Space News Update - June 21, 2013 -

1. Space News Update - June 21, 2013 - In the News Story 1:New Horizons Spacecraft ‘Stays the Course’ for Pluto System Encounter Story 2: The Myth of the Supermoon Story 3:Reducing risk via ground testing is a recipe for SpaceX success Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting OpportunitiesNASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

2. New Horizons Spacecraft ‘Stays the Course’ for Pluto System Encounter

3. The Myth of the Supermoon

4. Reducing risk via ground testing is a recipe for SpaceX success

5. The Night Sky Friday, June 21 · As Mercury fades and descends below Venus day by day, how long can you keep it in view? · After dark, look for fire-colored Antares to the lower right of the bright Moon. Saturday, June 22· The largest full Moon of 2013 rises around sunset and shines all night. Tomorrow night it's almost as full and almost as large (for the longitudes of the Americas, since the Moon is exactly full at 7:32 a.m. Sunday morning EDT.) On both nights, though, this "supermoon" is only a trace larger than an average Moon: 7% wider. Read about the supermoon on our blog. Sunday, June 23· This is the time of year when the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, are about equally high overhead shortly after dark. Arcturus is toward the southwest, Vega toward the east. Arcturus and Vega are 37 and 25 light-years away, respectively, and represent the two commonest types of naked-eye stars: a yellow-orange Kgiant and a white A main-sequence star. They're 150 and 50 times brighter than the Sun — which, combined with their nearness, is why they dominate the evening sky. Monday, June 24· Look a third of the way from Arcturus to Vega for dim Corona Borealis, the semicircular Northern Crown. It has one moderately bright star, Alphecca (magnitude 2.2). Look two thirds of the way for the dim Keystone of Hercules, whose brightest star is magnitude 2.8. Sky & Telescope

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

7. NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) June 24, Monday9 a.m. - ISS Expedition 36 Russian Spacewalk Coverage (Spacewalk scheduled at begin at 9:35 a.m. ET) - JSC (Public and Media Channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar Jun 21 - Summer Solstice, 05:04 UT Jun 21 - Resurs P-1 Soyuz 2-1B Launch Jun 21 - Asteroid 2013 LC2Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU) Jun 21 - Asteroid 327 Columbia Closest Approach To Earth (1.622 AU) Jun 21 - Max Wolf's 150th Birthday (1863) Jun 22 - Comet P/2006 F4 (Spacewatch)At Opposition (1.653 AU) Jun 22 - Comet 91P/RussellAt Opposition (1.696 AU) Jun 22 - Asteroid 21619 Johnhopkins Closest Approach To Earth (1.362 AU) Jun 22 - Asteroid 4169 Celsius Closest Approach To Earth (2.602 AU) Jun 22 - 35th Anniversary (1978), Jim Christy's Discovery of Pluto's Moon Charon Jun 23 - Comet 19P/BorrellyAt Opposition (4.032 AU) Jun 23 - Asteroid 25924 Douglasadams Closest Approach To Earth (1.002 AU) Jun 23 - Asteroid 4148 McCartney Closest Approach To Earth (1.227 AU) Jun 23-25 - 25th Space Cryogenics Workshop, Girdwood, Alaska Jun 23-27 - 2013 Halophiles Conference, Storrs, Connecticut Jun 24 - O3b F-1, F-2, F-3 & F-4 Soyuz STB-Fregat Launch Jun 24 - Moon Occults Pluto Jun 24 - Comet 112P/Urata-NiijimaPerihelion (1.455 AU) Jun 24 - Comet P/2012 F2 (PANSTARRS)Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU) Jun 24 - Comet 201P/LONEOSAt Opposition (3.452 AU) Jun 24 - Asteroid 4444 Escher Closest Approach To Earth (1.036 AU) Jun 24 - Asteroid 5676 Voltaire Closest Approach To Earth (1.419 AU) Jun 24 - Asteroid 13688 Oklahoma Closest Approach To Earth (1.755 AU) Jun 24 - Asteroid 4766 Malin Closest Approach To Earth (1.927 AU) JPL Space Calendar

9. Food for Thought Navigating the Solar System Using Pulsars as GPS

10. Space Image of the Week Billion-Pixel View of Mars Comes From Curiosity Rover