Space News Update - October 18, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: Schiaparelli Lander Heading for Touch Down on Mars Story 2: Chinese Astronauts Launch on Month-Long Space Mission Story 3: Mission Managers Keeping Juno in Elongated Orbit Until December Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Schiaparelli Lander Heading for Touch Down on Mars 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)

Chinese Astronauts Launch on Month-Long Space Mission

Mission Managers Keeping Juno in Elongated Orbit Until December

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, October 18 The waning gibbous Moon occults 1st-magnitude Aldebaran late tonight for most of the eastern, central, and southwestern US, and southeastern Canada. The star disappears on the Moon's bright limb and reappears from behind its dark limb. The graze line crosses Los Angeles and Denver. Some Hyades stars get occulted too. Wednesday, October 19 The Great Square of Pegasus is now high in the east-southeast after dark — still, for now, balancing on one corner (seen from the world's mid-northern latitudes). The modest Orionid meteor shower should be active for the next several mornings, but the light of the waning gibbous Moon will interfere with the viewing.  Thursday, October 20 After dark, spot the W of Cassiopeia standing on end high in the northeast. The third segment of the W, counting from the top, points almost straight down. Extend it twice as far down and you're at the Double Cluster in Perseus. This pair of star-swarms is dimly apparent to the unaided eye in a dark sky, and it's visible from almost anywhere in binoculars or a small, wide-field telescope at low power.   Friday, October 21 Saturn and Antares now form a more compact, right triangle with bright Venus low in the southwest at dusk, as shown above. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Oct 18, 6:56 PM 6 min 79° 10° above NW 10° above SE Tue Oct 18, 8:36 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above SW Wed Oct 19, 7:43 PM 3 min 19° 19° above SW 10° above S Thu Oct 20, 6:51 PM 38° 37° above WSW 10° above SSE Sat Oct 22, 6:43 PM 1 min 15° 15° above SW 10° above SSW 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, October 18 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. - Replay of the Russian State Commission Meeting and Final ISS Expedition 49-50 Pre-Launch Crew News Conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan (Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, Borisenko) (all channels) 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. - Replay of the ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interview with National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA (all channels) Wednesday, October 19 1 a.m. - Replay of the ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interview with National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA (all channels) 2 a.m. - Replay of the Russian State Commission Meeting and Final ISS Expedition 49-50 Pre-Launch Crew News Conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan (Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, Borisenko) (all channels) 3 a.m., - ISS Expedition 49-50/Soyuz MS-02 Launch Coverage (Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, Borisenko; launch scheduled at 4:05 a.m. ET; includes video B-roll of the crew’s launch day pre-launch activities at 3:25 a.m. ET) (starts at 3:15 a.m.) (all channels) 4 p.m. - Juno News Briefing from the Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) Meeting in Pasadena (all channels) 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. - Replay of the Juno News Briefing from the Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) Meeting in Pasadena (all channels) Thursday, October 20 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m.,7 p.m. and 11 p.m. - Replay of the Juno News Briefing from the Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) Meeting in Pasadena (NTV-1 (Public)) 5 p.m. - Space to Ground ISS Weekly Highlights (all channels) Friday, October 21 5 a.m. - ISS Expedition 49-50/Soyuz MS-02 Docking to the ISS Coverage (Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, Borisenko; docking scheduled at 5:59 a.m. ET) (starts at 5:15 a.m.) (all channels) 8 a.m. - ISS Expedition 49-50/Soyuz MS-02 Hatch Opening and Welcoming Ceremony (Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, Borisenko; hatch opening scheduled at 8:35 a.m. ET) (all channels) 11 a.m. - NASA Television Video File News Feed of ISS Expedition 49-50/Soyuz MS-02 Docking, Hatch Opening and Other Activities (all channels)   Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Oct 18 - Comet 221P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (2.760 AU) Oct 18 - Comet C/2015 T5 (Sheppard-Tholen) At Opposition (8.444 AU) Oct 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TY55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.007 AU) Oct 18 - Amor Asteroid 2016 TW85 Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU) Oct 18 - Aten Asteroid 2014 UR Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU) Oct 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TE55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU) Oct 18 - Asteroid 58671 Diplodocus Closest Approach To Earth (1.357 AU) Oct 18 - Asteroid 159814 Saguaro Closest Approach To Earth (1.500 AU) Oct 19 - ExoMars 2016 Mars Arrival Oct 19 - Soyuz MS-2 Soyuz-2.1a Launch (International Space Station 48S) Oct 19 - Moon Occults Aldebaran Oct 19 - Amor Asteroid 2016 TP Near-Earth Flyby (0.080 AU) Oct 19 - Asteroid 9965 GNU Closest Approach To Earth (1.787 AU) Oct 19 - Apollo Asteroid 2013 EC20 Closest Approach To Earth (1.974 AU) Oct 20 - Comet 279P/La Sagra At Opposition (1.280 AU) Oct 20 - Comet 314P/Montani Perihelion (4.254 AU) Oct 20 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TH55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.068 AU) Oct 20 - Asteroid 17078 Sellers Closest Approach To Earth (1.682 AU) Oct 20 - Asteroid 60186 Las Cruces Closest Approach To Earth (1.985 AU) Oct 20 - Asteroid 35165 Quebec Closest Approach To Earth (2.232 AU) Oct 20 - Neptune Trojan 2011 SO277 At Opposition (29.500 AU) Oct 20 - Kuiper Belt Object 308379 (2005 RS43) At Opposition (42.384 AU) Oct 21 - Orionids Meteor Shower Peak Oct 21 - Asteroid 2022 West Closest Approach To Earth (1.396 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Building Blocks of Life's Building Blocks Come From Starlight New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought Building Blocks of Life's Building Blocks Come From Starlight

Space Image of the Week Cylindrical Mountains on Venus Image Credit: Magellan Spacecraft Team, USGS, NASA