(From west to east)

• Iris is in the constellation of Taurus.

• Nysa is in the constellation of Gemini.

• Melpomeme is at opposition on the 23rd in the constellation of Cancer.

• Massalia is at opposition on the 29th in the constellation of Cancer.

• Vesta is in the constellation of Libra.

• Information about the Minor Planets can be found at the Minor Planet Observer website.

"Cassini wrapped up the year with a Titan rendezvous on Dec. 28, which measured Titan's gravity field in search for a potential subsurface ocean. Raw images are now available."

Cassini Imaging Team

"Popular Science magazine has put New Horizons on its annual "Best of What's New" list, which honors the year's most outstanding breakthrough products and technologies. The mission was among the 100 new products and innovations selected from hundreds examined by the magazine, and one of 12 selected in the Aviation & Space category."

NASA photographs have revealed bright new deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggest water carried sediment through them sometime during the past seven years.

"These observations give the strongest evidence to date that water still flows occasionally on the surface of Mars," said Dr. Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Washington."

Image of the Week - December 06, 2006

"The following new image taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available:

• Present-Day Impact Cratering and Gully Activity on Mars (Released 06 December 2006)

• All of the Mars Global Surveyor images are archived here.

Information about how to submit requests is online at the new Mars Orbiter Camera Target Request Site, at http://www.msss.com/plan/intro"

Newly-released MOC images can be seen in the MOC Gallery, a website maintained by Malin Space Science Systems, the company that built and operates MOC for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA.

Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and has been in Mars orbit since September 1997. It began its primary mapping mission on March 8, 1999. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a long-term program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program that is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

"Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Jets of carbon dioxide gas erupting from the ice cap as it warms in the spring carry dark sand and dust high aloft. The dark material falls back to the surface, creating dark patches on the ice cap which have long puzzled scientists. Deducing the eruptions of carbon dioxide gas from under the warming ice cap solves the riddle of the spots. It also reveals that this part of Mars is much more dynamically active than had been expected for any part of the planet."

"A simulated fly-through using the newly assembled imagery is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/missions/odyssey/20060313.html.

The fly-through plus tools for wandering across and zooming into the large image are at http://themis.asu.edu."

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Images
Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) website: http://themis.asu.edu/

December 25-29, 2006

The following new images from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft are now available:

• Northern Tracks (Released 25 December 2006)
  
• Ascraeus Mons (Released 26 December 2006)
  
• Crater Floor (Released 27 December 2006)
  
• Erosion (Released 28 December 2006)
  
• Slope Streaks (Released 29 December 2006)
  
• All of the THEMIS images are archived here.

The Odyssey data are available through a new online access system established by the Planetary Data System at: http://starbrite.jpl.nasa.gov/pds/"

Spirit Status: Spirit Tests New Computer Smarts, Studies Rocks and Terrain - sol 1051-1057, December 22, 2006

"Spirit is healthy and conducting scientific analysis of a rock target known as "Palma." During the past week, Spirit tested some new software sequences, including a "watch for dust devil" command and an automatic placement command.

On the rover's 1052nd Martian day, or sol, of exploring Mars (Dec. 18, 2006), Spirit ran part of the dust devil watch, acquiring six images during the process, but did not run the dust-devil detection part of the program. Rover handlers planned to rerun the test on sol 1058 (Dec. 24, 2006).

On sol 1053 (Dec. 19, 2006), Spirit terminated a test run of a command sequence for autonomous placement of the rover's robotic arm on a scientific target. The sequence involved touching a target with the Mšssbauer spectrometer, changing tools to the microscopic imager and suspending it 10 centimeters (4 inches) above the target, changing tools to the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, and placing the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer on the target. Spirit made preparations to run the test again on a new target on the same day that some Earthlings celebrate as Christmas Eve."

Opportunity Status: Opportunity Continues to Look for Entry Point into 'Victoria Crater' - sol 1029-1037, December 22, 2006

"Opportunity is healthy and continues to gather data in search of a potential future entry point into "Victoria Crater." The rover is traversing the crater rim near an alcove known as "Bottomless Bay," assessing whether it might eventually serve as an entry point, and collecting images of the crater's interior cliffs.

On Dec. 17, 2006, the rover's 1030th sol, or Martian day on Mars, Opportunity began testing software to enable autonomous placement of the robotic arm and scientific instruments on targets of scientific interest.

Between sols 1029 (Dec. 16, 2006) and 1034 (Dec. 21, 2006), Opportunity drove 41 meters (135 feet)."

Landing sites

"Layers on Mars are yielding history lessons revealed by instruments flying overhead and rolling across the surface.

Some of the first radar and imaging results from NASA's newest Mars spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, show details in layers of ice-rich deposits near the poles. Observed variations in the layers' thickness and composition will yield information about recent climate cycles on the red planet. "