Space News Update - May 13, In the News Story 1: Story 1: New method of finding planets scores its first discovery Story 2: Story 2: NASA hopeful spacewalk fixed space station leak Story 3: Story 3: Curiosity Rover Team Selects Second Drilling Target on Mars Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

New method of finding planets scores its first discovery >

NASA hopeful spacewalk fixed space station leak

NASA Curiosity Rover Team Selects Second Drilling Target on Mars

The Night Sky Monday, May 13 · Three zero-magnitude stars shine after dark in May: Arcturus high in the southeast, Vega much lower in the northeast, and Capella in the northwest. They appear so bright because each is at least 60 times as luminous as the Sun, and they are all relatively nearby: 37, 25, and 42 light-years from us, respectively. Tuesday, May 14 · Arcturus, high in the southeast, is sometimes called the "Spring Star," and Vega low in the northeast is called the "Summer Star." Look a third of the way from Arcturus down to Vega for the dim semicircle of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, with its one brightish star Alphecca. Look two thirds of the way for the dim Keystone of Hercules. Wednesday, May 15 · During and after twilight, look below the Moon for Procyon. Look to the right of the Moon for Pollux and slightly fainter Castor. Thursday, May 16 · Just after nightfall at this time of year, Vega rising in the northeast is at the same altitude as Capella descending in the west. How accurately can you time this event? The time depends on your location, and wherever you are, it happens four minutes earlier each day. Friday, May 17 · Regulus and the Sickle of Leo shine above the first-quarter Moon this evening, as shown at right. The Moon is 1.3 light-seconds from Earth. Regulus is almost precisely 1 billion times farther at 42 light-years. Scale model: If the Moon were a BB at reading distance 15 inches from your face, Regulus would be a house-size, blue-white-hot fireball at the Moon's actual distance. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: SATELLITELOCALDURATION MAX ELEV APPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) ISSTue May 14/05:22 AM< above S ISSThu May 16/05:19 AM14711 above SSW23 above SSW ISSFri May 17/04:31 AM42613 above S16 above E

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website May 13, Monday 6:45 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35/Soyuz TMA-07M Undocking Coverage (undocking scheduled at 7:08 p.m. ET) - JSC (All Channels) 9:15 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35/Soyuz TMA-07M Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (Deorbit burn scheduled at 9:37 p.m. ET, landing near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan scheduled at 10:31 p.m. ET) - JSC via Kazakhstan (All Channels) May 14, Tuesday 12 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 35/Soyuz TMA-07M Landing and Post-Landing Activities - HQ (All Channels) 12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 35/Soyuz TMA-07M Landing and Post-Landing Activities; scheduled to include post-landing interviews with Expedition 35 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA and Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency and the return of Cosmonaut Roman Romanenko to Chkalovsky Airfield near Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels) 1 p.m. - NASA Astronaut Kevin Ford live from the Moving Beyond Earth Gallery at the National Air and Space Museum - HQ (All Channels) May 16, Thursday 10 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 36/37 Crew Departure for Baikonur, Kazakhstan from Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels) 12:15 p.m. - ISS Expedition 36 Google Plus Hangout Event with NASA Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy - JSC (All Channels) 12:45 p.m. - ISS Mission Control On-Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels)

Space Calendar May 13 - [May 13] Soyuz TMA-07M Returns To Earth (International Space Station)Soyuz TMA-07M Returns To Earth May 13 - Comet 114P/Wiseman-Skiff Perihelion (1.575 AU)Comet 114P/Wiseman-SkiffPerihelion May 13 - Comet 61P/Shajn-Schaldach At Opposition (3.844 AU)Comet 61P/Shajn-SchaldachAt Opposition May Planet Validation Workshop, Marseille, FrancePlanet Validation Workshop May 14 - Eutelsat 7B (W3-D) Proton M-Briz M LaunchEutelsat 7B (W3-D) May 14 - Comet C/2013 G1 (Kowalski) At Opposition (2.619 AU)Comet C/2013 G1 (Kowalski)At Opposition May 14 - Comet 206P/Barnard-Boattini At Opposition (3.134 AU)Comet 206P/Barnard-BoattiniAt Opposition May 14 - Asteroid Astronautica Closest Approach To Earth (1.108 AU)Asteroid Astronautica May 14 - Asteroid 477 Italia Closest Approach To Earth (1.450 AU)Asteroid 477 Italia May 14 - Asteroid 5799 Brewington Closest Approach To Earth (1.772 AU)Asteroid 5799 Brewington May 14 - Asteroid 9007 James Bond Closest Approach To Earth (1.788 AU)Asteroid 9007 James Bond May 14 - Asteroid 3780 Maury Closest Approach To Earth (1.869 AU)Asteroid 3780 Maury May 14 - Asteroid 3061 Cook Closest Approach To Earth (2.230 AU)Asteroid 3061 Cook May th Anniversary (1973), Skylab LaunchSkylab May 15 - [May 12] GPS 2F-4 Atlas 5 LaunchGPS 2F-4Atlas 5 Launch May 15 - Comet P/1999 D1 (Hermann) At Opposition (1.378 AU)Comet P/1999 D1 (Hermann)At Opposition May 15 - Comet 181P/Shoemaker-Levy At Opposition (2.918 AU)Comet 181P/Shoemaker-LevyAt Opposition May 15 - [May 12] Asteroid 2013 JL14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)Asteroid 2013 JL14Near-Earth Flyby May 15 - Asteroid 2010 LF14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)Asteroid 2010 LF14Near-Earth Flyby May th Anniversary (1963), Mercury 9 Launch (Gordon Cooper)Mercury 9 May 15 - Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille's 300th Birthtday (1713)Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille's May 16 - Comet 228P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (3.078 AU)Comet 228P/LINEARClosest Approach To Earth May 16 - Asteroid 2013 HT15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)Asteroid 2013 HT15Near-Earth Flyby May 16 - Asteroid Payton Closest Approach To Earth (1.836 AU)Asteroid Payton May 17 - Asteroid 5277 Brisbane Closest Approach To Earth (1.394 AU)Asteroid 5277 Brisbane JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Solar panels as inexpensive as paint? It's possible due to research at UB, elsewhere

Space Image of the Week Image Credit: NASA Solar Activity Surges