Space News Update - February 1, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Lockheed Martin joins Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser team Story 2: Story 2: 'Habitable zone' redefined for alien planets — and maybe life Story 3: Story 3: NASA's SDO Provides First Sightings of How a CME Forms Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Lockheed Martin joins Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser team

'Habitable zone' redefined for alien planets — and maybe life >

NASA's SDO Provides First Sightings of How a CME Forms

The Night Sky Friday, February 1 · The sky's biggest well-known asterism (informal star pattern) is the Winter Hexagon or Winter Circle. It fills the sky toward the east and south these evenings. Start with brilliant Sirius at its bottom. Going clockwise from there, march through Procyon, then Pollux and Castor, then Menkalinen and Capella overhead, down to Aldebaran (overshone by Jupiter this season!), down to Rigel, and back to Sirius. Saturday, February 2 · Your latitude makes a big difference in how the constellations appear. (Your longitude does not.) For instance, if you're as far north as 46° — roughly Portland, Minneapolis, Montreal, central France ° bright Capella passes straight through your zenith sometime around 8 or 9 p.m. If you're as far south as 21° N — roughly Guadalajara, Cuba, the mid-Sahara, Kolkata — Jupiter currently crosses straight overhead in the evening. Wherever you are, they now pass closest to your zenith exactly one hour apart, with Jupiter going first.

The Night Sky Sunday, February 3 · February is when Orion stands highest in the south in early evening. And this season, Orion is framed between the two brightest points in the sky: Jupiter high to its upper right and Sirius down to its lower left. Introduce them to someone! Monday, February 4 · Jupiter's biggest moon, Ganymede, fades into eclipse by Jupiter's shadow around 7:35 p.m. EST. It reappears around 9:53 p.m. EST. Both events take place just east of the planet. Europa happens to be just south of Ganymede's reappearance point, by a bit less than a Jupiter diameter. When can you detect the first trace of Ganymede coming back? Later, Jupiter's Great Red Spot rotates across the planet's centerline at 11:25 p.m. EST.

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

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website February 1, Friday 1 p.m. - Replay of Kennedy Space Center’s Day of Remembrance Ceremony - HQ (All Channels) 8 p.m. - Replay of Kennedy Space Center’s Day of Remembrance Ceremony - HQ (All Channels) February 4, Monday 8 p.m. - Science Uncut - Arctic on the Edge? - HQ (All Channels)

Space Calendar Feb 01 - [Jan 29] 10th Anniversary (2003), Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster Feb 01 - Comet 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett Perihelion (3.704 AU) Feb 01 - Asteroid 3918 Brel Occults HIP (6.9 Magnitude Star) Feb 01 - Asteroid Hokule'a Occults HIP (6.2 Magnitude Star) Feb 01 - Asteroid 2012 YN6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.054 AU) Feb 01 - Asteroid CCD Closest Approach To Earth (1.797 AU) Feb 01 - Asteroid 1143 Odysseus Closest Approach To Earth (3.864 AU) Feb 02 - Comet P/2000 R2 (LINEAR) Perihelion (1.458 AU) Feb 03 - Comet 244P/Scotti Closest Approach To Earth (3.188 AU) Feb 03 - Asteroid 2013 BS15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU) Feb 03 - Asteroid 5000 IAU Closest Approach To Earth (1.708 AU) Feb 03 - Asteroid 716 Berkeley Closest Approach To Earth (1.736 AU) Feb 03 - Asteroid 4104 Alu Closest Approach To Earth (1.865 AU) Feb 03 - Asteroid Robinhood Closest Approach To Earth (1.922 AU) Feb 03 - Asteroid 1031 Arctica Closest Approach To Earth (1.984 AU) Feb 04 - Mars Passes 0.5 Degrees From Neptune Feb 04 - Comet C/2012 C1 (McNaught) Perihelion (4.838 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid 2003 BN4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid 7816 Hanoi Closest Approach To Earth (1.382 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid Spector Closest Approach To Earth (1.422 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid 472 Roma Closest Approach To Earth (1.477 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid 6042 Chesirecat Closest Approach To Earth (2.547 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid Babylon Closest Approach To Earth (3.083 AU) Feb 04 - Asteroid 5254 Ulysses Closest Approach To Earth (4.157 AU) JPL Space Calendar Crew of STS-107: From left to right are mission specialist David Brown, commander Rick Husband, mission specialist Laurel Clark, mission specialist Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist Michael Anderson, pilot William McCool, and Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon.

Food for Thought Obama Honors Astronauts Who Gave Their Lives for Space

Space Image of the Week Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)