1. Space News Update - August 14, 2018 - In the News Departments Story 1:
TESS’s Planet Hunt Begins
Story 2:
$2 Million Earmarked to Repair Hurricane-Damaged Radio Telescope
Story 3: As the Martian Dust Storm Subsides, There’s Still No Word from Opportunity
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. NASA, ULA Launch Parker Solar Probe on Historic Journey to Touch Sun
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. $2 Million Earmarked to Repair Hurricane-Damaged Radio Telescope

4. As the Martian Dust Storm Subsides, There’s Still No Word from Opportunity

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, August 14
• The waxing crescent Moon shines over Venus in twilight. Closer to the moon is the telescopic binary star Gamma Virginis (Porrima), as shown here. Its twin components are currently 2.8 arcseconds apart.
Look left of the Moon for fainter Spica. Farther upper left of Spica shines bright Jupiter (out of the frame here). The Moon will march eastward above these celestial landmarks for the next three nights.
Wednesday, August 15
• Now the Moon hangs over Spica at dusk. Look lower right of them for bright Venus, and left or upper left of them for bright Jupiter.
Thursday, August 16
• The waxing Moon shines to the right of Jupiter. The bright yellow-orange star far to their upper right is Arcturus.
Friday, August 17
• First-quarter Moon (exact at 3:49 a.m. tonight EDT). Jupiter shines to its lower right. Antares is three times as far to the Moon's lower left.
• A mere 0.6° below Jupiter (about the width of a chopstick at arm's length) is 3rd-magnitude Alpha Librae, a wide double star for binoculars. Its fainter component, 4 arcminutes to the right of the bright one, is magnitude 5.1. That's only a little brighter than Jupiter's moons — which good binoculars will also show, lined up just to the big planet's left and right. Jupiter remains close to Alpha Librae through the coming week.

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
ISS will not be visible in Denver until August 26th.
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

7. NASA-TV Highlights August 14, Tuesday (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)
 August 14, Tuesday
1 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m. - Newsmakers with Jim Bridenstine: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talks about the Trump Administration’s Priorities for Space (All Channels)
3:20 p.m. – RS-25 Rocket Engine Test at the Stennis Space Center with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (All Channels)
August 15, Wednesday
11:15 a.m. – Coverage of the Space Station Expedition 56 Russian Spacewalk #45; spacewalk is scheduled to begin around 11:58 a.m. EDT and will last approximately 6 hours, 50 minutes (All Channels)
August 16, Thursday
11:35 a.m. – Space Station In-Flight Event for the European Space Agency for the EDEN Project in St. Blazey, Cornwall, England and astronaut Alexander Gerst of ESA (All Channels)
Tue May 30, 9:16 PM
1 min
14°
14° above N
10° above NNE
Tue May 30, 10:53 PM
< 1 min
10°
10° above N
Wed May 31, 00:30 AM
18°
18° above N
Wed May 31, 10:01 PM
Wed May 31, 11:38 PM
2 min
15°
14° above NE
Thu Jun 1, 9:09 PM
11°
11° above N
Thu Jun 1, 10:45 PM
12°
12° above N
10° above NE
Fri Jun 2, 00:20 AM
17°
10° above NW
17° above NNW
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
Aug 14 - Comet 3D/Biela Perihelion (0.803 AU)
Aug 14 - Comet 245P/WISE Closest Approach To Earth (1.637 AU)
Aug 14 - Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.004 AU)
Aug 14 - Asteroid 9000 Hal Closest Approach To Earth (0.781 AU)
Aug 14 - Asteroid 4798 Mercator Closest Approach To Earth (1.088 AU)
Aug 14 - Asteroid 4134 Schutz Closest Approach To Earth (1.352 AU)
Aug 14 - Asteroid 9621 Michaelpalin Closest Approach To Earth (1.464 AU)
Aug 14 - Lecture: Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers - Education Programs at the SETI Institute, Menlo Park, California
Aug 15 - Comet C/2017 S3 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (0.208 AU)
Aug 15 - Comet P/2017 Y3 (Leonard) At Opposition (1.675 AU)
Aug 15 - Comet C/2018 EN4 (NEOWISE) Closest Approach To Earth (2.113 AU)
Aug 15 - Amor Asteroid 2011 UA Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)
Aug 15 - Apollo Asteroid Mjolnir Closest Approach To Earth (1.273 AU)
Aug Experimental Analysis of the Outer Solar System Workshop, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Aug RCMRD International Conference 2018: Space Science for Sustainable Development, Nairobi, Kenya
Aug Starship Engineer Summer School, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Aug Adventures in Astrophysics: A Symposium Celebrating Alex Filippenko's 60th Birthday, Monterey, California
Aug 16 - Comet 138P/Shoemaker-Levy Closest Approach To Earth (1.841 AU)
Aug 16 - Comet 172P/Yeung At Opposition (2.929 AU)
Aug 16 - Asteroid Angkorwat Closest Approach To Earth (1.726 AU)
Aug 16 - Asteroid 4115 Peternorton Closest Approach To Earth (2.123 AU)
Aug 16 - Stuart Roosa's 85th Birthday (1933)
Aug Planetary CubeSats Symposium, Greenbelt, Maryland
Aug World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon 76), San Jose, California
Aug 17 - Venus At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (46 Degrees)

9. Plate Tectonics Not Needed to Sustain Life
Food for Thought
Plate Tectonics Not Needed to Sustain Life

10. Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich
Space Image of the Week
Meteor before Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich