(From west to east)

• Vesta is in the constellation of Cetus.
• Metis is at opposition on the 4th in the constellation of Cetus.
• Information about the Minor Planets can be found at the Minor Planet Observer website.

"On Oct. 31, 2008, during the second close flyby of Enceladus of the month, the cameras and other optical remote sensing instruments will be front and center, imaging the fractures that slash across the moon's south polar region like stripes on a tiger."

Cassini Imaging Team

"(PI's note: For this installment of the PI Perspective, I wanted to share with you my remarks from a ceremony on Oct. 17, during which we 'inducted' the New Horizons model into the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center, and celebrated the mission's accomplishments since launch. It was also the first time we revealed publicly the full set of commemorative items on New Horizons. - Alan Stern)

Thank you. It's wonderful to be here tonight. And it's amazing to think that New Horizons itself is more than a billion miles off and happily speeding another million more miles toward the frontier every day.

I don't know how many of you know this, but New Horizons is now farther from Earth than all but two operating spacecraft - NASA's Voyagers 1 and 2, which pioneered the deep outer solar system, but left planet Pluto and the Kuiper Belt unexplored. And you might not know this either – the U.S. did not launch a mission to reconnoiter a new planet from Voyager's launch in 1977 until we launched in 2006. And when we crossed the orbit of Saturn this summer, it had been 27 years since the last spacecraft to venture that far (Voyager 2) passed Saturn. Well, our little spacecraft is putting NASA and the U.S. back in the pioneering exploration business in the 21st century."

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."

"Gliding over the battered surface of Mercury for the second time this year, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has revealed even more previously unseen real estate on the innermost planet, sending home hundreds of photos and measurements of its surface, atmosphere, and magnetic field.

The probe flew by Mercury shortly after 4:40 a.m. EDT on October 6, 2008, completing a critical gravity assist to keep it on course to orbit Mercury in 2011 and unveiling 30 percent of Mercury's surface never before seen by spacecraft.

"The region of Mercury's surface that we viewed at close range for the first time this month is bigger than the land area of South America," says Sean Solomon, MESSENGER principal investigator and the director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 'When combined with data from our first flyby and from Mariner 10, our latest coverage means that we have now seen about 95% of the planet.'"

"PASADENA, Calif. -- The longest-serving of six spacecraft now studying Mars is up to new tricks for a third two-year extension of its mission to examine the most Earthlike of known foreign planets.

NASA's Mars Odyssey is altering its orbit to gain even better sensitivity for its infrared mapping of Martian minerals. During the mission extension through September 2010, it will also point its camera with more flexibility than it has ever used before. Odyssey reached Mars in 2001."

"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/

October 27-31, 2008

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

• Channel (Released 27 October 2008)
  
• Semeykin Drainage (Released 28 October 2008)
  
• Linear Ridges (Released 29 October 2008)
  
• Dust Devil Tracks (Released 30 October 2008)
  
• Arcuate Fractures (Released 31 October 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: Getting Ready to Make the Next Move - sol 1695-1701, October 09-15, 2008

"In recent weeks, increasing solar power has enabled Spirit to complete more science activities. Spirit has finished the 360-degree, full-color view of its winter surroundings, known as the "Bonestell panorama," and acquired extra frames at super resolution to enhance details in the imagery. The rover also has documented seasonal changes in the atmosphere by measuring argon gas with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.

The tradeoff has been that by funneling most available power into science activities, Spirit has not had much power for sending data to Earth. That is about to change, because Spirit's on-board memory is nearly full. Instead of sending data only every fourth day, Spirit will begin relaying data every day to NASA's Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth.

Rover operators will use the data to plan Spirit's first, post-winter drive to adjust the rover's position to keep the solar panels facing the Sun. The move will put the rover in optimum position before solar conjunction, when Earth and Mars will be on opposite sides of the Sun and communication will not be possible. Solar conjunction will take place on Martian days, or sols, 1745-1760 (Nov. 29-Dec. 15, 2008).

Meanwhile, Spirit is healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of sol 1700 (Oct. 14, 2008). Solar-array energy has been 242 watt-hours (100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour). After weeks of remarkably clear skies, atmospheric opacity or tau, a measure of the decrease in sunlight caused by atmospheric dust, has risen slightly to 0.294. Atmospheric dust levels remain low, but are beginning to trend upward and affect solar power levels. This increase is expected, as it has occurred at this time of year in each of the previous three Martian years.

The dust factor -- the percentage of light penetrating dust on Spirit's solar arrays -- has remained steady. Only 32 percent of the sunlight reaching the arrays penetrates the dust to generate electricity."

Opportunity Status: reparing for the Road Trip of a Lifetime - sol 1669-1673, October 03-07, 2008

"Like a motorist preparing for a road trip, NASA's Opportunity rover is studying a "road atlas" of Mars, using details provided by a powerful camera in orbit above the red planet. Opportunity's road crew is poring over every detail of the landscape in images from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Team members will use the data to select a route to "Endeavour Crater" 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away.

Meanwhile, Opportunity continues traveling south around the rim of "Victoria Crater," stopping for photo shoots at selected locations along the way. During the past week, Opportunity drove a distance of 143 meters -- more than twice the wingspan of two Boeing 747's parked side by side. The rover acquired images of a promontory inside the crater known as "Cape Pillar" and began driving to another vantage point for taking images of a promontory known as "Cape Victory." Opportunity also studied the atmosphere, searched for Martian clouds, and scanned the rover's external dust-collection magnets.

Opportunity is healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of Martian day, or sol, 1673 (Oct. 7, 2008). Power has been superb, averaging 652 watt-hours during the past week (100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour.)"

Landing sites