Space News Update - March 2, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Falcon 9 rocket fueling test completed at Cape Canaveral Story 2: Story 2: Night Sky Guide: March 2012 Story 3: Story 3: Ready to Launch! A New Website Sharing Space Station Benefits For Humanity Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Falcon 9 rocket fueling test completed at Cape Canaveral

Night Sky Guide: March 2012

Ready to Launch! A New Website Sharing Space Station Benefits For Humanity

The Night Sky Friday, March 2 · Bright Venus and Jupiter continue to draw closer together in the evening sky this week. And use them to find little Mercury far below. Watch Mercury fading day by day. · The dark edge of the Moon occults (covers) the 4.1- magnitude star Nu Geminorum late tonight for most of eastern and central North America. With a telescope, watch the star creep up to the Moon's limb and then suddenly wink out. Some times: Montreal, 12:15 a.m. EST; Washington DC, 12:29 a.m. EST; Atlanta, 12:49 a.m. EST; Chicago, 11:21 p.m. CST; Kansas City, 11:34 p.m. CST, Edmonton, 9:32 p.m. MST. More times. Saturday, March 3 · The Moon shines above Procyon after dark. Upper left of the Moon are Pollux and Castor. · Mars is at opposition, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth's sky. This is the most distant opposition of Mars in its 15-year cycle of oppositions near and far, so the planet appears only 13.9 arcseconds wide. At its next time around in April 2014, Mars will reach a diameter of 15.2″.

The Night Sky Sunday, March 4 · Mercury is at greatest elongation, 18° east of the Sun. Look for it above the sunset horizon far below and perhaps a bit right of Venus and Jupiter. Mercury remains at nearly the same place above your horizon each evening this week, but it's fading day by day. Monday, March 5 · Mars is at its closest to Earth for this apparition: million km (62.6 million miles). Mars appears 13.9 arcseconds wide, compared to the 24″ or 25″ it reaches during its closet swing-bys. The last time that happened was in 2003; the next will be in · The eclipsing variable star Algol should be at minimum light, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 9:25 p.m. EST. It takes several additional hours to fade and to rebrighten.

ISS Sighting Opportunities SATELLITELOCALDURATION MAX ELEV APPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: For Denver: No ISS Sighting Opportunities ISSWed Feb 29/07:40 PM12721 above W27 above SW ISSThu Mar 01/06:43 PM46529 above WNW10 above SE ISSFri Mar 02/07:23 PM21313 above WSW10 above SSW ISSSat Mar 03/06:27 PM32929 above SW11 above SSE ISSThu Mar 15/06:27 AM21710 above S17 above SE ISSWed Feb 29/07:40 PM12721 above W27 above SW

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA websiteNASA website March 2, Friday 11 a.m. - ISS Update - JSC (All Channels) 1 p.m. - Celebrating John Glenn’s Legacy: 50 Years of Americans in Orbit GRC (All Channels) 2:15 p.m. - Celebrating John Glenn’s Legacy: 50 Years of Americans in Orbit Post-Event News Conference and Tweetup - GRC (All Channels) 7 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update - HQ (All Channels) 11 p.m. - Replay of ISS Update - HQ (All Channels) March 5, Monday 1:15 p.m. - ISS Expedition 30 In-Flight Event for ESA with German Chancellor Angela Merkel from Hanover, Germany - JSC(Public and Media Channels)

Space Calendar Mar 02 - [Feb 26] Comet P/2011 VJ5 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (0.813 AU) Mar 02 - Comet C/2012 A2 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (3.521 AU) Mar 02 - [Feb 28] Asteroid 2012 DR32 Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU) Mar 02 - Asteroid Donald Duck Closest Approach To Earth (1.105 AU) Mar 02 - Asteroid 2933 Amber Closest Approach To Earth (1.749 AU) Mar th Anniversary (1972), Pioneer 10 Launch (Jupiter Flyby Mission) Mar 03 - Mars At Opposition Mar 03 - Comet P/2012 A3 (SOHO) Closest Approach To Earth (0.791 AU) Mar 03 - Asteroid 8209 Toscanelli Closest Approach To Earth (1.683 AU) Mar 04 - [Feb 25] Asteroid 2012 DZ13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU) Mar 04 - Asteroid 1862 Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (1.219 AU) Mar 04 - Asteroid 3673 Levy Closest Approach To Earth (1.432 AU) Mar 04 - Asteroid 6032 Nobel Closest Approach To Earth (2.003 AU) Mar 04 - Asteroid 1640 Nemo Closest Approach To Earth (2.073 AU) Mar 05 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (18 Degrees) Mar 05 - Comet 182P/LONEOS Perihelion (1.009 AU) Mar 05 - Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) Closest Approach To Earth (1.266 AU) Mar 05 - [Feb 28] Asteroid 2012 DJ31 Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 4055 Magellan Closest Approach To Earth (1.355 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid FraschettiClosest Approach T Earth (1.885 AU) Mar 05 - Asteroid 3202 Graff Closest Approach To Earth (2.640 AU) Mar th Anniversary (1982), Venera 14, Venus Landing/Flyby (USSR) Mar 05 - Gerard Mercator's 500th Birthday (1512) Johann Gottfried Galle

Food for Thought Warp Drives May Come With a Killer Downside

Space Image of the Week Orion's Rainbow of Infrared Light Image credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/IRAM