Space News Update - May 6, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Bright, Long-Lasting GRB Sets Energy Output Record Story 2: Story 2: Success Continues as NASA's Orion Parachute Tests Get More Difficult Story 3: Story 3: New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Bright, Long-Lasting GRB Sets Energy Output Record >

Success Continues as NASA's Orion Parachute Tests Get More Difficult

New analysis suggests wind, not water, formed mound on Mars

The Night Sky Monday, May 6 · The brightest star high in the southeast after nightfall is Arcturus. Far to its lower right are Spica and, lower, Saturn. To the right of these two, look for the quadrilateral of Corvus, the Crow. Tuesday, May 7 · Summer is more than six weeks away, but the Summer Triangle is making its appearance in the east one star after another. The first in view is Vega. It's already visible low in the northeast as twilight fades. Next up is Deneb, lower left of Vega by two or three fists at arm's length. Deneb takes about an hour to appear after Vega does, depending on your latitude. The third is Altair, which doesn't show up far to their lower right until around midnight. Wednesday, May 8 · If you're up around midnight, go out and look southeast for a preview of summery Scorpius rearing up into good view, sporting fiery Antares as its heart.

The Night Sky Thursday, May 9 · The famous binary star Gamma Virginis (Porrima) has widened to a separation of 2 arcseconds this spring, after being too close for amateur telescopes to resolve for much of the previous decade. It's the 3rd-magnitude star 15° upper right of Spica these evenings. · New Moon, exact at 8:28 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Friday, May 10 · Young Moon challenge. Have you ever seen a crescent Moon as young as about 24 hours? Not many people have, and now's your chance from North America. Look just above the west-northwest horizon starting 15 minutes after sunset. The Moon is there close to Venus! Binoculars help, then try with your naked eyes. Note the time, and determine how long this is since the time of new Moon in yesterday's listing above. · An annular eclipse of the Sun crosses parts of Australia and the central Pacific. The eclipse is partial for all of Australia, Indonesia, and Hawaii. Map and details.Map and details

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: SATELLITELOCALDURATION MAX ELEV APPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) No sighting opportunities until May 14

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website May 6, Monday 12:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35 In-Flight Event for the Canadian Space Agency with Commander Chris Hadfield and “Music Monday” in Canada - JSC (Public and Media Channels) 3 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 36/37 Qualification Training Simulation Runs at Star City, Russia - JSC (All Channels) May 7, Tuesday 12:35 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35 In-Flight Event with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Science and Space - JSC (All Channels) May 8, Wednesday 3 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 36/37 Crew News Conference at Star City, Russia and Visit to Red Square in Moscow - JSC (All Channels) May 9, Thursday 6:30 a.m. - Video B-Roll of Expedition 36/37 NASA Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg - JSC (Public and Media Channels) a.m. - Live Interviews with Expedition 36/37 Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia - JSC via Star City (Public and Media Channels) 12:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control On-Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels)

Space Calendar May 06 - [May 06] Proba-V/ VNREDSat 1A/ ESTCube 1 Vega LaunchProba-VVNREDSat 1AESTCube 1Vega Launch May 06 - Asteroid 253 Mathilde Occults HIP (7.1 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 253 Mathilde Occults HIP May 06 - Asteroid Philplait Closest Approach To Earth (1.252 AU)Asteroid Philplait May 06 - Asteroid MPIA Closest Approach To Earth (1.712 AU)Asteroid MPIA May st Annual International Conference on Space Environment & Aviation Technology (SEAT 2013), Singapore1st Annual International Conference on Space Environment & Aviation Technology (SEAT 2013) May 07 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of TitanCassini May 07 - Mercury Passes 0.5 Degrees From MarsMercuryMars May 07 - Comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura Perihelion (1.600 AU)Comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-IkemuraPerihelion May 07 - Comet C/2012 K6 (McNaught) At Opposition (2.409 AU)Comet C/2012 K6 (McNaught)At Opposition May 07 - Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu Closest Approach To Earth (2.425 AU)Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-AluClosest Approach To Earth May 07 - [May 06] Asteroid 2013 JY2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU)Asteroid 2013 JY2Near-Earth Flyby May 07 - Asteroid Polynesia Closest Approach To Earth (1.240 AU)Asteroid Polynesia May 07 - Asteroid Jerrylewis Closet Approach To Earth (1.519 AU)Asteroid Jerrylewis May 07 - Asteroid 8657 Cedrus Closest Approach To Earth (2.030 AU)Asteroid 8657 Cedrus May 08 - Comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington At Opposition (1.865 AU)Comet 107P/Wilson-HarringtonAt Opposition May 08 - [May 05] Comet P/2006 R2 (Christensen) At Opposition (3.118 AU)Comet P/2006 R2 (Christensen)At Opposition May 08 - Asteroid Faraday Closest Approach To Earth (1.439 AU)Asteroid Faraday May 08 - Asteroid Seanconnery Closest Approach To Earth (1.574 AU)Asteroid Seanconnery May 08 - Asteroid 8734 Warner Closest Approach To Earth (1.995 AU)Asteroid 8734 Warner May 08 - Lecture: Alien Evolution, London, United KingdomLecture: Alien Evolution May 09 - Comet 278P/McNaught Closest Approach To Earth (1.207 AU)Comet 278P/McNaughtClosest Approach To Earth May 09 - Comet 275P/Hermann At Opposition (1.272 AU)Comet 275P/HermannAt Opposition May 09 - Comet C/2012 L2 (LINEAR) Perihelion (1.509 AU)Comet C/2012 L2 (LINEAR)Perihelion May 09 - Comet C/2012 K6 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (2.408 AU)Comet C/2012 K6 (McNaught)Closest Approach To Earth May 09 - Comet C/2013 G7 (McNaught) At Opposition (4.283 AU)Comet C/2013 G7 (McNaught)At Opposition May 09 - Asteroid 2925 Beatty Closest Approach To Earth (1.367 AU)Asteroid 2925 Beatty May 09 - Asteroid Galapagos Closest Approach To Earth (1.485 AU)Asteroid Galapagos May 09 - Asteroid 7336 Saunders Closest Approach To Earth (1.797 AU)Asteroid 7336 Saunders May 09 - Asteroid 5102 Benfranklin Closest Approach To Earth (2.215 AU)Asteroid 5102 Benfranklin May 10 - Annular Solar Eclipse (Visible From Austrlia, Pacific Ocean)Annular Solar Eclipse May 10 - Comet C/2013 H1 (La Sagra) Closest Approach To Earth (1.725 AU)Comet C/2013 H1 (La Sagra)Closest Approach To Earth May 10 - Comet P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra) Perihelion (3.091 AU)Comet P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra)Perihelion May 10 - Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults 2UCAC (12.4 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults 2UCAC May 10 - Asteroid 1988 TA Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)Asteroid 1988 TANear-Earth Flyby May 10 - Asteroid 1322 Coppernicus Closest Approach To Earth (1.148 AU)Asteroid 1322 Coppernicus JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Star’s Dying Gasp May Signal Black Hole’s Birth

Space Image of the Week Image Credit: Alan Friedman/SpaceWeather.com