Space News Update - August 14, 2018 - In the News Departments Story 1: TESS’s Planet Hunt Begins Story 2: $2 Million Earmarked to Repair Hurricane-Damaged Radio Telescope Story 3: As the Martian Dust Storm Subsides, There’s Still No Word from Opportunity Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA, ULA Launch Parker Solar Probe on Historic Journey to Touch Sun 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)

$2 Million Earmarked to Repair Hurricane-Damaged Radio Telescope

As the Martian Dust Storm Subsides, There’s Still No Word from Opportunity

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, August 14 • The waxing crescent Moon shines over Venus in twilight. Closer to the moon is the telescopic binary star Gamma Virginis (Porrima), as shown here. Its twin components are currently 2.8 arcseconds apart. Look left of the Moon for fainter Spica. Farther upper left of Spica shines bright Jupiter (out of the frame here). The Moon will march eastward above these celestial landmarks for the next three nights. Wednesday, August 15 • Now the Moon hangs over Spica at dusk. Look lower right of them for bright Venus, and left or upper left of them for bright Jupiter. Thursday, August 16 • The waxing Moon shines to the right of Jupiter. The bright yellow-orange star far to their upper right is Arcturus. Friday, August 17 • First-quarter Moon (exact at 3:49 a.m. tonight EDT). Jupiter shines to its lower right. Antares is three times as far to the Moon's lower left. • A mere 0.6° below Jupiter (about the width of a chopstick at arm's length) is 3rd-magnitude Alpha Librae, a wide double star for binoculars. Its fainter component, 4 arcminutes to the right of the bright one, is magnitude 5.1. That's only a little brighter than Jupiter's moons — which good binoculars will also show, lined up just to the big planet's left and right. Jupiter remains close to Alpha Librae through the coming week.

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: ISS will not be visible in Denver until August 26th. Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights August 14, Tuesday (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)  August 14, Tuesday 1 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m. - Newsmakers with Jim Bridenstine: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talks about the Trump Administration’s Priorities for Space (All Channels) 3:20 p.m. – RS-25 Rocket Engine Test at the Stennis Space Center with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (All Channels) August 15, Wednesday 11:15 a.m. – Coverage of the Space Station Expedition 56 Russian Spacewalk #45; spacewalk is scheduled to begin around 11:58 a.m. EDT and will last approximately 6 hours, 50 minutes (All Channels) August 16, Thursday 11:35 a.m. – Space Station In-Flight Event for the European Space Agency for the EDEN Project in St. Blazey, Cornwall, England and astronaut Alexander Gerst of ESA (All Channels)   Tue May 30, 9:16 PM 1 min 14° 14° above N 10° above NNE Tue May 30, 10:53 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above N Wed May 31, 00:30 AM 18° 18° above N Wed May 31, 10:01 PM Wed May 31, 11:38 PM 2 min 15° 14° above NE Thu Jun 1, 9:09 PM 11° 11° above N Thu Jun 1, 10:45 PM 12° 12° above N 10° above NE Fri Jun 2, 00:20 AM 17° 10° above NW 17° above NNW Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 14 - Comet 3D/Biela Perihelion (0.803 AU) Aug 14 - Comet 245P/WISE Closest Approach To Earth (1.637 AU) Aug 14 - Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.004 AU) Aug 14 - Asteroid 9000 Hal Closest Approach To Earth (0.781 AU) Aug 14 - Asteroid 4798 Mercator Closest Approach To Earth (1.088 AU) Aug 14 - Asteroid 4134 Schutz Closest Approach To Earth (1.352 AU) Aug 14 - Asteroid 9621 Michaelpalin Closest Approach To Earth (1.464 AU) Aug 14 - Lecture: Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers - Education Programs at the SETI Institute, Menlo Park, California Aug 15 - Comet C/2017 S3 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (0.208 AU) Aug 15 - Comet P/2017 Y3 (Leonard) At Opposition (1.675 AU) Aug 15 - Comet C/2018 EN4 (NEOWISE) Closest Approach To Earth (2.113 AU) Aug 15 - Amor Asteroid 2011 UA Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU) Aug 15 - Apollo Asteroid 85585 Mjolnir Closest Approach To Earth (1.273 AU) Aug 15-17 - Experimental Analysis of the Outer Solar System Workshop, Fayetteville, Arkansas Aug 15-17 - RCMRD International Conference 2018: Space Science for Sustainable Development, Nairobi, Kenya Aug 15-19 - Starship Engineer Summer School, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom Aug 15-19 - Adventures in Astrophysics: A Symposium Celebrating Alex Filippenko's 60th Birthday, Monterey, California Aug 16 - Comet 138P/Shoemaker-Levy Closest Approach To Earth (1.841 AU) Aug 16 - Comet 172P/Yeung At Opposition (2.929 AU) Aug 16 - Asteroid 16770 Angkorwat Closest Approach To Earth (1.726 AU) Aug 16 - Asteroid 4115 Peternorton Closest Approach To Earth (2.123 AU) Aug 16 - Stuart Roosa's 85th Birthday (1933) Aug 16-17 - Planetary CubeSats Symposium, Greenbelt, Maryland Aug 16-20 - World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon 76), San Jose, California Aug 17 - Venus At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (46 Degrees)

Plate Tectonics Not Needed to Sustain Life Food for Thought Plate Tectonics Not Needed to Sustain Life

Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich Space Image of the Week Meteor before Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich