Space News Update - November 22, In the News Story 1: Story 1: NASA Halts Work on its New Nuclear Generator for Deep Space Exploration Story 2: Story 2: Trio of Satellites See 'Watershed' Cosmic Blast in Unique Detail Story 3: Story 3: Rover engineers troubleshoot possible 'soft short' Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA Halts Work on its New Nuclear Generator for Deep Space Exploration

Trio of Satellites See 'Watershed' Cosmic Blast in Unique Detail

Rover engineers troubleshoot possible 'soft short'

The Night Sky Friday, November 22  The waning gibbous Moon is up in the east by about 10 p.m. tonight (depending on where you live). Look above it for bright Jupiter and, to Jupiter's left, Pollux and Castor. To the Moon's right twinkles Procyon. Much farther to the right, brighter Sirius is rising or soon to rise. Saturday, November 23  The eclipsing binary star Algol should be at minimum light, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.3, for a couple hours centered on 9:06 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It takes several more hours to fade and to rebrighten. Sunday, November 24  During dawn Monday and Tuesday mornings, when you're preparing to use binoculars or a telescope to make one last pre- perihelion try for Comet ISON barely above the horizon, you'll find Mercury and fainter Saturn shining to the naked eye just 3/4° apart (at the times of dawn in North America). They're well above the spot to look for the comet: by 7° on Monday, 9° on Tuesday. In a telescope, Mercury will be a tiny, slightly gibbous disk 5.6 arcseconds in diameter (no bigger than Mars, high in the southeast), while Saturn is dimmer but much larger: 34″ across its rings. They're a nice consolation prize! Monday, November 25  Last-quarter Moon (exact at 2:28 p.m. EST). The Moon rises around 1 a.m. tonight. By dawn Tuesday morning it's high in the south, with Regulus to its right and Mars to its lower left. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Fri Nov 22, 5:30 AM2 min11°11 above N10 above NNE Sat Nov 23, 6:17 AM4 min21°11 above NNW14 above ENE Sun Nov 24, 5:29 AM3 min16°14 above N10 above ENE Mon Nov 25, 4:42 AM< 1 min12°12 above NNE10 above NE Mon Nov 25, 6:16 AM4 min43°10 above NW29 above E

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) November 22, Friday a.m. - Asteroid Initiative Ideas Synthesis Workshop -- Grand Challenge Panel – Next Generation Engagement - HQ/LPI - (All Channels) 11 a.m. - Space Station Live - JSC (Media Channel) 11:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. - Asteroid Initiative Ideas Synthesis Workshop -- Summary Plenary Session - HQ/LPI - (All Channels) November 25, Monday 3:30 p.m. - Coverage of the Launch of the ISS Progress 53 Cargo Craft (Launch scheduled at 3:53 p.m. ET) - JSC viaBaikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Nov 22 - [Nov 22] Swarm A, B & C Rokot KM LaunchSwarm A, B & CRokot KM Launch Nov 22 - Comet P/2013 T2 (Schwartz) At Opposition (1.181 AU)Comet P/2013 T2 (Schwartz)At Opposition Nov 22 - Comet 271P/van Houten-Lemmon Closest Approach To Earth (3.331 AU)Comet 271P/van Houten-LemmonClosest Approach To Earth Nov 22 - Asteroid 8553 Bradsmith Closest Approach To Earth (1.443 AU)Asteroid 8553 Bradsmith Nov th Anniversary (1998), Galileo, Europa 18 FlybyGalileo Nov 23 - Comet P/2012 T3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.914 AU)Comet P/2012 T3 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Nov 23 - Comet 251P/LINEAR At Opposition (4.254 AU)Comet 251P/LINEARAt Opposition Nov 23 - Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.763 AU)Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS)Closest Approach To Earth Nov 23 - Asteroid 4547 Massachusetts Closest Approach To Earth (1.531 AU)Asteroid 4547 Massachusetts Nov 23 - Asteroid Kalpanachawla Closest Approach To Earth (1.845 AU)Asteroid Kalpanachawla Nov 24 - Comet P/2005 L1 (McNaught) Perihelion (3.159 AU)Comet P/2005 L1 (McNaught)Perihelion Nov 24 - Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults TYC (10.5 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults TYC Nov 24 - Asteroid Zephyr Closest Approach To Earth (1.096 AU)Asteroid Zephyr Nov 24 - Asteroid 2712 Keaton Closest Approach To Earth (1.164 AU)Asteroid 2712 Keaton Nov 24 - Asteroid Topeka Closest Approach To Earth (2.096 AU)Asteroid Topeka Nov 25 - [Nov 18] Progress M-21M Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 53P)Progress M-21MSoyuz U Launch Nov 25 - Comet P/2005 T2 (Christensen) At Opposition (2.508 AU)Comet P/2005 T2 (Christensen)At Opposition Nov 25 - Comet 271P/van Houten-Lemmon At Opposition (3.332 AU)Comet 271P/van Houten-LemmonAt Opposition Nov 25 - Asteroid 2010 CL19 Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)Asteroid 2010 CL19Near-Earth Flyby Nov 25 - Asteroid 3306 Byron Closest Approach To Earth (1.525 AU)Asteroid 3306 Byron

Food for Thought JFK's legacy: Setting America on course for the moon

Space Image of the Week NASA Releases Comet ISON Images from STEREO Image Credit: Karl Battams/NASA/STEREO/CIOC