Space News Update - Oct. 1, In the News Story 1: Story 1: A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus Story 2: Story 2: Mercury’s Surface is Full of Sulfur Story 3: Story 3: Falcon 9 engines ignite on pad ahead of October launch Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus >

Mercury’s Surface is Full of Sulfur

Falcon 9 engines ignite on pad ahead of October launch

The Night Sky Monday, Oct. 1 · Altair is the bright star high in the south at nightfall this week. Look for little Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae) to its upper right, and fainter Beta Aquilae a little farther to its lower left. Altair is just 17 light-years away. It's spinning so fast that it's a flattened ellipsoid, not a sphere. Tuesday, Oct. 2 · As dawn begins to break Wednesday morning, look east for dazzling Venus. Just 0.2° from it or less (as seen from the Americas) is Regulus, less than 1% as bright. You may need binoculars to separate Regulus from Venus's glare. A telescope provides a fine view, though Venus itself is currently an undistinguished gibbous disk just 16 arcseconds in diameter. Wednesday, Oct. 3 · The Pleiades sparkle to the left of the waning gibbous Moon late this evening, as shown at lower right. Thursday, Oct. 4 · Late this evening, look for Aldebaran below the Moon and bright Jupiter to the Moon's lower left, as shown at lower right. Friday, Oct. 5 · Jupiter comes up over the east-northeast horizon around 9:30 or 10 tonight, followed a half hour later by the nearly last-quarter Moon. They rise higher as night grows late, as shown at lower right. · Jupiter's satellite Ganymede slowly disappears into eclipse by Jupiter's shadow at 12:32 a.m. EDT tonight a little west of Jupiter, then emerges from eclipse at 2:31 a.m. EDT barely west of the planet's edge. Subtract 3 hours for PDT. A small telescope is all you need.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: SATELLITELOCALDURATION MAX ELEV APPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) ISSMon Oct 01/05:45 AM33912 above NW34 above ENE ISSTue Oct 02/04:59 AM12525 above NNE20 above ENE ISSTue Oct 02/06:32 AM43810 above WNW30 above S ISSWed Oct 03/05:45 AM57428 above WNW10 above SE ISSThu Oct 04/04:59 AM23333 above ESE10 above ESE ISSThu Oct 04/06:33 AM31310 above W10 above SSW ISSFri Oct 05/05:46 AM22222 above SSW10 above S

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website October 3, Wednesday 11:05 a.m. - ISS Expedition 33 In-Flight Interviews with CNN Medical’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the New York Times - JSC (All Channels) October 4, Thursday 12:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels) October 5, Friday 5:30 a.m. - Video B-Roll of ISS Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Kevin Ford In Training - JSC (Public and Media Channels) 6 a.m. - Live Interviews with ISS Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Kevin Ford from Star City, Russia - JSC (Public and Media Channels)

Space Calendar Oct 01 - Comet 168P/Hergenrother Perihelion (1.415 AU)Comet 168P/HergenrotherPerihelion Oct 01 - Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Closest Approach To Earth (1.668 AU)Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Oct 01 - Asteroid Curly Closest Approach To Earth (1.766 AU)Asteroid Curly Oct 01 - Asteroid Potato Closest Approach To Earth (2.342 AU)Asteroid Potato Oct 02 - [Sep 29] ATV-3 Reenters Earth's AtmosphereATV-3 Reenters Earth's Atmosphere Oct 02 - Comet 158P/Kowal-LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (3.584 AU)Comet 158P/Kowal-LINEARClosest Approach To Earth Oct 02 - Asteroid 2410 Morrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.358 AU)Asteroid 2410 Morrison Oct 02 - Asteroid 3313 Mendel Closest Approach To Earth (1.799 AU)Asteroid 3313 Mendel Oct 03 - [Sep 30] Asteroid 2012 SJ58 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)Asteroid 2012 SJ58Near-Earth Flyby Oct 03 - [Sep 30] Asteroid 2012 SG58 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)Asteroid 2012 SG58Near-Earth Flyby Oct 03 - Asteroid 3031 Houston Closest Approach To Earth (1.451 AU)Asteroid 3031 Houston Oct 03 - Asteroid 2044 Wirt Closest Approach To Earth (1.497 AU)Asteroid 2044 Wirt Oct th Anniversary (1962), Sigma 7 Launch (Walter Schirra)Sigma 7 Oct th Anniversary (1962), Zagami Meteorite Fall (Mars Meteorite)Zagami Meteorite Fall Oct 04 - GPS 2F-3 Delta 4M LaunchGPS 2F-3Delta 4M Launch Oct 04 - Comet 260P/McNaught Closest Approach To Earth (0.584 AU)Comet 260P/McNaughtClosest Approach To Earth Oct th Anniversary (2007), Kaguya (Selene 1) Moon Orbit Insertion,Kaguya (Selene 1) Oct th Anniversary (1957), Sputnik 1 LaunchSputnik 1 Oct [Sep 27] World Space WeekWorld Space Week Oct 05 - Moon Occults JupiterMoon Occults Jupiter Oct 05 - European Southern Observatory's (ESO) 50th Birthday (1962)European Southern Observatory's Oct 05 - Robert Goddard's 130th Birthday (1882)Robert Goddard's JPL Space Calendar Walter “Wally” Marty Schirra, Jr.

Food for Thought Russians face their space crisis

Space Image of the Week Image Credit & Copyright: Tony HallasCopyrightTony Hallas