Space News Update - May 14 - 18, 2012 -

1. Space News Update - May 14 - 18, 2012 - In the News Story 1:Mojave Desert Tests Prepare for NASA Mars Roving Story 2:Free-floating Planets Could Harbor Life Story 3:High in the sky: Solar eclipse, transit of Venus coming to Colorado skies Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

2. Mojave Desert Tests Prepare for NASA Mars Roving

3. Free-floating Planets Could Harbor Life

4. High in the sky: Solar eclipse, transit of Venus coming to Colorado skies

5. The Night Sky · Monday, May 14 · The pair of points you'll find shining fairly high in the southeast at nightfall are Saturn and (to its lower right) Spica. Look to their lower right for the four-star pattern of Corvus, the Crow. Look farther to their upper left for brighter Arcturus, the "Spring Star." Tuesday, May 15 · Arcturus shines high in the southeast after dark. Vega, equally bright, shines lower in the northeast. A third of the way from Arcturus to Vega look for dim Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, with its one modestly bright star, Alphecca. Two thirds of the way from Arcturus to Vega is the dim Keystone of Hercules. Wednesday, May 16 · This is the time of year when the Big Dipper floats upside down at its highest due north when the stars come out. Far below it is Polaris. Far below Polaris, near or even below the horizon depending on your latitude, is W-shaped Cassiopeia. Thursday, May 17 · The Summer Triangle is fully up in the east by about 11 p.m. Its top star is Vega, the brightest in the eastern sky. About two fist-widths to Vega's lower left is Deneb. Farther to Vega's lower right is Altair. If you have a dark sky, you'll see that the Milky Way runs through it. Friday, May 18 · Arcturus is the brightest star high in the southeast these evenings. It's the leading light of the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman. The main stars of Bootes form a narrow, bent kite shape extending left of Arcturus, nearly three fists at arm's length long. Or maybe the kite is a pointy-toed shoe, with Arcturus the tip of the toe.

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities For Denver: Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

7. NASA-TV Highlights May 14, Monday12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 31/32 Final Pre-Launch Crew News Conference and Russian State Commission Meeting in Baikonur, Kazakhstan - JSC (All Channels)2 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 31/32 Final Pre-Launch Crew News Conference and Russian State Commission Meeting in Baikonur, Kazakhstan - JSC (All Channels)5 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 31/32 Final Pre-Launch Crew News Conference and Russian State Commission Meeting in Baikonur, Kazakhstan - JSC (All Channels)9 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 31/32 Final Pre-Launch Crew News Conference and Russian State Commission Meeting in Baikonur, Kazakhstan - JSC (All Channels)10 p.m. - ISS Expedition 31/32 Soyuz TMA-04M Launch Coverage (Launch scheduled at 11:01 p.m. ET; includes video B-roll of the crew's pre-launch activities and launch replays at 10:15 p.m. ET) May 15, Tuesday1 a.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 31/32 Soyuz TMA-04M Pre-Launch and Launch Video B-Roll and Post-Launch Interviews - JSC (Public and Media Channels)May 16, Wednesday10:15 a.m. - ISS Expedition 31 In-Flight Event for ESA with European YouTube Spacelab Participants May 17, Thursday12 a.m. -ISS Expedition 31/32 Soyuz TMA-04M Docking Coverage (Docking scheduled at 12:38 a.m. ET followed by the post-docking news conference from Mission Control in Korolev, Russia) 3:45 a.m. - ISS Expedition 31/32 Soyuz TMA-04M Hatch Opening and Welcoming Ceremony (Hatch Opening and Welcoming Ceremony scheduled to begin at 3:55 a.m. ET) - JSC via Korolev, Russia (All Channels)6 a.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 31/32 Soyuz TMA-04M Docking, Hatch Opening and Welcoming Ceremony - JSC (All Channels)May 18, Friday1 p.m. - SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Pre-Launch Briefing - KSC (All Channels) Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.

8. Space Calendar · May 14 - Soyuz TMA-04M Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 30S) · May 14 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #321 (OTM-321) · May 14 - Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro Closest Approach To Earth (1.863 AU) · May 14 - Comet P/2011 FR143 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (3.519 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 3850 Peltier Closest Approach To Earth (1.265 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 23638 Nagano Closest Approach To Earth (1.387 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 90022 Apache Point Closest Approach To Earth (1.486 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 7273 Garyhuss Closest Approach To Earth (2.131 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 2069 Hubble Closest Approach To Earth (2.369 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 13010 Germantitov Closest Approach To Earth (2.425 AU) · May 14 - Asteroid 9661 Hohmann Closest Approach To Earth (3.202 AU) · May 15 - Vinasat 2/ JC-Sat 13 Ariane 5 Launch · May 15 - Asteroid 2012 GK Near-Earth Flyby (0.056 AU) · May 15 - Asteroid 2012 HN13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU) · May 15 - Asteroid 3594 Scotti Closest Approach To Earth (1.570 AU) · May 16 - Asteroid 2238 Steshenko Occults HIP 40866 (5.8 Magnitude Star) · May 16 - Asteroid 12927 Pinocchio Closest Approach To Earth (1.581 AU) · May 16 - Asteroid 1213 Algeria Closest Approach To Earth (2.465 AU) · May 17 - Nimiq 6 Proton M-Briz M Launch · May 17 - Cosmos 2480 (Kobalt N-8) Soyuz U Launch · May 17 - Shizuku (GCOM-W1)/ Kompsat 3/ SDS-4/ Horyu 2 H-2A Launch · May 17 - Asteroid 2614 Torrence Closest Approach To Earth (1.370 AU) · May 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #322 (OTM-322) · May 18 - Comet C/2010 R1 (LINEAR) Perihelion (5.621 AU) JPL Space Calendar

9. Food for Thought Engineer Thinks We Could Build a Real Starship Enterprise in 20 Years

10. Space Image of the Week