarf companion of Sirius, now 10.2″ east of dazzling Sirius A

Wednesday, March 12 •It's still 8 days until spring, so Orion's Belt isn't yet quite horizontal in early evening. But it's getting there, as Orion tips down toward the southwest for its seasonal decline and eventual departure.

Thursday, March 13 • Look left of the Moon this evening for Regulus. It's the bottom star in the handle of the Sickle of Leo.

Friday, March 14 •This evening, look for Regulus and the Sickle of Leo above the almost-full Moon.

Saturday, March 15 •The Big Dipper glitters high in the northeast these evenings, standing on its handle. You probably know that the two stars forming the front of the Dipper's bowl (currently on top) are the Pointers; they point to Polaris, currently to their left.

•And, you may know that if you follow the curve of the Dipper's handle out and around by a little more than a Dipper length, you'll arc to Arcturus, now rising in the east.

•But did you know that if you follow the Pointers backward, you'll land in Leo?

•Draw a line diagonally across the Dipper's bowl from where the handle is attached, continue far on, and you'll go to Gemini.

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 11, 6:15 AM 3 min 20° 10 above S 19 above ESE

Wed Mar 12, 5:27 AM 1 min 10° 10 above SE 10 above ESE

Thu Mar 13, 6:12 AM 4 min 57° 13 above SW 33 above ENE

Fri Mar 14, 5:25 AM 2 min 30° 29 above SSE 22 above E

Sat Mar 15, 4:38 AM < 1 min 13° 13 above E 10 above E

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 11, Tuesday

•1:30 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 38/Soyuz TMA-10M Landing and Post-Landing Activities – HQ (All Channels)

•2 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 38/Soyuz TMA-10M Landing and Post-Landing Activities; scheduled to include post-landing interviews with Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Mike Hopkins of NASA and the return of Cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy to Chkalovsky Airfield near Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels)

March 12, Wednesday

•9:30 - 11 a.m. - NASA Women’s History Month Program - HQ (NTV-1)

March 13, Thursday

•6:15 a.m. - ISS Expedition 39 In-Flight Event for JAXA for Japanese Reporters - JSC (All Channels)•9:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 39 In-Flight Event (scheduled for 10 a.m. ET) with the U.S. Senate Youth

Group and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden - HQ/JSC (All Channels) •2 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 39/40 Crew Departure from Star City, Russia for Baikonur,

Kazakhstan - JSC (All Channels)

"Live from Space" — a live look at life onboard the space station — is set to air on the National Geographic Channel Friday (March 14). The two-hour broadcast will feature NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata speaking about their experiences living and working in space on an international team.

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

• Mar 11 - Uragan-M #42 (GLONASS-M, 14F113) Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M Launch

• Mar 11 - Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults TYC 4897-01045-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star)

• Mar 11 - Asteroid 275677 (2000 RS11) Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)

• Mar 11 - Asteroid 10957 Alps Closest Approach To Earth (2.141 AU)

• Mar 12 - Comet 290P/Jager Perihelion (2.156 AU)

• Mar 12 - Asteroid 2014 DJ23 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)

• Mar 12 - Asteroid 9885 Linux Closest Approach To Earth (1.329 AU)

• Mar 12 - Asteroid 793 Arizona Closest Approach To Earth (2.179 AU)

• Mar 13 - Comet P/2012 US27 (Siding Spring) At Opposition (3.153 AU)

• Mar 13 - Comet 253P/PANSTARRS At Opposition (3.612 AU)

• Mar 13 - Asteroid 2014 CU13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)

• Mar 13 - Asteroid 160512 Franck-Hertz Closest Approach To Earth (2.418 AU)

• Mar 13 - Asteroid 10204 Turing Closest Approach To Earth (1.823 AU)

• Mar 13 - Asteroid 11094 Cuba Closest Approach To Earth (2.355 AU)

• Mar 13 - Asteroid 8080 Intel Closest Approach To Earth (2.661 AU)

• Mar 13 - Asteroid 5254 Ulysses Closest Approach To Earth (4.529 AU)

• Mar 14 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (28 Degrees)

• Mar 14 - Comet 124P/Mrkos At Opposition (0.686 AU)

• Mar 14 - Comet 219P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.875 AU)

• Mar 14 - Comet 243P/NEAT At Opposition (4.086 AU)

• Mar 14 - Asteroid 2014 DU22 Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

• Mar 14 - Asteroid 4442 Garcia Closest Approach To Earth (1.366 AU)

• Mar 14 - Gene Cernan's 80th Birthday (1934)

• Mar 14 - Albert Einstein's 135th Birthday (1879)

• Mar 15 - Express-AT1/ Express-AT2 Proton-M Briz-M Launch

Food for ThoughtParadox Solved? How Information Can Escape from a

Black Hole

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

Space Image of the Week

Sun and Prominence Image Credit & Copyright: jp-Brahic