(From west to east)

• Parthenope is in the constellation of Capricornus.
• Vesta is in the constellation of Cetus.
• Metis is in the constellation of Cetus.
• Pallas is in the constellation of Lepus.
• Information about the Minor Planets can be found at the Minor Planet Observer website.

"PASADENA, Calif. -- In a feat of interplanetary sharpshooting, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has pinpointed precisely where the icy jets erupt from the surface of Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus.

New carefully targeted pictures reveal exquisite details in the prominent south polar "tiger stripe" fractures from which the jets emanate. The images show the fractures are about 300 meters (980 feet) deep, with V-shaped inner walls. The outer flanks of some of the fractures show extensive deposits of fine material. Finely fractured terrain littered with blocks of ice tens of meters in size and larger (the size of small houses) surround the fractures.

"This is the mother lode for us," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. "A place that may ultimately reveal just exactly what kind of environment -- habitable or not -- we have within this tortured little moon."

One highly anticipated result of this flyby was finding the location within the fractures from which the jets blast icy particles, water vapor and trace organics into space. Scientists are now studying the nature and intensity of this process on Enceladus, and its effects on surrounding terrain. This information, coupled with observations by Cassini's other instruments, may answer the question of whether reservoirs of liquid water exist beneath the surface."

Cassini Imaging Team

"As avid followers of New Horizons know, our spacecraft has been mostly hibernating since February, and will continue to so do until Sept. 2, when we will wake it to begin its second annual checkout. Many of you will also recall that New Horizons passed the orbit of Saturn in early June. New Horizons is the first spacecraft to venture this far (a billion kilometers from the Sun!) since the last of the Voyagers accomplished the same milestone in the summer of 1981. We are now nearly 96 million kilometers (60 million miles) beyond Saturn, and will cross the orbit of Uranus Ð about 2 billion kilometers from the Sun Ð in March 2011."

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."

"Data from MESSENGERÕs first flyby of Mercury have been released to the public by the Planetary Data System (PDS), an organization that archives and distributes all of NASAÕs planetary mission data.

ÒThis delivery, while not the first for the MESSENGER mission, represents a significant milestone,Ó says MESSENGER Mission Archive Coordinator Alan Mick, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. ÒWe had delivered data from MESSENGER to the PDS before, but not Mercury data,Ó he says. ÒThis delivery was particularly significant Ñ the first MESSENGER flyby of Mercury was mankindÕs return to this planet after an absence of over three decades. In this one flyby we imaged previously unseen areas of MercuryÕs surface, greatly improved the resolution in areas already covered, and made observations of a kind that had never been made before.Ó

Calibrated data from three of the probeÕs science instruments Ñ the Magnetometer (MAG), the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS), and the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) Ñ are included in this release. ÒThe science results from these instruments have already shed light on questions about Mercury that have lingered for more than three decades,Ó says MESSENGER Project Scientist Ralph McNutt of APL."

"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/

August 18-22, 2008

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

• Tempe Terra (Released 18 August 2008)
  
• Dunes (Released 19 August 2008)
  
• Lycus Sulci (Released 20 August 2008)
  
• Polar Layers (Released 21 August 2008)
  
• Polar Erg (Released 22 August 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: Waiting Out the Winter - sol 1628-1634, August 01-07, 2008

"Spirit's battery levels are slowly edging upward, thanks to a slight decrease in atmospheric dust (Tau) and a gradual increase in sunlight as winter gives way to spring.

Early in the week, Spirit spent two Martian days carrying out contingency plans following a temporary delay in data transmission from Earth. Spirit implemented the so-called "runout" portion of an earlier master sequence on sols 1628 and 1629 (Aug. 1-2, 2008). Subsequent relays of new instructions from Earth on sols 1629 and 1632 (Aug. 2 and Aug. 5, 2008) went off without a hitch.

Spirit remains healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of sol 1630 (Aug. 3, 2008)."

Opportunity Status: Opportunity Eyes Challenges Ahead - sol 1614-1620, August 8-14, 2008

"Opportunity faces several challenges on the way out of "Victoria Crater" but continues to make steady progress. The first of these is a traverse of approximately 10 meters (30 feet, a little longer than a double-decker bus) across a sandy, 17-degree slope. Opportunity is more than halfway through that part of the journey. The next is a drive across 30 to 50 meters (100 to 160 feet), depending on the route taken, of rocky outcrop. The final leg of the climb will require Opportunity to cross the ripple surrounding the alcove known as "Duck Bay."

Because Opportunity is facing the threat of a drive-motor failure on the left front wheel, the engineering team has been working on pseudo-"Mars time" for the past week to take advantage of extra drive opportunities.

Opportunity remains healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of the downlink of information from NASA's Odyssey orbiter on sol 1620 (Aug. 14, 2008)."

Landing sites