Space News Update - April 15, In the News Story 1: Mission Manager Update: Kepler Remains Stable as Health Check Continues Story 2: Saturn Spacecraft Samples Interstellar Dust Story 3: Story 3: Inside the Fiery Furnace Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Mission Manager Update: Kepler Remains Stable as Health Check Continues

Saturn Spacecraft Samples Interstellar Dust

Inside the Fiery Furnace

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, April 15 The Moon this evening forms a gently curving row with, to its left, Regulus and then bright Jupiter, as shown at right. Saturday, April 16 Look above the Moon after dusk for Regulus, the bottom of the now-vertical Sickle of Leo. They're separated by about 3° (for the Americas), about two finger-widths at arm's length. Sunday, April 17 That bright "star" close by the Moon this evening is Jupiter. Although they look close together, Jupiter is currently 1,760 times farther away. And it's 40 times larger in diameter. Monday, April 18 This is the time of year when, as twilight fades, the dim Little Dipper extends straight to the right from Polaris in the north. Very high above the end-stars of the Little Dipper's bowl, you'll find the end-stars of the Big Dipper's bowl. Tuesday, April 19 Bright Arcturus is climbing high in the east these evenings. Equally bright Capella is descending high in the northwest. They stand at exactly the same height above your horizon sometime between about 8:30 and 10:00 p.m. daylight-saving time, depending mostly on how far east or west you live in your time zone.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver : DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Fri Apr 15, 9:01 PM2 min80°29° above NW46° above ESE Sat Apr 16, 8:08 PM5 min42°21° above NNW11° above ESE Sat Apr 16, 9:44 PM2 min19°10° above W19° above WSW Sun Apr 17, 8:53 PM3 min38°28° above W21° above SSE Mon Apr 18, 8:03 PM2 min47°47° above SE10° above SE

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA Saturday, April 16 5:30 a.m., Coverage of the Installation of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to the ISS (all channels) 8:30 a.m., Simulcast of NASA’s Student Launch Initiative (NTV-2 (Education)) 12:30 p.m., ISS Expedition 47 In-Flight Event for CASIS for the U.S. Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. (Starts at 12:35 p.m.) (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-3 (Media)) (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Apr 15 - Comet P/2013 YG46 (Spacewatch) Closest Approach To Earth (1.886 AU)Comet P/2013 YG46 (Spacewatch)Closest Approach To Earth Apr 15 - Comet P/2015 D6 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.762 AU)Comet P/2015 D6 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS)At Opposition Apr 15 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 FL13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 FL13 Apr 15 - [Apr 15] Apollo Asteroid 2016 GC221 Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 GC221 Apr 15 - [Apr 08] Amor Asteroid 2016 GE134 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)Amor Asteroid 2016 GE134 Apr 15 - Apollo Asteroid 4769 Castalia Closest Approach To Earth (0.223 AU)Apollo Asteroid 4769 CastaliaClosest Approach To Earth Apr 15 - Asteroid 2710 Veverka Closest Approach To Earth (1.135 AU)Asteroid 2710 Veverka Apr 15 - Asteroid 2244 Tesla Closest Approach To Earth (2.291 AU)Asteroid 2244 Tesla Apr 15 - Kuiper Belt Object Typhon At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object TyphonAt Opposition Apr 16 - Comet 237P/LINEAR At Opposition (1.433 AU)Comet 237P/LINEARAt Opposition Apr 16 - Comet 233P/La Sagra At Opposition (1.792 AU)Comet 233P/La SagraAt Opposition Apr 16 - Asteroid 243 Ida Occults HIP (8.9 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 243 Ida Occults HIP Apr 16 - Apollo Asteroid 2008 HU4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.013 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2008 HU4Near-Earth Flyby Apr 16 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 GM2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 GM2 Apr 16 - [Apr 11] Apollo Asteroid 2016 GP206 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 GP206 Apr 16 - Asteroid 4970 Druyan Closest Approach To Earth (1.674 AU)Asteroid 4970 Druyan Apr 16 - Asteroid 5649 Donnashirley Closest Approach To Earth (1.861 AU)Asteroid 5649 Donnashirley Apr 16 - Asteroid Mexico Closest Approach To Earth (1.884 AU)Asteroid Mexico Apr 16 - Asteroid 767 Bondia Closest Approach To Earth (2.546 AU)Asteroid 767 Bondia Apr 16 - Asteroid 1691 Oort Closest Approach To Earth (2.663 AU)Asteroid 1691 Oort Apr 16 - David Brown's 60th Birthday (1956)David Brown's Apr 17 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 FY12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 FY12 Apr 17 - Aten Asteroid 2100 Ra-Shalom Closest Approach To Earth (0.508 AU)Aten Asteroid 2100 Ra-ShalomClosest Approach To Earth Apr 17 - Asteroid 5020 Asimov Closest Approach To Earth (1.370 AU)Asteroid 5020 Asimov Apr 17 - Asteroid 1640 Nemo Closest Approach To Earth (1.868 AU)Asteroid 1640 Nemo Apr 17 - Asteroid 7273 Garyhuss Closest Approach To Earth (2.186 AU)Asteroid 7273 Garyhuss Apr 17 - [Apr 12] 40th Anniversary (1976), Closest Ever Flyby of the Sun by Spacecraft (Helios 2)Helios 2 Apr 17 - Harold Johnson's 95th Birthday (1921)Harold Johnson's Apr 18 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (20 Degrees)MercuryElongation Apr 18 - Comet C/2013 C2 (Tenagra) Closest Approach To Earth (8.201 AU)Comet C/2013 C2 (Tenagra)Closest Approach To Earth Apr 18 - Comet C/2013 C2 (Tenagra) At Opposition (8.201 AU)Comet C/2013 C2 (Tenagra)At Opposition Apr 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 GX Near-Earth Flyby (0.060 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 GX Apr 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 FF13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2016 FF13 Apr 18 - Aten Asteroid 3554 Amun Closest Approach To Earth (0.748 AU)Aten Asteroid 3554 AmunClosest Approach To Earth Apr 18 - Asteroid 5841 Stone Closest Approach To Earth (1.183 AU)Asteroid 5841 Stone Apr 18 - Asteroid 9781 Jubjubbird Closest Approach To Earth (1.489 AU)Asteroid 9781 Jubjubbird Apr 18 - Asteroid 1094 Siberia Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU)Asteroid 1094 Siberia Apr 18 - Asteroid Rickhusband Closest Approach To Earth (2.787 AU)Asteroid Rickhusband Apr 18 - Michel Ory's 50th Birthday (1966)Michel Ory's Apr 18 - Charles Gifford's 155th Birthday (1861)Charles Gifford's

Food for Thought Expandable Habitat Demonstration Will Test Technologies Needed for Deep Space Exploration

Space Image of the Week Mercury and Crescent Moon Set Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva) CopyrightMiguel ClaroTWANDark Sky Alqueva