Space News Update - April 1, In the News Story 1: Story 1: SLS positioning for ARRM and Europa missions Story 2: Story 2: Soyuz docks with International Space Station Story 3: Story 3: Opportunity Rover Gets Power Boost from Wind Events on Mars Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

SLS positioning for ARRM and Europa missions

Soyuz docks with International Space Station

Opportunity Rover Gets Power Boost from Wind Events on Mars

The Night Sky Tuesday, April 1 The biggest and brightest asteroids, 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta respectively, are only about 2° apart in eastern Virgo, some 12° northeast of Mars. They've brightened to magnitudes 7.1 and 5.9, respectively. They'll be at opposition in mid-April. Use our finder chart for Ceres and Vesta.finder chart for Ceres and Vesta Wednesday, April 2 The crescent Moon shines below the Pleiades, Aldebaran, and the V-shaped Hyades, as shown above. Thursday, April 3 With binoculars or a telescope, North Americans can watch the waxing crescent Moon crossing the Hyades star cluster. The Moon's dark, earthlit limb will occult three 4th- and 5th-magnitude stars depending on where you are, as told in the April Sky & Telescope, page 50. Friday, April 4 Spot Mars and Spica in the southeast after dark and look far left from them to find Arcturus, the "Spring Star," shining in the east. Arcturus forms the pointy bottom of the long, narrow kite asterism made by the brightest stars of Bootes. The kite is currently lying on its side to the left of Arcturus, with its head at the far left bent slightly upward. The kite is 23° long, about two fist-widths at arm's length. Saturday, April 5 The Moon passes below Jupiter in Gemini this weekend, as shown at right Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Tue Apr 1, 5:12 AM5 min55°22 above NW11 above ESE Wed Apr 2, 4:25 AM2 min30°30 above NE10 above E Wed Apr 2, 5:59 AM5 min27°11 above WNW11 above SSE Thu Apr 3, 5:12 AM3 min50°49 above WSW10 above SE Fri Apr 4, 4:26 AM< 1 min11°11 above SE Fri Apr 4, 9:02 PM1 min23°11 above SSW23 above SSW Sat Apr 5, 8:13 PM4 min22°11 above S16 above E Sat Apr 5, 9:49 PM1 min20°10 above WSW20 above W

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website April 1, Tuesday 12:30 p.m. - Deep Space Network’s 50th Anniversary NASA Social - JPL (NTV-1, NTV-2) April 3, Thursday 8:15 a.m. - ISS Expedition 39 In-Flight Interview for JAXA with TV Tokyo (native language on NTV-3) - JSC (All Channels)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Apr 01 - Asteroid 3902 Yoritomo Occults HIP (6.5 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 3902 Yoritomo Occults HIP Apr 01 - Asteroid 2009 SA100 Near-Earth Flyby (0.044 AU)Asteroid 2009 SA100Near-Earth Flyby Apr 01 - Asteroid 2010 GD35 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)Asteroid 2010 GD35Near-Earth Flyby Apr 01 - Asteroid 2009 FD Near-Earth Flyby (0.101 AU)Asteroid 2009 FDNear-Earth Flyby Apr 01 - Asteroid 3297 Hong Kong Closest Approach To Earth (2.584 AU)Asteroid 3297 Hong Kong Apr 02 - Comet 297P/Beshore Closest Approach To Earth (1.563 AU)Comet 297P/BeshoreClosest Approach To Earth Apr 02 - Comet C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (1.794 AU)Comet C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Apr 02 - Comet 119P/Parker-Hartley Perihelion (3.027 AU)Comet 119P/Parker-HartleyPerihelion Apr 02 - Comet 78P/Gehrels At Opposition (3.862 AU)Comet 78P/GehrelsAt Opposition Apr 02 - Asteroid 1014 Semphyra Occults HIP (4.5 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 1014 Semphyra Occults HIP Apr 02 - Asteroid 2014 EQ12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)Asteroid 2014 EQ12Near-Earth Flyby Apr 02 - [Mar 30] Asteroid 2014 FL38 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)Asteroid 2014 FL38Near-Earth Flyby Apr 02 - Asteroid Santiago Closest Approach To Earth (1.150 AU)Asteroid Santiago Apr 02 - Asteroid Oscarwilde Closest Approach To Earth (1.341 AU)Asteroid Oscarwilde Apr 02 - Asteroid 3720 Hokkaido Closest Approach To Earth (1.428 AU)Asteroid 3720 Hokkaido Apr 02 - Asteroid 7088 Ishtar Closest Approach To Earth (1.915 AU)Asteroid 7088 IshtarClosest Approach To Earth Apr 02 - Asteroid 6701 Warhol Closest Approach To Earth (1.967 AU)Asteroid 6701 Warhol Apr 02 - Asteroid Typhon Closest Approach To Earth ( AU)Asteroid TyphonClosest Approach To Earth Apr th Anniversary (1964), Zond 1 Launch (USSR Venus Flyby Mission)Zond 1 Apr th Anniversary (1959), Selection Of The Mercury 7 AstronautsSelection Of The Mercury 7 Astronauts Apr 03 - [Mar 28] DMSP F-19 Atlas 5 LaunchDMSP F-19Atlas 5 Launch Apr 03 - Comet P/2007 C1 (Christensen) Closest Approach To Earth (1.421 AU)Comet P/2007 C1 (Christensen)Closest Approach To Earth Apr 03 - Comet 281P/MOSS Closest Approach To Earth (3.613 AU)Comet 281P/MOSSClosest Approach To Earth Apr 03 - Comet P/2008 T1 (Boattini) At Opposition (3.871 AU)Comet P/2008 T1 (Boattini)At Opposition Apr 03 - Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults TYC (11.3 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults TYC Apr 03 - Asteroid 2014 EC49 Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)Asteroid 2014 EC49Near-Earth Flyby

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Apr 04 - Sentinel 1A Soyuz-STB Fregat-MT LaunchSentinel 1ASoyuz-STB Fregat-MT Launch Apr 04 - [Mar 30] IRNSS 1B/ Swayam PSLV-XL LaunchIRNSS 1BSwayam Apr 04 - Comet P/2010 A2 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.334 AU)Comet P/2010 A2 (LINEAR)Closest Approach To Earth Apr 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #376 (OTM-376)Cassini Apr 04 - Asteroid 2013 TT5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)Asteroid 2013 TT5Near-Earth Flyby Apr 04 - Asteroid Rafaelnadal Closest Approach To Earth (1.162 AU)Asteroid Rafaelnadal Apr 04 - Asteroid 2266 Tchaikovsky Closest Approach To Earth (2.637 AU)Asteroid 2266 Tchaikovsky Apr 05 - Comet 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT At Opposition (4.277 AU)Comet 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEATAt Opposition Apr 05 - Asteroid Apophis Closest Approach To Earth (0.376 AU)Asteroid ApophisClosest Approach To Earth Apr 05 - Asteroid 2956 Yeomans Closest Approach To Earth (1.580 AU)Asteroid 2956 Yeomans Apr 05 - Asteroid Ohm Closest Approach To Earth (1.953 AU)Asteroid Ohm Apr 05 - Asteroid 6594 Tasman Closest Approach To Earth (2.014 AU)Asteroid 6594 Tasman Apr 05 - Judith Resnick's 65th Birthday (1949)Judith Resnick's

Food for Thought Satellite Shows High Productivity from U.S. Corn Belt

Space Image of the Week Image Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA Io in True Color