Space News Update - March 4, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Planets Plentiful Around Abundant Red Dwarf Stars, Study Says Story 2: Story 2: Curiosity Rover pauses mid-drive and captures Spectacular Martian Mountain Snapshot Story 3: Story 3: Lawmakers discuss potential Mars flyby mission in 2021 Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Planets Plentiful Around Abundant Red Dwarf Stars, Study Says

Curiosity Rover pauses mid-drive and captures Spectacular Martian Mountain Snapshot

Lawmakers discuss potential Mars flyby mission in 2021

The Night Sky Tuesday, March 4 Around the trailing foot of Gemini and top of Orion's Club are star clusters and nebulae both famous and obscure. Track them down with your telescope using Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders column, photos and chart in the March Sky & Telescope, page 56. Wednesday, March 5 The huge "Winter Diamond" of 2014 stands upright in the south around 8 p.m. now. It's formed by Jupiter on top and Sirius on the bottom — the two brightest points in the evening sky — and Procyon forming its left corner and Betelgeuse as its right corner. Thursday, March 6 After nightfall, look for Aldebaran to the upper left of the Moon and the Pleiades to the Moon's upper right, as shown below. The waxing Moon passes over Orion as it waxes through first quarter. These scenes are drawn for the middle of North America. European observers: move each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for the previous date. In the Far East, move it halfway. The blue 10° scale is about the size of your fist held at arm's length. Friday, March 7 Look below the Moon this evening for Aldebaran, as shown above. Aldebaran is an orange giant star 65 light- years from Earth. The Hyades stars around it are 150 light- years away. Far off to their left is Betelgeuse in the top of Orion. Less far to their right are the Pleiades. Sky & Telescope Saturday, March 8 At dusk the first-quarter Moon stands above Orion high in the south, as shown above. The bright light upper left of the Moon is Jupiter in Gemini. Daylight-saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday morning for most of North America. Clocks spring forward an hour.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: No Sightings This Week

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website March 4, Tuesday 2 p.m. - NASA Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Briefing - HQ/GSFC (All Channels) March 5, Wednesday 11:40 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Interviews with the Huffington Post and KGO-TV, San Francisco - JSC (All Channels) 12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 39/40 Qualification Training Simulation Runs at Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels) March 6, Thursday 2 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 38/39 Crew News Conference at Star City, Russia and Ceremonial Visit to Red Square in Moscow - JSC (All Channels) March 7, Friday 7:30 a.m. - Video B-roll Feed of ISS Expedition 39 Flight Engineer / Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA - JSC (All Channels) a.m. - Live Interviews with ISS Expedition 39 Flight Engineer / Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA from Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels) March 8, Saturday 12:40 p.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Event with the South x Southwest Conference in Austin, TX - JSC (All Channels)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Mar 04 - Comet 262P/McNaught-Russell At Opposition (3.918 AU)Comet 262P/McNaught-RussellAt Opposition Mar 04 - Comet C/2012 X2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.480 AU)Comet C/2012 X2 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Mar 04 - Asteroid 2410 Morrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.100 AU)Asteroid 2410 Morrison Mar 04 - Asteroid 1762 Russell Closest Approach To Earth (2.015 AU)Asteroid 1762 Russell Mar 05 - Comet P/2013 TL117 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (0.621 AU)Comet P/2013 TL117 (Lemmon)Closest Approach To Earth Mar 05 - Comet C/2013 E1 (McNaught) At Opposition (6.981 AU)Comet C/2013 E1 (McNaught)At Opposition Mar 05 - [Feb 27] Asteroid 2014 DP21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)Asteroid 2014 DP21Near-Earth Flyby Mar 05 - Asteroid 4987 Flamsteed Closest Approach To Earth (1.212 AU)Asteroid 4987 Flamsteed Mar 05 - Asteroid 896 Sphinx Closest Approach To Earth (1.304 AU)Asteroid 896 Sphinx Mar 05 - Asteroid Innsbrook Closest Approach To Earth (1.682 AU)Asteroid Innsbrook Mar 05 - Asteroid Brucebills Closest Approach To Earth (2.367 AU)Asteroid Brucebills Mar th Anniversary (1979), Voyager 1, Jupiter FlybyVoyager 1 Mar 06 - [Feb 28] Cassini, Titan FlybyCassini Mar 06 - Comet C/2013 B2 (Catalina) At Opposition (3.365 AU)Comet C/2013 B2 (Catalina)At Opposition Mar 06 - [Feb 25] Asteroid 2014 DO7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)Asteroid 2014 DO7Near-Earth Flyby Mar 06 - Asteroid Qumran Closest Approach To Earth (1.667 AU)Asteroid Qumran Mar 06 - Asteroid Sputnik Closest Approach To Earth (1.833 AU)Asteroid Sputnik Mar 06 - Asteroid Kimclijsters Closest Approach To Earth (2.782 AU)Asteroid Kimclijsters Mar th Anniversary (2009), Kepler LaunchKepler Mar 07 - Comet 52P/Harrington-Abell Perihelion (1.773 AU)Comet 52P/Harrington-AbellPerihelion Mar 07 - Comet 112P/Urata-Niijima At Opposition (1.894 AU)Comet 112P/Urata-NiijimaAt Opposition Mar 07 - Comet P/2010 T2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.589 AU)Comet P/2010 T2 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Mar 07 - [Mar 02] Asteroid 2014 DJ80 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)Asteroid 2014 DJ80Near-Earth Flyby Mar 07 - Asteroid 2014 CP13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.080 AU)Asteroid 2014 CP13Near-Earth Flyby Mar 07 - Asteroid 9342 Carygrant Closest Approach To Earth (1.673 AU)Asteroid 9342 Carygrant Mar 07 - Asteroid Rowling Closest Approach To Earth (2.234 AU)Asteroid Rowling Mar 08 - Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (1.416 AU)Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS)Perihelion Mar 08 - Asteroid 2013 YR2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU)Asteroid 2013 YR2Near-Earth Flyby

Food for Thought NEOWISE Spies Its First Comet

Space Image of the Week Image Credit & Copyright: Dietmar Hager, Torsten Grossmann NGC 7331 and Beyond