Cassini Significant Events
for 12/09/09 - 12/15/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Dec.15 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Madrid, Spain. The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all subsystems are
operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" page
at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/presentposition/ .

Wednesday, Dec. 9 (DOY 343)

A non-targeted flyby of Helene occurred today.

A three-frame animation and a still image of the mysterious hexagon
surrounding Saturn's north pole were released today. They are the
first visible light images yet from Cassini of this structure. For
images and text link to:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/video/videodetails/?videoID=200

In addition to the data collected at the Titan 63 flyby this week,
the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) measured helium abundance
at the Radio Science (RSS) egress occultation point. The Cosmic Dust
Analyzer (CDA) was observing during the ring plane crossing. RSS
performed a radio occultation of Saturn's ionosphere and atmosphere
to measure vertical profiles of electron density in the ionosphere,
and of density, pressure, and temperature in the neutral atmosphere.
The Magnetospheric and Plasma Science (MAPS) instrument teams
conducted a satellites and rings interactions campaign to observe the
interaction between the magnetospheric hot ions and electrons, rings,
and icy satellites, and observed the dawn-side magnetospheric
boundaries at a variety of radial distances. The Visual and Infrared
Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) observed the E and G rings at 80 degree
phase, and the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) performed a
12-hour Saturn system scan to observe atomic oxygen and hydrogen.

Thursday, Dec. 10 (DOY 344)

A non-targeted flyby of Pallene occurred today.

The main engine cover was closed on Dec. 9 at the end of the OTM-226
backup maneuver pass, and will be reopened tomorrow. This is the 54th
in-flight cycle.

A news note entitled "Reddish Dust and Ice Migration Darken Saturn's
Moon Iapetus" described new papers and images that explain how the
moon's bizarre, yin-yang-patterned surface came to be. The papers
appeared online in the journal Science on Dec. 10. To view the
article and images link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091210/
and
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=3772

Files containing commands to return the command loss timer value to
90 hours, and a CIRS DOY 350 ZPD position test were uplinked to the
spacecraft today. Timed to execute on DOY 350, the commands were
designed to patch CIRS flight software and collect science data to
report min and max data positions to investigate the feasibility of
improving the ZPD position calculation. At the end of the test, the
flight software was patched back to the current version.

Friday, Dec. 11 (DOY 345)

A news note entitled, "Magnetic Dance of Saturn and Titan to Be Main
Attraction during Upcoming Flyby," previewed the Dec. 12 targeted
flyby of Titan. The note indicated that Cassini planned to study the
interactions between the magnetic field of Saturn and Titan. For the
full text link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091211/

Today Cassini flew by Titan at an altitude of 4,850 km and a speed of
6 km/sec. Closest approach for T63 occurred at 07:23 PM PST on Dec.
11 (Dec. 12 GMT), latitude 33 degrees N. Occurring near dusk in
Saturn's magnetosphere, this was the Equinox mission's most opportune
passage through the wake that Titan creates as it plows through
Saturn's magnetosphere. With the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS)
leading the pointing at closest approach, this flyby was similar and
very complementary to the Voyager - November 1980 and August 1981-
and Cassini Titan 9 - December 2005 - encounters of Titan, and was
the second of three opportunities for a CAPS Equinox Mission prime
encounter. The flyby was also designed to set up the correct
orientation for the first ansa-to-ansa ring occultation.

ADDITIONAL TITAN-63 SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

RADAR: Performed radiometry on the inbound leg of the flyby.

ISS: Acquired regional- and global-mapping mosaics of northern Adiri
and rode along with VIMS and CIRS to monitor clouds. ISS also
monitored Titan to track clouds and their evolution for an extra day
after the Titan encounter.

VIMS: Monitored the cloud cover during the inbound period. After
closest approach, VIMS rode along with ISS to acquire a mosaic of
Shangri-La and Belet at a resolution of 40 km per pixel. VIMS also
acquired a global map for cloud monitoring.

CIRS: Carried out far-infrared limb sounding at 70 and 75 degrees
south latitude to collect information on atmospheric temperature,
aerosols and composition, and observed stratospheric composition and
temperature.

MAG: Obtained information about the pitch angle distribution of
Titan's escaping plasma. This flyby increased our understanding of
the properties of Titan's mid-range tail region, further extending
observations made during T9.

MIMI: Observed energetic ion and electron energy input to the atmosphere.

RPWS: Measured thermal plasmas in Titan's ionosphere and surrounding
environment, searched for lightning in Titan's atmosphere, and
investigated the interaction of Titan with Saturn's magnetosphere

UVIS: Obtained an image cube of Titan's atmosphere at extreme
ultraviolet and far ultraviolet wavelengths. These cubes provide
spectral and spatial information on nitrogen emissions, H emission
and absorption, absorption by simple hydrocarbons, and the scattering
properties of haze aerosols. This is one of many such cubes gathered
over the course of the mission to provide latitude and seasonal
coverage of Titan's middle atmosphere and stratosphere.

For additional information, link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/titan20091212/
and
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/files/20091212_titan_mission_description.pdf

Monday, Dec. 14 (DOY 348):

A view of Saturn's north pole was Astronomy Picture of the Day today.
Check it out at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091214.html

Other than Enceladus, there are very few known active moons in the
solar system. These rare worlds provide a window on the processes
that shape different planetary environments. In a second Cassini
Science league release for December, scientists discuss searching for
activity on Saturn's mid-size moons. For the full release link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassiniscienceleague/science20091214/

Tuesday, Dec. 15 (DOY 349)

Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #227 was performed today. This was the
cleanup maneuver from the Titan 63 encounter on Dec. 11. The main
engine burn began at 12:14 AM PST. Telemetry immediately after the
maneuver showed a burn duration of 4.18 seconds, giving a delta-V of
0.713 m/s. All subsystems reported nominal performance after the maneuver.

Uplink of the S56 Instrument Expanded Block files began today. The
background sequence will go up Friday, Dec. 18, and S56 will begin
execution on Dec. 22.

All participating teams delivered files today for the first input
port of the S60 Science Operations Plan process.

The Target Working Team (TWT)/ Orbiter Science Team (OST) integrated
products for S61, covering orbits 133 through 135 in June and July,
2010, were delivered today. The integrated products are in their
final form and no re-integration is planned. The next step in
sequence development, Science Operations Plan (SOP) implementation,
will kick off on Jan. 13. The handoff package template from
integration to the SOP process has been updated to better track more
involved prime-rider pointing designs, and the two new milestones
added to the S60 schedule for prime-rider coordination have been
moved closer to port 1 for S61. Between now and the kickoff, the
instrument teams will be working on pointing designs for the sequence.

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-199

Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
December 17, 2009

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first
flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan,
confirming the presence of liquid on the part of the moon dotted with
many large, lake-shaped basins.

Cassini scientists had been looking for the glint, also known as a
specular reflection, since the spacecraft began orbiting Saturn in 2004.
But Titan's northern hemisphere, which has more lakes than the southern
hemisphere, has been veiled in winter darkness. The sun only began to
directly illuminate the northern lakes recently as it approached the
equinox of August 2009, the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.
Titan's hazy atmosphere also blocked out reflections of sunlight in most
wavelengths. This serendipitous image was captured on July 8, 2009,
using Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer.

The new infrared image is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu.

This image will be presented Friday, Dec. 18, at the fall meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

"This one image communicates so much about Titan -- thick atmosphere,
surface lakes and an otherworldliness," said Bob Pappalardo, Cassini
project scientist, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif. "It's an unsettling combination of strangeness yet similarity to
Earth. This picture is one of Cassini's iconic images."

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has captivated scientists because of its
many similarities to Earth. Scientists have theorized for 20 years that
Titan's cold surface hosts seas or lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, making
it the only other planetary body besides Earth believed to harbor liquid
on its surface. While data from Cassini have not indicated any vast
seas, they have revealed large lakes near Titan's north and south poles.

In 2008, Cassini scientists using infrared data confirmed the presence
of liquid in Ontario Lacus, the largest lake in Titan's southern
hemisphere. But they were still looking for the smoking gun to confirm
liquid in the northern hemisphere, where lakes are also larger.

Katrin Stephan, of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin, an
associate member of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer
team, was processing the initial image and was the first to see the
glint on July 10th.

"I was instantly excited because the glint reminded me of an image of
our own planet taken from orbit around Earth, showing a reflection of
sunlight on an ocean," Stephan said. "But we also had to do more work to
make sure the glint we were seeing wasn't lightning or an erupting volcano."

Team members at the University of Arizona, Tucson, processed the image
further, and scientists were able to compare the new image to radar and
near-infrared-light images acquired from 2006 to 2008.

They were able to correlate the reflection to the southern shoreline of
a lake called Kraken Mare. The sprawling Kraken Mare covers about
400,000 square kilometers (150,000 square miles), an area larger than
the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth. It is located around 71
degrees north latitude and 337 degrees west latitude.

The finding shows that the shoreline of Kraken Mare has been stable over
the last three years and that Titan has an ongoing hydrological cycle
that brings liquids to the surface, said Ralf Jaumann, a visual and
infrared mapping spectrometer team member who leads the scientists at
the DLR who work on Cassini. Of course, in this case, the liquid in the
hydrological cycle is methane rather than water, as it is on Earth.

"These results remind us how unique Titan is in the solar system,"
Jaumann said. "But they also show us that liquid has a universal power
to shape geological surfaces in the same way, no matter what the liquid is."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the
mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The
Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual
and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of
Arizona, Tucson.

Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jia-rui.c.cook@...

2009-199

Dec. 14, 2009

Stephen Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole@...

MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-236

FROM ENDANGERED FISH TO SATURN'S RINGS: NASA SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTED AT
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION MEETING

SAN FRANCISCO -- NASA researchers are presenting a wide range of
science results at the 2009 fall meeting of the American Geophysical
Union. The meeting opens Dec. 14 and continues through Friday, Dec.
18, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. It features
more than 15,000 talks and poster presentations about the latest in
Earth and planetary sciences and heliophysics.

Below are summaries of presentations by NASA researchers and their
colleagues who use NASA research capabilities. For more information
about each topic, including the time and location of the
presentations, consult the meeting program at:

http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program


Monday, Dec.14
WEATHERED ICE DEPOSITS EXPLAIN MARS GEOLOGY
Paul Niles of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston presents research
arguing that the origin of the layered, sulfate-rich sediments at
Meridiani Planum on Mars can be attributed to acidic weathering of
massive ice deposits. This ice-weathering model best explains the
geologic and geochemical observations made from orbit and the
surface. The model may provide a consistent explanation for the
formation of sediments early in Mars' history. (Presentation P12A-05)


SEARCHING FOR EXOTIC LIFE: TOO HOT, TOO COLD, JUST RIGHT?
When looking for places suitable for life, scientists traditionally
have targeted a liquid-water habitable zone about 0.1 astronomical
units (AU) from M-dwarf stars. The University of Arizona's Jonathan
Lunine suggests a different approach. The zone about 1 AU from a late
M-dwarf star may be much less severe for potential life and quite
abundant in the universe. Saturn's moon Titan is one example of this
kind of environment, where hydrocarbon seas may be fostering an
exotic type of life. (Presentation B11E-05)

Tuesday, Dec. 15
NEW SATELLITE VIEWS OF EARTH'S VOLCANIC PLUMES
The instruments on NASA's Earth Observing System satellites provide
rich measurements for mapping volcanic plumes and clouds. In this
talk, observations from three of these instruments are used to
examine recent eruptions of Alaska's Augustine volcano and the
Sarychev volcano on Russia's Kuril Island. The combined data reveal
the quantity and distribution of sulfur dioxide and silicate ash and
sulfate aerosols. (Presentation V21B-1988)

Wednesday, Dec. 16
SATELLITE REVEALS A DECADE OF ATMOSPHERE, LAND AND ENERGY TRENDS
After 10 years in orbit, NASA's Terra Earth-observing satellite has
turned up trends and science results that are helping researchers
better understand the complex Earth system. Researchers have updated
Earth's energy budget, showing the world is cloudier than we thought,
aerosols have an ambiguous yet critical role in climate, and not all
urban areas attract and store heat in the same way. Other atmospheric
discoveries have helped researchers show how high and far pollution
travels. (Sessions U31C, U32A, U33A, U33B)

