Space News Update- Sept 10, 2012 -

In the News

Story 1: An Awesome View of Curiosity’s Tummy

Story 2: NASA Document Explains Agency’s Commercial Crew Picks

Story 3: Is Triton Hiding an Underground Ocean?

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV HighlightsSpace CalendarFood for Thought

Space Image of the Week

An Awesome View of Curiosity’s Tummy

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NASA Document Explains Agency’s Commercial Crew Picks

Is Triton Hiding an Underground Ocean?

The Night SkyMonday, Sept. 10· Equally bright as Vega overhead is Arcturus sinking in the west. Look a third of the way up from Arcturus to Vega for the dim semicircle of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, with its one moderately bright star, Alphecca. Look two thirds of the way up for the dim Keystone of Hercules.

Tuesday, Sept. 11· Before and during dawn Wednesday morning, Venus shines left of the waning crescent Moon, as shown here. They're 4° or 5° apart at the times of dawn for North America. Also spot Procyon farther to their right (outside the frame here). And before the sky brightens too much, binoculars show the Beehive star cluster 3° to Venus's left.

Wednesday, Sept. 12· If you use a telescope, you've discovered that there's more to resolving double stars than their separation. The brightness difference between a double's two components plays a crucial role too. But how, exactly? Join a test project to find out! See Sissy Haas's article and list of test pairs in the September Sky & Telescope, page 68. Observe them carefully with your scope and report back.

The Night Sky

Thursday, Sept. 13· So you think Cygnus, despite its position in the Milky Way, has a shortage of deep-sky objects? Then you haven't seen Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders article with photo charts in the September Sky & Telescope, page 58, and Steve Gottlieb's Going Deep article on page 63. Cygnus will never be the same.

Friday, Sept. 14· As the Great Square of Pegasus rises high in the east these evenings, the Big Dipper is swinging down low in the northwest as if carrying water. To see the Dipper at its very lowest due north, you'll have to stay up till 2 a.m. daylight-saving time. Come December it'll be there at dusk.

ISS Sighting Opportunities

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

For Denver:

SATELLITE LOCALDURATIO

NMAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE

DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Thu Sep 13/05:45 AM 2 15 11 above SSE 15 above ESE

NASA-TV Highlights

Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.

September 11, Tuesday12:50 p.m. - ISS Expedition 32 In-Flight Interview with Spaceref.com - JSC (All Channels)4:45 p.m. - Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Arrives at Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (5 p.m. Approximate Landing) – KSC (All Channels)

September 12, Wednesday6:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 32 HTV-3 Unberthing Coverage - JSC (Public and Media Channels)8:15 a.m. - ISS Expedition 32 JAXA In-Flight Event (In native language) - JSC (All Channels)10 a.m. - ISS Update - JSC (All Channels)11:15 a.m. - President Kennedy Rice University Speech Anniversary - HQ (All Channels)11:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 32 HTV-3 Release Coverage - JSC (Public and Media Channels)12:30 p.m. - Interpreted Replay of ISS Expedition 32 JAXA In-Flight Event - JSC (All Channels)

September 13, Thursday10 a.m. - NASA Honors Neil Armstrong at the National Cathedral – HQ (All Channels)1:30 p.m. - Video B-Roll of Expedition 34/35 Crew Training - JSC (All Channels)2 p.m. - ISS Expedition 34/35 Crew News Conference - JSC (All Channels)4 p.m. - Replay of ISS Expedition 32 In-Flight Event with YouTube/Spacelab - JSC (All Channels)5:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 34/35 Flight Engineer/Commander Chris Hadfield News Conference to the Canadian Space Agency - JSC (Public and Media Channels)

Space Calendar

Sep 10 - Asteroid 770 Bali Closest Approach To Earth (1.116 AU)Sep 10 - Asteroid 6676 Monet Closest Appraoch To Earth (2.596 AU)Sep 10 - James Keeler's 155th Birthday (1857)Sep 11 - Comet P/2006 Q2 (LONEOS) Closest Approach To Earth (0.414 AU)Sep 11 - Asteroid 1554 Yugoslavia Closest Approach To Earth (1.115 AU)Sep 11 - Asteroid 2531 Cambridge Closest Approach To Earth (2.172 AU)Sep 11 - 15th Anniversary (1997), Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Orbit InsertionSep 12 - Comet 260P/McNaught Perihelion (1.497 AU)Sep 13 - [Sep 04] NROL-36/Cinema 1/Aeneas/ CSSWE/ CXBN/ CP5 Atlas 5 LaunchSep 13 - [Sep 05] Neil Armstrong Memorial Service, Washington DCSep 13 - Asteroid 2012 PZ19 Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)Sep 13 - Asteroid 1655 Comas Sola Closest Approach To Earth (1.640 AU)Sep 13 - 5th Anniversary (2007), Kaguya (Selene 1) Launch (Japan Moon Orbiter)Sep 14 - [Sep 05] Juno, Deep Space Maneuver #2 (DSM-2)Sep 14 - Cosmos-Strela 3 N144-N146 Rokot KM LaunchSep 14 - Comet 160P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.068 AU)Sep 14 - Asteroid 2012 QG42 Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)Sep 14 - Asteroid 2012 QC8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)Sep 14 - Asteroid 1620 Geographos Closest Approach To Earth (0.447 AU)Sep 14 - Asteroid 8837 London Closest Approach To Earth (1.407 AU)Sep 14 - Asteroid 51827 Laurelclark Closest Approach To Earth (2.168 AU)

JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought

Maybe early Mars wasn't as wet and warm as we thought

Space Image of the Week

Image Credit & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote Observatory