Space News Update - May 17, 2019 -

1. Space News Update - May 17, 2019 - • In the News • Story 1: • New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results • Story 2: • NASA's MRO Completes 60,000 Trips Around Mars • Story 3: • Maunakea observatories shed new light on obscured infant solar system • Departments • The Night Sky • ISS Sighting Opportunities • NASA-TV Highlights • Space Calendar • Food for Thought • Space Image of the Week

2. New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results

3. NASA's MRO Completes 60,000 Trips Around Mars

4. Maunakea observatories shed new light on obscured infant solar system

5. The Night Sky Friday, May 17 • The Moon, nearly full, shines in dim Libra. Binoculars will help you see through the moonlight to Beta Librae nearly 5° to the Moon's upper left (for North America), and Alpha Librae a similar distance to the Moon's lower right. Alpha is a nice binocular double star. Stepping back for a much wider view, bright Arcturus shines very high above the Moon. Look less far to the Moon's right or upper right and there's Spica, one magnitude fainter. Saturday, May 18 • Full Moon (exact at 5:11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The Moon rises around sunset. After dark it hangs above the rising head of Scorpius, flooding it with moonlight. Can you see any stars of Scorpius at all? The brightest is orange Antares, about 10° below the Moon. Second brightest is Delta Scorpii, nearer the Moon. Sunday, May 19 • The Moon, a day past full, forms a wide triangle with Jupiter to its lower left and Antares to its right. Monday, May 20 • The bright "star" upper right of the Moon late this evening is Jupiter. The giant planet is 40 times larger in diameter than the Moon but is currently 1,700 times farther away. Tuesday, May 21 • This is the time of year when Leo the Lion starts walking downward toward the west, on his way to departing into the sunset in early summer. Right after dark, spot the brightest star fairly high in the west-southwest. That's Regulus, his forefoot. Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: No Sightings in Denver through Friday Apr 26th Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

7. 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) May 17, Friday3 p.m. – Houston, We Have a Podcast Live with the band Shinedown in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month  (All Channels) May 28, Tuesday11:25 a.m. - International Space Station In-Flight Event with the Washington Post with NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch (All Channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar • May 17 - [May 10] 50th Anniversary (1969), Venera 6, Venus Impact • May 17 - [May 15] BeiDou 2G8 CZ-3C Launch • May 17 - Comet 74P/Smirnova-ChernykhAt Opposition (2.865 AU) • May 17 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 JG1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU) • May 17 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 GT1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU) • May 17 - Amor Asteroid 153591 (2001 SN263) (2 Moons) Closest Approach To Earth (1.268 AU) • May 17 - Asteroid 3263 Bligh Closest Approach To Earth (1.539 AU) • May 17 - Asteroid 20 Massalia Closest Approach To Earth (1.617 AU) • May 17 - Asteroid 250840 Motorhead Closest Approach To Earth (2.481 AU) • May 17 - Asteroid 325 Heidelberga Closest Approach To Earth (2.724 AU) • May 17 - Kuiper Belt Object 2015 BP519At Opposition (52.674 AU) • May 17 - 20th Anniversary (1999), STS-96 Launch (Space Shuttle Discovery, International Space Station) • May 18 - [May 11] Blue Moon • May 18 - [May 11] 50th Anniversary (1969), Apollo 10 Launch • May 18 - Venus Passes 1.1 Degrees From Uranus • May 18 - Comet P/2003 T12 (SOHO)At Opposition (2.640 AU) • May 18 - Comet 206P/Barnard-BoattiniAt Opposition (3.671 AU) • May 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2012 KT12Near-Earth Flyby (0.008 AU) • May 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 JR1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU) • May 18 - Asteroid 27320 Vellinga Closest Approach To Earth (1.066 AU) • May 18 - Asteroid 12927 Pinocchio Closest Approach To Earth (1.581 AU) • May 18 - Asteroid 19148 Alaska Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU) • May 18 - Neptune Trojan 2010 TS191At Opposition (29.666 AU) • May 19 - Moon Occults Dwarf Planet Ceres • May 19 - Comet P/2018 C1 (Lemmon-Read)At Opposition (3.077 AU) • May 19 - Comet 183P/Korlevic-JuricAt Opposition (3.257 AU) • May 19 - Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.232 AU) • May 19 - Asteroid 2022 West Closest Approach To Earth (2.006 AU) • May 19 - Asteroid 742 Edisona Closest Approach To Earth (2.114 AU) • May 19 - Kuiper Belt Object 2015 KH162At Opposition (58.989 AU) • May 19 - 15th Anniversary (2004), Hayabusa (MUSES-C), Earth Flyby • May 19 - Dick Scobee's 80th Birthday (1939) JPL Space Calendar

9. Space Calendar • May 20 - [May 17] Yaogan 33 CZ-4B Launch • May 20 - Comet C/2017 M4 (ATLAS)At Opposition (2.490 AU) • May 20 - Comet P/2017 W3 (Gibbs)At Opposition (3.692 AU) • May 20 - [May 11] Apollo Asteroid 2019 JL3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU) • May 20 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 JB1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU) • May 20 - Apollo Asteroid 68950 (2002 QF15)Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU) • May 20 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 QP16 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU) • May 20 - Asteroid 736 Harvard Closest Approach To Earth (1.234 AU) • May 21 - Dwarf Planet Ceres Occults UCAC5 363-073920 (11.5 Magnitude Star) • May 21 - Apollo Asteroid 217628 LughClosest Approach To Earth (1.388 AU) • May 21 - Asteroid 9618 Johncleese Closest Approach To Earth (1.451 AU) • May 21 - Asteroid 1197 Rhodesia Closest Approach To Earth (1.549 AU) • May 21 - Asteroid 171183 Haleakala Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU) • May 21 - C. Michelle Olmstead's 50th Birthday (1969) JPL Space Calendar

10. Food for Thought NASA aims for quick start to 2024 Moon landing via newly named Artemis Program

11. Space Image of the Week On the verge Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA