1. Space News Update - March 28, 2017 - In the News Departments Story 1:
OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Search Tests Instruments, Science Team
Story 2:
Scientists Say Thinning Atmosphere Drove the Drying and Cooling of Mars
Story 3: Hubble Discovery of Runaway Star Yields Clues to Breakup of Multiple-Star System
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Search Tests Instruments, Science Team
In this computer graphic, NASA's Voyager 1 probe, moving toward upper left, nears the edge of the sun's influence, flying through a region of space dominated by a "magnetic highway" that helps mediate the flow of particles into and out of the solar system. The region includes particles from the sun's southern hemisphere that have been forced northward by the pressure of the interstellar wind. Voyager 1 is expected to cross the boundary into interstellar space sometime within the next few years if not sooner. (Credit: NASA)

3. Scientists Say Thinning Atmosphere Drove the Drying and Cooling of Mars

4. Hubble Discovery of Runaway Star Yields Clues to Breakup of Multiple-Star System

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, March 28
Arcturus, the "Spring Star," now rises above the east- northeast horizon by the time the stars come out. How soon can you spot it? Brighter Jupiter comes up a little later, depending on your latitude, 30° to Arcturus's right.
Wednesday, March 29
As twilight deepens, spot the thin crescent Moon low in the west. Right or lower right of it shines Mercury. Look about 10° above the Moon for Mars, currently about as puny as it gets at only magnitude See the illustration at right.
Thursday, March 30
Now in late twilight, Mars is to the right or lower right of the Moon, as shown above.
Draw a line from Castor through Pollux high overhead, follow it farther out by a big 26° (about 2½ fist-widths at arm's length), and you're at the dim head of Hydra, the Sea Serpent. In a dark sky it's a subtle but distinctive star grouping, about the size of your thumb at arm's length. Binoculars show it easily through light pollution.
Continue the line nearly two fists farther on and you hit Alphard, Hydra's orange heart.
Another way to find the head of Hydra: It's almost midway from Procyon to Regulus.

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Tue Mar 28, 8:40 PM
5 min
61°
10° above WSW
22° above NE
Wed Mar 29, 7:47 PM
6 min
66°
11° above SW
12° above ENE
Wed Mar 29, 9:27 PM
1 min
19°
18° above NW
18° above N
Thu Mar 30, 8:34 PM
3 min
28°
26° above NW
11° above NNE
Thu Mar 30, 10:11 PM
< 1 min
10°
10° above NNW
Fri Mar 31, 7:44 PM
25°
25° above NNE
11° above NE
Fri Mar 31, 9:19 PM
2 min
13°
12° above NNW
10° above
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

7. NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Time Zone)
Tuesday, March 28
10:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. - From the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum “Celebrating Women’s History Month – Getting Excited About STEM” (NTV-1 (Public))
Thursday, March 30
6:30 a.m. - Coverage of ISS Expedition 50 U.S. Spacewalk # 41 (Kimbrough and Whitson; spacewalk begins at appx. 8 a.m. ET; will last appx. 6 ½ hours) (all channels)
Friday, March 31
12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition Crew Qualification Training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia (Recorded on March 30-31; Fischer and Yurchikhin) (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
Mar 28 - Asteroid 216 Kleopatra (2 Moons) Occults TYC (11.4 Magnitude Star)
Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid (2003 HF2) Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)
Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 FO63 Near-Earth Flyby (0.056 AU)
Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 2006 HW50 Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
Mar 28 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TB18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)
Mar th Anniversary (1987), National Space Society Established
Mar th Anniversary (1802), Heinrich Olbers' Discovery of Asteroid 2 Pallas
Mar Space Science Week, Washington DC
Mar Committee on Earth Sciences and Applications from Space Meeting, Washington DC
Mar Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences Meeting, Washington DC
Mar Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics Meeting, Washington DC
Mar 29 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Enceladus & Mimas
Mar 29 - Comet 73P-P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (0.799 AU)
Mar 29 - Comet 73P-R/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (0.971 AU)
Mar 29 -[Mar 28] Apollo Asteroid 2017 FR91 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU)
Mar 29 - Asteroid 9305 Hazard Closest Approach To Earth (1.408 AU)
Mar 29 - Asteroid Suess Closest Approach To Earth (2.216 AU)
Mar th Anniversary (1807), Heinrich Olbers' Discovery of Asteroid 4 Vesta
Mar 29 - Colloquium: Oases for Life in Distant Oceans - On Earth and Beyond?, Greenbelt, Maryland
Mar Meeting: Space Radiation Effects Testing Infrastructure for the U.S. Space Program, Washington
Mar 30 - SES-10 Falcon 9 Launch
Mar 30 - Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington At Opposition (1.626 AU)
Mar 30 - Comet 162P/Siding Spring At Opposition (3.444 AU)
Mar 30 - Amor Asteroid 2017 FK63 Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)
Mar 30 - Asteroid 6349 Acapulco Closest Approach To Earth (1.320 AU)
Mar 30 - Asteroid 2157 Ashbrook Closest Approach To Earth (1.648 AU)
JPL Space Calendar

9. White House to Look at How Best to Protect Apollo Moon Landing Sites
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
Food for Thought
White House to Look at How Best to Protect Apollo Moon Landing Sites

10. Space Image of the Week Dark Spot and Jovian ‘Galaxy’
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Roman Tkachenko