Space News Update - October 6, In the News Story 1: China Aims for Landing on Moon’s Far Side by 2020 Story 2: New Horizons: A Billion Miles to 2014 MU69 Story 3: Story 3: How Rosetta’s Comet got its Shape Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

China Aims for Landing on Moon’s Far Side by 2020

New Horizons: A Billion Miles to 2014 MU69

How Rosetta’s Comet got its Shape

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, October 6  Vesta, the brightest asteroid, is still magnitude 6.2 a week past its opposition. It's easy in binoculars in western Cetus, especially now that the Moon has gone. Use the finder charts in the September Sky & Telescope, pages 48–49. Uranus, magnitude 5.7, is also nearby! Wednesday, October 7  In early dawn Thursday morning, the crescent Moon, bright Venus, and fainter Regulus form a triangle in the eastern sky, as shown here. Jupiter and fainter Mars are down to their lower left, glowing 4° apart. Thursday, October 8  The fickle Draconid meteor shower may or may show up this evening. The shower has occasionally been quite active in recent years.  In Friday's early dawn the Moon forms a triangle with Jupiter and Mars, while Venus and Regulus now look on from above. Friday, October 9  Now that we're well into October, Deneb is replacing brighter Vega as the zenith star after dark (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes). Accordingly, Capricornus has replaced Sagittarius as the most notable constellation down in the south. By Friday morning the 9th, when the waning Moon poses with them, Mars and Jupiter are just 3.6° apart. Their conjunction will come on October 17th and 18th, 0.4° apart — with Venus nearing in!

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver : DateVisibleDateAppearsDisappears Tue Oct 6, 8:25 PM2 min20°17 above NW19 above N Wed Oct 7, 7:32 PM3 min30°27 above NW11 above NNE Thu Oct 8, 8:16 PM2 min13°11 above NW13 above N Fri Oct 9, 7:24 PM3 min18°14 above NW11 above NNE Sat Oct 10, 8:09 PM1 min11°10 above NNW10 above N

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) 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 Wednesday, October 7  1 p.m. - NASA News Conference – CubeSat Overview Briefing (all channels)  2 p.m. - NASA News Conference – CubeSat PI Briefing (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education))  2:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 45 In-Flight Interviews with NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt with ISS Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (starts at 2:50 p.m.) (NTV-3 (Media)) Thursday, October 8  TBD - CubeSat Launch Coverage from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (all channels)  1:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 45 In-Flight Interviews with W Radio/CNN en Espanol and WGN Radio, Chicago with ISS Commander Scott Kelly of NASA (all channels)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar  Oct 06 - Comet 205P-B/Giacobini Perihelion (1.540 AU)Comet 205P-B/Giacobini  Oct 06 - Kuiper Belt Object 2008 ST291 At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object 2008 ST291  Oct th Anniversary (1990), STS-41 Launch (Space Shuttle Discovery, Ulysses Deployment)STS-41 LaunchUlysses  Oct 06 - David Brin's 65th Birthday (1950)David Brin's  Oct 06 - Jorgen Christensen-Dalsgaard's 65th Birthday (1950)Jorgen Christensen-Dalsgaard's  Oct 06 - Jesse Ramsden's 280th Birthday (1735)Jesse Ramsden's  Oct 07 -Jilin 1 LQSat/ Lingqiao A & B CZ-2D LaunchJilin 1LQSatLingqiao A & B  Oct 07 - Comet 51P/Harrington Closest Approach To Earth (0.820 AU)Comet 51P/Harrington  Oct 07 - Comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley At Opposition (3.682 AU)Comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley  Oct 07 - Comet C/2013 G3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.141 AU)Comet C/2013 G3 (PANSTARRS)  Oct 07 - Comet C/2013 V4 (Catalina) Perihelion (5.186 AU)Comet C/2013 V4 (Catalina)  Oct 07 - Apollo Asteroid 2007 RU9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2007 RU9  Oct 07 - Aten Asteroid 2014 MZ17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)Aten Asteroid 2014 MZ17  Oct 07 - Asteroid 2074 Shoemaker Closest Approach To Earth (0.751 AU)Asteroid 2074 Shoemaker  Oct 07 - Niehls Bohr's 130th Birthday (1885)Niehls Bohr's  Oct 08 - NROL-55/ Intruder 11A & 11B/ SNaP-3/ Alaska Research CubeSat (ARC)/ BisonSat/ Fox 1/ PTecSat/ USS Langley/ PSat A & B/ LMRSTSat SINOD-D/ PropCube Atlas 5 LaunchNROLIntruder 11A & 11BSNaP-3Alaska Research CubeSat (ARC)BisonSatFox 1PTecSatUSS LangleyPSat A & BLMRSTSatSINOD-DPropCubeAtlas 5 Launch  Oct 08 - Moon Occults VenusMoon Occults Venus  Oct 08 - Comet 51P-A/Harrington Closest Approach To Earth (0.826 AU)Comet 51P-A/Harrington  Oct 08 - Comet 51P-D/Harrington Closest Approach To Earth (0.826 AU)Comet 51P-D/Harrington  Oct 08 - Comet 151P/Helin Perihelion (2.474 AU)Comet 151P/Helin  Oct 08 - Asteroid 2034 Bernoulli Closest Approach To Earth (1.074 AU)Asteroid 2034 Bernoulli  Oct 08 - Frank Herbert's 95th Birthday (1920)Frank Herbert's  Oct 09 - TurkSat 4B Proton M-Briz M LaunchTurkSat 4B  Oct 09 - Draconids Meteor Shower PeakDraconids Meteor Shower

Food for Thought NASA Eyeing Venus, Asteroids for Next Low-Cost Robotic Mission New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

Space Image of the Week Curiosity's Drill Hole and Location are Picture Perfect Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS