Space News Update - January 3, In the News Story 1: Story 1: SpaceX delays Falcon 9 launch to next week Story 2: Story 2: What's up in planetary missions in 2014 Story 3: Story 3: Mega-moon, meteor showers: 11 must-watch events to light up 2014 sky Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

SpaceX delays Falcon 9 launch to next week

What's up in planetary missions in 2014

Mega-moon, meteor showers: 11 must- watch events to light up 2014 sky

The Night Sky Friday, January 3  After sunset, look far to the lower right of the waxing crescent Moon for Venus, dropping lower every day. How many more days can you keep Venus in view? It will reach inferior conjunction, 5° north of the Sun, on January 11th. Saturday, January 4  Soon after dark, Sirius, the Dog Star, rises below Orion. And Procyon, the Little Dog Star, rises to the lower right of bright Jupiter. Which of them comes up first? It's Procyon if you're north of latitude 30° (Tijuana, New Orleans, Jacksonville), and Sirius if you're south of there. Hint: "Procyon" means "Before the Dog." That tells you something about where its namers lived. Sunday, January 5  Jupiter is at opposition. All week it’s at its biggest and brightest for Read all about observing Jupiter in the January Sky & Telescope.January Sky & Telescope  Algol in Perseus, the prototype eclipsing binary star, should be in one of its periodic dimmings, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 8:24 p.m. EST. Algol takes several additional hours to fade and to rebrighten. Use our comparison-star chart.Algolcomparison-star chart Monday, January 6  Jupiter’s Great Red Spot crosses the planet’s central meridian around 9:53 p.m. EST. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Wed Jan 1, 5:15 PM< 1 min14°14 above SSW11 above S Mon Jan 6, 6:39 AM2 min20°11 above S20 above SSE Tue Jan 7, 5:52 AM< 1 min11°10 above SSE11 above SE

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) January 4, Saturday 10:30 a.m. - FIRST 2014 Season Kick-Off - HQ (Public and Education Channels) January 6, Monday 1:10 p.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Event with the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams - JSC (All Channels) 2 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Science Briefing - WFF (All Channels) 3 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Prelaunch News Conference - WFF (All Channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower PeakQuadrantids Meteor Shower Jan 03 - Comet 276P/Vorobjov Closest Approach To Earth (3.285 AU)Comet 276P/VorobjovClosest Approach To Earth Jan 03 - Comet 237P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.989 AU)Comet 237P/LINEARAt Opposition Jan 03 - Comet 215P/NEAT At Opposition (3.996 AU)Comet 215P/NEATAt Opposition Jan 03 - [Dec 27] Asteroid 2013 YL2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU)Asteroid 2013 YL2Near-Earth Flyby Jan 03 - Asteroid Mossbauer Closest Approach To Earth (1.302 AU)Asteroid Mossbauer Jan 03 - Asteroid 9965 GNU Closest Approach To Earth (1.745 AU)Asteroid 9965 GNU Jan 04 - [Dec 28] 10th Anniversary (2004), Mars Exploration Rover A (Spirit), Mars LandingMars Exploration Rover A (Spirit) Jan 04 - Earth At Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun)EarthAt Perihelion Jan 04 - [Jan 03] Asteroid 2013 YT102 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)Asteroid 2013 YT102Near-Earth Flyby Jan 04 - Asteroid 2013 XX8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)Asteroid 2013 XX8Near-Earth Flyby Jan 04 - Asteroid 9548 Fortran Closest Approach To Earth (0.858 AU)Asteroid 9548 Fortran Jan 04 - Asteroid 241 Germania Closest Approach To Earth (2.174 AU)Asteroid 241 Germania Jan 04 - Asteroid Wilburwright Closest Approach To Earth (2.460 AU)Asteroid Wilburwright Jan 05 - [Dec 27] G-Sat 14 GSLV-D5 LaunchG-Sat 14GSLV-D5 Launch Jan 05 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #368 (OTM-368)Cassini Jan 05 - Jupiter At OppositionJupiterAt Opposition Jan 05 - Comet 209P/LINEAR At Opposition (0.949 AU)Comet 209P/LINEARAt Opposition Jan 05 - Comet 178P/Hug-Bell At Opposition (1.378 AU)Comet 178P/Hug-BellAt Opposition Jan 05 - Comet P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra) At Opposition (2.324 AU)Comet P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra)At Opposition Jan 05 - [Jan 01] Asteroid 2013 YE48 Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU)Asteroid 2013 YE48Near-Earth Flyby Jan 05 - Asteroid 1604 Tombaugh Closest Approach To Earth (2.168 AU)Asteroid 1604 Tombaugh Jan th Anniversary (1969), Venera 5 Launch (USSR Venus Atmospheric Probe)Venera 5 Jan 06 - [Jan 03] Thaicom 6 Falcon 9 LaunchThaicom 6Falcon 9 Launch Jan 06 - Comet 120P/Mueller At Opposition (2.316 AU)Comet 120P/MuellerAt Opposition Jan 06 - Comet 286P/Christensen Perihelion (2.376 AU)Comet 286P/ChristensenPerihelion Jan 06 - [Jan 01] Asteroid 2013 YM48 Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)Asteroid 2013 YM48Near-Earth Flyby Jan 06 - Asteroid 2013 UB1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)Asteroid 2013 UB1Near-Earth Flyby Jan 06 - Asteroid 3837 Carr Closest Approach To Earth (1.610 AU)Asteroid 3837 Carr Jan 06 - Asteroid 4356 Marathon Closest Approach To Earth (2.331 AU)Asteroid 4356 Marathon

Food for Thought Three-Meter Asteroid Hits Earth’s Atmosphere… Somewhere

Space Image of the Week Two Solar Flares Say Goodbye 2013 and Welcome 2014 Image Credit: NASA/SDO