Space News Update - August 21, In the News Story 1: Curiosity Snaps Stunning One of a Kind Belly Selfie At Buckskin Mountain Base Drill Site Story 2: Giant Galaxies May Be Better Cradles for Habitable Planets Story 3: Story 3: NASA: There is No Asteroid Threatening Earth Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Curiosity Snaps Stunning One of a Kind Belly Selfie At Buckskin Mountain Base Drill Site

Giant Galaxies May Be Better Cradles for Habitable Planets

NASA: There is No Asteroid Threatening Earth

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, August 21 The bright "star" left of the Moon this evening is the planet Saturn. Lower left of Saturn is fainter Delta (δ) Scorpii. Farther left or lower left sparkles the orange-red supergiant Antares. Saturday, August 22 First-quarter Moon (exact at 3:31 p.m. EDT). As dusk fades, the Moon shines near Saturn and Beta (β) Scorpii, as shown below. Beta is fine double star for small telescopes. So is Nu Scorpii, upper left of Beta by 1.6°. (Nu is a little too faint for the chart.) Sunday, August 23 August is prime Milky Way time — if you have a dark sky. After nightfall the Milky Way runs from Sagittarius in the south, up and left across Aquila and through the big Summer Triangle very high in the east, and on down through Cassiopeia to Perseus rising low in the north-northeast. How much of this can you see from your location? Monday, August 24 The two brightest stars of summer are Vega, overhead soon after dark, and Arcturus in the west. Vega is a white- hot, type-A star 25 light-years away. Arcturus is a yellow-orange-hot K giant 37 light-years distant. Their color difference is easy to see. Look well to the right of Arcturus for the Big Dipper in the northwest. This is the time of year when the Big Dipper scoops down during evening, as if to pick up the water that it will dump from high overhead early next spring. Tuesday, August 25 At nightfall, the waxing gibbous Moon shines above the tilting Sagittarius Teapot. The Teapot pattern is about as big as your fist at arm's length, with its spout to the right.

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 Aug 21, 8:09 PM1 min18°18 above SE10 above SE Sat Aug 22, 8:48 PM3 min13°11 above WSW10 above SSW

