Space News Update- November 18, 2011 -

In the News

Story 1: MSL "Go" for November 25 Launch

Story 2: New Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter High-Resolution Topographic Map of the Moon

Story 3: NASA extends MESSENGER mission to Mercury

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

MSL "Go" for November 25 Launch

New Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter High-Resolution Topographic Map of

the Moon

NASA extends MESSENGER mission to Mercury

The Night Sky

Friday, Nov. 18 · Last-quarter Moon (exact at 10:09 a.m. EST). The Moon shines near Mars and Regulus this morning and tomorrow morning.

Saturday, Nov. 19 · Jupiter's moon Io crosses the face of Jupiter tonight from 10:00 p.m. to 12:09 a.m. EST. Io's tiny black shadow follows 34 minutes behind. (Subtract 3 hours to get PST.)

Sunday, Nov. 20 · The bright eclipsing variable star Algol should be in one of its periodic dimmings, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 7:02 p.m. EST. Algol takes several additional hours to fade and to rebrighten. Here's a comparison-star chart giving the magnitudes of three stars near Algol; use them to judge its changing brightness.

Monday, Nov. 21 · During dawn Monday morning the waning crescent Moon points down to Saturn and Spica, as shown above. On Tuesday morning, the three form a roughly horizontal line.

ISS Sighting Opportunities

SATELLITE LOCAL DURATIONMAX ELEV

APPROACH DEPARTURE

DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

For Denver:

For Denver: No ISS Sighting OpportunitiesFor Denver: No ISS Sighting Opportunities

ISS Sat Nov 19/05:27 AM 4 85 31 above SW 10 above NE

ISS Sun Nov 20/04:34 AM 1 21 21 above E 12 above ENE

ISS Sun Nov 20/06:06 AM 5 23 11 above W 11 above NNE

ISSMon Nov 21/05:13 AM

2 33 33 above N 11 above NE

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website

November 21, Monday9 a.m. - Replay of Expedition 29/30 Change of Command Ceremony (recorded on Nov. 20) - JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels)1 p.m. - NASA Science Briefing - What Do We Know About Mars - KSC (All Channels)2:15 p.m. - ISS Expedition 29 Farewells and Hatch Closure Coverage (hatch closure scheduled at 2:45 p.m. ET) - JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels)5:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 29/Soyuz TMA-02M Undocking Coverage (undocking scheduled at 6:00 p.m. ET) - JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels)8 p.m. - ISS Expedition 29/Soyuz TMA-02M Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (Deorbit burn scheduled at 8:30 p.m. ET, landing in Kazakhstan scheduled at 9:24 p.m. ET) - JSC via Kazakhstan (Public, HD and Media Channels)

Space Calendar

Nov 18 - Asteroid 78905 Seanokeefe Closest Approach To Earth (1.327 AU) Nov 19 - Asteroid 1485 Isa Occults HIP 91004 (5.5 Magnitude Star) Nov 19 - Asteroid 38237 Roche Closest Approach To Earth (1.766 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 2011 UA115 Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 5430 Luu Closest Approach To Earth (1.998 AU) Nov 21 - [Nov 14] Soyuz 27 Return to Earth (International Space Station) Nov 21 - Asteroid 5261 Eureka Closest Approach To Earth (0.514 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 1284 Latvia Closest Approach To Earth (1.228 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 1432 Ethiopia Closest Approach To Earth (1.257 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 8672 Morse Closest Approach To Earth (1.733 AU)

Johann Gottfried Galle

Food for Thought

Space Would Take Big Hit if Supercommittee Fails

Space Image of the WeekSoyuz on the Launch Pad

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi