(From west to east)

• Juno is at opposition in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
• Pallas is in the constellation of Cetus.
• Information about the Minor Planets can be found at the Minor Planet Observer website.

"On May 28, the Cassini spacecraft successfully completed a flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, the last flyby of the original four-year tour, but Cassini's exploration of Saturn will continue for two more years. This flyby included imagery of Xanadu and inbound altimetry over the area imaged during the previous flyby.

The extended mission, named the "Saturn Equinox Mission", will start this summer, a two-year odyssey with 26 Titan flybys, 7 Enceladus encounters, and one flyby each of the icy moons Dione, Rhea and Helene."

Cassini Imaging Team

"Spacecraft Will Be First to Journey beyond Ringed Planet Since 1981.

Last week, New Horizons woke up from its longest electronic hibernation period to date - 89 days. And over the next 10 days, the New Horizons team will celebrate a trio of milestones on the spacecraft's long journey to explore Pluto in 2015."

New Horizons gallery."

"NASA's Dawn spacecraft has successfully completed the initial checkout phase of the mission and begun its interplanetary cruise phase, which is highlighted by nearly continuous thrusting of its ion propulsion system. Dawn is on a 8-year, 3-billion mile journey to asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres."

"Jim McAdams, the MESSENGER mission design lead engineer, was named the 2008 Engineer of the Year by the Baltimore Section, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Each spring, this chapter of AIAA honors those in the aerospace community who have made significant contributions during the previous year.

McAdams of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., 'optimized the trajectory and maneuver schedule, designing one of the most challenging planetary missions in history,' said APL's Tom Strikwerda, who on May 28 presented the award: a plaque and a 24-inch-high trophy that McAdams will keep until passing it on to the next winner a year from now.

Because Mercury lies deep within the Sun's gravity well, travel to the planet requires an extremely large velocity change. A spacecraft traveling to Mercury speeds up as it falls toward the Sun; so MESSENGER's trajectory had to be designed to most effectively utilize the gravitational pull of Venus and Mercury to achieve most of the required velocity change."

"PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has found evidence of salt deposits. These deposits point to places where water once was abundant and where evidence might exist of possible Martian life from the Red Planet's past.

A team led by Mikki Osterloo of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, found approximately 200 places on southern Mars that show spectral characteristics consistent with chloride minerals. Chloride is part of many types of salt, such as sodium chloride or table salt. The sites range from about a square kilometer (0.4 square mile) to 25 times that size."

"A simulated fly-through using the newly assembled imagery is available online.

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/

May 26-30, 2008

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

• Labeatis Catenae (Released 26 May 2008)
  
• Tartarus Montes (Released 27 May 2008)
  
• Kasei Channels (Released 28 May 2008)
  
• Kasei Valles (Released 29 May 2008)
  
• Kasei Valles (Released 30 May 2008)
  
• 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: "Catch-22": Staying Awake vs. Going to Sleep - sol 1532-1538, April 24-30, 2008

"Spirit's Tau measurements of atmospheric dust have remained steady, but solar array input has dropped a bit to 235 watt-hours per sol. Spirit still has enough energy to squeeze in Mössbauer studies of iron-bearing minerals at a time of year when the rover's handlers expected Spirit to be concerned only with survival. At present, the rover's target of scientific interest is a soil exposure nicknamed after Arthur C. Harmon, a former Tuskegee airman. Spirit conducted 8 more hours of Mössbauer integration, for a total of 12 hours. Scientists hope the rover will be able to collect 36 more hours' worth of data from the same target. Meanwhile, Spirit continued to acquire panoramic-camera images, using all 13 color filters, of the "Bonestell panorama," informally named in honor of famed space artist Chesley Bonestell."

Opportunity Status: Injured Shoulder Joint Back in the Game - sol 1525-1532, May 08-15, 2008

"Like an athlete with a shoulder injury whose arm is folded in a sling, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has been unable to move its robotic shoulder joint for weeks. Early Wednesday (May 14, 2008), after a regimen of electrical stimulation and heat, the rover finally moved its shoulder joint and swung its robotic arm back to the front. Opportunity accomplished this after surviving four Earth years, two Martian winters, a major dust storm, and more than 1,500 day-to-night temperature cycles on the red planet."

Landing sites