Space News Update - January 24, In the News Story 1: Story 1: NASA's Opportunity at 10: New Findings from Old Rover Story 2: Story 2: NASA Launches TDRS-L a Third Generation Communications Satellite Story 3: Story 3: Rosetta's Comet Chase Is On Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA's Opportunity at 10: New Findings from Old Rover

NASA Launches TDRS-L a Third Generation Communications Satellite

Rosetta's Comet Chase Is On

The Night Sky Friday, January 24 Mercury is becoming easy to spot; look for it low in the west-southwest as twilight fades, as shown above. Don't confuse it with twinkly Fomalhaut, well off to its left in the southwest. Mercury is beginning its best evening apparition since last June for mid-northern skywatchers. See our article.article The Moon rises around 2 a.m. Saturday morning, with Saturn glowing just 1° or 2° from it (as seen from the Americas). They're high in the south together by dawn, as shown at right. Saturday, January 25 Algol is at minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.3, for a couple hours centered on 10:09 p.m. EST. It takes several additional hours to fade and to rebrighten. Jupiter's Great Red Spot transits Jupiter's central meridian around 11:01 p.m. EST. Sky & Telescope Sunday, January 26 This is the frigid time of year when the Little Dipper (mostly dim) hangs straight down from Polaris shortly after dark. Look due north. Monday, January 27 In the dawn Tuesday morning the 28th, make a point to look low in the southeast to catch Venus with the waning crescent Moon to its right, as shown at lower right. A telescope shows that Venus too is a crescent!

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Sat Jan 25, 5:51 AM3 min32°20 above NNW23 above ENE Sun Jan 26, 5:05 AM1 min21°21 above NE14 above ENE Sun Jan 26, 6:38 AM5 min52°10 above WNW19 above SSE Mon Jan 27, 5:52 AM3 min83°35 above NW25 above SE Tue Jan 28, 5:05 AM1 min37°37 above ENE22 above E Tue Jan 28, 6:39 AM4 min17°10 above W11 above S

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) January 24, Friday 1 p.m. - Opportunity 10th Anniversary - HQ (All Channels) 4 p.m. - Opportunity 10th Anniversary - HQ (All Channels) 8 p.m. - Opportunity 10th Anniversary - HQ (All Channels) January 27, Monday 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Coverage of ISS Expedition 38 Russian Spacewalk (Spacewalk begins at 9:10 a.m. ET) - JSC (All Channels) 1 p.m. - Continued Coverage of ISS Expedition 38 Russian Spacewalk - JSC (NTV-1, NTV- 2) p.m. - Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) L-30 Press Briefing - GSFC (NTV-3) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jan 24 - Comet 293P/Spacewatch At Opposition (1.142 AU)Comet 293P/SpacewatchAt Opposition Jan 24 - Comet 121P/Shoemaker-Holt Closest Approach To Earth (2.831 AU)Comet 121P/Shoemaker-HoltClosest Approach To Earth Jan 24 - [Jan 23] Asteroid 2014 BZ2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)Asteroid 2014 BZ2Near-Earth Flyby Jan 24 - Asteroid Seansolomon Closest Approach To Earth (1.775 AU)Asteroid Seansolomon Jan 25 - [Jan 22] 10th Anniversary (2004), Mars Exploration Rover B (Opportunity), Mars Landing10th Anniversary (2004)Mars Exploration Rover B (Opportunity) Jan 25 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #369 (OTM-369)Cassini Jan 25 - Moon Occults SaturnMoon Occults Saturn Jan 25 - Comet 80P/Peters-Hartley At Opposition (2.214 AU)Comet 80P/Peters-HartleyAt Opposition Jan 25 - Comet P/2012 SB6 (Lemmon) At Opposition (2.661 AU)Comet P/2012 SB6 (Lemmon)At Opposition Jan 25 - Comet 121P/Shoemaker-Holt At Opposition (2.831 AU)Comet 121P/Shoemaker-HoltAt Opposition Jan 25 - Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults TYC (11.4 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults TYC Jan 25 - Asteroid 2006 AL4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU)Asteroid 2006 AL4Near-Earth Flyby Jan 25 - Asteroid Hannover Closest Approach To Earth (1.775 AU)Asteroid Hannover Jan 25 - Asteroid 6489 Golevka Closest Approach To Earth (2.728 AU)Asteroid 6489 GolevkaClosest Approach To Earth Jan th Anniversary (1994), Clementine Launch (USA Moon Orbiter)Clementine Jan 26 - [Jan 23] Asteroid 2014 BA3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)Asteroid 2014 BA3Near-Earth Flyby Jan 26 - [Jan 24] Asteroid 2014 BE3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)Asteroid 2014 BE3Near-Earth Flyby Jan 26 - Asteroid 4330 Vivaldi Closest Approach To Earth (1.236 AU)Asteroid 4330 Vivaldi Jan 26 - Asteroid Davidbrown Closest Approach To Earth (1.912 AU)Asteroid Davidbrown Jan 27 - Asteroid 602 Marianna Occults HIP (4.9 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 602 Marianna Occults HIP Jan 27 - Asteroid 1997 Leverrier Closest Approach To Earth (1.511 AU)Asteroid 1997 Leverrier Jan 27 - Asteroid 310 Margarita Closest Approach To Earth (1.642 AU)Asteroid 310 Margarita Jan 28 - [Jan 17] Comet P/2014 A3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.073 AU)Comet P/2014 A3 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Jan 28 - [Jan 17] Comet P/2014 A3 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (3.073 AU)Comet P/2014 A3 (PANSTARRS)Closest Approach To Earth Jan 28 - Comet 267P/LONEOS At Opposition (3.190 AU)Comet 267P/LONEOSAt Opposition Jan 28 - Asteroid 1179 Mally Occults HIP 7097 (3.6 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 1179 Mally Occults HIP 7097 Jan 28 - Asteroid 2012 BX34 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)Asteroid 2012 BX34Near-Earth Flyby Jan 28 - Asteroid 2791 Paradise Closest Approach To Earth (1.141 AU)Asteroid 2791 Paradise Jan 28 - Asteroid Diplodocus Closest Approach To Earth (1.724 AU)Asteroid Diplodocus Jan 28 - Asteroid 6030 Zolensky Closest Approach To Earth (2.227 AU)Asteroid 6030 Zolensky

Food for Thought NASA Set for a Big Year in Earth Science with Five New Missions

Space Image of the Week Micro Moon over Super Moon Image Credit: Stefano SciarpettiStefano Sciarpetti