1. Space News Update - April 13, 2012 - In the News Story 1: Story 1: Reports: North Korean rocket launch ends in failure Story 2: Story 2: What’s the Moon Made Of? Earth, Most Likely. Story 3: Story 3: Antares rocket first stage on the pad for pathfinder testing Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

2. Reports: North Korean rocket launch ends in failure

3. What’s the Moon Made Of? Earth, Most Likely.

4. Antares rocket first stage on the pad for pathfinder testing

5. The Night Sky Friday, April 13 · Summer preview: stay up till 11 and look northeast, and you'll get a preview of bright Vega, the "Summer Star" in little Lyra, climbing into good view. · Last-quarter Moon (exact at 6:50 a.m. on this date EDT). Saturday, April 14 · Saturn is at opposition tomorrow: opposite the Sun as seen from Earth. It's in Virgo, right where the Sun will be shining six months from now. · Tonight is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and we're kinda proud of the attention our April cover story is receiving: "Did the Moon Sink the Titanic"? Astro-historians Don Olsen, Russell Doescher, and Roger Sinnott make the case that the unusually high spring tides several months earlier, caused by the unusually close Moon and Sun, floated an abnormal number of icebergs away from the shores of Greenland and northern Canada — setting them adrift to reach the North Atlantic by the night of April 14–15.

6. The Night Sky Sunday, April 15 · Saturn is at opposition, opposite the Sun. It rises around sunset, shines highest in the middle of the night, and sets around sunrise. Telescope users: watch for the Seeliger effect, described under Saturn in "This Week's Planet Roundup" below. · Mars ends its retrograde (westward) motion for the year and resumes heading east against the background stars. Watch it pull away from Regulus in the coming weeks: slowly at first, then faster. Monday, April 16 · As twilight fades, Look for bright Sirius in the southwest, Orion's horizontal Belt off to the right (with Betelgeuse above it, Rigel below it), and Aldebaran and Venus farther to the right in the west.

7. ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: SATELLITELOCALDURATION MAX ELEV APPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) ISSFri Apr 13/09:17 PM21817 above NNW11 above NNE ISSSat Apr 14/08:21 PM32726 above NW10 above NNE ISSSat Apr 14/09:57 PM21110 above NNW10 above N ISSSun Apr 15/09:01 PM21313 above NNW10 above NNE ISSMon Apr 16/08:05 PM21818 above NNW11 above NNE ISSMon Apr 16/09:42 PM< 11010 above N ISSFri Mar 30/05:00 AM< 11010 above N ISSSat Mar 31/05:39 AM21310 above NNW12 above NNE ISSSun Apr 01/04:42 AM21010 above N10 above NNE ISSSun Apr 01/06:17 AM32611 above NNW25 above NE ISSMon Apr 02/05:20 AM31710 above NNW17 above NNE

8. NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website April 13, Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. - NASA’s Great Moon Buggy Race - MSFC (Education Channel) 11:15 a.m. - ISS Expedition 30 In-Flight Event with NPR’s “Science Friday” Program - JSC (Public and Media Channels) April 14, Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – NASA’s Great Moon Buggy Race – MSFC (Public and Education Channels) April 16, Monday TBD p.m. - ISS SpaceX/Dragon Post-Flight Readiness Review Preflight Briefing - JSC (Public and Media Channels) 7 p.m. - NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Presents the “National Finals of FameLab Astrobiology” - HQ (Public and Education Channels)

9. Space Calendar Apr 13 - [Apr 12] Comet P/2012 F2 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (2.914 AU) Apr 13 - Comet C/2011 L6 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (6.398 AU) Apr 13 - Asteroid 2012 FO35 Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU) Apr 13 - Asteroid 4226 Damiaan Closest Approach To Earth (2.393 AU) Apr 13 - Asteroid 9950 ESA Closest Approach To Earth (2.574 AU) Apr 14 - [Apr 11] Cassini, Enceladus Flyby Apr 14 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Helene, Dione, Promentheus, Pandora, Titan & Tethys Apr 14 - Asteroid 2012 FT62 Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU) Apr 14 - Asteroid 24997 Petergabriel Closest Approach To Earth (1.471 AU) Apr 14 - Asteroid 1631 Kopff Closest Approach To Earth (1.501 AU) Apr 14 - Asteroid 397 Vienna Closest Approach To Earth (2.258 AU) Apr 15 - RISAT 1 PSLV-C19 Launch Apr 15 - Saturn At Opposition Apr 15 - Asteroid 9777 Enterprise Closest Approach To Earth (1.343 AU) Apr 15 - Asteroid 2521 Heidi Closest Approach To Earth (1.588 AU) Apr 15 - Asteroid 6371 Heinlein Closest Approach To Earth (1.828 AU) Apr 15 - Asteroid 439 Ohio Closest Approach To Earth (2.230 AU) Apr 15 - Leonhard Euler's 305th Birthday (1707) Apr 16 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Hyperion Apr 16 - Comet C/2012 CH17 (MOSS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.987 AU) Apr 16 - Comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS) Perihelion (5.131 AU) Apr 16 - Asteroid 16761 Hertz Closest Approach To Earth (2.110 AU) Apr 16 - 40th Anniversary (1972), Apollo 16 Launch (Manned Moon Landing) Apr 16 - Wilbur Wright's 145th Birthday (1867) Apr 16 - Leonardo DaVinci's 560th Birthday (1452) JPL Space Calendar

10. Food for Thought Letter to NASA is Common Ploy in Climate Change Denial

11. Space Image of the Week CREDIT: Laurent Lamy