Space News Update - January 7, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Polar Vortex Enters Northern U.S. Story 2: Story 2: An Astronaut’s Rhythm Story 3: Story 3: NASA's Kepler Provides Insights on Enigmatic Planets Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Polar Vortex Enters Northern U.S.

An Astronaut’s Rhythm

NASA's Kepler Provides Insights on Enigmatic Planets

The Night Sky Tuesday, Jan­u­ary 7  First-quarter Moon (exact at 10:39 p.m. EST). Look to the right of the Moon this evening for the Great Square of Pegasus, tipped up onto one corner. The main line of Andromeda’s stars extends up from its top. Wednes­day, Jan­u­ary 8  Jupiter’s moon Europa crosses Jupiter’s face from 6:47 to 9:29 p.m. EST, with its shadow following just 10 minutes behind. Thursday, January 9  In this coldest time of the year, the dim Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime as if from a nail on the cold north wall of the sky. Friday, January 10  Look left of the Moon at nightfall for the Pleiades, as shown here. The Pleiades are straight above the Moon by about 8 or 9.  Bright Capella high overhead and bright Rigel in Orion's foot, both magnitude 0, have almost the same right ascension — so they cross your sky’s north-south meridian at almost the same time. Capella passes closest to straight overhead around 10 p.m., depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone. (It goes exactly through the zenith if you're at latitude 46° north: Portland, Oregon; Montreal; central France.) So, when Capella is passing closest to the zenith, Rigel always marks true south over your landscape. Saturday, January 11  Aldebaran shines below the Moon at dusk, as shown here. It's left of the Moon by about 11 p.m.  Jupiter’s Great Red Spot transits Jupiter’s central meridian around 9:30 p.m. EST.  Venus is at inferior conjunction, passing 5° north of the Sun today Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: DateVisible Max Height AppearsDisappears Tue Jan 7, 5:52 AM< 1 min11°10 above SSE11 above SE Wed Jan 8, 6:37 AM6 min66°10 above SW10 above ENE Thu Jan 9, 5:49 AM6 min35°10 above SSW10 above ENE Fri Jan 10, 5:03 AM1 min19°18 above SSE18 above ESE Fri Jan 10, 6:37 AM6 min43°10 above WSW10 above NE Sat Jan 11, 5:50 AM4 min75°44 above WSW11 above NE

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website January 7, Tuesday 9:30 a.m. - Space Station Live - JSC (All Channels) 10:25 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 Educational Event with the Denbigh High School and Aviation Academy, Newport News, Va. - JSC (Media and Education Channels) 10:30 a.m p.m. NASA and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Commemorates 10 Years of Mars Rovers - HQ (Public Channel) 2 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Science Briefing - WFF (All Channels) 3 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Prelaunch News Conference - WFF (All Channels) January 8, Wednesday 11:30 a.m. - Replay of the Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Prelaunch News Conference (recorded on Jan. 7) - HQ (All Channels) 12:30 p.m. - Video B-Roll Feed of Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Prelaunch Processing - HQ (All Channels) 1 p.m. - Coverage of the Launch of the Orbital-1 Cygnus Resupply Mission to the International Space Station (Launch scheduled at 1:32 p.m. ET) - JSC/WFF (All Channels) 3 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Post-Launch News Conference - WFF (All Channels) January 9, Thursday 12 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jan 07 - Mercury Passes 6.5 Degrees From VenusMercuryVenus Jan 07 - [Jan 03] Asteroid 2013 YV102 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)Asteroid 2013 YV102Near-Earth Flyby Jan 07 - Asteroid 4871 Riverside Closest Approach To Earth (1.151 AU)Asteroid 4871 Riverside Jan 07 - Asteroid 7000 Curie Closest Approach To Earth (1.548 AU)Asteroid 7000 Curie Jan 07 - Asteroid 3948 Bohr Closest Approach To Earth (1.670 AU)Asteroid 3948 Bohr Jan 08 - [Jan 04] Cygnus-2/ Flock-1 (1-28)/ ArduSat 2/ LituanicaSAT 1/ LitSat 1/ SkyCube/ UAPSat 1 Antares Launch (International Space Station)Cygnus-2Flock-1 (1-28)ArduSat 2LituanicaSAT 1LitSat 1 SkyCubeUAPSat 1Antares Launch Jan 08 - Comet 270P/Gehrels At Opposition (2.797 AU)Comet 270P/GehrelsAt Opposition Jan 08 - Asteroid 2013 WS43 Near-Earth Flyby (0.062 AU)Asteroid 2013 WS43Near-Earth Flyby Jan 08 - [Jan 01] Asteroid 2013 YL48 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)Asteroid 2013 YL48Near-Earth Flyby Jan 08 - Asteroid 2062 Aten Closest Approach To Earth (0.146 AU)Asteroid 2062 AtenClosest Approach To Earth Jan 08 - Asteroid Audubon Closest Approach To Earth (1.158 AU)Asteroid Audubon Jan 08 - Asteroid Spielberg Closest Approach To Earth (1.675 AU)Asteroid Spielberg Jan 09 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of TitanCassini Jan 09 - Comet 276P/Vorobjov At Opposition (3.290 AU)Comet 276P/VorobjovAt Opposition Jan 09 - Comet P/2012 U2 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (3.455 AU)Comet P/2012 U2 (PANSTARRS)Closest Approach To Earth Jan 09 - Asteroid 4055 Magellan Closest Approach To Earth (1.388 AU)Asteroid 4055 MagellanClosest Approach To Earth Jan 09 - Asteroid Steward Closest Approach To Earth (2.331 AU)Asteroid Steward Jan 09 - Asteroid Larry Closest Approach To Earth (2.416 AU)Asteroid Jan 09 - Asteroid 2688 Halley Closest Approach To Earth (2.635 AU)Asteroid 2688 Halley Jan 10 - Comet 290P/Jager Closest Approach To Earth (1.281 AU)Comet 290P/JagerClosest Approach To Earth Jan 10 - Comet 293P/Spacewatch Perihelion (2.112 AU)Comet 293P/SpacewatchPerihelion Jan 10 - Asteroid 2013 AF53 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)Asteroid 2013 AF53Near-Earth Flyby Jan th Anniversary (1969), Venera 6 Launch (USSR Venus Atmospheric Probe)Venera 6 Jan 11 - Comet 261P/Larson At Opposition (2.613 AU)Comet 261P/LarsonAt Opposition Jan 11 - [Jan 01] Asteroid 2102 Tantalus Closest Approach To Earth (0.514 AU)Asteroid 2102 TantalusClosest Approach To Earth Verena 6; was to analyze the atmosphere of Venus. It transmitted data for only 51 minutes. The probe was 405 kg and had 6 instruments. The total spacecraft and probe were 1130 kg.

Food for Thought Decade-Old Rover Adventure Continues on Mars and Earth

Space Image of the Week Image Credit:Michael Fossum, STS-121 Mission, NASA Reflections on Planet Earth