Space News Update - March 29, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: High Albedo Points to Huge Collision Forming Plutonian System Story 2: Japan’s Newest Space Telescope Goes Silent Story 3: Moons of Saturn May be Younger than the Dinosaurs Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

High Albedo Points to Huge Collision Forming Plutonian System 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)

Japan’s Newest Space Telescope Goes Silent

Moons of Saturn May be Younger than the Dinosaurs

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope The Gemini twins overlook Procyon very high in the southwest after dark this week. The three labeled stars here are part of the enormous Winter Hexagon. The star cluster left of Pollux near the edge is M44, the Beehive in Cancer. Akira Fujii Tuesday, March 29 Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross Jupiter's central meridian around 10:11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. At 10:54 p.m. EDT, Io disappears behind Jupiter's celestial-western limb. Io reappears from eclipse out of Jupiter's shadow at 1:41 a.m. EDT, just off Jupiter's opposite limb. Subtract three hours from these times to get PDT. Wednesday, March 30 Last-quarter Moon tonight (exact at 11:17 a.m. Thursday EDT). The Moon rises very late, around 2 a.m. local time, with Mars and Saturn pointing down to it from the upper right. Thursday, March 31 With the Moon out of the evening sky, try exploring the galaxy groups around Gamma Leonis (Algieba) in the Sickle of Leo, using Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders article, charts, and photos in the April Sky & Telescope, page 54. Friday, April 1 Arcturus shines brightly in the east these evenings. The Big Dipper, high in the northeast, points its curving handle lower right down toward it. Arcturus forms the pointy end of a long, narrow kite asterism formed by the brightest stars of Bootes, the Cowherd. The kite is currently lying on its side to Arcturus's left. The head of the kite, at the far left, is bent slightly upward. The kite is 23° long, about two fist-widths at arm's length. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Mar 29, 9:20 PM 1 min 23° 10° above SW 23° above SW Wed Mar 30, 8:28 PM 4 min 46° 11° above SSW 27° above E Wed Mar 30, 10:05 PM < 1 min 11° 11° above W Thu Mar 31, 9:12 PM 36° 12° above W 29° above N Fri Apr 1, 8:19 PM 6 min 67° 10° above WSW 10° above NE Fri Apr 1, 9:58 PM 14° 14° above NW 14° above NNW 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, March 29 8:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 47 In-Flight Interview with SKY News for ESA with Flight Engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (all channels) Wednesday, March 30 1 p.m. - The Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum Presents - “STEM in 30”- Mars Rovers – Science on the Red Planet (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education)) Thursday, March 31 12 p.m. - Coverage of the Launch of the ISS Progress 63 Cargo Craft to the ISS (Launch scheduled at 12:23 p.m. ET) (all channels) Saturday, April 2 1 p.m. - Coverage of the Docking of the ISS Progress 63 Cargo Craft to the ISS (Docking scheduled at 2 p.m. ET) (Starts at 1:15 p.m.) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar   Mar 29 - Comet 336P/McNaught Closest Approach To Earth (2.528 AU) Mar 29 - Comet 4P/Faye At Opposition (3.827 AU) Mar 29 - Comet 120P/Mueller At Opposition (4.276 AU) Mar 29 - Aten Asteroid 2016 BC14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU) Mar 29 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 EK156 Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU) Mar 29 - Asteroid 4444 Escher Closest Approach To Earth (1.457 AU) Mar 29 - Apollo Asteroid 2101 Adonis Closest Approach To Earth (1.981 AU) Mar 29 - Joseph Taylor's 75th Birthday (1941) Mar 30 - Cygnus CRS Orb-5 Antares Launch (International Space Station) Mar 30 - Comet 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR At Opposition (3.323 AU) Mar 30 - Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR At Opposition (3.865 AU) Mar 30 - Aten Asteroid 2010 GD35 Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU) Mar 30 - Aten Asteroid 2008 BX2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU) Mar 30 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 EQ84 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU) Mar 30 - Asteroid 289586 Shackleton Closest Approach To Earth (1.064 AU) Mar 30 - Asteroid 5703 Hevelius Closest Approach To Earth (1.912 AU) Mar 30 - Robert Bunsen's 205th Birthday (1811) Mar 31 - Progress MS-2 Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 63P) Mar 31 - 50th Anniversary (1966), Luna 10 Launch (USSR Moon Orbiter) Mar 31 - Mercury Passes 0.6 Degrees From Uranus Mar 31 - Asteroid 19398 Creedence Closest Approach To Earth (1.927 AU) Mar 31 - Asteroid 990 Yerkes Closest Approach To Earth (2.244 AU) Mar 31 - Asteroid 7336 Saunders Closest Approach To Earth (2.363 AU) Mar 31 - Rene Descartes' 420th Birthday (1596) JPL Space Calendar

90 Years Ago, the Liquid-Fueled Rocket Changed Space Travel Forever Food for Thought 90 Years Ago, the Liquid-Fueled Rocket Changed Space Travel Forever

Space Image of the Week Hickson 91 in Piscis Austrinus Image Credit & Copyright: CHART32 Team, Processing - Johannes Schedler