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA 5 a.m., Monday, August 24 - Coverage of the Rendezvous and Grapple of the “Kounotori” HTV-5 Cargo Craft at the ISS (Grapple scheduled at 6:55 a.m. ET) (Coverage starts at 5:15am) (all channels) 9 a.m., Monday, August 24 - Coverage of the Berthing of the “Kounotori” HTV-5 Cargo Craft to the Harmony Module of the ISS (Coverage starts at 9:15am) (all channels) (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 21 - [Aug 17] 50th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 5 Launch (Gordon Cooper & Charles Conrad)Gemini 5 Aug 21 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #419 (OTM-419)Cassini Aug 21 - Comet 224P/LINEAR-NEAT At Opposition (1.840 AU)Comet 224P/LINEAR-NEATAt Opposition Aug 21 - Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington Closest Approach To Earth (2.523 AU)Comet 43P/Wolf-HarringtonClosest Approach To Earth Aug 21 - Comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.480 AU)Comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Aug 21 - [Aug 21] Apollo Asteroid 2015 QH3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 QH3Near-Earth Flyby Aug 21 - Asteroid 4987 Flamsteed Closest Approach To Earth (1.289 AU)Asteroid 4987 Flamsteed Aug 21 - Asteroid 2410 Morrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.309 AU)Asteroid 2410 Morrison Aug 21 - Asteroid 2975 Spahr Closest Approach To Earth (1.395 AU)Asteroid 2975 Spahr Aug 21 - Asteroid 2045 Peking Closest Approach To Earth (1.436 AU)Asteroid 2045 Peking Aug 21 - Asteroid 9446 Cicero Closest Approach TO Earth (1.997 AU)Asteroid 9446 Cicero Aug 21 - Asteroid 1712 Angola Closest Approach To Earth (2.066 AU)Asteroid 1712 Angola Aug 22 - Comet P/2005 S3 (Read) At Opposition (2.879 AU)Comet P/2005 S3 (Read)At Opposition Aug 22 - Apollo Asteroid (2003 RB) Near-Earth Flyby (0.053 AU)Apollo Asteroid (2003 RB)Near-Earth Flyby Aug 22 - [Aug 15] Apollo Asteroid 2015 PW227 Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 PW227 Aug 22 - Asteroid 9949 Brontosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.433 AU)Asteroid 9949 Brontosaurus Aug 22 - Asteroid 9395 Saint Michel Closest Approach To Earth (1.746 AU)Asteroid 9395 Saint Michel Aug 22 - Griffith Observatory Star Party, Los Angeles, CaliforniaGriffith Observatory Star Party Aug 22 - Jim Scotti's 55th Birthday (1960)Jim Scotti's Aug 22 - Ray Bradbury's 95th Birthday (1920)Ray Bradbury's Aug 23 - Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Closest Approach To Earth (1.768 AU)Comet 67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoClosest Approach To Earth Aug 23 - Comet 283P/Spacewatch At Opposition (4.267 AU)Comet 283P/SpacewatchAt Opposition Aug 23 - Comet C/2014 L5 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (5.917 AU)Comet C/2014 L5 (Lemmon)Closest Approach To Earth Aug 23 - Apollo Asteroid 6489 Golevka Closest Approach To Earth (0.746 AU)Apollo Asteroid 6489 GolevkaClosest Approach To Earth Aug 23 - Asteroid 3693 Barringer Closest Approach To Earth (1.606 AU)Asteroid 3693 Barringer Aug 23 - Asteroid 1777 Gehrels Closest Approach To Earth (1.647 AU)Asteroid 1777 Gehrels Aug 23 - Asteroid 2636 Lassell Closest Approach To Earth (1.958 AU)Asteroid 2636 Lassell Aug 23 - Asteroid 9537 Nolan Closest Approach To Earth (2.079 AU)Asteroid 9537 Nolan Aug 23 - Asteroid 2807 Karl Marx Closest Approach To Earth (2.226 AU)Asteroid 2807 Karl Marx Aug 23 - Edward Fath's 135th Birthday (1880)Edward Fath's (Cont. next page)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 24 - Comet C/2014 AA52 (Catalina) At Opposition (1.874 AU)Comet C/2014 AA52 (Catalina)At Opposition Aug 24 - Comet 157P/Tritton At Opposition (2.048 AU)Comet 157P/TrittonAt Opposition Aug 24 - Comet C/2011 KP36 (Spacewatch) Closest Approach To Earth (4.296 AU)Comet C/2011 KP36 (Spacewatch)Closest Approach To Earth Aug 24 - Comet P/2015 M2 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (5.929 AU)Comet P/2015 M2 (PANSTARRS)Perihelion Aug 24 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 OV Near-Earth Flyby (0.075 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 OVNear-Earth Flyby Aug 24 - Asteroid Malala Closest Approach To Earth (2.243 AU)Asteroid Malala Aug 24 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 NT33 At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object 2004 NT33At Opposition Aug 24 - Steven Lindsey's 55th Birthday (1960)Steven Lindsey's Aug 25 - [Aug 16] 150th Anniversary (1865), Shergotty Meteorite Fall in India (Mars Meteorite)Shergotty Meteorite Aug 25 - Northern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower PeakNorthern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Aug 25 - Comet 141P/Machholz Perihelion (0.761 AU)Comet 141P/MachholzPerihelion Aug 25 - Comet 141P-A/Machholz Perihelion (0.761 AU)Comet 141P-A/MachholzPerihelion Aug 25 - Comet 318P/McNaught-Hartley At Opposition (1.560 AU)Comet 318P/McNaught-HartleyAt Opposition Aug 25 - Apollo Asteroid 2005 QQ87 Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2005 QQ87Near-Earth Flyby Aug 25 - Asteroid 4804 Pasteur Closest Approach To Earth (1.447 AU)Asteroid 4804 Pasteur Aug 25 - Asteroid 2246 Bowell Closest Approach To Earth (3.283 AU)Asteroid 2246 Bowell Aug 25 - Centaur Object 7066 Nessus At Opposition ( AU)Centaur Object 7066 NessusAt Opposition Aug 25 - Kuiper Belt Object (2004 PG115) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2004 PG115)At Opposition

Food for Thought Nine Real NASA Technologies in 'The Martian'

Space Image of the Week M27: Not a Comet Image Credit & Copyright: Francesco di BiaseCopyrightFrancesco di Biase