Space News Update - March 28, 2017 - In the News Departments Story 1: OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Search Tests Instruments, Science Team Story 2: Scientists Say Thinning Atmosphere Drove the Drying and Cooling of Mars Story 3: Hubble Discovery of Runaway Star Yields Clues to Breakup of Multiple-Star System Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Search Tests Instruments, Science Team 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)

Scientists Say Thinning Atmosphere Drove the Drying and Cooling of Mars

Hubble Discovery of Runaway Star Yields Clues to Breakup of Multiple-Star System

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, March 28 Arcturus, the "Spring Star," now rises above the east- northeast horizon by the time the stars come out. How soon can you spot it? Brighter Jupiter comes up a little later, depending on your latitude, 30° to Arcturus's right. Wednesday, March 29 As twilight deepens, spot the thin crescent Moon low in the west. Right or lower right of it shines Mercury. Look about 10° above the Moon for Mars, currently about as puny as it gets at only magnitude +1.5. See the illustration at right. Thursday, March 30 Now in late twilight, Mars is to the right or lower right of the Moon, as shown above. Draw a line from Castor through Pollux high overhead, follow it farther out by a big 26° (about 2½ fist-widths at arm's length), and you're at the dim head of Hydra, the Sea Serpent. In a dark sky it's a subtle but distinctive star grouping, about the size of your thumb at arm's length. Binoculars show it easily through light pollution. Continue the line nearly two fists farther on and you hit Alphard, Hydra's orange heart. Another way to find the head of Hydra: It's almost midway from Procyon to Regulus.  

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Mar 28, 8:40 PM 5 min 61° 10° above WSW 22° above NE Wed Mar 29, 7:47 PM 6 min 66° 11° above SW 12° above ENE Wed Mar 29, 9:27 PM 1 min 19° 18° above NW 18° above N Thu Mar 30, 8:34 PM 3 min 28° 26° above NW 11° above NNE Thu Mar 30, 10:11 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above NNW Fri Mar 31, 7:44 PM 25° 25° above NNE 11° above NE Fri Mar 31, 9:19 PM 2 min 13° 12° above NNW 10° above 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 28 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. - From the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum “Celebrating Women’s History Month – Getting Excited About STEM” (NTV-1 (Public)) Thursday, March 30 6:30 a.m. - Coverage of ISS Expedition 50 U.S. Spacewalk # 41 (Kimbrough and Whitson; spacewalk begins at appx. 8 a.m. ET; will last appx. 6 ½ hours) (all channels) Friday, March 31 12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 51-52 Crew Qualification Training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia (Recorded on March 30-31; Fischer and Yurchikhin) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Mar 28 - Asteroid 216 Kleopatra (2 Moons) Occults TYC 5728-01527-1 (11.4 Magnitude Star) Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 215588 (2003 HF2) Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU) Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 FO63 Near-Earth Flyby (0.056 AU) Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 2006 HW50 Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU) Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TB18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU) Mar 28 - 30th Anniversary (1987), National Space Society Established Mar 28 - 215th Anniversary (1802), Heinrich Olbers' Discovery of Asteroid 2 Pallas Mar 28-30 - Space Science Week, Washington DC Mar 28-29 - Committee on Earth Sciences and Applications from Space Meeting, Washington DC Mar 28-30 - Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences Meeting, Washington DC Mar 28-30 - Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics Meeting, Washington DC Mar 29 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Enceladus & Mimas Mar 29 - Comet 73P-P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (0.799 AU) Mar 29 - Comet 73P-R/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (0.971 AU) Mar 29 -[Mar 28] Apollo Asteroid 2017 FR91 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU) Mar 29 - Asteroid 9305 Hazard Closest Approach To Earth (1.408 AU) Mar 29 - Asteroid 12002 Suess Closest Approach To Earth (2.216 AU) Mar 29 - 210th Anniversary (1807), Heinrich Olbers' Discovery of Asteroid 4 Vesta Mar 29 - Colloquium: Oases for Life in Distant Oceans - On Earth and Beyond?, Greenbelt, Maryland Mar 29-31 - Meeting: Space Radiation Effects Testing Infrastructure for the U.S. Space Program, Washington Mar 30 - SES-10 Falcon 9 Launch Mar 30 - Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington At Opposition (1.626 AU) Mar 30 - Comet 162P/Siding Spring At Opposition (3.444 AU) Mar 30 - Amor Asteroid 2017 FK63 Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU) Mar 30 - Asteroid 6349 Acapulco Closest Approach To Earth (1.320 AU) Mar 30 - Asteroid 2157 Ashbrook Closest Approach To Earth (1.648 AU) JPL Space Calendar

White House to Look at How Best to Protect Apollo Moon Landing Sites New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought White House to Look at How Best to Protect Apollo Moon Landing Sites

Space Image of the Week Dark Spot and Jovian ‘Galaxy’ Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Roman Tkachenko