Space News Update - July 1, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Mars entry test vehicle, parachute recovered; engineers elated Story 2: Story 2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Ready to Blast Off Story 3: Story 3: How to See Pluto at Opposition as New Horizons Crosses the One Year Out Mark Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Mars entry test vehicle, parachute recovered; engineers elated

Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Ready to Blast Off

How to See Pluto at Opposition as New Horizons Crosses the One Year Out Mark

The Night Sky Tuesday, July 1 Ceres and Vesta at their closest. The two leading asteroids, currently magnitudes 8.4 and 7.1, are closing right in on each other as seen on the sky. They're not far above Mars and Spica after dark. They are within 1/3° of each other for the next week and will appear closest together, just 1/6° apart, on the evenings of July 4th and 5th. See the article in the July Sky & Telescope, page 50. Here's a printable Ceres and Vesta finder chart. Wednesday, July 2 Can your scope separate a double star 1.0 arcsecond wide? High overhead, 44 Bootis provides a fine test! And one of its components is a weird variable star too. See the article and chart in the July Sky & Telescope, page 52. Thursday, July 3 Vega is the brightest star very high in the east these evenings. The brightest to its lower left is Deneb. Farther to Vega's lower right is Altair. These make up the big Summer Triangle. If you have a dark sky, you can see that the glowing band of the Milky Way runs through it. Earth is at aphelion, its farthest from the Sun for But it's only 3% farther than at perihelion in January; Earth's orbit is nearly round and nearly centered on the Sun. Friday, July 4 Out to watch fireworks? As you're waiting for twilight to end, spot the Moon in the west-southwest with Mars and Spica off to its left, as shown here. High above them all shines brighter Arcturus. Point these out to your family!Ceres and Vesta appear just 1/6° apart this evening and tomorrow evening; see July 1 above. Saturday, July 5 First-quarter Moon. The half-lit Moon is quite close to Mars as seen from North America. The Moon occults (hides) Mars during daylight for Hawaii and at dusk or night in parts of Latin America; map and timetables. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: No sightings for Denver through July 11, 2014

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website Tuesday, July 1 3:45 a.m. - Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Launch Coverage (all channels) 7:45 a.m. - ISS Expedition 40 In-Flight Interviews with the NBC “Today” Show and WJZ-TV, Baltimore (all channels) 8:30 a.m. - Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Post-Launch News Conference (all channels)

 Jul 01 - [Jun 24] Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) Delta 2 LaunchOrbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2)Delta 2 Launch  Jul 01 - Comet 104P/Kowal At Opposition (3.672 AU)Comet 104P/KowalAt Opposition  Jul 01 - Asteroid 2011 UZ255 Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU)Asteroid 2011 UZ255Near-Earth Flyby  Jul 01 - Asteroid (2003 EE16) Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)Asteroid (2003 EE16)Near-Earth Flyby  Jul 01 - Asteroid Greeley Closest Approach To Earth (0.641 AU)Asteroid Greeley  Jul 01 - Asteroid 2511 Patterson Closest Approach To Earth (1.045 AU)Asteroid 2511 Patterson  Jul 01 - Asteroid 8722 Schirra Closest Approach To Earth (1.343 AU)Asteroid 8722 Schirra  Jul 01 - Asteroid Ararat Closest Approach To Earth (1.367 AU)Asteroid Ararat  Jul 01 - Asteroid 6136 Gryphon Closest Approach To Earth (2.195 AU)Asteroid 6136 Gryphon  Jul th Anniversary (1999), Giotto, Earth FlybyGiotto  Jul 02 - Rosetta, Trajectory Correction ManeuverRosettaTrajectory Correction Maneuver  Jul 02 - Comet C/2014 E2 (Jacques) Perihelion (0.664 AU)Comet C/2014 E2 (Jacques)Perihelion  Jul 02 - Comet 280P/Larsen Closest Approach To Earth (1.967 AU)Comet 280P/LarsenClosest Approach To Earth  Jul 02 - Comet 63P/Wild At Opposition (3.280 AU)Comet 63P/WildAt Opposition  Jul 02 - Comet 60P/Tsuchinshan At Opposition (3.889 AU)Comet 60P/TsuchinshanAt Opposition  Jul 02 - [Jun 30] Asteroid 2014 MJ26 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)Asteroid 2014 MJ26Near-Earth Flyby  Jul 02 - Asteroid 426 Hippo Closest Approach To Earth (1.955 AU)Asteroid 426 Hippo  Jul 02 - Asteroid Alaska Closest Approach To Earth (2.158 AU)Asteroid Alaska  Jul 02 - Asteroid 325 Heidelberga Closest Approach To Earth (2.540 AU)Asteroid 325 Heidelberga  Jul 02 - Asteroid Sinbad Closest Approach To Earth (3.554 AU)Asteroid Sinbad  Jul 03 - Comet C/2010 S1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (5.624 AU)Comet C/2010 S1 (LINEAR)Closest Approach To Earth  Jul 03 - Asteroid 797 Montana Closest Approach To Earth (1.414 AU)Asteroid 797 Montana  Jul 03 - Asteroid 1537 Transylvania Closest Approach To Earth (2.012 AU)Asteroid 1537 Transylvania  Jul 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #384 (OTM-384)Cassini  Jul 04 - Earth At Aphelion (1.017 AU From Sun)EarthAt Aphelion  Jul 04 - Comet 222P/LINEAR Perihelion (0.784)Comet 222P/LINEARPerihelion  Jul 04 - Comet C/2013 D1 (Holvorcem) At Opposition (3.607 AU)Comet C/2013 D1 (Holvorcem)At Opposition  Jul 04 - Comet 228P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.633 AU)Comet 228P/LINEARAt Opposition  Jul 04 - Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (5.264 AU)Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS)Perihelion  Jul 04 - Asteroid 3635 Kreutz Closest Approach To Earth (0.991 AU)Asteroid 3635 Kreutz  Jul 04 - Asteroid Berners-Lee Closest Approach To Earth (1.477 AU)Asteroid Berners-Lee  Jul th Anniversary (1054), The Crab Nebula SupernovaThe Crab Nebula Supernova  Jul 05 - Comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina) Perihelion (1.081 AU)Comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina)  Jul 05 - Comet 230P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.016 AU)Comet 230P/LINEARAt Opposition  Jul 05 - Asteroid 1432 Ethiopia Closest Approach To Earth (1.064 AU)Asteroid 1432 Ethiopia  Jul 05 - Asteroid 1225 Ariane Closest Approach To Earth (1.382 AU)Asteroid 1225 Ariane  Jul 05 - Asteroid 2483 Guinevere Closest Approach To Earth (3.893 AU)Asteroid 2483 Guinevere  Jul 05 - [Jun 24] Dwarf Planet Pluto At Opposition ( AU)Dwarf Planet PlutoAt Opposition Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Cassini Celebrates 10 Years Exploring Saturn

Space Image of the Week Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari Peculiar Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A