NASA SCIENTISTS HELP PROTECT ENDANGERED FISH
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
developed models and software for water resource managers to help
prevent the death of threatened and endangered fish species in
streams and rivers affected by the Central Valley Project in
California's Sacramento River Basin. Scientists at NASA's Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and their colleagues
improved the accuracy of stream temperature and freshwater fish
mortality models. (Presentation IN34A-03)

SATELLITE IMPROVES ALTITUDE ESTIMATES OF VOLCANIC PLUMES
Many volcanic plumes inject ash and sulfur dioxide into the
atmosphere, posing hazards for human health and aviation. For the
first time, researchers can measure the height of volcanic plumes
directly from space. Kai Yang of NASA' s Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md., and colleagues will describe two recent volcanic
eruptions and show how they used an instrument on the Aqua satellite
to estimate the altitude of the sulfur dioxide plume. This method can
detect volcanic ash more reliably than the traditional ash detection
methods. (Presentation V31A-1954)

ASIAN DUST AND CLIMATE: NASA OBSERVATIONS SHOW CLIMATE LINKS
The 10-year record of aerosol observations from the Multi-angle
Imaging SpectroRadiometer on NASA's Terra spacecraft illustrates how
climate is linked to Asian dust sources and the transport of that
dust around the globe. Scientists will present details of the
year-to-year and seasonal variability of Asian dust with an emphasis
on three regions: the Taklamakan and East and Central Gobi, South
Korea and Japan, and the North Pacific near the U.S. northwest coast.
(Presentation U33B-0067)

NEXT STEPS IN THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS
The possibility of life on Mars has become a scientific issue of
profound importance and great public interest. Michael Meyer, NASA
senior scientist for Mars exploration, will report on the search for
evidence of life on the Red Planet and how the Mars Science
Laboratory, the agency's first dedicated astrobiology mission to Mars
since Viking, will set the stage for the coming decade as Mars
exploration moves from "follow the water" to "seek the signs of
life." (Presentation P33C-02)

Thursday, Dec. 17
NASA FLIGHTS DETECT EFFECTS OF FIRE AND POLLUTION ON ATMOSPHERE
Using instruments aboard three NASA aircraft, scientists sampled
wildfire and human-caused pollution plumes over Alaska, California
and Western Canada in 2008 to determine their chemical composition
and influence on the atmosphere. Scientists found that while fire
emissions greatly disrupt the composition of the atmosphere, they do
not strongly influence ozone formation. They also found plumes at
high altitudes originated from Asia and often contained traces of
human-caused pollution. (Presentation A41E-04)

TOWERING SMOKE PLUMES FROM AUSTRALIAN WILDFIRES
Images of Australian wildfires from NASA's CALIPSO satellite surprised
scientists when they revealed the staggering height of the fires'
smoke plumes. CALIPSO's active-sensing lidar observes the vertical
profile of aerosols and clouds. During flights over the fires,
CALIPSO observed smoke plumes reaching 12 miles in height. At these
altitudes, smoke can influence cloud formation, persistence and
brightness, which in turn affects the amount of sunlight reflected or
absorbed by the atmosphere. (Presentation A43E-04)

NASA FLOOD AND LANDSLIDE MONITORING GOES GLOBAL
NASA's Global Hazard System is combining real-time, multi-satellite
rainfall observations to monitor and forecast floods and landslides
around the world. Dalia Kirschbaum of NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center, Bob Adler of the University of Maryland, and their colleagues
will discuss the system and present ways that a high-definition
version of the system can help officials in East Africa make
decisions and enhance their ability to respond to imminent regional
disasters. (Presentation NH42A-05)

Friday, Dec. 18
RECEDING SHORELINES AND WAVE ACTION AT LAKE ON TITAN
Radar observations by NASA's Cassini spacecraft have enabled the first
measurements for the sloping shoreline of the largest lake in the
southern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan. The new data about
Ontario Lacus, presented by Alexander Hayes of the California
Institute of Technology, show an active, dynamic body of liquid with
seasonal variations typical of terrestrial lakes. Analysis found the
Ontario Lacus shoreline recently receded at a rate that confirms the
presence of liquid. (Presentation P54C-02)

BOOM AND BUST CYCLES IN SATURN'S RINGS
In the routine bedlam of Saturn's rings, particles clump together then
fall away in patterns similar to economic boom and bust cycles,
according to recent observations from NASA'S Cassini spacecraft. The
crowding, collisions and dissolution occur on time scales ranging
from hours to weeks. Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado
presents new research indicating gravitational effects from some of
Saturn's moons appear to trigger these kinds of episodes.
(Presentation P51B-1130)

For more information about NASA-related news being presented at the
meeting, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/agu

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Cassini Significant Events
for 12/02/09 - 12/08/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Dec. 8 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Madrid, Spain.  The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all subsystems are
operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" page
at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.


Wednesday, Dec. 2 (DOY 336)

This week the Composite Infrared Spectrometer measured oxygen
compounds -H2O, CO2 - in Saturn's stratosphere as a function of
latitude, and performed mid-infrared mapping of Saturn to determine
upper troposphere and tropopause temperatures with spatial resolution
of about two degrees of latitude and longitude.  Imaging Science
(ISS) took wide-angle camera photopolarimetry images, images of
Iapetus, and searched for lightning on Saturn. The Magnetosphere and
Plasma Science instruments continued observations in support of the
solar wind-aurora and magnetospheric boundaries campaigns. The Visual
and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, along with ISS, performed another
E/G ring phase observation and looked at Saturn global dynamics.

Thursday, Dec. 3 (DOY 337)

A kick-off meeting was held today as part the S55 DOY 343 Radio
Science (RSS) Live Movable Block (LMB) process. After a quick
turnaround by Navigation, Science Planning, and RSS, it was
determined that no further work was needed on the current product
that had been developed along with the background sequence and
delivered in mid November.  The command approval meeting and uplink
are set for Monday of next week.

Friday, Dec. 4 (DOY 338)

Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #225 was performed today.  This was the
apoapsis maneuver setting up for the Titan 63 encounter on Dec. 11
(Dec. 12 GMT). The Reaction Control Subsystem burn began at 1:00 AM
PST. Telemetry immediately after the maneuver showed a burn duration
of 180.38 seconds, giving a delta-V of 201.6 mm/s. All subsystems
reported nominal performance after the maneuver.

Monday, Dec. 7 (DOY 341):

Commands were uplinked to the spacecraft today for the RSS LMB due to
execute on DOY 343, and to set the value of the Command Loss Timer
(CLT) to 5 days.  The RSS passes on DOY 343 have no uplink
capability.  If for some reason Cassini were to lose the next
scheduled pass on DOY 345, we would exceed the current value of the
timer and safing would be called. The value was extended to 5 days
"just in case" and will be set back to the nominal value of 90 hours
on Friday, Dec. 11.

Today the Navigation team proposed the cancellation of OTM-226, the
Titan 63 approach maneuver due to execute on Dec. 8.  After OTM-225,
the flyby target miss at T63 was about 2 km. This small miss resulted
in OTM-226 magnitude estimates that were below the minimum delta V
threshold, thus requiring a bias in the time of closest approach to
achieve an implementable maneuver. Science Planning determined that
the pointing errors would be well within acceptable margins if the
OTM were cancelled, and no Live Update would be necessary. The
delta-V cost of 0.1 m/s for cancellation was deemed acceptable.
Therefore OTM-226 has been cancelled.

Tuesday, Dec. 8 (DOY 342)

The Science Forum for S60 was held today. Topics included an overview
of science planned for this sequence followed by highlights, unique
activities, and highest priority observations provided by the Target
Working Teams and Orbiter Science Team leads, with comments from the
Investigation Scientists and other instrument team representatives.

In an encore performance from 2005, an image of Tethys was Astronomy
Picture of the Day today.  Check it out at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091208.html

Preview, Dec. 9 (DOY 343)

After waiting years for the sun to illuminate Saturn's north polar
region, Cassini has captured the most detailed images yet of the
intriguing hexagon shaped feature that surrounds the pole.  The new
images of the hexagon reveal concentric circles, curlicues, walls and
streamers not seen in previous images. Images and a three-frame
animation are available at
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/newsrelease20091209/

A pair of moons and a pair of moon shadows can be seen in a Cassini
image taken about a month and a half after Saturn's August 2009
equinox crossing. Pan orbits in the Encke Gap of the A ring, and it
can be seen casting a shadow near the center of the image. The moon
Janus, which is not visible, is casting its shadow on the A ring in
the top right of the image. Pandora can be seen orbiting beyond the
thin F ring in the top left of the image, but its shadow doesn't
accompany it here.  For the full text and to view the images link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=3767

In the December release of the Cassini Science League, the reader is
presented with the question: Methane on Titan and Enceladus: Nature
vs. Nurture? Direct samplings of Titan's atmosphere and Enceladus'
plume have provided key measurements for determining the original
recipes for these moons. A key question has been whether these two
moons formed initially with methane as part of their chemical make-up
or whether methane formed in Titan and Enceladus over time. For the
full text link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassiniscienceleague/science20091207/
.  For additional Science League articles go to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassiniscienceleague/

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec09/CassiniIapetus.html

Dark side of the moon: Saturnian satellite Iapetus is coated with foreign dust
By Anne Ju (amj8@...)
Cornell University
Dec. 10, 2009


Iapetus is often called Saturn's most bizarre
moon, due to its starkly contrasting hemispheres
-- one black as coal, the other white as snow.

Images taken by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft,
orbiting Saturn since 2004, offer the most
compelling evidence to date of why and how the
moon got its yin-yang appearance, as well as
clues to how other such satellites might have
formed in the early universe. Analyzed by a
research team that includes Cornell scientists,
the images are detailed in the Dec. 10 online
edition of the journal Science.

"This is not the most fundamental problem in the
world," said research team member Joseph A.
Burns, Cornell's Irving Porter Church Professor
of Engineering and professor of astronomy. "But
it's an enigma that's been puzzling astronomers
for centuries."

Since pictures of Iapetus from the Voyager
mission 30 years ago confirmed its intriguing
color scheme, scientists have puzzled over
whether Iapetus' dark-light contrast was the
result of external debris hitting some of the
moon, or whether the dark dust was the result of
interior activity. Now they know the dust came
from elsewhere.

Using pictures taken by Cassini, particularly
during a September 2007 close fly-by, the
scientists assert that Iapetus' darker half,
called Cassini Regio, is the result of the
planet's leading side getting bombarded by dusty
debris from another Saturnian moon, Phoebe, which
orbits in the opposite direction beyond Iapetus.

It is a longstanding theory, but in a paper
published in the journal Nature in October, three
Cornell-trained astronomers announced the
discovery of an enormous ring of debris --
10,000 times the area of Saturn's famous main
ring system -- around Saturn and near Phoebe,
pointing to it as the ring's source. Burns calls
this ring the "smoking gun" supporting dust
hitting Iapetus and other moons around Saturn.

"The ring of collisional debris that has come off
Phoebe is out there, and its companion moons are
out there, and now we understand the process
whereby the stuff is coming in," Burns said.
"When you see the coating pattern on Iapetus, you
know you've got the right mechanism for producing
it."

Small, white craters that dot Iapetus' darker
half indicate a veneer of dark dust, only meters
deep, covering a white, icy surface that matches
the rest of the satellite. The imaging data also
revealed that all the materials on the leading
side are much redder than the shielded and
brighter trailing side -- another indication that
the leading side's dust came from elsewhere.

Other pictures showed that the transition from
the dark to light hemisphere is not a solid line,
but rather a mottled, patchy array of bright and
dark spots.

The pattern, the scientists say, supports a
previous theory described in a companion paper in
Science that the darker parts of the moon tend to
heat up when struck by sunlight, causing the ice
to evaporate underneath. This causes any dark
spots to get even darker, creating the mottled
look.

The research team includes Paul Helfenstein and
Peter C. Thomas, both senior research associates
at Cornell. The paper's first author is Tilmann
Denk, Cassini imaging scientist at the Free
University in Berlin, Germany. The Cassini
program is an international cooperative effort
involving NASA, the European Space Agency and the
Italian space agency.

--

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-187

Saturn's Mysterious Hexagon Emerges from Winter Darkness
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
December 09, 2009

After waiting years for the sun to illuminate Saturn's north pole again,
cameras aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft have captured the most detailed
images yet of the intriguing hexagon shape crowning the planet.

The new images of the hexagon, whose shape is the path of a jet stream
flowing around the north pole, reveal concentric circles, curlicues,
walls and streamers not seen in previous images. Images and the
three-frame animation are available at http://www.nasa.gov/cassini ,
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org .

The last visible-light images of the entire hexagon were captured by
NASA's Voyager spacecraft nearly 30 years ago, the last time spring
began on Saturn. After the sunlight faded, darkness shrouded the north
pole for 15 years. Much to the delight and bafflement of Cassini
scientists, the location and shape of the hexagon in the latest images
match up with what they saw in the Voyager pictures.

"The longevity of the hexagon makes this something special, given that
weather on Earth lasts on the order of weeks," said Kunio Sayanagi, a
Cassini imaging team associate at the California Institute of
Technology. "It's a mystery on par with the strange weather conditions
that give rise to the long-lived Great Red Spot of Jupiter."

The hexagon was originally discovered in images taken by the Voyager
spacecraft in the early 1980s. It encircles Saturn at about 77 degrees
north latitude and has been estimated to have a diameter wider than two
Earths. The jet stream is believed to whip along the hexagon at around
100 meters per second (220 miles per hour).

Early hexagon images from Voyager and ground-based telescopes suffered
from poor viewing perspectives. Cassini, which has been orbiting Saturn
since 2004, has a better angle for viewing the north pole. But the long
darkness of Saturnian winter hid the hexagon from Cassini's
visible-light cameras for years. Infrared instruments, however, were
able to obtain images by using heat patterns. Those images showed the
hexagon is nearly stationary and extends deep into the atmosphere. They
also discovered a hotspot and cyclone in the same region.

The visible-light cameras of Cassini's imaging science subsystem, which
have higher resolution than the infrared instruments and the Voyager
cameras, got their long-awaited glimpse of the hexagon in January, as
the planet approached equinox. Imaging team scientists calibrated and
stitched together 55 images to create a mosaic and three-frame movie.
The mosaics do not show the region directly around the north pole
because it had not yet fully emerged from winter night at that time.

Scientists are still trying to figure out what causes the hexagon, where
it gets and expels its energy and how it has stayed so organized for so
long. They plan to search the new images for clues, taking an especially
close look at the newly identified waves that radiate from the corners
of the hexagon -- where the jet takes its hardest turns -- and the
multi-walled structure that extends to the top of Saturn's cloud layer
in each of the hexagon's six sides. Scientists are also particularly
intrigued by a large dark spot that appeared in a different position in
a previous infrared image from Cassini. In the latest images, the spot
appears in the 2 o'clock position.

Because Saturn does not have land masses or oceans on its surface to
complicate weather the way Earth does, its conditions should give
scientists a more elementary model to study the physics of circulation
patterns and atmosphere, said Kevin Baines, an atmospheric scientist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., who has studied the
hexagon with Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer.

"Now that we can see undulations and circular features instead of blobs
in the hexagon, we can start trying to solve some of the unanswered
questions about one of the most bizarre things we've ever seen in the
solar system," Baines said. "Solving these unanswered questions about
the hexagon will help us answer basic questions about weather that we're
still asking about our own planet."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of
Caltech, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras
were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based
at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

Jia-Rui C. Cook, 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jia-rui.c.cook@...

Joe Mason, 720-974-5859
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
jmason@...

2009-187

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/titan20091212/

Cassini
Titan Flyby (T-63) - Dec. 12, 2009

T-63: Titan's Magnetosphere in Focus

Titan's magnetosphere gets prime measuring time during Cassini's "T-63"
flyby of Titan on Dec. 12, 2009. This is the Equinox mission's most
opportune passage through the wake that the large moon creates as it
plows through Saturn's magnetophere.

The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) team takes the lead on pointing
at closest approach, allowing some fields, particles and wave
instruments to take advantage of this special opportunity.

The T-63 (the planned 63rd pass of Titan) encounter passes through
Titan's wake and the "magnetotail" region, where Saturn's magnetic field
lines drape into a comet-shaped structure around Titan. This opportunity
is both similar and very complementary to the Voyager (November 1980 and
August 1981) and Cassini T-9 (December 2005) encounters of Titan.

The encounter occurs near dusk in Saturn's magnetosphere, unlike Voyager
(near noon) or T-9 (near midnight). This is the second of three
opportunities for a CAPS Equinox Mission prime encounter.

The T-63 flyby was also designed to set up the correct orientation for
the first ansa-to-ansa ring occultation.

*Titan Flyby*
Dec. 12, 2009 (SCET)

*Altitude*
4,850 kilometers (3,014 miles)

*Speed*
6.0 km/sec (13,400 mph)

*Details*
+ Mission Description PDF (0.5 MB)
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/files/20091212_titan_mission_description.pdf>

Cassini Significant Events
for 11/24/09 - 12/01/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Dec. 1 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Goldstone, California.  The
Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all
subsystems are operating normally. Information on the present
position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the
"Present Position" page at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.

Tuesday, Nov. 24 (DOY 328)

A close-up image of ice jets erupting from the tiger stripes on
Enceladus was Astronomy Picture of the Day today.  Check it out at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091124.html

The topic at the Cassini-Huygens Analysis and Results of the Mission
(CHARM) teleconference for November was "Science Highlights from
Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer." An audio recording and
PDF of the presentation are available at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/video/products/MultimediaProductsCharm/

Wednesday, Nov. 25 (DOY 329)

An AACS Periodic Engineering Maintenance (PEM) occurred today.
Performed every 90 days, this activity exercises the Engine Gimbal
Actuators and the backup Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA).  In the RWA
exercise, the wheel is commanded to +100 rpm, -100 rpm, 0 rpm, then
turned off.

The moon Prometheus is seen whipping gossamer ice particles out of
Saturn's F-ring in an image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Aug.
21, 2009. The moon and the ring have eccentric, offset orbits, so
Prometheus dips in and out of the F ring as it travels around Saturn.
Its gravitational force drags the dust-sized particles at the edge of
the F ring along for the ride.  To view this image and the full
description link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091125/

Monday, Nov. 30 (DOY 334):

In a news release published today on the Cassini Website, scientists
suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be
responsible for the uneven distribution of lakes over the northern
and southern polar regions of the planet's largest moon, Titan. A
paper describing the theory appeared in the Nov. 29 advance online
edition of Nature Geoscience. Like Earth and the other planets,
Saturn's orbit is not perfectly circular, but is instead somewhat
elliptical. Because of this, during its southern summer, Titan is
about 12 percent closer to the sun than during the northern summer.
It is proposed that, in this orbital configuration, the difference
between evaporation and precipitation is not equal in opposite
seasons, which means there is a net transport of methane from south
to north. This imbalance would lead to an accumulation of methane --
and hence the formation of many more lakes -- in the northern
hemisphere.  For the full text of the release link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsreleases/newsrelease20091130/

Tuesday, Dec. 1 (DOY 335)

Science Operations Plan development for S58 was completed today with
the hand off of all files and status to Uplink Operations and the
kick off of the Science and Sequence Update Process, the final
process in sequence development.

An encounter strategy meeting was held today to cover the period
between Dec. 12 and Dec. 22, Titan flybys T63 and T64, and maneuvers
227-229.

A Y-thruster calibration took place on board the spacecraft today.
AACS reported very good results, with Y-thrusters averaging 14.2
seconds of on time and Z-thrusters averaging 0.7 seconds on-time.
This calibration was performed primarily for Navigation to measure
any thruster imbalances.

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/overview/piPerspective.php

The PI's Perspective
Farewell 2009
Alan Stern
December 2, 2009

New Horizons is now more than 1,400 days into its 9.5-year journey and
well past 15 AU (astronomical units) from the Sun. We still have about
2,050 days ahead of us before we reach the Pluto system, but on Dec. 29,
we'll reach the first of several midway milestones. As the graph below
shows, New Horizons will be closer to Pluto (the red line) than to Earth
(the blue curve). This marker puts a nice capstone on 2009, during which
we moved another 500 million kilometers closer to our favorite planet,
so far against the deep.

And on this long journey, things continue to go well. On Nov. 20 we
wrapped up 10 days of hibernation wake-up activities and put the
spacecraft back into hibernation until early January. The main goal of
the wake-up period was to repoint our communications dish antenna to
keep up with the changing position of the Earth around the Sun. (By the
way, it's this same motion that causes the blue "Earth" line in the
figure above to wiggle back and forth.)


[Chart]
This chart shows the distance of New Horizons to both Earth (blue curve) and
Pluto (red line) versus date.

During last month's wake-up we also downloaded several months of stored
science data from the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter, corrected a
recently discovered bug in our fault protection system software,
completed about a dozen tracking passes to help refine our trajectory,
and uploaded instructions to run the spacecraft through early January.
All of the goals of the November wake-up were successfully completed,
and telemetry shows that New Horizons is in very good health and almost
exactly on its planned course.

Since I wrote you in early September, our ground team has been a lot
busier than our spacecraft has, since they never hibernate. In addition
to planning both the just-completed November wake-up and the upcoming
10-day January (2010) wake-up, they've also completed all but a few
final details of the nine-day, Pluto-closest-approach encounter command
load for 2015 and verified this command load on the spacecraft
simulators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in
Laurel, Md. Our ground team has also been hard at work planning next
summer's Active Checkout (ACO), which will run from late May to early
July.

The 2010 ACO is our fourth of the mission, so it's called ACO-4. Unlike
ACO-3, which was very light on activity (to give our ground team more
time to work on Pluto encounter planning), ACO-4 will be chockablock
with scheduled activities. Among these will be a complete spacecraft and
instrument checkout; instrument calibrations, to look for changes since
our last set of calibrations in 2008; a trajectory correction maneuver,
our first since 2007; a little cruise science focusing on the
interplanetary environment and Uranus and Neptune imaging; more
fault-protection software upgrades; some tests associated with
activities we'll be conducting at Pluto; and our first-ever full length
encounter mode test on the spacecraft.

And just in case you think the ground team still doesn't have enough to
do, they have also begun the detailed planning of the final few weeks of
our approach to Pluto that precedes the nine-day close encounter period
they've already planned out. All of this, mind you, by a team that is
about 10 times smaller than the venerable Voyager team when its Uranus
and Neptune flybys were planned in the mid- and late-1980s.

Before I close, I want to mention two other items you might find
interesting. First, on Nov. 17, a crew from the PBS television series
NOVA visited New Horizons at APL for a special, hosted by Neil deGrasse
Tyson, that is scheduled to air in early March. The episode will concern
the subject of Neil's book, "The Pluto Files." I was interviewed in our
control center and also met with Neil to discuss Pluto's planethood.
We've posted a few pictures from the shoot here

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/overview/piPerspective.php?page=piPerspective_12_02_2009\
_pics

Speaking of that always-hot topic, there's a fascinating new book out on
the same called "The Case for Pluto," written by MSNBC's science guy,
Alan Boyle. I was asked to help critique early drafts, and in my
opinion, Boyle has thought harder and more deeply about the topic than
any journalist ever has. It's a fun read too.

We're also planning our annual New Horizons science team meeting, which
occurs every January near the anniversary of our launch in 2006. Among
the topics we'll discuss in detail are plans to start searching for
Kuiper Belt Objects that we hope to fly by and reconnoiter after Pluto.
Those searches will begin next summer and continue through 2011 and
2012. Hopefully, they'll net us four to 10 potential targets.

