Space News Update - April 5, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: Cassini conducting fly-by of Titan to sniff its atmosphere Story 2: SpaceX, Boeing on Track to Launch Astronauts in 2017: NASA Story 3: Opportunity rover snaps photo of Martian dust devil Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Cassini conducting fly-by of Titan to sniff its atmosphere 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)

SpaceX, Boeing on Track to Launch Astronauts in 2017: NASA

Opportunity rover snaps photo of Martian dust devil

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, April 5 • The huge, bright Winter Hexagon is still in good view at nightfall, filling the sky to the southwest and west. Start with brilliant Sirius in the southwest, the Hexagon's lower left corner. High above Sirius is Procyon. From there look even higher for Pollux and Castor, lower right from Castor to Menkalinen and bright Capella, lower left to Aldebaran, lower left to Rigel at the bottom of Orion, and back to Sirius. Wednesday, April 6 • Io crosses the face of Jupiter tonight from 9:52 p.m. to 12:07 a.m. EDT, followed by its more visible black shadow from 10:32 p.m. to 12:47 a.m. EDT. Meanwhile, Europa disappears behind Jupiter's preceding (celestial western) limb at 10:48 p.m. EDT. Thursday, April 7 • Io emerges from eclipse by Jupiter's shadow, just beyond Jupiter's following limb, at 10:04 p.m. EDT. • New Moon (exact at 7:24 a.m. EDT). Friday, April 8 • Looking west in twilight, use the thin crescent Moon as your guidepost to Mercury, as shown at right. • Jupiter this evening is just 0.1° north of 5th-magnitude Chi Leonis. Binoculars show the star looking like an out-of-place moon of Jupiter. A 6-inch telescope may show that, compared to this star, Jupiter's moons are not quite pinpoints. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Apr 5, 8:05 PM 3 min 18° 18° above NNW 10° above NNE Tue Apr 5, 9:43 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above N Wed Apr 6, 8:50 PM 2 min 11° 10° above NNW Thu Apr 7, 7:57 PM 13° 11° above NNW Thu Apr 7, 9:34 PM 1 min Fri Apr 8, 8:42 PM Fri Apr 8, 10:18 PM 12° 12° 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)   TBD, Thursday, April 7 - The Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum Presents - “What’s New in Aerospace?” - From Cowboy Boots to Space Boots with former NASA Astronaut Danny Olivas (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education)) 10 a.m., Thursday, April 7 - ISS Expedition 47 In-Flight Interviews with NBC Today.com and the Associated Press with Commander Tim Kopra and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA (Starts at 9:55 a.m.) (all channels) 12:30 p.m., Thursday, April 7 - “What’s On Board” – SpaceX CRS-8 Science and Technology Briefing (all channels) 3:30 p.m., Thursday, April 7 - Prelaunch News Conference for SpaceX CRS-8 (all channels) 8:30 a.m., Friday, April 8 - Live Coverage of the NASA Rover Challenge from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama (NTV-2 (Education)) 3 p.m., Friday, April 8 - Coverage of the Launch of the SpaceX/Dragon-CRS-8 Mission to the ISS (Launch scheduled at 4:43 p.m. ET) (all channels) 6 p.m., Friday, April 8 - SpaceX/Dragon CRS-8 Post-Launch News Conference (time subject to change) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Apr 05 - Comet P/2003 T12 (SOHO) Closest Approach To Earth (1.347 AU) Apr 05 - Comet P/2015 B4 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.606 AU) Apr 05 - Comet C/2015 B1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (5.044 AU) Apr 05 - [Apr 02] Apollo Asteroid 2016 FW13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.002 AU) Apr 05 - [Apr 04] Apollo Asteroid 2016 GE1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU) Apr 05 - Asteroid 29470 Higgs Closest Approach To Earth (1.413 AU) Apr 05 - Kuiper Belt Object 2014 FT71 At Opposition (46.874 AU) Apr 06 - Moon Occults Venus Apr 06 - Comet 73P-AY/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (0.438 AU) Apr 06 - Comet 213P/Van Ness Closest Approach To Earth (2.815 AU) Apr 06 - Comet 213P-B/Van Ness Closest Approach To Earth (2.817 AU) Apr 06 - Comet C/2015 B1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (5.044 AU) Apr 06 - [Apr 04] Apollo Asteroid 2016 GH1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU) Apr 06 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 EV27 Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU) Apr 06 - [Apr 05] Amor Asteroid 2016 GB2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU) Apr 06 - Asteroid 12410 Donald Duck Closest Approach To Earth (1.273 AU) Apr 06 - Asteroid 2865 Laurel Closest Approach To Earth (1.494 AU) Apr 06 - Asteroid 3062 Wren Closest Approach To Earth (2.385 AU) Apr 06 - Asteroid 9012 Benner Closest Approach To Earth (2.775 AU) Apr 07 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #446 (OTM-446) Apr 07 - Comet 73P-AZ/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (0.429 AU) Apr 07 - Comet 19P/Borrelly At Opposition (2.395 AU) Apr 07 - Comet 201P/LONEOS At Opposition (2.934 AU) Apr 07 - [Apr 02] Apollo Asteroid 2016 FT13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU) Apr 07 - Asteroid 3635 Kreutz Closest Approach To Earth (0.785 AU) Apr 07 - Asteroid 9387 Tweeddledee Closest Approach To Earth (1.180 AU) Apr 07 - Asteroid 4487 Pocahontas Closest Approach To Earth (1.241 AU) Apr 07 - Asteroid 4511 Rembrandt Closest Approach To Earth (1.494 AU) Apr 07 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (2.514 AU) Apr 07 - 125th Anniversary (1891), Indarch Meteorite Fall in Azerbaijan Apr 07 - Erik Fredholm's 150th Birthday (1866) Apr 08 - [Apr 01] CRS-8/ BEAM/ AggieSat 4/ Bevo 2/ Flock-2D 1-8/ LONESTAR 2 Falcon 9 Launch (International Space Station) Apr 08 - [Apr 01] Progress M-29M Reenters Earth's Atmosphere Apr 08 - Comet 190P/Mueller Perihelion (2.033 AU) Apr 08 - [Apr 05] Apollo Asteroid 2016 GF2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.012 AU) Apr 08 - [Apr 04] Amor Asteroid 2016 GY Near-Earth Flyby (0.070 AU) Apr 08 - Amor Asteroid 2016 EF85 Near-Earth Flyby (0.085 AU) Apr 08 - Asteroid 3043 San Diego Closest Approach To Earth (1.163 AU) Apr 08 - Asteroid 3654 AAS Closest Approach To Earth (1.714 AU) Apr 08 - Asteroid 8564 Anomalocaris Closest Approach To Earth (2.557 AU) JPL Space Calendar

NASA: Mars Colony 'a Long Way Down the Road' Food for Thought NASA: Mars Colony 'a Long Way Down the Road'

Space Image of the Week Close-up of the Bubble Nebula  Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt