Space News Update - November 12, In the News Story 1: Story 1: The Van Allen Probes: Honoring the Origins of Magnetospheric Science Story 2: Story 2: Weber State Scientists Discover Possible Building Blocks of Ancient Genetic Systems Story 3: Story 3: Giant tracking station readies for operation Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

The Van Allen Probes: Honoring the Origins of Magnetospheric Science On Nov. 9, 2012, NASA renamed the Radiation Belt Storm Probes to the Van Allen Probes. The probes, shown here in an artist's rendition, will help scientists study two giant belts of radiation around Earth. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Weber State Scientists Discover Possible Building Blocks of Ancient Genetic Systems AEG [N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine] is a small molecule which when polymerized can form a peptide nucleic acid backbone.

Giant tracking station readies for operation Beautiful sunset view of ESA's new 35m deep space station, Malargüe, AR, as seen by Salvador Marti, from the ESTRACK team. On Friday, 24 August, 2012, Mars Express became the first mission to downlink telemetry via Malargüe station. It will enter formal service in early 2013.

The Night Sky Tuesday, November 13 Orion is up in the east by about 9 p.m. now, depending on where you live in your time zone. Orion's three-star Belt is nearly vertical. Orange Betelgeuse is to the Belt's left and white Rigel is to its right. Earlier in the evening, keep watch for Betelgeuse rising far below Jupiter. A total eclipse of the Sun crosses parts of Australia and the South Pacific; details. Wednesday, November 14 Vega is the brightest star in the west in early evening. The brightest far left of it, in the southwest, is Altair. Altair's 3rd-magnitude companion Gamma Aquilae (Tarazed), a finger's width at arm's length from it, is now to Altair's right. Thursday, November 15 The thin waxing crescent Moon shines to the right of distant little Mars in evening twilight, as shown here. Friday, November 16 Spot the crescent Moon in the west as twilight fades, and use it to guide your way down to little Mars, as shown here. The Leonid meteor shower, normally weak but occasionally surprising, should be at its best in the hours before dawn Saturday morning. Under a dark sky you may see about a dozen to 20 Leonids per hour. There is no Moon.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: SATELLITELOCALDURATIONMAX ELEVAPPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) ISSTue Nov 13/05:28 AM65910 above SW11 above ENE ISSWed Nov 14/04:42 AM23130 above SSE22 above E ISSWed Nov 14/06:16 AM53111 above W13 above NNE ISSThu Nov 15/05:28 AM44931 above W11 above NE ISSFri Nov 16/04:41 AM23232 above NE12 above NE ISSFri Nov 16/06:14 AM above WNW 10 above NNE

NASA-TV Highlights November 12, Monday 8 a.m., 7 p.m. – ISS Update Replay (11/5) – HQ (All Channels) 9 a.m., 8 p.m. – ISS Update Replay (11/6) – HQ (All Channels) 10 a.m., 9 p.m. – ISS Update Replay (11/7) – HQ (All Channels) 11 a.m., 10 p.m. – ISS Update Replay (11/8) – HQ (All Channels) 1 p.m., 11 p.m. - Interview with Expedition 34 Flight Engineer and Expedition 35 Commander Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield (59:00) – HQ (Public and Media Channels) 2 p.m. – Interview with Expedition 34/35 Flight Engineer Russian Cosmonaut Roman Romanenko (37:00) – HQ (Public and Media Channels) 4 p.m. - Interview with Expedition 34/35 Flight Engineer NASA Astronaut Tom Marshburn (36:00) - HQ (Public and Media Channels) November 14, Wednesday 7:50 a.m. - ISS Expedition 33 Interview for JAXA with Japanese University Students (in native language on the Public and Media Channels; interpreted replay to be broadcast during ISS Update at 11 a.m. ET) - JSC (Public and Media Channels) November 15, Thursday 11:30 a.m. - Educational Event with the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum (Program begins at 11:35 a.m. EST, includes ISS Expedition 33 In-Flight Event at 11:45 a.m. ET) - HQ via JSC (All Channels) November 16, Friday 9 a.m. – ISS Update – JSC (Public and Media Channels) Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website

Space Calendar Nov 12 - Comet C/2012 C1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.874 AU)Comet C/2012 C1 (McNaught)Closest Approach To Earth Nov 12 - Asteroid 1999 VR6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)Asteroid 1999 VR6Near-Earth Flyby Nov 12 - Asteroid 2001 YM2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)Asteroid 2001 YM2Near-Earth Flyby Nov 12 - Asteroid 671 Carnegia Closest Approach To Earth (1.952 AU)Asteroid 671 Carnegia Nov 12 - Asteroid Tell Closest Approach To Earth (2.263 AU)Asteroid Tell Nov 13 - [Nov 06] Total Solar Eclipse, Visible From Australia & S. PacificTotal Solar Eclipse Nov 13 - [Nov 09] Cassini, Titan FlybyCassiniTitan Flyby Nov 13 - Comet P/2012 T7 (Vorobjov) Closest Approach To Earth (2.982 AU)Comet P/2012 T7 (Vorobjov)Closest Approach To Earth Nov th Anniversary (2007), Rosetta, 2nd Earth FlybyRosetta Nov 14 - Cosmos-Glonass K1 N2 Soyuz 2-1B-Fregat LaunchCosmos-Glonass Nov 14 - [Nov 06] Meridian 6 Soyuz 2-1A-Fregat LaunchMeridian 6 Nov 14 - Asteroid 2012 UY68 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)Asteroid 2012 UY68Near-Earth Flyby Nov 14 - Asteroid 4659 Roddenberry Closest Approach To Earth (0.907 AU)Asteroid 4659 Roddenberry Nov 14 - Asteroid Lucy Closest Approach To Earth (2.571 AU)Asteroid Lucy Nov 15 - Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain Closest Approach To Earth (0.946 AU)Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain Nov 15 - Kuiper Belt Object Sedna At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object SednaAt Opposition Nov 16 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #335 (OTM-335)Cassini Nov 16 - Moon Occults PlutoMoon Occults Pluto JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Connecting to a LEGO Robot via the Interplanetary Internet

Space Image of the Week Meteor and Moonbow over Wallaman Falls