That's my update for now. Thanks for following our journey to a new
frontier. I'll be back in January, after the next time we wake up our
spacecraft. In the meantime, keep on exploring, just as we do!

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-180

Scientists Explain Puzzling Lake Asymmetry on Titan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
November 30, 2009

PASADENA, Calif. -- Researchers at the California Institute of
Technology, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other institutions
suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be
responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of lakes over the
northern and southern polar regions of the planet's largest moon, Titan.
A paper describing the theory appears in the Nov. 29 advance online
edition of Nature Geoscience.

Saturn's oblong orbit around the sun exposes different parts of Titan to
different amounts of sunlight, which affect cycles of precipitation and
evaporation in those areas. Similar variations in Earth's orbit also
drive long-term ice-age cycles on our planet.

As revealed by Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging data from NASA's Cassini
spacecraft, liquid methane and ethane lakes in Titan's northern high
latitudes cover 20 times more area than lakes in the southern high
latitudes. The Cassini data also show there are significantly more
partially filled and now-empty lakes in the north. (In the radar data,
smooth features -- like the surfaces of lakes -- appear as dark areas,
while rougher features -- such as the bottom of an empty lake-appear
bright.) The asymmetry is not likely to be a statistical fluke because
of the large amount of data collected by Cassini in its five years
surveying Saturn and its moons.

Scientists initially considered the idea that "there is something
inherently different about the northern polar region versus the south in
terms of topography, such that liquid rains, drains or infiltrates the
ground more in one hemisphere," said Oded Aharonson of Caltech, lead
author of the Nature Geoscience paper.

However, Aharonson notes that there are no substantial known differences
between the north and south regions to support this possibility.
Alternatively, the mechanism responsible for this regional dichotomy may
be seasonal. One year on Titan lasts 29.5 Earth years. Every 15 Earth
years, the seasons of Titan reverse, so that it becomes summer in one
hemisphere and winter in the other. According to this seasonal variation
hypothesis, methane rainfall and evaporation vary in different seasons
-- recently filling lakes in the north while drying lakes in the south.

The problem with this idea, Aharonson said, is that it accounts for
decreases of about one meter per year in the depths of lakes in the
summer hemisphere. But Titan's lakes are a few hundred meters deep on
average, and wouldn't drain (or fill) in just 15 years. In addition,
seasonal variation can't account for the disparity between the
hemispheres in the number of empty lakes. The north polar region has
roughly three times as many dried-up lake basins as the south and seven
times as many partially filled ones.

"How do you move the hole in the ground?" Aharonson asked. "The seasonal
mechanism may be responsible for part of the global transport of liquid
methane, but it's not the whole story." A more plausible explanation,
say Aharonson and his colleagues, is related to the eccentricity of the
orbit of Saturn -- and hence of Titan, its satellite -- around the sun.

Like Earth and other planets, Saturn's orbit is not perfectly circular,
but is instead somewhat elliptical and oblique. Because of this, during
its southern summer, Titan is about 12 percent closer to the sun than
during the northern summer. As a result, northern summers are long and
subdued; southern summers are short and intense.

"We propose that, in this orbital configuration, the difference between
evaporation and precipitation is not equal in opposite seasons, which
means there is a net transport of methane from south to north," said
Aharonson. This imbalance would lead to an accumulation of methane --
and hence the formation of many more lakes -- in the northern hemisphere.

This situation is only true right now, however. Over very long time
scales of tens of thousands of years, Saturn's orbital parameters vary,
at times causing Titan to be closer to the sun during its northern
summer and farther away in southern summers, and producing a reverse in
the net transport of methane. This should lead to a buildup of
hydrocarbon -- and an abundance of lakes -- in the southern hemisphere.

"Like Earth, Titan has tens-of-thousands-of-year variations in climate
driven by orbital motions," Aharonson said. On Earth, these variations,
known as Milankovitch cycles, are linked to changes in solar radiation,
which affect global redistribution of water in the form of glaciers, and
are believed to be responsible for ice-age cycles. "On Titan, there are
long-term climate cycles in the global movement of methane that make
lakes and carve lake basins. In both cases we find a record of the
process embedded in the geology," he added.

"We may have found an example of long-term climate change, analogous to
Milankovitch climate cycles on Earth, on another object in the solar
system," he said.

The paper's co-authors are Caltech graduate student Alexander G. Hayes;
Jonathan I. Lunine, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, Ariz.; Ralph
D. Lorenz, Applied Physics Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University,
Laurel, Md.; Michael D. Allison, NASA Goddard Institute for Space
Studies, New York; and Charles Elachi, director of JPL. The work was
partially funded by the Cassini Project.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini or http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm. The
Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.

Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jia-rui.c.cook@...

Stephen Cole 202-657-2194
Headquarters, Washington
stephen.e.cole@...

2009-180

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Cassini Significant Events
for 11/18/09 - 11/23/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Nov. 23 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Canberra, Australia.  The
Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all
subsystems are operating normally. Information on the present
position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the
"Present Position" page at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.


Wednesday, Nov. 18 (DOY 322)

A news note called "Before Darkness Falls: Cassini to Scan Enceladus
on Winter's Cusp" previewed the upcoming Enceladus flyby, describing
it as "a last peek at the intriguing 'tiger stripes' before winter
darkness blankets the area for several years." Scientists are
particularly interested in the tiger stripes, which are fissures in
the south polar region, because they spew jets of water vapor and
other particles hundreds of kilometers from the surface.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091119/

A web feature story, "Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of
Our Solar System," described how Cassini recently helped rewrite our
understanding of the shape of our solar system. For decades,
scientists pictured our solar system as having a comet-like
appearance. The new results suggest a picture more like a bubble.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091120/

The main engine cover was closed on Nov. 18 at the end of the Orbit
Trim Maneuver (OTM) #223 backup pass.

Port 2 files were due today as part of the S59 Science Operations
Plan process.  The files have been merged and a Science Planning
assessment of the product released for review.

Both the Live update and Live Update block for the Enceladus 8 flyby
were sent up to the spacecraft today along with a tweak to the
Magnetometer Subsystem (MAG) Flux Gate Magnetometer (FGM) autorange
boundaries.

Thursday, Nov. 19 (DOY 323):

In addition to the Enceladus 8 flyby, science this week included
Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) leading a joint
Optical Remote Sensing (ORS) E and G ring phase observation and a
joint ORS mosaic of Saturn to look at global dynamics.  VIMS spent
some time looking at Saturn's northern hemisphere dynamics, and the
Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) performed a helium abundance
measurement at the Radio Science (RSS) occultation egress point.

Imaging Science (ISS) acquired data for more Saturn wide-angle camera
photopolarimetry and lightning searches, and observed the transit of
Pandora across Epimetheus for orbit determination purposes.

The Magnetospheric and Plasma Science (MAPS) teams continued the
magnetospheric boundaries campaign and began a campaign to examine
interactions between the rings and the satellites.

The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) observed Dione, measuring
the satellite's albedo in ultraviolet light to determine the phase
function.
This is part of the ongoing campaign to investigate surface
microstructure and frost properties as a function of location. CIRS
and VIMS rode along.

Friday, Nov. 20 (DOY 324):

A non-targeted flyby of Helene occurred today, and tomorrow along
with the Enceladus 8 targeted flyby will be non-targeted flybys of
Pandora, Titan, Calypso and Rhea.

On DOY 324 Cassini Radio Science (RSS) successfully completed the
orbit 121 Saturn occultation experiment. The experiment was an egress
only atmospheric occultation and was covered by Canberra's DSS-43 for
X- and S-band, and DSS-34 for X- and Ka-band. It is the second of a
sequence of three occultations in the Cassini Equinox Mission that
probe Saturn's mid-northern latitude, a region which was sparsely
sampled during the prime mission. The latitude probed on Rev 121 was
about 27.5 deg north as measured near the top of the troposphere.
Measurements of the S-, X-, and Ka-band signals' amplitude,
frequency, and phase provide information about the large- and
small-scale structure of the atmosphere, the temperature and pressure
profile, zonal wind, abundance of microwave absorbing species, the
electron number density profile of the ionosphere, and on variability
of the profiles with latitude and solar zenith angle.

Saturday, Nov. 21 (DOY 325):

The main engine cover was opened today. This was the 53rd in-flight
cycle. The stow position reached a nominal 33.04 degrees.

Just under three weeks after the Enceladus 7 flyby, Cassini once
again flew past Enceladus, this time with a very different geometry,
approaching within 1,600 kilometers of the surface. E8 closest
approach occurred at 2009-325T05:15:03 SCET, at a speed of 7.7 km/sec
at 82 degrees S latitude. The spacecraft was under thruster control
during the flyby to allow for precise tracking of surface features.

VIMS observed Enceladus as the moon emerged from eclipse, followed by
a CIRS fast raster scan of Enceladus' night side. ISS then took over
for high-resolution plume observations obtaining a clear filter
mosaic of terrain on the leading hemisphere, providing the
best-resolution mosaic so far of that hemisphere.  This data can be
combined with earlier images of the same region at different
geometries to create high-resolution topographic maps, and will be
used to look for possible temporal variations in the morphology of
the tiger stripes.

CIRS had prime pointing control during closest approach for a high
resolution FP3 scan of Baghdad Sulcus - one of the tiger stripe
features - tracking along the fissure in the south polar region to
examine plume sources and producing the highest-ever-resolution
contiguous thermal map of this region.

ISS and VIMS then mapped the sunlit surface of Enceladus on
departure. UVIS performed a long stare for a tenuous atmosphere
search, which will provide
data to associate plume activity with the quantity of volatiles near
Enceladus.  Over the following downlink of data, RSS performed gravity
science to better determine Enceladus' mass.

Shortly after the targeted Enceladus flyby, Cassini flew less than
25,000 kilometers from Rhea, allowing for ISS high-resolution imaging
- around 150-175 m/px - and compositional mapping of regions
including the fractured "wispy terrain," followed by a VIMS
point-and-stare observation. UVIS searched for the Rhea ring,
targeting beta Ori and kappa Ori. This observation was also used to
look for volatiles.  Finally, CIRS performed a limb-to-limb fast scan
along Rhea's equator, including night and early morning local times.

To view the flyby page for this encounter link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/enceladus20091121/

Following the flyby this unprocessed image was posted to the Cassini
webpage. It shows the ridges and fractures on the surface of the icy
moon.
Link to: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=3749

In a news note called "Cassini Sends Back Images of Enceladus as
Winter Nears," mission managers said the spacecraft sailed seamlessly
through its Enceladus flyby. The spacecraft has sent back temperature
data and spectacular images, including ones of the jets of water
vapor and other particles emanating from the moon's south polar
region.  For the full text and links to additional information go to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091121/

Sunday, Nov. 22 (DOY 326):

On Nov. 21, after the E8 flyby, a solid-state power switch (SSPS)
trip occurred that turned VIMS off and turned the replacement heater
turn on. Real time commands were sent today to turn the instrument
and supplemental heater back on and the replacement heater off.  This
was the first SSPS trip since Nov. 26, 2008.  VIMS is currently in a
safe state and operating normally.

OTM #224 was performed today.  This was the cleanup maneuver from the
E8 encounter on Nov 21.  The main engine burn began at 2:44 PM PST.
Telemetry immediately after the maneuver showed a burn duration of
14.94 seconds, giving a delta-V of 2.54 m/s. All subsystems reported
nominal performance after the maneuver.

Monday, Nov. 23 (DOY 327):

The Science Operations Plan process for S60 kicked off today. Two new
milestones have been added to this process for prime-rider instrument
coordination.   The first delivery port for this sequence is
scheduled for Dec. 15.

Update:

On Tuesday, Nov. 24, images and a movie were released showing the
tallest known "northern lights" in the solar system, flickering in
shape and brightness high above Saturn. Ultraviolet and infrared
instruments on Cassini have captured images of Saturn's auroras
before, but in the latest images, Cassini's camera was able to
capture the northern lights in the visible part of the light
spectrum, in higher resolution. This is the first visible-light video
of the auroras. The release also features an explanatory video.
Visit:  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/video/videodetails/?videoID=198

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

Welcome to the Space Calendar!

This Space Calendar covers space-related activities and anniversaries
for the upcoming year.  It is also available on the web at:

      http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/

The web version of the Space Calendar includes over 1,800 links to related
home pages.

This calendar is compiled and maintained by Ron Baalke.  Please send any
updates or corrections to ron@....  Note that launch dates
are subject to change at any time.  Also, note that anniversary dates are
listed in 5 year increments only.

The following people have contributed to this month's calendar:

o Dieter Kaemmer, Vicky Barlow


                           =========================
                                SPACE CALENDAR
                               November 25, 2009
                           =========================

* indicates changes from last month's calendar.

November 2009
   Nov 25 - Comet C/2007 VO53 (Spacewatch) Closest Approach To Earth (4.499 AU)
* Nov 25 - Asteroid 2009 WS25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
   Nov 25 - Asteroid 3353 Jarvis Closest Approach To Earth (1.000 AU)
   Nov 25 - Asteroid 2975 Spahr Closest Approach To Earth (1.395 AU)
   Nov 25 - Asteroid 67 Asia Closest Approach To Earth (1.597 AU)
   Nov 26 - Asteroid 6156 Dall Occults HIP 107596 (6.2 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 26 - Asteroid 149244 Kriegh Closest Approach To Earth (1.418 AU)
   Nov 26 - 10th Anniversary (1999), Galileo Io 25 Flyby
   Nov 26 - 10th Anniversary (1999), Discovery of SAU 005 & 008 (Mars Meteorites)
* Nov 27 - Space Shuttle Discovery Returns To Earth (STS-129)
   Nov 27 - Comet P/2003 A1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.691 AU)
* Nov 27 - Asteroid 2009 WQ52 Near-Earth Flyby (0.008 AU)
   Nov 27 - Asteroid 2791 Paradise Closest Approach To Earth (1.517 AU)
* Nov 28 - IGS-4A/IGS-4B H-2A Launch
   Nov 28 - Comet 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT Perihelion (2.172 AU)
* Nov 28 - Comet C/2009 T1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (6.023 AU)
   Nov 28 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults TYC 0562-01167-1 (10.4 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 28 - Asteroid 2009 WV7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)
* Nov 28 - Asteroid 2009 VR25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)
   Nov 28 - 45th Anniversary (1964), Mariner 4 Launch (Mars Flyby Mission)
* Nov 29 - Intelsat 15 Zenit 3SLB Launch
   Nov 29 - MESSENGER, Deep Space Maneuver 5 (DSM-5)
   Nov 29 - Asteroid 6469 Armstrong Closest Approach To Earth (1.417 AU)
   Nov 29 - Asteroid 5451 Plato Closest Approach To Earth (1.891 AU)
   Nov 30 - Comet 169P/NEAT Perihelion (0.608 AU)
   Nov 30 - Asteroid 2005 XC1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU)
   Nov 30 - 55th Anniversary (1954), Sylacauga Meteorite Fall (Hit Woman)

December 2009
   Dec ?? - Ofeq 8 Shavit 2 Launch (Israel)
   Dec ?? - Shi Jian 9 CZ-2D2 Launch (China)
* Dec ?? - Direct-TV 12 Proton M-Briz M Launch
* Dec ?? - HealthSat (G-Sat 4)/Tauvex GSLV Launch
* Dec ?? - Beidou 2G F-2 (Compass G F-2) CZ-3C Launch
* Dec 01 - Soyuz Return To Earth (International Space Station)
* Dec 01 - Asteroid 2009 WV25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.007 AU)
   Dec 01 - Asteroid 2006 WQ127 Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)
   Dec 02 - Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.688 AU)
   Dec 02 - Asteroid 1981 Midas Closest Approach To Earth (2.227 AU)
   Dec 02 - 35th Anniversary (1974), Pioneer 11, Jupiter Flyby
* Dec 03 - Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS-3) F-3 Delta 4M Launch
   Dec 03 - Kuiper Belt Object 19521 Chaos Closest Approach To Earth (40.745 AU)
   Dec 03 - 105th Anniversary (1904), Charles Perrine's Discovery of Himalia
(Jupiter Moon)
   Dec 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #225 (OTM-225)
   Dec 04 - Asteroid 3905 Doppler Closest Approach To Earth (0.978 AU)
   Dec 04 - Asteroid 31664 Randiiwessen Closest Approach To Earth (1.746 AU)
   Dec 04 - 50th Anniversary (1959), Little Joe 2 Launch (Monkey "Sam")
   Dec 05 - Comet 203P/Korlevic Closest Approach To Earth (2.217 AU)
* Dec 05 - Asteroid 2009 WA52 Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU)
   Dec 05 - Asteroid 3728 IRAS Closest Approach To Earth (1.252 AU)
   Dec 06 - Comet 137P/Shoemaker-Levy 2 Closest Approach To Earth (1.727 AU)
   Dec 06 - Comet 100P/Hartley Perihelion (1.982 AU)
   Dec 06 - Asteroid 7046 Reshetnev Occults HIP 7447 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 07 - Asteroid 2002 XN14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
   Dec 07 - Asteroid 1198 Atlantis Closest Approach To Earth (1.192 AU)
   Dec 07 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 XR190 Closest Approach To Earth (57.011 AU)
   Dec 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #226 (OTM-226)
   Dec 08 - Comet C/2009 U3 (Hill) Closest Approach To Earth (1.143 AU)
   Dec 08 - Asteroid 2829 Bobhope Closest Approach To Earth (2.494 AU)
* Dec 09 - Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Delta 2 Launch
* Dec 09 - Helios 2 Ariane 5 Launch
   Dec 09 - Cassini, Distant Helene Flyby
   Dec 09 - Comet P/2008 J3 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (2.138 AU)
   Dec 09 - Comet 200P/Larsen Closest Approach To Earth (3.103 AU)
   Dec 09 - Asteroid 19 Fortuna At Opposition (9.3 Magnitude)
   Dec 09 - Asteroid 2825 Crosby Closest Approach To Earth (0.912 AU)
   Dec 09 - Asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock Closest Approach To Earth (1.802 AU)
   Dec 10 - Comet C/2009 U1 (Garradd) Closest Approach To Earth (3.043 AU)
   Dec 10 - Asteroid 9965 GNU Closest Approach To Earth (1.854 AU)
   Dec 10 - Asteroid 334 Chicago Closest Approach To Earth (2.987 AU)
   Dec 10 - 10th Anniversary (1999), X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton)
Launch
   Dec 10 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Claxton Meteorite Fall (Hit Mailbox)
   Dec 10 - 35th Anniversary (1974), Helios 1 Launch (Solar Orbiter)
   Dec 11 - Asteroid 3767 DiMaggio Closest Approach To Earth (1.805 AU)
   Dec 12 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Dec 12 - Comet 226P/Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski Closest Approach To Earth (2.060
AU)
   Dec 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower Peak
   Dec 13 - Asteroid 7754 Gopalan Occults HIP 13327 (5.5 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 13 - Asteroid 9349 Lucas Closest Approach To Earth (1.421 AU)
   Dec 13 - 5th Anniversary (2004), Cassini, 2nd Titan Flyby
   Dec 13 - Sir William Hunter McCrea's 105th Birthday (1904)
* Dec 14 - Cosmos-Glonass M21,M22 & M23 Proton M-DM2 Launch
   Dec 14 - Asteroid 128 Nemesis Closest Approach To Earth (1.598 AU)
   Dec 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #227 (OTM-227)
   Dec 15 - Comet 220P/McNaught Perihelion (1.549 AU)
   Dec 15 - Asteroid 1745 Ferguson Occults HIP 34351 (6.8 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 15 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Vega 1 Launch (Soviet Venus/Comet Halley
Mission)
   Dec 16 - 15th Anniversary (1994), Discovery of QUE 94201 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Dec 17 - Asteroid 4 Vesta Occults TYC 0845-00848-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star)
* Dec 17 - Asteroid 2009 WD11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
   Dec 19 - Asteroid 5841 Stone Closest Approach To Earth (0.942 AU)
   Dec 20 - Soyuz TMA-17 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 21S)
   Dec 20 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #228 (OTM-228)
   Dec 20 - Asteroid 2002 PR1 Near-Ceres Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Dec 20 - Asteroid 3568 ASCII Closest Approach To Earth (2.394 AU)
   Dec 20 - Ames Research Center's 70th Birthday (1939)
   Dec 20 - Mt. Wilson Observatory's 105th Birthday (1904)
   Dec 21 - Winter Solstice (17:47 UT)
   Dec 21 - Comet 31P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 2 Closest Approach To Earth (2.624 AU)
* Dec 21 - Comet C/2009 W2 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (6.029 AU)
   Dec 21 - Asteroid 7000 Curie Closest Approach To Earth (1.361 AU)
   Dec 21 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Vega 2 Launch (Soviet Venus/Comet Halley
Mission)
   Dec 22 - Ursids Meteor Shower Peak
   Dec 22 - Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 Closest Approach To Earth (1.019 AU)
   Dec 22 - Asteroid 2003 YL118 Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)
   Dec 22 - Asteroid 8084 Dallas Closest Approach To Earth (1.705 AU)
   Dec 23 - Asteroid 64070 NEAT Closest Approach To Earth (1.153 AU)
* Dec 24 - Raduga 1M-2 Proton M-Briz M Launch
   Dec 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #229 (OTM-229)
   Dec 24 - Comet P/2003 CP7 (LINEAR-NEAT) Closest Approach To Earth (2.822 AU)
   Dec 24 - Asteroid 224 Oceana Occults HIP 26034 (6.6 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 24 - Asteroid 2007 MK13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
   Dec 24 - Asteroid 4547 Massachusetts Closest Approach To Earth (1.603 AU)
   Dec 24 - 30th Anniversary (1979), Inaugural Ariane 1 Launch
   Dec 25 - Asteroid 11 Parthenope At Opposition (9.9 Magnitude)
   Dec 25 - Asteroid 2004 XG29 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Dec 25 - Asteroid 6456 Golombek Closest Approach To Earth (1.968 AU)
   Dec 26 - Cassini, Distant Tethys Flyby
   Dec 26 - Asteroid 2008 YZ32 Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)
   Dec 26 - Asteroid 51829 Williemccool Closest Approach To Earth (1.350 AU)
   Dec 26 - 35th Anniversary (1974), Salyut 4 Launch (USSR Space Station)
   Dec 27 - Comet 30P/Reinmuth 1 Closest Approach To Earth (1.180 AU)
   Dec 27 - Asteroid 2161 Grissom Closest Approach To Earth (1.663 AU)
   Dec 27 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Discovery of ALH84001 (Mars Meteorite)
   Dec 28 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
* Dec 28 - Gonets D1/Yubileyniy 2 Rocket KM Launch
* Dec 28 - Comet P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina) Perihelion (0.823 AU)
   Dec 28 - Asteroid 1998 HE3 Near-Venus Flyby (0.017 AU)
   Dec 28 - Asteroid 324 Bamberga At Opposition (9.8 Magnitude)
   Dec 28 - Maarten Schmidt's 80th Birthday (1929)
   Dec 29 - Asteroid 599 Luisa Occults HIP 26592 (6.6 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 29 - Asteroid 5290 Langevin Occults HIP 20268 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 29 - Asteroid 896 Sphinx Closest Approach To Earth (1.649 AU)
   Dec 30 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #230 (OTM-230)
   Dec 31 - Venus, Express, Mars Express, End of Extended Mission
   Dec 31 - Partial Lunar Eclipse
   Dec 31 - Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain Closest Approach To Earth (1.258 AU)
   Dec 31 - Asteroid 7367 Giotto Closest Approach To Earth (2.209 AU)
   Dec 31 - Asteroid 4169 Celsius Closest Approach To Earth (2.216 AU)
   Dec 31 - 5th Anniversary (2004), Cassini, Iapetus Flyby
   Dec 31 - Robert Aiken's 145th Birthday (1864)

January 2010
   Jan ?? - X-Sat PSLV Launch
   Jan ?? - SRE-2 PSLV Launch
   Jan ?? - ResourceSat 2/YouthSat PSLV Launch (India)
* Jan ?? - Mesbah Safir 2 Launch (Iran)
* Jan ?? - TanDEM-X Dnepr 1 Launch
   Jan 01 - Comet C/2009 O4 (Hill) Perihelion (2.564 AU)
   Jan 01 - Asteroid 25143 Itokawa Closest Approach To Earth (0.571 AU)
   Jan 01 - Asteroid 6984 Lewiscarroll Closest Approach To Earth (2.306 AU)
   Jan 02 - Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 Perihelion (1.984 AU)
   Jan 02 - Asteroid 9342 Carygrant Closest Approach To Earth (1.350 AU)
   Jan 02 - Isaac Asimov's 90th Birthday (1920)
   Jan 02 - Leslie Peltier's 110th Birthday (1900)
   Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak
   Jan 03 - Asteroid 6524 Baalke Closest Approach To Earth (1.252 AU)
   Jan 03 - 10th Annivesary (2000), Galileo, Europa 26 Flyby
   Jan 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #231 (OTM-231)
   Jan 04 - Earth At Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun)
   Jan 04 - Asteroid 1461 Jean-Jacques Occults HIP 46938 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
   Jan 05 - Comet 82P/Gehrels 3 Closest Approach To Earth (2.650 AU)
   Jan 05 - Asteroid 1069 Planckia Closest Approach To Earth (2.047 AU)
   Jan 05 - Asteroid 8000 Isaac Newton Closest Approach To Earth (2.333 AU)
   Jan 05 - Asteroid 2404 Antarctica Closest Approach To Earth (2.520 AU)
   Jan 05 - 105th Anniversary (1905), Charles Perrine's Discovery of Jupiter Moon
Elara
   Jan 06 - Comet P/2005 S2 (Skiff) Closest Approach To Earth (6.374 AU)
   Jan 06 - Asteroid 9963 Sandage Closest Approach To Earth (1.473 AU)
   Jan 06 - Asteroid 2305 King Closest Approach To Earth (1.807 AU)
   Jan 06 - Asteroid 3784 Chopin Closest Approach To Earth (2.673 AU)
   Jan 06 - 25th Anniversary (1985), La Criolla Meteorite Fall (Hit House)
   Jan 07 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Sakigake Launch (Japan Comet Halley Mission)
   Jan 07 - 400th Anniversary (1610), Galileo Galilei's Discovery of Jupiter's
Moons
   Jan 08 - Asteroid 2005 YO3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
   Jan 08 - Asteroid 12382 Niagara Falls Closest Approach To Earth (1.922 AU)
   Jan 09 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #232 (OTM-232)
   Jan 09 - 20th Anniversary (1990), STS-32 Columbia Launch (LDEF Satellite)
   Jan 10 - Asteroid 10221 Kubrick Closest Approach To Earth (1.373 AU)
   Jan 11 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pandora & Methone
   Jan 12 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jan 12 - Comet 169P/NEAT Near-Earth Flyby (0.194 AU)
   Jan 12 - Comet P/2009 T2 (La Sagra) Perihelion (1.755 AU)
* Jan 12 - Comet C/2009 T3 (LINEAR) Perihelion (2.281 AU)
   Jan 12 - Comet 82P/Gehrels 3 Perihelion (3.633 AU)
   Jan 12 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Deep Impact Delta 2 Launch,
   Jan 12 - Royal Astronomical Society's 190th Birthday (1820)
* Jan 13 - Comet P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (1.659 AU)
   Jan 13 - Asteroid 9885 Linux Closest Approach To Earth (1.237 AU)
   Jan 13 - Asteroid 3350 Scobee Closest Approach To Earth (1.715 AU)
   Jan 13 - Asteroid 2421 Nininger Closest Approach To Earth (2.334 AU)
   Jan 13 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Discovery of EETA 79001 (Mars Meteorite)
   Jan 14 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (2.444 AU)
   Jan 14 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Huygens Probe, Titan Landing
   Jan 15 - Annular Solar Eclipse, Visible in Africa, India & China
   Jan 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #233 (OTM-233)
   Jan 15 - Asteroid 9000 Hal Closest Approach To Earth (1.707 AU)
   Jan 16 - Comet C/2009 Q4 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (0.581 AU)
   Jan 16 - Asteroid 6524 Baalke Occults TYC 0750-00975-1 (10.4 Magnitude Star)
   Jan 16 - Asteroid 29075 (1950 DA) Closest Approach To Earth (0.901 AU)
   Jan 17 - Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels Closest Approach To Earth (1.822 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 2009 DA43 Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 5554 Keesey Closest Approach To Earth (1.235 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 35352 Texas Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 13681 Monty Python Closest Approach To Earth (2.194 AU)
   Jan 18 - Asteroid 2008 XM Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU)
   Jan 19 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1's Discovery of Saturn Moon Janus
   Jan 19 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 2 launch (Unmanned Suborbital Flight)
   Jan 19 - 170th Anniversary (1840), Discovery of Antarctica
   Jan 20 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #234 (OTM-234)
   Jan 20 - Asteroid 11714 Mikebrown Closest Approach To Earth (2.347 AU)
   Jan 20 - Buzz Aldrin's 80th Birthday (1930)
* Jan 21 - Asteroid 1239 Queteleta Occults HIP 30501 (6.4 Magnitude Star)
   Jan 21 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Little Joe Launch (Miss Sam Monkey)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 2003 BH Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 7672 Hawking Closest Approach To Earth (1.226 AU)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 12574 LONEOS Closest Approach To Earth (1.493 AU)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 7231 Porco Closest Approach To Earth (2.390 AU)
   Jan 24 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of Dhofar 019 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Jan 24 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Hiten Launch (Japan Moon Orbiter)
   Jan 25 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #235 (OTM-235)
   Jan 25 - Asteroid 9949 Brontosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.357 AU)
   Jan 26 - Asteroid 2198 Ceplecha Closest Approach To Earth (1.490 AU)
   Jan 26 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1's Discovery of Saturn Moon
Epimetheus
   Jan 27 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione, Telesto, Methone, Pan & Prometheus
   Jan 27 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (25 Degrees)
   Jan 27 - Asteroid 3768 Monroe Closest Approach To Earth (2.357 AU)
   Jan 28 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jan 28 - Mars Closest Approach To Earth (0.664 AU)
* Jan 28 - Asteroid 293 Brasilia Closest Approach To Earth (1.637 AU)
   Jan 28 - Asteroid 14702 Benclark Closest Approach To Earth (2.323 AU)
   Jan 28 - Asteroid 37452 Spirit Closest Approach To Earth (2.830 AU)
   Jan 29 - Mars at Opposition
* Jan 29 - Comet C/2009 U6 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.362 AU)
   Jan 29 - Comet P/1998 VS24 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (3.286 AU)
   Jan 29 - Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Closest Approach To Earth (2.112 AU)
   Jan 30 - Asteroid 2008 CN1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
   Jan 31 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #236 (OTM-236)
   Jan 31 - Comet 224P/LINEAR-NEAT Perihelion (1.990 AU)
* Jan 31 - Comet C/2009 W1 (Hill) Closest Approach To Earth (2.112 AU)

February 2010
   Feb ?? - Cosmo-Skymed 4 Delta 2 Launch
   Feb ?? - Badr 5 (Arabsat 5B) Ariane 5 Launch
   Feb ?? - TacSat 1 Falcon 1 Launch
   Feb ?? - Astra 3-B Ariane 5 Launch
   Feb ?? - Beidou 2-C (Compass M-2) CZ-3A Launch
   Feb ?? - Prisma/Picard Dnepr 1 Launch
   Feb ?? - COMS 1 Ariane 5 Launch
* Feb 01 - Asteroid 6019 (1991 RO6) Occults HIP 58450 (6.5 Magnitude Star)
   Feb 01 - Asteroid 9937 Triceratops Closest Approach To Earth (1.588 AU)
* Feb 02 - Dragon Qualification Unit Falcon 9 Launch (Inaugural Test Launch)
* Feb 02 - Asteroid 1091 Spiraea Occults HIP 46232 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
   Feb 02 - Comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) Closest Approach To Earth (2.193 AU)
   Feb 03 - Progress M-4M Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 36P)
   Feb 03 - Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atlas 5 Launch
* Feb 03 - Asteroid 1248 Jugurtha Occults HIP 17408 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 2008 CD119 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 9770 Discovery Closest Approach To Earth (1.167 AU)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 1862 Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (1.306 AU)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 12820 Robinwilliams Closest Approach To Earth (2.009 AU)
   Feb 04 - STS-130 Launch, Space Shuttle Endeavour, Node 3, Cupola,
International Space Station
* Feb 04 - Comet C/2009 U5 (Grauer) Closest Approach To Earth (5.171 AU)
   Feb 04 - Asteroid 2008 CL20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Feb 04 - Asteroid 2001 UF18 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.026 AU)
   Feb 06 - Asteroid 2001 SF286 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.036 AU)
   Feb 07 - Comet C/2009 K2 (Catalina) Perihelion (3.246 AU)
   Feb 07 - Asteroid 2099 Opik Closest Approach To Earth (1.753 AU)
   Feb 07 - Asteroid 4701 Milani Closest Approach To Earth (1.795 AU)
   Feb 08 - Comet 203P/Korlevic Perihelion (3.182 AU)
   Feb 08 - Comet 139P/Vaisala-Oterma Closest Approach To Earth (3.377 AU)
   Feb 08 - Asteroid 216 Kleopatra Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)
   Feb 08 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of GRV 99027 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Feb 09 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Galileo, Venus Flyby
   Feb 10 - Comet C/2009 P2 (Boattini) Perihelion (6.544 AU)
* Feb 10 - Asteroid 4 Vesta Occults TYC 1423-00836-1 (9.7 Magnitude Star)
   Feb 10 - Asteroid 2008 CQ116 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
   Feb 10 - Asteroid 6000 United Nations Closest Approach To Earth (2.018 AU)
   Feb 11 - Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 Closest Approach To Earth (5.207 AU)
   Feb 11 - Asteroid 8952 ODAS Closest Approach To Earth (1.658 AU)
   Feb 11 - Asteroid 48300 Kronk Closest Approach To Earth (2.050 AU)
   Feb 11 - Kuiper Belt Object 55565 (2002 AW197) Closest Approach To Earth
(45.458 AU)
   Feb 11 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Ohsumi Launch (Japan's 1st Satellite)
   Feb 12 - Asteroid 2009 UN3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Feb 12 - Asteroid 17023 Abbott Closest Approach To Earth (1.164 AU)
   Feb 12 - Asteroid 1991 Darwin Closest Approach To Earth (1.721 AU)
   Feb 13 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Calypso & Epimetheus
   Feb 13 - Cassini, Mimas Flyby
   Feb 13 - Asteroid 2001 TE2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Feb 13 - Asteroid 17196 Mastrodemos Closest Approach To Earth (1.653 AU)
   Feb 14 - Chinese New Year
   Feb 14 - Asteroid 1996 BG1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.042 AU)
   Feb 14 - 10th Anniversary (2000), NEAR, Asteroid Eros Orbit Insertion
   Feb 14 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Voyager 1, Family Portrait Images
   Feb 14 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Solar Maximum Mission Launch
   Feb 15 - NROL-29 Atlas 5 Launch
* Feb 15 - Asteroid 2598 Merlin Closest Approach To Earth (1.744 AU)
   Feb 17 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Ranger 8 Launch (Moon Impact Mission)
   Feb 18 - Asteroid 2005 YQ96 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.034 AU)
   Feb 18 - Asteroid 2991 Bilbo Closest Approach To Earth (1.760 AU)
   Feb 18 - 80th Anniversary (1930), Clyde Tombaugh's Discovery of Pluto
   Feb 19 - Comet 149P/Mueller 4 Perihelion (2.651 AU)
   Feb 19 - Asteroid 9941 Iguanodo Closest Approach To Earth (1.066 AU)
   Feb 19 - Kuiper Belt Object 90482 Orcus Closest Approach To Earth (46.951 AU)
   Feb 20 - Comet 157P/Tritton Perihelion (1.360 AU)
   Feb 20 - Asteroid 2009 UD2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
   Feb 20 - Asteroid 2002 XY38 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
   Feb 20 - Asteroid 17024 Costello Closest Approach To Earth (1.545 AU)
   Feb 21 - Tom Gehrels' 85th Birthday (1925)
   Feb 22 - Comet 81P/Wild 2 Perihelion (1.598 AU)
   Feb 22 - Comet 126P/IRAS Perihelion (1.713 AU)
   Feb 22 - Asteroid 4 Vesta Closest Approach To Earth (1.411 AU)
   Feb 22 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Galileo, Io 27 Flyby
   Feb 23 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #237 (OTM-237)
   Feb 23 - Comet 94P/Russell Closest Approach To Earth (1.275 AU)
* Feb 25 - GOES-P Delta 4M Launch
* Feb 25 - Cryosat 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
* Feb 25 - Asteroid 1 Ceres Occults TYC 6243-00292-1 (11.1 Magnitude Star)
   Feb 25 - Asteroid 33342 (1998 WT24) Near-Mercury Flyby (0.022 AU)
   Feb 25 - Asteroid 88292 Bora-Bora Closest Approach To Earth (1.790 AU)
   Feb 25 - Asteroid 9661 Hohmann Closest Approach To Earth (3.896 AU)
   Feb 26 - Asteroid 2009 FY4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
   Feb 26 - Asteroid 3808 Tempel Closest Approach To Earth (0.974 AU)
   Feb 26 - Asteroid 99942 Apophis Closest Approach To Earth (1.631 AU)
   Feb 27 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #238 (OTM-238)
* Feb 27 - Asteroid 532 Herculina Occults HIP 60599 (6.2 Magnitude Star)
   Feb 28 - Comet P/1999 XN120 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.837 AU)

March 2010
   Mar ?? - HJ-1C CZ-2C Launch
   Mar ?? - Pleiades 1 Soyuz 2-1b-Fregat Launch
* Mar ?? - Cosmos-Garpun N-1Proton M-Briz M Launch
* Mar ?? - Cartosat 2B/Jugnu PSLV-C15 Launch
   Mar 01 - Asteroid 2007 EF Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Mar 01 - Asteroid 39382 Opportunity Closest Approach To Earth (2.932 AU)
   Mar 01 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Laques & Lechaceux's Discovery of Saturn
Moon Helene
   Mar 02 - Cassini, Rhea Flyby
   Mar 02 - Comet 65P/Gunn Perihelion (2.440 AU)
   Mar 02 - Asteroid 2001 PT9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)
   Mar 02 - Asteroid 18106 Blume Closest Approach To Earth (2.705 AU)
   Mar 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Calypso
   Mar 03 - Cassini, Helene Flyby
   Mar 03 - Asteroid 2742 Gibson Closest Approach To Earth (1.979 AU)
   Mar 03 - Asteroid 11881 Mirstation Closest Approach To Earth (2.115 AU)
* Mar 04 - Asteroid 40227 Tahiti Closest Approach To Earth (3.910 AU)
   Mar 04 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Rosetta, 1st Earth Gravity Assist
   Mar 05 - Comet 219P/LINEAR Perihelion (2.364 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 2008 EY5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 2006 AM4 Near-Mercury (0.043 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 951 Gaspra Closest Approach To Earth (1.507 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 3130 Hillary Closest Approach To Earth (1.959 AU)
   Mar 06 - Asteroid 2006 LD1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Mar 06 - Michelangelo's 535th Birthday (1475)
   Mar 07 - Asteroid 2007 FB Near-Earth Flyby (0.054 AU)
   Mar 07 - Asteroid 30785 Greeley Closest Approach To Earth (1.882 AU)
   Mar 08 - Comet 162P/Siding Spring Perihelion (1.233 AU)
* Mar 08 - Asteroid 249 Ilse Occults HIP 107556 (2.9 Magnitude Star)
   Mar 08 - Asteroid 4149 Harrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.508 AU)
   Mar 09 - Asteroid 4370 Dickens Closest Approach To Earth (1.597 AU)
   Mar 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #239 (OTM-239)
   Mar 10 - Asteroid 447 Valentine Closest Approach To Earth (2.083 AU)
   Mar 11 - Asteroid 719 Albert Closest Approach To Earth (2.154 AU)
   Mar 11 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Pioneer 5 Launch (Solar Orbiter)
   Mar 12 - Comet C/2009 K3 (Beshore) Closest Approach To Earth (3.744 AU)
   Mar 12 - Simon Newcomb's 175th Birthday (1835)
   Mar 13 - 30th  Anniversary (1980), Pascu/Seidelmann/Baum/Currie's Discovery of
Saturn Moon Calypso
   Mar 13 - Percival Lowell's 155th Birthday (1855)
   Mar 14 - Daylight Saving - Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (United States)
   Mar 14 - Comet 202P/Scotti Closest Approach To Earth (2.405 AU)
   Mar 14 - Giovanni Schiaparelli's 175th Birthday (1835)
   Mar 15 - Asteroid 2002 AJ129 Near-Mars Flyby (0.041 AU)
   Mar 15 - Asteroid 16857 Goodall Closest Approach To Earth (1.312 AU)
   Mar 15 - Asteroid 78577 JPL Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU)
   Mar 16 - Asteroid 2008 JC Near-Venus Flyby (0.022 AU)
   Mar 16 - Asteroid 10799 Yucatan Closest Approach To Earth (1.941 AU)
   Mar 16 - Asteroid 7291 Hyakutake Closest Approach To Earth (2.726 AU)
   Mar 16 - Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake Closest Approach To Earth (51.283 AU)
   Mar 16 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Mariner 10, 3rd Mercury Flyby
   Mar 16 - Caroline Herschel's 260th Birthday (1750)
   Mar 17 - Asteroid 8103 Fermi Closest Approach To Earth (1.931 AU)
   Mar 17 - Asteroid 51824 Mikeanderson Closest Approach To Earth (2.305 AU)
   Mar 17 - Jim Irwin's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Mar 18 - STS-131 Launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Multi-Purpose Logistics
Module,
            International Space Station
   Mar 18 - Asteroid 1999 MN Near-Mercury Flyby (0.015 AU)
   Mar 18 - Asteroid 6758 Jesseowens Closest Approach To Earth (1.454 AU)
   Mar 18 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Soviet Rocket Launch Explosion (48 Dead)
   Mar 18 - 45th Anniversary (1965), 1st Spacewalk, Leonov On Voskhod 2
   Mar 19 - Asteroid 3356 Resnik Closest Approach To Earth (1.183 AU)
   Mar 19 - Asteroid 6223 Dahl Closest Approach To Earth (2.059 AU)
   Mar 19 - Asteroid 886 Washingtonia Closest Approach To Earth (3.064 AU)
   Mar 19 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Hiten, Moon Flyby (Japan)
   Mar 20 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Telesto, Prometheus & Methone
   Mar 20 - Vernal Equinox, 17:32 UT
* Mar 20 - Comet C/2009 U3 (Hill) Perihelion (1.414 AU)
* Mar 20 - Asteroid 8354 (1989 RF) Occults HIP 55595 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
* Mar 20 - Asteroid 5691 Fredwatson Occults HIP 55846 (6.5 Magnitude Star)
   Mar 20 - Asteroid 9880 Stegosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.341 AU)
   Mar 20 - Asteroid 4433 Goldstone Closest Approach To Earth (1.742 AU)
   Mar 20 - Asteroid 19367 Pink Floyd Closest Approach To Earth (1.753 AU)
   Mar 21 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pallene & Polydeuces
   Mar 21 - Saturn At Opposition
* Mar 21 - Asteroid 1356 Nyanza Occults HIP 61968 (5.6 Magnitude Star)
   Mar 21 - Asteroid 2001 FE7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
   Mar 21 - Asteroid 3656 Hemingway Closest Approach To Earth (1.121 AU)
   Mar 21 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Ranger 9 Launch (Moon Impact Mission)
* Mar 23 - Comet C/2009 W2 (Boattini) Perihelion (6.950 AU)
* Mar 23 - Asteroid 2617 Jiangxi Occults HIP 34267 (5.7 Magnitude Star)
* Mar 23 - Asteroid 226 Weringia Occults HIP 40866 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
   Mar 23 - Asteroid 2000 EW70 Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Mar 23 - Asteroid 128523 Johnmuir Closest Approach To Earth (1.892 AU)
   Mar 23 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 3 Launch (Virgil Grissom, John Young)
   Mar 24 - Comet C/2009 O2 (Catalina) Perihelion (0.694 AU)
   Mar 24 - Comet 195P/Hill Closest Approach To Earth (4.018 AU)
   Mar 24 - Asteroid 11246 Orvillewright Closest Approach To Earth (1.906 AU)
   Mar 24 - Asteroid 1691 Oort Closest Approach To Earth (2.531 AU)
   Mar 25 - Comet C/2008 N1 (Holmes) Closest Approach To Earth (2.504 AU)
   Mar 25 - Asteroid 3355 Onizuka Closest Approach To Earth (1.218 AU)
   Mar 25 - Asteroid 2187 La Silla Closest Approach To Earth (1.850 AU)
   Mar 25 - Asteroid 1877 Marsden Closest Approach To Earth (3.233 AU)
   Mar 25 - 10th Anniversary (2000), IMAGE Launch
   Mar 25 - 355th Anniversary (1655), Christiaan Huygens' Discovery of Saturn
Moon Titan
   Mar 26 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #240 (OTM-240)
   Mar 26 - Comet C/2009 O2 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (0.808 AU)
   Mar 26 - Comet P/2001 R6 (LINEAR-Skiff) Perihelion (2.179 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 2004 FU162 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 2007 MT20 Near-Venus Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla Closest Approach To Earth (2.190 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 51823 Rickhusband Closest Approach To Earth (2.634 AU)
   Mar 27 - Asteroid 267 Glo Closest Approach To Earth (1.840 AU)
* Mar 27 - Asteroid 2531 Cambridge Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)
   Mar 27 - Asteroid 2343 Siding Spring Closest Approach To Earth (1.926 AU)
   Mar 28 - Daylight Saving - Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (Europe)
   Mar 28 - Comet C/2007 S2 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (5.368 AU)
   Mar 28 - Asteroid 17744 Jodiefoster Closest Approach To Earth (2.066 AU)
   Mar 29 - Comet 94P/Russell Perihelion (2.240 AU)
   Mar 29 - Asteroid 1225 Ariane Closest Approach To Earth (1.183 AU)
   Mar 29 - Asteroid 5036 Tuttle Closest Approach To Earth (1.612 AU)
   Mar 29 - Asteroid 2929 Harris Closest Approach To Earth (1.945 AU)
* Mar 29 - Asteroid 30441 Curly Closest Approach To Earth (2.484 AU)
   Mar 30 - Asteroid 17059 Elvis Closest Approach To Earth (1.615 AU)
   Mar 30 - Asteroid 3000 Leonardo Closest Approach To Earth (1.775 AU)
   Mar 30 - Asteroid 4957 Brucemurray Closest Approach To Earth (2.083 AU)
   Mar 31 - Comet P/2008 Y3 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.266 AU)

