Space News Update - February 5, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Fully Assembled Story 2: A Tale of Galactic Merger Story 3: Inside ROSETTA’s Comet Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Fully Assembled 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)

A Tale of Galactic Merger

Inside ROSETTA’s Comet

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, February 5 You can still see all five naked-eye planets at dawn, though Mercury is getting lower. On Saturday morning the 6th, the crescent Moon, Venus, and Mercury form a triangle low in the southeast, as shown here. See Bob King's article It's Not Over Till the Fast Planet Sinks. Saturday, February 6 • Bright Capella high overhead, and equally bright Rigel in Orion’s foot, are at almost the same right ascension. This means they cross your sky’s north-south meridian at almost the same time (around 8 p.m. now, depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone). So whenever Capella passes its very highest overhead, Rigel marks true south over your landscape. And vice versa. Sunday, February 7 • After nightfall, the Pleiades pose very high in the southwest with the Hyades and Aldebaran to their left. Nearly twice that far below the Pleiades glimmers one lone, modestly bright star: Menkar, or Alpha Ceti, in the head of dim Cetus the Whale. Can you see its orange tint? Monday, February 8 • Look due east after dark, fairly low, for twinkly Regulus. Extending upper left from it is the Sickle of Leo, a backward question mark. "Leo announces spring," goes an old saying. Actually, Leo showing up in the evening announces the cold, messy back end of winter. Come spring, Leo will already be high. • New Moon (exact at 9:39 a.m. EST). Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Fri Feb 5, 5:47 PM 4 min 58° 42° above W 10° above NE Fri Feb 5, 7:23 PM 1 min 14° 10° above NW 14° above NNW Sat Feb 6, 6:30 PM 19° 13° above WNW 12° above NNE Sun Feb 7, 7:15 PM < 1 min 11° 10° above NNW 11° above N Mon Feb 8, 6:22 PM 3 min 13° 10° above NNE Tue Feb 9, 7:08 PM 10° 10° above N 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, February 9   8 a.m., ISS Expedition 46 In-Flight Interview for ESA with France 2 Television and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (starts at 8:10 a.m.) (all channels) 1:30 p.m., Video B-Roll Feed of ISS Expedition 48-49 Crew Training (Ivanishin, Rubins, Onishi) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Feb 05 - [Feb 04] GPS 2F-12 Atlas 5 Launch Feb 05 - Comet P/2007 VA85 (LINEAR) At Opposition (0.588 AU) Feb 05 - Comet C/2015 Y1 (LINEAR) At Opposition (1.765 AU) Feb 05 - Comet P/2008 QP20 (LINEAR-Hill) At Opposition (1.800 AU) Feb 05 - Comet 73P-BF/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.101 AU) Feb 05 - Comet 73P-AD/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.943 AU) Feb 05 - Comet 73P-E/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.946 AU) Feb 05 - Comet 73P-M/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.950 AU) Feb 05 - Comet 186P/Garradd At Opposition (4.238 AU) Feb 05 - Comet P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-Grauer) At Opposition (5.130 AU) Feb 05 - Asteroid 198 Ampella Occults HIP 29545 (6.6 Magnitude Star) Feb 05 - [Jan 31] Aten Asteroid 2016 BW14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU) Feb 05 - Asteroid 6373 Stern Closest Approach To Earth (1.505 AU) Feb 05 - Aten Asteroid 367943 Duende Closest Approach To Earth (1.786 AU) Feb 05 - Asteroid 55 Pandora Closest Approach To Earth (1.962 AU) Feb 05 - Asteroid 93 Minerva Closest Approach To Earth (2.083 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P-AV/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.885 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.896 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P-C/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.896 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P-G/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.899 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P-K/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.909 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P-B/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.911 AU) Feb 06 - Comet 73P-H/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.914 AU) Feb 06 - Comet P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-Grauer) Closest Approach To Earth (5.130 AU) Feb 06 - [Feb 05] Apollo Asteroid 2016 CG18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.001 AU) Feb 06 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 BN509 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU) Feb 06 - Asteroid 1951 Lick Closest Approach To Earth (0.477 AU) Feb 06 - Asteroid 8088 Australia Closest Approach To Earth (1.443 AU) Feb 06 - Asteroid 2404 Antarctica Closest Approach To Earth (2.340 AU) Feb 06 - 25th Anniversary (1991), Salyut-7 Burnup In Earth's Atmosphere (Soviet Union Space Station) Feb 06 - 45th Anniversary (1971), Alan Shepard's Golf Shot on the Moon (Apollo 14) Feb 06 - Yuri Onufrienko's 55th Birthday (1961) Feb 06 - Ronald Reagan's 105th Birthday (1911) Feb 07 - CRS-8/ BEAM/ AggieSat 4/ Bevo 2/ Flock-2D 1-8/ LONESTAR 2 Falcon 9 Launch (International Space Station) JPL Space Calendar

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Feb 07 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (26 Degrees) Feb 07 - Comet 73P-BR/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.034 AU) Feb 07 - Comet 73P-AU/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.842 AU) Feb 07 - Comet 73P-AK/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.846 AU) Feb 07 - Comet 245P/WISE At Opposition (3.780 AU) Feb 07 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 XA379 Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU) Feb 07 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 BQ Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU) Feb 07 - Aten Asteroid 2014 QD364 Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU) Feb 07 - Asteroid 7016 Conandoyle Closest Approach To Earth (0.890 AU) Feb 07 - Asteroid 130 Elektra Closest Approach To Earth (2.359 AU) Feb 07 - 15th Anniversary (2001), STS-98 Launch (Space Shuttle Atlantis, International Space Station) Feb 07 - Konstantin Feoktistov's 90th Birthday (1926) Feb 08 - Chinese New Year Feb 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #441 (OTM-441) Feb 08 - Comet 50P/Arend Perihelion (1.919 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 73P-BD/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (1.948 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 73P-BG/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (1.983 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 73P-V/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.005 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 73P-N/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.785 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 73P-BQ/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.797 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 71P/Clark Closest Approach To Earth (2.859 AU) Feb 08 - Comet 186P/Garradd Closest Approach To Earth (4.236 AU) Feb 08 - [Feb 02] Apollo Asteroid 2016 BQ15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU) Feb 08 - [Jan 31] Apollo Asteroid 2013 VA10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU) Feb 08 - [Jan 31] Amor Asteroid 2016 BC15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU) Feb 08 - Amor Asteroid 2016 BS Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU) Feb 08 - 15th Anniversary (2001), Discovery of the SAU 094 Meteorite (Mars Meteorite) JPL Space Calendar

NASA Turns the Super Bowl Into Lesson in Aerodynamics Food for Thought NASA Turns the Super Bowl Into Lesson in Aerodynamics

Space Image of the Week Comet 67P from Spacecraft Rosetta Image Credit & Licence: ESA, Rosetta, NAVCAM