Space News Update - February 25, 2013 - In the News Departments Story 1: Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in preflight hold-down test Story 2: Why Dying Stars Might be a Good Place to Look for Life Story 3: Lab Instruments Inside Curiosity Eat Mars Rock Powder Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in preflight hold-down test Photo of the Falcon 9 rocket inside the SpaceX hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Credit: SpaceX File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad. Credit: NASA/KSC

Why Dying Stars Might be a Good Place to Look for Life > Why Dying Stars Might be a Good Place to Look for Life

Lab Instruments Inside Curiosity Eat Mars Rock Powder

The Night Sky Monday, February 25 · Full Moon this evening (exactly full at 3:26 p.m. EST). The Moon is south of Leo: in the dim constellation Sextans for part of the night. Tuesday, February 26 · With spring less than a month away, Orion is starting to tip over toward the southwest fairly early in the evening now. Wednesday, February 27 · The seasons are turning; by 8 or 9 p.m. the Big Dipper has climbed as high in the northeast as Cassiopeia has sunk in the northwest. Thursday, February 28 · Look for Spica very close to the waning gibbous Moon late this evening, as seen from North America. The Moon occults (hides) Spica for viewers from southeastern Mexico through central South America; map and timetables (date and times are in Universal Time). Friday, March 1 · Around 11 p.m. this evening (depending on where you live), the waning Moon rises with Saturn glowing a few degrees to its left, as shown above. The pair remain close for the rest of the night.

ISS Sighting Opportunities For Denver: SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) ISS Mon Feb 25/07:29 PM 2 35 26 above W 29 above S Tue Feb 26/06:38 PM 5 69 22 above WNW 11 above SE Wed Feb 27/07:25 PM 13 13 above WSW 10 above SSW Thu Feb 28/06:35 PM 3 25 24 above SW 10 above S Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website. February 26, Tuesday 12:45 p.m. - ISS Expedition 34 Educational In-Flight Event with the Metropolitan Arts Institute in Phoenix, AZ – JSC (All Channels) February 27, Wednesday 2 p.m. - NASA Tri-Program Briefing - KSC (All Channels) February 28, Thursday 11:00 a.m. - ISS Expedition 34 In-Flight Event for the Canadian Space Agency with the CTV Network - JSC (All Channels) 11:20 a.m. - ISS Update - JSC (All Channels) 12:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels) 1 p.m. - ISS Science Briefing - KSC (All Channels) 2 p.m. - NASA Heliophysics Briefing; “New Discovery from NASA’s Van Allen Probes” - APL (All Channels) 3 p.m. - SpaceX/Dragon-2 Pre-Launch Readiness Briefing - KSC (All Channels) March 1, Friday 8:30 a.m. - Coverage of the SpaceX / Dragon-2 Launch to the International Space Station (Launch scheduled at 10:10 a.m. EST) - KSC (Public and Media Channels) Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Feb 25 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan Feb 25 - Pluto Moons Naming Contest Ends Feb 25 - Comet P/2007 T2 (Kowalski) Perihelion (0.695 AU) Feb 25 - Comet C/2012 T5 (Bressi) Closest Approach To Earth (0.913 AU) Feb 25 - Asteroid 5841 Stone Closest Approach To Earth (1.050 AU) Feb 25 - Asteroid 1896 Beer Closest Approach To Earth (1.836 AU) Feb 25 - Asteroid 12759 Joule Closest Approach To Earth (2.006 AU) Feb 25 - Asteroid 9340 Williamholden Closest Approach To Earth (2.241 AU) Feb 26 - Asteroid 2013 BX2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.073 AU) Feb 26 - Asteroid 1981 Midas Closest Approach To Earth (1.507 AU) Feb 27 - Comet 63P/Wild Closest Approach To Earth (1.060 AU) Feb 27 - Comet 272P/NEAT Perihelion (2.417 AU) Feb 27 - [Feb 21] Comet 6P/d'Arrest At Opposition (4.036 AU) Feb 27 - Comet C/2013 C2 (Tenagra) At Opposition (8.761 AU) Feb 27 - [Feb 19] Asteroid 2013 DF Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU) Feb 27 - Asteroid 5203 Pavarotti Closest Approach To Earth (1.584 AU) Feb 27 - Asteroid 24102 Jacquecassini Closest Approach To Earth (1.708 AU) Feb 27 - Asteroid 2068 Dangreen Closest Approach To Earth (1.867 AU) Feb 27 - Asteroid 4047 Chang'E Closest Approach To Earth (2.171 AU) Feb 27 - Asteroid 1373 Cincinnati Closest Approach To Earth (3.209 AU) Feb 28 - Venus Passes 0.8 Degrees From Neptune Feb 28 - Asteroid 23184 (2000 OD36) Occults HIP 21515 (5.3 Magnitude Star) Feb 28 - Asteroid 5899 Jedicke Closest Approach To Earth (1.162 AU) Feb 28 - Asteroid 5682 Beresford Closest Approach To Earth (1.981 AU) Feb 28 - AFFECTS User Workshop, Brussels, Belgium Mar 01 - [Feb 26] Dragon CRS-2 Falcon 9 Launch (International Space Station) Mar 01 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #342 (OTM-342) Mar 01 - Comet 91P/Russell Perihelion (2.617 AU) Mar 01 - Asteroid 11083 Caracas Closest Approach To Earth (1.396 AU) Mar 01 - Asteroid 12542 Laver Closest Approach To Earth (2.630 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Pluto May Soon Have a Moon Named Vulcan (Thanks to William Shatner) Food for Thought Pluto May Soon Have a Moon Named Vulcan (Thanks to William Shatner)

Posted By Bill Dunford, Planetary Society Space Image of the Week Postcards from Clementine Posted By Bill Dunford, Planetary Society