Space News Update - July 18, 2017 - In the News Departments Story 1: Curiosity Mars Rover Begins Study of Ridge Destination Story 2: Eight Planetary Systems Found Hosting 20 Super-Earth & Neptune-Mass Companions Story 3: Ancient, Massive Asteroid Impact Could Explain Martian Geological Mysteries Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Curiosity Mars Rover Begins Study of Ridge Destination In this computer graphic, NASA's Voyager 1 probe, moving toward upper left, nears the edge of the sun's influence, flying through a region of space dominated by a "magnetic highway" that helps mediate the flow of particles into and out of the solar system. The region includes particles from the sun's southern hemisphere that have been forced northward by the pressure of the interstellar wind. Voyager 1 is expected to cross the boundary into interstellar space sometime within the next few years if not sooner. (Credit: NASA)

Eight Planetary Systems Found Hosting 20 Super-Earth & Neptune-Mass Companions

Ancient, Massive Asteroid Impact Could Explain Martian Geological Mysteries

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, July 18 The first "star" you're likely to see coming out after sunset this month is bright Jupiter, in the southwest. Once you find it, examine the sky 30° above it (three fists at arm's length) for Arcturus, two magnitudes fainter. Once the night is completely dark, look for the kite-shaped pattern of Bootes extending upper right from Arcturus. It's two fists long. Wednesday, July 19 Early in Thursday's dawn, and even a bit earlier, Venus and the waning crescent moon shine together in the east, as shown here. Upper right of them is Aldebaran, and above Aldebaran are the Pleiades. Left of the Moon and Venus is 2nd-magnitude El Nath, Beta Tauri. Thursday, July 20 With the advance of summer, the Sagittarius Teapot, in the south after dark now, is starting to tilt and pour from its spout to the right. The Teapot will tilt farther and farther for the rest of the summer — or for much of the night, if you stay out very late. Friday, July 21 Starry Scorpius is sometimes called "the Orion of Summer" for its brightness and its prominent red supergiant (Antares in the case of Scorpius, Betelgeuse for Orion). But Scorpius is a lot lower in the south than Orion for those of us at mid-northern latitudes. That means Scorpius has only one really good evening month: July. Catch Scorpius due south just after dark now, before it starts to tilt lower toward the southwest. It's full of deep-sky objects for binoculars or a telescope — if you have a detailed star atlas to find them with. Set your alarm to catch the crescent Moon with Venus early in the dawn of Thursday the 20th.

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Wed Jul 19, 1:54 AM < 1 min 13° 13° above NNW 13° above N Wed Jul 19, 3:31 AM 10° 10° above N Wed Jul 19, 5:06 AM 2 min 24° 11° above NNW 24° above NNE Thu Jul 20, 1:03 AM 12° 12° above NNE 10° above NNE Thu Jul 20, 2:38 AM Thu Jul 20, 4:14 AM 16° 10° above NNW 16° above N Fri Jul 21, 1:45 AM Fri Jul 21, 3:22 AM 1 min Fri Jul 21, 4:58 AM 6 min 48° 10° above NW 11° above ESE Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) Tuesday, July 18 12:15 p.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - Luncheon Keynote: Senator Peters (NTV-1 (Public)) 4:30 p.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - ISS Exploration Technologies (NTV-1 (Public)) Wednesday, July 19 TBD, - ISS Expedition 52 In-Flight Interview with WFXT-TV, Boston (Fox 25 Boston) and the Weather Channel with NASA Flight Engineer Jack Fischer (all channels) 8:30 a.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - Morning Keynote: Robert Lightfoot, NASA Acting Administrator (NTV-1 (Public)) 10:30 a.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - Keynote: Robert T. Bigelow, Founder and President, Bigelow Aerospace (NTV-1 (Public)) 11:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 52 In-Flight Media Interviews with the Weather Channel and NASA Flight Engineer Jack Fischer (starts at 11:40 a.m.) (all channels) 12:30 p.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - An Innovation Discussion with Elon Musk (NTV-1 (Public)) Thursday, July 20 9:30 a.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - Commercial Space – It Is More Than Just Transportation (NTV-1 (Public)) 11:15 a.m. - ISS Research & Development Conference 2017 - STEM on Station: How the ISS National Lab is Influencing Students and Educators in STEM Education (NTV-1 (Public)) Tue May 30, 9:16 PM 1 min 14° 14° above N 10° above NNE Tue May 30, 10:53 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above N Wed May 31, 00:30 AM 18° 18° above N Wed May 31, 10:01 PM Wed May 31, 11:38 PM 2 min 15° 14° above NE Thu Jun 1, 9:09 PM 11° 11° above N Thu Jun 1, 10:45 PM 12° 12° above N 10° above NE Fri Jun 2, 00:20 AM 17° 10° above NW 17° above NNW Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jul 17 - 50th Anniversary (1967), Denver Meteorite Fall (Hit Warehouse in Colorado) Jul 18 - Comet 213P/Van Ness Closest Approach To Earth (1.052 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 213P-B/Van Ness 3 Closest Approach To Earth (1.055 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-I/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.705 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-B/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.706 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-D/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.706 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-H/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.707 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-A/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.708 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-E/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.709 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P-C/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.711 AU) Jul 18 - Comet 332P/Ikeya-Murakami At Opposition (2.717 AU) Jul 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 NX5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU) Jul 18 - Atira Asteroid 2015 DR215 Closest Approach To Earth (0.580 AU) Jul 18 - Asteroid 7273 Garyhuss Closest Approach To Earth (1.652 AU) Jul 18-20 - 4th Annual NASA Exploration Science Forum (NESF), Moffett Field, California Jul 18-28 - CTEQ Summer School on QCD and Electroweak Phenomenology (CTEQ 2017), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Jul 19 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Atlas & Janus Jul 19 - Asteroid 10183 Ampere Closest Approach To Earth (1.415 AU) Jul 19 - Asteroid 365756 ISON Closest Approach To Earth (7.659 AU) Jul 19 - 50th Anniversary (1967), Explorer 35 Launch (Moon Orbiter) Jul 19 - 105th Anniversary (1912), Holbrook Meteorite Shower (Hit Train Station in Arizona) Jul 20 - Moon Occults Aldebaran Jul 20 - Atira Asteroid 2010 XB11 Closest Approach To Earth (0.735 AU) Jul 20 - Asteroid 3688 Navajo Closest Approach To Earth (3.179 AU) Jul 20 - Lecture: Red-hot Real Estate - Living on Mars, Pasadena, California Jul 21 - Comet 185P/Petriew Closest Approach To Earth (1.606 AU) Jul 21 - Comet 81P/Wild At Opposition (2.338 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Spiky Ferrofluid Thrusters Can Move Satellites New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought Spiky Ferrofluid Thrusters Can Move Satellites

Space Image of the Week Earth at Night Image Credit: NASA, NOAA NGDC, Suomi-NPP, Earth Observatory, Data and Processing: Chris Elvidge and Robert Simmon