1. Space News Update - Oct. 1, 2012 - In the News Story 1: Story 1: A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus Story 2: Story 2: Mercury’s Surface is Full of Sulfur Story 3: Story 3: Falcon 9 engines ignite on pad ahead of October launch Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

2. A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus >

3. Mercury’s Surface is Full of Sulfur

4. Falcon 9 engines ignite on pad ahead of October launch

5. The Night Sky Monday, Oct. 1 · Altair is the bright star high in the south at nightfall this week. Look for little Tarazed (Gamma Aquilae) to its upper right, and fainter Beta Aquilae a little farther to its lower left. Altair is just 17 light-years away. It's spinning so fast that it's a flattened ellipsoid, not a sphere. Tuesday, Oct. 2 · As dawn begins to break Wednesday morning, look east for dazzling Venus. Just 0.2° from it or less (as seen from the Americas) is Regulus, less than 1% as bright. You may need binoculars to separate Regulus from Venus's glare. A telescope provides a fine view, though Venus itself is currently an undistinguished gibbous disk just 16 arcseconds in diameter. Wednesday, Oct. 3 · The Pleiades sparkle to the left of the waning gibbous Moon late this evening, as shown at lower right. Thursday, Oct. 4 · Late this evening, look for Aldebaran below the Moon and bright Jupiter to the Moon's lower left, as shown at lower right. Friday, Oct. 5 · Jupiter comes up over the east-northeast horizon around 9:30 or 10 tonight, followed a half hour later by the nearly last-quarter Moon. They rise higher as night grows late, as shown at lower right. · Jupiter's satellite Ganymede slowly disappears into eclipse by Jupiter's shadow at 12:32 a.m. EDT tonight a little west of Jupiter, then emerges from eclipse at 2:31 a.m. EDT barely west of the planet's edge. Subtract 3 hours for PDT. A small telescope is all you need.

6. 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) ISSMon Oct 01/05:45 AM33912 above NW34 above ENE ISSTue Oct 02/04:59 AM12525 above NNE20 above ENE ISSTue Oct 02/06:32 AM43810 above WNW30 above S ISSWed Oct 03/05:45 AM57428 above WNW10 above SE ISSThu Oct 04/04:59 AM23333 above ESE10 above ESE ISSThu Oct 04/06:33 AM31310 above W10 above SSW ISSFri Oct 05/05:46 AM22222 above SSW10 above S

7. NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website October 3, Wednesday 11:05 a.m. - ISS Expedition 33 In-Flight Interviews with CNN Medical’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the New York Times - JSC (All Channels) October 4, Thursday 12:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels) October 5, Friday 5:30 a.m. - Video B-Roll of ISS Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Kevin Ford In Training - JSC (Public and Media Channels) 6 a.m. - Live Interviews with ISS Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Kevin Ford from Star City, Russia - JSC (Public and Media Channels)

8. Space Calendar Oct 01 - Comet 168P/Hergenrother Perihelion (1.415 AU)Comet 168P/HergenrotherPerihelion Oct 01 - Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Closest Approach To Earth (1.668 AU)Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Oct 01 - Asteroid 30441 Curly Closest Approach To Earth (1.766 AU)Asteroid 30441 Curly Oct 01 - Asteroid 88705 Potato Closest Approach To Earth (2.342 AU)Asteroid 88705 Potato Oct 02 - [Sep 29] ATV-3 Reenters Earth's AtmosphereATV-3 Reenters Earth's Atmosphere Oct 02 - Comet 158P/Kowal-LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (3.584 AU)Comet 158P/Kowal-LINEARClosest Approach To Earth Oct 02 - Asteroid 2410 Morrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.358 AU)Asteroid 2410 Morrison Oct 02 - Asteroid 3313 Mendel Closest Approach To Earth (1.799 AU)Asteroid 3313 Mendel Oct 03 - [Sep 30] Asteroid 2012 SJ58 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)Asteroid 2012 SJ58Near-Earth Flyby Oct 03 - [Sep 30] Asteroid 2012 SG58 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)Asteroid 2012 SG58Near-Earth Flyby Oct 03 - Asteroid 3031 Houston Closest Approach To Earth (1.451 AU)Asteroid 3031 Houston Oct 03 - Asteroid 2044 Wirt Closest Approach To Earth (1.497 AU)Asteroid 2044 Wirt Oct 03 - 50th Anniversary (1962), Sigma 7 Launch (Walter Schirra)Sigma 7 Oct 03 - 50th Anniversary (1962), Zagami Meteorite Fall (Mars Meteorite)Zagami Meteorite Fall Oct 04 - GPS 2F-3 Delta 4M LaunchGPS 2F-3Delta 4M Launch Oct 04 - Comet 260P/McNaught Closest Approach To Earth (0.584 AU)Comet 260P/McNaughtClosest Approach To Earth Oct 04 - 5th Anniversary (2007), Kaguya (Selene 1) Moon Orbit Insertion,Kaguya (Selene 1) Oct 04 - 55th Anniversary (1957), Sputnik 1 LaunchSputnik 1 Oct 04-10 - [Sep 27] World Space WeekWorld Space Week Oct 05 - Moon Occults JupiterMoon Occults Jupiter Oct 05 - European Southern Observatory's (ESO) 50th Birthday (1962)European Southern Observatory's Oct 05 - Robert Goddard's 130th Birthday (1882)Robert Goddard's JPL Space Calendar Walter “Wally” Marty Schirra, Jr.

9. Food for Thought Russians face their space crisis

10. Space Image of the Week Image Credit & Copyright: Tony HallasCopyrightTony Hallas