Space News Update - June 21, In the News Story 1: Story 1: New Horizons Spacecraft ‘Stays the Course’ for Pluto System Encounter Story 2: The Myth of the Supermoon Story 3: Story 3: Reducing risk via ground testing is a recipe for SpaceX success Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

New Horizons Spacecraft ‘Stays the Course’ for Pluto System Encounter

The Myth of the Supermoon

Reducing risk via ground testing is a recipe for SpaceX success

The Night Sky Friday, June 21 · As Mercury fades and descends below Venus day by day, how long can you keep it in view? · After dark, look for fire-colored Antares to the lower right of the bright Moon. Saturday, June 22 · The largest full Moon of 2013 rises around sunset and shines all night. Tomorrow night it's almost as full and almost as large (for the longitudes of the Americas, since the Moon is exactly full at 7:32 a.m. Sunday morning EDT.) On both nights, though, this "supermoon" is only a trace larger than an average Moon: 7% wider. Read about the supermoon on our blog.Read about the supermoon on our blog Sunday, June 23 · This is the time of year when the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, are about equally high overhead shortly after dark. Arcturus is toward the southwest, Vega toward the east. Arcturus and Vega are 37 and 25 light-years away, respectively, and represent the two commonest types of naked-eye stars: a yellow-orange Kgiant and a white A main-sequence star. They're 150 and 50 times brighter than the Sun — which, combined with their nearness, is why they dominate the evening sky. Monday, June 24 · Look a third of the way from Arcturus to Vega for dim Corona Borealis, the semicircular Northern Crown. It has one moderately bright star, Alphecca (magnitude 2.2). Look two thirds of the way for the dim Keystone of Hercules, whose brightest star is magnitude 2.8. 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 Fri Jun 21, 9:47 PM3 min88°35 above NW25 above SE Sat Jun 22, 8:58 PM4 min49°32 above NNW10 above ESE Sat Jun 22, 10:33 PM 2 min16°10 above W16 above SW Sun Jun 23, 9:45 PM4 min29°16 above W16 above S Mon Jun 24, 8:58 PM 4 min55°39 above W10 above SE

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) June 24, Monday 9 a.m. - ISS Expedition 36 Russian Spacewalk Coverage (Spacewalk scheduled at begin at 9:35 a.m. ET) - JSC (Public and Media Channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jun 21 - Summer Solstice, 05:04 UTSummer Solstice05:04 UT Jun 21 - Resurs P-1 Soyuz 2-1B LaunchResurs P-1 Jun 21 - Asteroid 2013 LC2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)Asteroid 2013 LC2Near-Earth Flyby Jun 21 - Asteroid 327 Columbia Closest Approach To Earth (1.622 AU)Asteroid 327 Columbia Jun 21 - Max Wolf's 150th Birthday (1863)Max Wolf's Jun 22 - Comet P/2006 F4 (Spacewatch) At Opposition (1.653 AU)Comet P/2006 F4 (Spacewatch)At Opposition Jun 22 - Comet 91P/Russell At Opposition (1.696 AU)Comet 91P/RussellAt Opposition Jun 22 - Asteroid Johnhopkins Closest Approach To Earth (1.362 AU)Asteroid Johnhopkins Jun 22 - Asteroid 4169 Celsius Closest Approach To Earth (2.602 AU)Asteroid 4169 Celsius Jun th Anniversary (1978), Jim Christy's Discovery of Pluto's Moon CharonJim Christy'sCharon Jun 23 - Comet 19P/Borrelly At Opposition (4.032 AU)Comet 19P/BorrellyAt Opposition Jun 23 - Asteroid Douglasadams Closest Approach To Earth (1.002 AU)Asteroid Douglasadams Jun 23 - Asteroid 4148 McCartney Closest Approach To Earth (1.227 AU)Asteroid 4148 McCartney Jun th Space Cryogenics Workshop, Girdwood, Alaska25th Space Cryogenics Workshop Jun Halophiles Conference, Storrs, Connecticut2013 Halophiles Conference Jun 24 - O3b F-1, F-2, F-3 & F-4 Soyuz STB-Fregat LaunchO3b F-1, F-2, F-3 & F-4 Jun 24 - Moon Occults PlutoMoon Occults Pluto Jun 24 - Comet 112P/Urata-Niijima Perihelion (1.455 AU)Comet 112P/Urata-NiijimaPerihelion Jun 24 - Comet P/2012 F2 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU)Comet P/2012 F2 (PANSTARRS)Closest Approach To Earth Jun 24 - Comet 201P/LONEOS At Opposition (3.452 AU)Comet 201P/LONEOSAt Opposition Jun 24 - Asteroid 4444 Escher Closest Approach To Earth (1.036 AU)Asteroid 4444 Escher Jun 24 - Asteroid 5676 Voltaire Closest Approach To Earth (1.419 AU)Asteroid 5676 Voltaire Jun 24 - Asteroid Oklahoma Closest Approach To Earth (1.755 AU)Asteroid Oklahoma Jun 24 - Asteroid 4766 Malin Closest Approach To Earth (1.927 AU)Asteroid 4766 Malin

Food for Thought Navigating the Solar System Using Pulsars as GPS

Space Image of the Week Billion-Pixel View of Mars Comes From Curiosity Rover