Space News Update- March 4, 2013 -

In the News

Story 1: Dragon cargo ship reaches destination after shaky start

Story 2:What Lies Beneath: NASA Antarctic Sub Goes Sub-glacial

Story 3: Newly Found Asteroid to Pass within Moon’s Orbit on March 4, 2013

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV HighlightsSpace CalendarFood for Thought

Space Image of the Week

Dragon cargo ship reaches destination after

shaky start

What Lies Beneath: NASA Antarctic Sub Goes Sub-glacial

Newly Found Asteroid to Pass within Moon’s Orbit on March 4, 2013

The Night Sky

Monday, March 4 • With Sirius on the meridian after dinnertime, so is the Winter Triangle — since Sirius is its bottom corner. The other two are Procyon to its upper left and Betelgeuse to its upper right. The Winter Triangle is almost perfectly equilateral: all three stars are 26° from each other within about 1° accuracy. Last-quarter Moon (4:53 p.m. EST).

Tuesday, March 5 • 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 has a unique feature: the Beehive Star Cluster, M44, in its middle. The Beehive shows to the naked eye only if your light pollution is slight. Look for it a little less than halfway from Pollux to Regulus. With binoculars it's a snap.

Wednesday, March 6 • Following behind Sirius and Canis Major across the sky is Milky-Way-rich Puppis.

Thursday, March 7 • Algol in Perseus should be at minimum light, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 9:58 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Algol takes several additional hours to fade and to rebrighten.

Friday, March 8 • Jupiter is 5° from Aldebaran high in the west after dark. But it's now passing only 2° from fainter (3.5-magnitude) Epsilon Tauri, the other tip of the Hyades V pattern, located almost between them.

ISS Sighting Opportunities

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

ISS For Denver:

No Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

March 5, Tuesday12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 35/36 Qualification Training Simulation Runs at Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels)1:25 p.m. - ISS Expedition 34 Educational In-Flight Event with the Monrovia Unified School District in Monrovia, CA - JSC (All Channels)

March 7, Thursday1:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels)3 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 35/36 Crew News Conference at Star City, Russia and Visit to Red Square in Moscow - JSC (All Channels)

March 8, Friday5:30 a.m. - Video B-Roll Feed of NASA Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy - JSC (Public and Media Channels)6 - 7 a.m. - Live Shots Interviews with NASA Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia – JSC via Star City, Russia (Public and Media Channels)9 a.m. - Live Interviews with Expedition 36/37 Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano for the European Space Agency - JSC (in native language; Media Channel only)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Mar 04 - Patrick Moore's 90th Birthday (1923) Mar 05 - [Feb 25] Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.097 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 1508 Kemi Occults HIP 19823 (6.1 Magnitude Star) Mar 05 - Asteroid 38086 Beowolf Closest Approach To Earth (1.596 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 1071 Brita Closest Approach To Earth (1.771 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 697 Galilea Closest Approach To Earth (2.352 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 2041 Lancelot Closest Approach To Earth (2.387 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 4321 Zero Closest Approach To Earth (2.728 AU) Mar 06 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #343 (OTM-343) Mar 06 - Moon Occults Pluto Mar 06 - Mercury Passes 5.3 Degrees From Venus Mar 06 - Asteroid 5923 Liedeke Occults HIP 39659 (6.0 Magnitude Star) Mar 07 - Asteroid 10051 Albee Closest Approach To Earth (1.679 AU) Mar 07 - Asteroid 1432 Ethiopia Closest Approach To Earth (1.936 AU) Mar 07 - Asteroid 1940 Whipple Closest Approach To Earth (2.045 AU) Mar 08 - Asteroid 4319 Jackierobinson Closest Approach To Earth (1.713 AU)

Food for Thought

Black Hole Caught Spinning?

Space Image of the WeekGrand Canyon Star Trails

Image Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN)