Space News Update - November 28, In the News Story 1: Story 1: NASA's Van Allen Probes Spot an Impenetrable Barrier in Space Story 2: Story 2: Delaying Death: Mercury Spacecraft Firing Engines To Stay Up Until 2015 Story 3: Story 3: “Eye of Sauron” Galaxy Used For New Method of Galactic Surveying Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA's Van Allen Probes Spot an Impenetrable Barrier in Space

Delaying Death: Mercury Spacecraft Firing Engines To Stay Up Until 2015

“Eye of Sauron” Galaxy Used For New Method of Galactic Surveying

The Night Sky Friday, November 28 First-quarter Moon (exactly so at 5:06 a.m. Saturday morning EST). Look for Fomalhaut far to its lower left, and Enif, the nose of Pegasus, almost as far to the Moon's upper right. Saturday, November 29 The Moon stands high in the south soon after nightfall, with the western side of the Great Square of Pegasus pointing down at it from above. By 10 or 11 p.m. now (depending in how far east or west you live in your time zone), the dim Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris. 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 Sat Nov 29, 4:45 AM1 min24°24 above SE11 above SE Sun Nov 30, 5:31 AM1 min15°15 above SSW10 above S

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website 8 p.m., Friday, November 28 - Expedition 42 Crew Profile (TRT- 5:55) (all channels) 8:06 p.m., Friday, November 28 - NASA Expedition 42 Flight Engineer and Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts (TRT- 45:05) (all channels) 9 p.m., Friday, November 28 - ESA Expedition 42/43 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti (TRT- 48:46) (all channels) 10 p.m., Friday, November 28 - Roscosmos Expedition 42/43 Flight Engineer Anton Shkaplerov (TRT- 39:49) (all channels) 11 p.m., Friday, November 28 - The STS-125 Crew, from SMA-4 -- the Last Mission to Hubble at the Intrepid Museum in New York - Get Ready to Celebrate 25 years of Hubble! (all channels) 6 a.m., 9 p.m. Saturday, November 29 - Expedition 42 Crew Profile (TRT- 5:55) (all channels) 6:06 a.m., 9:06 p.m. Saturday, November 29 - NASA Expedition 42 Flight Engineer and Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts (TRT- 45:05) (all channels) 7 a.m., 8 p.m. Saturday, November 29 - ESA Expedition 42/43 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti (TRT- 48:46) (all channels) 8 a.m., 7 p.m. Saturday, November 29 - Roscosmos Expedition 42/43 Flight Engineer Anton Shkaplerov (TRT- 39:49) (all channels) 9 a.m., 5 p.m. Saturday, November 29 - The STS-125 Crew, from SMA-4 -- the Last Mission to Hubble at the Intrepid Museum in New York - Get Ready to Celebrate 25 years of Hubble! (all channels) 6 a.m., Sunday, November 30 - The STS-125 Crew, from SMA-4 -- the Last Mission to Hubble at the Intrepid Museum in New York - Get Ready to Celebrate 25 years of Hubble! (all channels) 8 a.m., Sunday, November 30 - Expedition 42 Crew Profile (TRT- 5:55) (undefined, NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education), NTV-3 (Media)) 9 a.m., Sunday, November 30 - Roscosmos Expedition 42/43 Flight Engineer Anton Shkaplerov (TRT- 39:49) (all channels) 1 p.m., Monday, December 1 - Live Coverage of the Beautiful Earth Program Multimedia Performance and Science Dialogue with GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) Mission and Kenji William’s Bella Gaia (NTV-2 (Education)) 7:45 a.m., Tuesday, December 2 - ISS Expedition 42 In-Flight Event for ESA and Italian Media with Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti (interpretation included) (all channels) 12 p.m., Tuesday, December 2 - Journey To Mars Briefing (all channels) 1 p.m., Tuesday, December 2 - Orion Flight Test Status and Overview Briefing (all channels)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Nov 28 - [Nov 21] 50th Anniversary (1964), Mariner 4 Launch (Mars Flyby Mission)Mariner 4 Nov 28 - Comet 108P/Ciffreo Closest Approach To Earth (0.793 AU)Comet 108P/CiffreoClosest Approach To Earth Nov 28 - [Nov 27] Comet C/2014 W8 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.190 AU)Comet C/2014 W8 (PANSTARRS) Nov 28 - Comet C/2013 V4 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (4.723 AU)Comet C/2013 V4 (Catalina)Closest Approach To Earth Nov 28 - Asteroid 2459 Spellmann Occults HIP (6.0 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 2459 Spellmann Occults HIP Nov 28 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults HIP (10.1 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 3 Juno Occults HIP Nov 28 - [Nov 26] Asteroid 2014 WQ201 Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)Asteroid 2014 WQ201 Nov 28 - Asteroid 3838 Epona Closest Approach To Earth (1.282 AU)Asteroid 3838 EponaClosest Approach To Earth Nov 28 - Kuiper Belt Object (2007 UK126) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2007 UK126)At Opposition Nov 29 - [Nov 27] Asteroid 2014 WU202 Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)Asteroid 2014 WU202 Nov 29 - [Nov 23] Asteroid 2014 WE120 Near-Earth Flyby (0.048 AU)Asteroid 2014 WE120 Nov 29 - Asteroid 1862 Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (0.620 AU)Asteroid 1862 ApolloClosest Approach To Earth Nov 29 - Asteroid Mauna Loa Closest Approach To Earth (1.641 AU)Asteroid Mauna Loa Nov 29 - Asteroid Rio de Janeiro Closest Approach To Earth (1.692 AU)Asteroid Rio de Janeiro Nov 29 - Centaur Object 8405 Asbolus At Opposition ( AU)Centaur Object 8405 AsbolusAt Opposition Nov 30 - [Nov 23] Hayabusa 2/ Sinen 2/ Despatch (Artsat 2)/ Procyon H-2A Launch (Japan Asteroid Sample Return Mission)Hayabusa 2Sinen 2Despatch (Artsat 2)ProcyonH-2A Launch Nov 30 - Comet 306P/LINEAR At Opposition (0.922 AU)Comet 306P/LINEARAt Opposition Nov 30 - Asteroid Izhdubar Closest Approach To Earth (0.986 AU)Asteroid IzhdubarClosest Approach To Earth Nov th Anniversary (1954), Sylacauga Meteorite Fall (Hit Woman in Alabama)Sylacauga Meteorite Dec 01 - Asteroid 2014 UY Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)Asteroid 2014 UYNear-Earth Flyby Dec 01 - Asteroid Moa Closest Approach To Earth (1.425 AU)Asteroid Moa Dec 01 - Asteroid 1159 Granada Closest Approach To Earth (1.522 AU)Asteroid 1159 Granada Dec 01 - Kuiper Belt Object 2006 QH181 At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object 2006 QH181At Opposition Dec th Anniversary (1959), 1st Color Photo of Earth Taken From Space (Thor Missile)Thor Missile Dec 02 - Moon Occults UranusMoon Occults Uranus Dec 02 - Comet P/2010 B2 (WISE) At Opposition (1.355 AU)Comet P/2010 B2 (WISE)At Opposition Dec 02 - [Nov 22] Comet P/2014 W1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (1.696 AU)Comet P/2014 W1 (PANSTARRS) Dec 02 - Comet C/2014 R1 (Borisov) Closest Approach To Earth (1.825 AU)Comet C/2014 R1 (Borisov)Closest Approach To Earth Dec 02 - Comet P/2010 J5 (McNaught) At Opposition (3.398 AU)Comet P/2010 J5 (McNaught)At Opposition Dec 02 - [Nov 22] Comet P/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.224 AU)Comet P/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS) Dec 02 - [Nov 25] Asteroid 2014 WC201 Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU)Asteroid 2014 WC201 Dec 02 - Asteroid 2014 SF145 Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)Asteroid 2014 SF145 Dec 02 - Asteroid 4416 Ramses Closest Approach To Earth (0.961 AU)Asteroid 4416 Ramses Dec 02 - Asteroid Frankherbert Closest Approach To Earth (1.986 AU)Asteroid Frankherbert Dec 02 - [Nov 21] 25th Anniversary (1989), Solar Maximum Mission Reenters Earth's AtmosphereSolar Maximum Mission Dec th Anniversary (1974), Pioneer 11, Jupiter FlybyPioneer 11

Food for Thought DNA may survive suborbital spaceflight, re-entry

Space Image of the Week Portrait of NGC 281 Image Credit & Copyright: Martin PughCopyrightMartin Pugh