Space News Update - May 9, 2017 -

1. Space News Update - May 9, 2017 - • In the News • Story 1: • Explaining An Oxygen Mystery on Comets • Story 2: • NASA Requests Information on Commercial Lunar Missions • Story 3:Space Weather Model Simulates Solar Storms From Nowhere • Departments • The Night Sky • ISS Sighting Opportunities • NASA-TV Highlights • Space Calendar • Food for Thought • Space Image of the Week

2. Explaining An Oxygen Mystery on Comets

3. NASA Requests Information on Commercial Lunar Missions

4. Space Weather Model Simulates Solar Storms From Nowhere

5. The Night Sky Monday, May 8• These spring evenings, the long, dim sea serpent Hydra snakes level far across the southern sky. Find Hydra's head, a rather dim asterism about the width of your thumb at arm's length, in the southwest. (It's lower right of Regulus by about two fists at arm's length. Also, a line from Castor through Pollux points to it 2½ fists away.) Hydra's tail stretches all the way to Libra, rising in the southeast. Hydra's star pattern, from forehead to tail-tip, is 95° long. Tuesday, May 9 • At dusk, the Moon forms a nearly equilateral triangle, about 30° on a side, with Arcturus to its upper left and Jupiter to its upper right. Watch the triangle rotate clockwise as it moves across the sky through the night. Wednesday, May 10 • Full Moon (exactly full at 5:42 p.m. EDT). The Moon rises around sunset and shines in Libra all through the night. Nearly 40° above it shines Arcturus. Thursday, May 11 • A Jupiter double-shadow event for telescopes: Io and Europa cast their two tiny black shadows onto opposite sides of Jupiter's face from 9:59 to 10:05 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. • As evening grows late, look about 10° below the Moon for orange-red Antares twinkling away. Lesser stars of Scorpius are scattered around and upper right of Antares. By midnight, Saturn is glowing to the lower left of them all. Even later in the night, look for Saturn glowing steadily to the lower left of all of them. Friday, May 12 • The Arch of Spring spans the western sky in late twilight. Pollux and Castor form its top: they're lined up roughly horizontally in the west-northwest, about three finger-widths at arm's length apart. Look far to their lower left for Procyon, and farther to their lower right for Menkalinan and then bright Capella. The Arch of Spring is the last departing section of the even bigger Winter Hexagon. Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: 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) 8 a.m., Tuesday, May 9 - ISS Expedition 51 In-Flight Event for ESA with Cite de L’Espace in Toulouse, France and Flight Engineer Tomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (NTV-1 with English interpretation; NTV-3 in native language) (all channels) 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 10 - ISS Expedition 51 In-Flight Educational Event with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA (starts at 12:40 p.m.) (all channels) 2 p.m., Wednesday, May 10 - ISS Expedition 53-54 Crew News Conference (Acaba, VandeHei, Misurkin) (all channels) 6:30 a.m., Friday, May 12 - Coverage of ISS Expedition 51 U.S. Spacewalk # 42 (Whitson and Fischer; spacewalk expected to begin at 8 a.m. ET) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar • May 09 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Daphnis, Pan, Pandora & Titan • May 09 - Comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)Perihelion (1.043 AU) • May 09 - [May 07] Amor Asteroid 2017 JY1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU) • May 09 - [May 04] Apollo Asteroid 2017 HZ49 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU) • May 09 - Apollo Asteroid 1864 DaedalusClosest Approach To Earth (0.435 AU) • May 09 - Atira Asteroid 434326 (2004 JG6)Closest Approach To Earth (0.882 AU) • May 09 - Apollo Asteroid 2329 OrthosClosest Approach To Earth (0.936 AU) • May 09 - Asteroid 2554 Skiff Closest Approach To Earth (1.014 AU) • May 09 - Kuiper Belt Object 90568 (2004 GV9)At Opposition (38.509 AU) • May 10 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 HP3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU) • May 10 - Apollo Asteroid 85585 MjolnirClosest Approach To Earth (1.224 AU) • May 11 - Comet 194P/LINEARClosest Approach To Earth (2.912 AU) • May 11 - Comet 204P/LINEAR-NEATAt Opposition (2.939 AU) • May 11 - Comet P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra)At Opposition (4.263 AU) • May 11 - [May 07] Apollo Asteroid 2017 JX1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.010 AU) • May 11 - [May 03] Aten Asteroid 2017 HU49 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU) • May 11 - Asteroid 117329 Spencer Closest Approach To Earth (1.240 AU) • May 11 - Asteroid 3197 Weissman Closest Approach To Earth (2.159 AU) • May 11 - Friedrich Schmiedl's 115th Birthday (1902) • May 12 - [May 07] Apollo Asteroid 2017 JA2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.007 AU) • May 12 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 LJ49 Near-Earth Flyby (0.062 AU) • May 12 - [May 01] Aten Asteroid 2017 HZ4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU) • May 12 - Atira Asteroid 2012 VE46Closest Approach To Earth (0.536 AU) • May 12 - Apollo Asteroid 4769 CastaliaClosest Approach To Earth (0.751 AU) • May 12 - Neptune Trojan 2010 TS191 At Opposition (29.692 AU) JPL Space Calendar

9. New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought How a Helicopter Drone Could Fly on Mars

10. Space Image of the Week Hail the Hexagon