Space News Update - March 24, 2015 - In the News Departments Story 1: Spacecraft Data Suggest Saturn Moon's Ocean May Harbor Hydrothermal Activity Story 2: Rosetta Makes First Detection of Molecular Nitrogen at a Comet Story 3: America's First One-Year Space Voyage Has Astronaut Excited Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Spacecraft Data Suggest Saturn Moon's Ocean May Harbor Hydrothermal Activity 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)

Rosetta Makes First Detection of Molecular Nitrogen at a Comet Ratchet Wrench ‘E-mailed’ to Space Station

America's First One-Year Space Voyage Has Astronaut Excited

The Night Sky Tuesday, March 24 The Moon shines amid the big, loose Hyades cluster for the Americas. The Moon occults Aldebaran for Alaska and northwestern Canada; Wednesday, March 25 Look well to the left of the Moon this evening for Betelgeuse in the top of declining Orion. Look lower right of the Moon for similarly-colored Aldebaran, not quite as bright, in Taurus. Thursday, March 26 The first-quarter Moon shines above Orion and below Gemini this evening. If you have a dark enough sky (or binoculars), you can see that the Moon is in or near Orion's dim, upraised club. Friday, March 27 This evening the Moon forms a big kite shape with bright Jupiter far to its left, Pollux to the Moon's upper left, and Procyon to its lower left. Comet Lovejoy, now a long-time visitor to our night sky, lies poised at the limit of naked eye visibility. Hovering around magnitude 5.8, the comet looks like a faint star from a dark sky, yet remains a beautiful object in binoculars and telescopes. What's more, the comet will be incredibly easy to find in the coming weeks as it slips by the familiar W shape of Cassiopeia. With the Moon now rising after midnight, Comet Lovejoy is up for hours in a dark sky, just waiting for you to drop by. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Mar 24, 5:37 AM 2 min 12° 10 above N 10 above NE Wed Mar 25, 4:44 AM 1 min 10° 10 above NNE Wed Mar 25, 6:19 AM 3 min 23° 11 above NNW 21 above NE Thu Mar 26, 5:26 AM 16° 10 above NNW 14 above NE Fri Mar 27, 4:34 AM 12 above N 11 above NE Fri Mar 27, 6:08 AM 4 min 41° 10 above NW 35 above ENE 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 24 9:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 43 In-Flight Educational Event for ESA with the Mission X Program and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti (all channels) 2 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 43 Crew Activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan and Soyuz TMA-16M Vehicle Mating Operations (all channels) Wednesday, March 25 12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 43 Soyuz TMA-16M Spacecraft Rollout to the Launch Pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Launch Pad Interviews (all channels) Thursday, March 26 2 p.m. - Replay of the Russian State Commission Meeting and Final Expedition 43 Pre-Launch Crew News Conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan (all channels) Friday, March 27 2:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 43 Soyuz TMA-16M Launch Coverage (includes video B-roll of the crew’s pre-launch activities at 2:40 p.m. ET, Launch scheduled at 3:42 p.m.) (all channels) 6 p.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 43 Soyuz TMA-16M Pre-Launch, Launch Video B-Roll and Related Interviews (all channels) 8:45 p.m. - ISS Expedition 43 Soyuz TMA-16M Docking Coverage (all channels) 10:45 p.m. - ISS Expedition 43 Soyuz TMA-16M Hatch Opening and Other Activities (all channels)   Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Mar 24 - Comet 44P/Reinmuth Perihelion (2.119 AU) Mar 24 - Comet 169P/NEAT Closest Approach To Earth (2.880 AU) Mar 24 - Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Closest Approach To Earth (1.740 AU) Mar 24 - Asteroid 9879 Mammuthus Closest Approach To Earth (1.928 AU) Mar 24 - 85th Anniversary (1930), Pluto is Officially Named Mar 25 - GPS 2F-9 Delta 4 Launch Mar 25 - Kompsat 3A Dnepr 1 Launch Mar 25 - Comet P/2008 WZ96 (LINEAR) Perihelion (1.647 AU) Mar 25 - Comet C/2014 N2 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (2.258 AU) Mar 25 - Comet P/2011 R3 (Novichonok-Gerke) At Opposition (4.367 AU) Mar 25 - Asteroid 2015 FN34 Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU) Mar 25 - Asteroid 1864 Daedalus Closest Approach To Earth (1.176 AU) Mar 25 - Asteroid 7470 Jabberwock Closest Approach To Earth (1.178 AU) Mar 25 - Asteroid 149 Medusa Closest Approach To Earth (1.272 AU) Mar 25 - Asteroid 3430 Bradfield Closest Approach To Earth (1.961 AU) Mar 25 - Asteroid 48575 Hawaii Closest Approach To Earth (1.993 AU) Mar 25 - 360th Anniversary (1655), Christiaan Huygens' Discovery of Saturn Moon Titan Mar 26 - IGS-Optical 5 H-2A Launch Mar 26 - Comet C/2013 G9 (Tenagra) Closest Approach To Earth (4.424 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 2015 FX33 Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 2015 FP33 Near-Earth Flyby (0.048 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 2015 FC Near-Earth Flyby (0.007 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 325102 (2008 EY5) Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 8553 Bradsmith Closest Approach To Earth (1.316 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 2322 Kitt Peak Closest Approach To Earth (1.384 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 6470 Aldrin Closest Approach To Earth (1.583 AU) Mar 26 - Asteroid 67 Asia Closest Approach To Earth (1.663 AU) Mar 26 - 175th Anniversary (1840), 1st Moon Photo Taken by John Draper JPL Space Calendar

EVA at 50: Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov Took 1st Spacewalk 50 Years Ago New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought EVA at 50: Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov Took 1st Spacewalk 50 Years Ago

A Double Eclipse of the Sun Image Credit & Copyright: Thierry Legault Space Image of the Week A Double Eclipse of the Sun Image Credit & Copyright: Thierry Legault