April 2010
   Apr ?? - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), End of Primary Mission
   Apr ?? - Cosmos-Prognoz N11 Proton K-DM2 Launch
   Apr ?? - Dialog 1 Rokot-Briz Launch
   Apr ?? - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), End of Primary Mission
   Apr ?? - Kanopus-V/Belka 2 Soyuz FG-Fregat Launch
   Apr ?? - Tugsat 1 (Brite-Austria) Dnepr 1 Launch
   Apr ?? - Electro-L Zenit 2-Fregat Launch
   Apr ?? - Megha-Tropiques PSLV Launch
   Apr ?? - Zohreh 1 Soyuz FG-Fregat Launch
   Apr ?? - Sich 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
* Apr ?? - Dragon 1 Falcon 9 Launch
* Apr ?? - TacSat 4 Minotaur 4 Launch
   Apr 01 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Tiros 1 Launch (1st Weather Satellite)
   Apr 02 - Soyuz TMA-18 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 22S)
   Apr 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #241 (OTM-241)
   Apr 02 - Comet 149P/Mueller 4 Closest Approach To Earth (1.802 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 2001 XO88 Near-Vesta Flyby (0.037 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 3949 Mach Closest Approach To Earth (1.138 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 18932 Robinhood Closest Approach To Earth (1.599 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 3351 Smith Closest Approach To Earth (2.857 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 1006 Lagrangea Closest Approach To Earth (3.266 AU)
   Apr 04 - Easter Sunday
* Apr 04 - Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults HIP 77773 (9.3 Magnitude Star)
   Apr 04 - American Rocket Society's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Apr 05 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Apr 05 - Comet 81P/Wild 2 Closest Approach To Earth (0.673 AU)
   Apr 05 - Asteroid 2009 HE60 Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)
* Apr 05 - Asteroid 2554 Skiff Closest Approach To Earth (1.178 AU)
   Apr 05 - Asteroid 1604 Tombaugh Closest Approach To Earth (2.292 AU)
   Apr 05 - 20th Anniversary (1990), 1st Pegasus Rocket Launch
   Apr 06 - Comet P/1999 XB69 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (2.008 AU)
* Apr 06 - Asteroid 1 Ceres Occults UCAC2 23199189 (11.7 Magnitude Star)
* Apr 06 - Asteroid 824 Anastasia Occults HIP 81377 (2.5 Magnitude Star)
   Apr 06 - Asteroid 2004 ER21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Apr 06 - Asteroid 132524 APL Closest Approach To Earth (1.871 AU)
   Apr 06 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Intelsat 1 Launch (1st Commercial
Communications Satellite)
   Apr 07 - Cassini, Dione Flyby
   Apr 07 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Mimas, Tethys, Calypso, Epimetheus & Janus
   Apr 07 - Kuiper Belt Object 136108 Haumea Closest Approach To Earth (50.125
AU)
   Apr 08 - STS-132 Launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis, International Space Station
   Apr 08 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (19 Degrees)
   Apr 08 - Asteroid 310 Margarita Closest Approach To Earth (1.438 AU)
   Apr 08 - Asteroid 7818 Muirhead Closest Approach To Earth (2.023 AU)
   Apr 08 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1's Discovery of Saturn Moon Telesto
   Apr 09 - Comet 211P/Hill Closest Approach To Earth (2.191 AU)
* Apr 09 - Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults UCAC2 38625868 (11.6 Magnitude Star)
   Apr 09 - Asteroid 2007 TD Near-Venus Flyby (0.038 AU)
   Apr 09 - Asteroid 1034 Mozartia Closest Approach To Earth (1.593 AU)
* Apr 09 - Asteroid 241 Germania Closest Approach To Earth (2.312 AU)
   Apr 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #242 (OTM-242)
* Apr 10 - Asteroid 2271 Kiso Occults HIP 36152 (6.5 Magnitude Star)
   Apr 10 - Asteroid 2004 FG11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)
   Apr 10 - Asteroid 4238 Audrey Closest Approach To Earth (1.228 AU)
   Apr 10 - Asteroid 5682 Beresford Closest Approach To Earth (1.879 AU)
* Apr 11 - Asteroid 995 Sternberga Occults HIP 34002 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 2003 TT9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 3162 Nostalgia Closest Approach To Earth (2.404 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 5223 McSween Closest Approach To Earth (2.722 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 4179 Toutatis Closest Approach To Earth (2.873 AU)
   Apr 11 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Apollo 13 Launch
   Apr 12 - Asteroid 17062 Bardot Closest Approach To Earth (2.119 AU)
   Apr 12 - Yuri's Night - World Space Party
   Apr 13 - Comet 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh Closest Approach To Earth (2.670 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 2008 FH Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 5203 Pavarotti Closest Approach To Earth (1.307 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 4150 Starr Closest Approach To Earth (1.388 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 2985 Shakespeare Closest Approach To Earth (1.876 AU)
   Apr 13 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Transit 1B Launch (1st Experimental
Navigation Satellite)
   Apr 14 - Comet 173P/Mueller 5 Closest Approach To Earth (4.094 AU)
   Apr 14 - Asteroid 5035 Swift Closest Approach To Earth (1.644 AU)
   Apr 14 - Asteroid 6227 Alanrubin Closest Approach To Earth (2.044 AU)
   Apr 16 - Asteroid 2008 CB6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)
   Apr 16 - Asteroid 2001 QE71 Near-Earth Flyby (0.094 AU)
   Apr 16 - Asteroid 7862 Keikonakamura Closest Approach To Earth (2.051 AU)
   Apr 16 - Petrus Apianus' 515th Birthday (1495)
   Apr 17 - Comet C/2009 F2 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.982 AU)
   Apr 17 - Asteroid 10051 Albee Closest Approach To Earth (2.115 AU)
   Apr 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #243 (OTM-243)
   Apr 18 - Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (1.264 AU)
* Apr 19 - X-37B OTV-1 Atlas 5 Launch
   Apr 19 - Comet 30P/Reinmuth 1 Perihelion (1.884 AU)
   Apr 19 - Asteroid 2005 YU55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
   Apr 19 - Asteroid 5891 Gehrig Closest Approach To Earth (1.724 AU)
   Apr 19-25 - Astronomy Week
* Apr 20 - Asteroid 5616 Vogtland Occults HIP 37165 (6.4 Magnitude Star)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 2008 UC202 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 6336 Dodo Closest Approach To Earth (1.708 AU)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 2000 Herschel Closest Approach To Earth (2.039 AU)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 11247 Wilburwright Closest Approach To Earth (2.570 AU)
   Apr 21 - Asteroid 1288 Santa Closest Approach To Earth (2.036 AU)
   Apr 21 - Asteroid 43844 Rowling Closest Approach To Earth (2.173 AU)
   Apr 22 - Lyrids Meteor Shower Peak
   Apr 22 - Asteroid 4628 Laplace Closest Approach To Earth (1.442 AU)
   Apr 23 - Asteroid 8575 Hawaii Closest Approach To Earth (2.136 AU)
   Apr 23 - Asteroid 51827 Laurelclark Closest Approach To Earth (2.143 AU)
   Apr 24 - Astronomy Day
   Apr 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #244 (OTM-244)
   Apr 24 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Hubble Space Telescope Launch (STS-31)
   Apr 24 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Mao 1 Launch (1st Chinese Satellite)
   Apr 25 - Asteroid 2004 US1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Apr 26 - Comet C/2007 VO53 (Spacewatch) Perihelion (4.843 AU)
   Apr 26 - Asteroid 6676 Monet Closest Approach To Earth (1.947 AU)
   Apr 27 - Progress M-05M Soyuz 2-1a Launch (International Space Station 37P)
   Apr 27 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Prometheus, Telesto, Pandora & Pallene
   Apr 27 - Comet P/2008 CL94 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (5.251 AU)
   Apr 28 - Cassini, Enceladus Flyby
   Apr 28 - Asteroid 656 Beagle Closest Approach To Earth (1.912 AU)
   Apr 28 - Asteroid 51825 Davidbrown Closest Approach To Earth (2.149 AU)
   Apr 28 - Asteroid 5555 Wimberly Closest Approach To Earth (2.306 AU)
   Apr 28 - Jan Oort's 110th Birthday (1900)
   Apr 29 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #245 (OTM-245)
   Apr 29 - Asteroid 2002 JR100 Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
* Apr 29 - Asteroid 30440 Larry Closest Approach To Earth (1.413 AU)
   Apr 29 - Asteroid 5450 Sokrates Closest Approach To Earth (1.931 AU)
   Apr 30 - Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) Perihelion (1.423 AU)
   Apr 30 - Asteroid 9769 Nautilus Closest Approach To Earth (1.050 AU)

May 2010
* May ?? - Ikaros/Akatsuki H-2A Launch
   May ?? - SBIRS-Geo 1 (SBIRS-High 2) Atlas 5 Launch
   May ?? - Cosmos-Geizer N21 Proton K Launch
   May ?? - Hylas Ariane 5 Launch
   May ?? - Bluesat Dnepr 1 Launch
   May ?? - Yamal 301/302 Proton K-DM-2M Launch
* May 02 - Asteroid 2 Pallas Occults TYC 2026-01347-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star)
   May 02 - Asteroid 2007 DB61 Near-Earth Flyby (0.090 AU)
   May 03 - Asteroid 24101 Cassini Closest Approach To Earth (2.343 AU)
   May 04 - Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Perihelion (1.180 AU)
   May 04 - Asteroid (141495) 2002 EZ11 Near-Mars Flyby (0.018 AU)
* May 04 - Asteroid 1125 China Closest Approach To Earth (2.343 AU)
   May 05 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
* May 06 - Asteroid 508 Princetonia Closest Approach To Earth (2.111 AU)
   May 06 - Asteroid 9016 Henrymoore Closest Approach To Earth (2.898 AU)
   May 07 - Space Day]
* May 07 - Asteroid 910 Anneliese Occults HIP 74600 (6.2 Magnitude Star)
   May 07 - Asteroid 2009 BD Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)
   May 07 - Asteroid 2688 Halley Closest Approach To Earth (1.867 AU)
   May 07 - Asteroid 4255 Spacewatch Closest Approach To Earth (2.438 AU)
   May 08 - Asteroid 1224 Fantasia Closest Approach To Earth (1.728 AU)
   May 09 - Asteroid 2022 West Closest Approach To Earth (2.018 AU)
   May 10 - GPS 2F F-1 Delta 4M Launch
   May 11 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #246 (OTM-246)
* May 11 - Asteroid 7476 Ogilsbie Occults HIP 69389 (5.0 Magnitude Star)
   May 11 - Asteroid 2005 JR5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
   May 11 - Asteroid 6471 Collins Closest Approach To Earth (1.430 AU)
   May 12 - Asteroid 2007 TZ68 Near-Mars Flyby (0.012 AU)
   May 12 - Asteroid 9133 d'Arrest Closest Approach To Earth (1.879 AU)
   May 14 - Griffith Observatory's 75th Birthday (1935)
   May 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #247 (OTM-247)
* May 15 - Asteroid 17445 Avatcha Occults HIP 85889 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
   May 15 - Asteroid 10204 Turing Closest Approach To Earth (2.010 AU)
   May 16 - Moon Occults Venus
   May 18 - Cassini, Enceladus & Methone Flyby
   May 19 - Comet 24P/Schaumasse Closest Approach To Earth (2.277 AU)
   May 19 - Asteroid 2003 QC10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU)
* May 19 - Asteroid 2597 Arthur Closest Approach To Earth (2.419 AU)
   May 20 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   May 20 - Asteroid 2004 FG11 Near-Mercury (0.039 AU)
   May 20 - Asteroid 11055 Honduras Closest Approach To Earth (0.985 AU)
   May 20 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Galileo, Ganymede 28 Flyby
   May 21 - Asteroid 1865 Cerberus Closest Approach To Earth (0.334 AU)
   May 21 - Asteroid 3259 Brownlee Closest Approach To Earth (1.833 AU)
   May 21 - Asteroid 6433 Enya Closest Approach To Earth (1.879 AU)
   May 22 - Asteroid 232 Russia Closest Approach To Earth (1.175 AU)
   May 22 - 15th Anniversary (1995), Saturn Ring Plane Crossing (1 of 3)
   May 23 - Aquarius Delta 2 Launch
   May 23 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #248 (OTM-248)
   May 23 - Asteroid 2008 GA4 Near-Venus Flyby (0.031 AU)
   May 23 - Asteroid 9969 Braille Closest Approach To Earth (0.427 AU)
   May 23 - Asteroid 8088 Australia Closest Approach To Earth (1.526 AU)
   May 23 - Asteroid 6030 Zolensky Closest Approach To Earth (2.274 AU)
   May 24 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Midas 2 Launch (1st Experimental Infrared
Surveillance Satellite)
* May 25 - Asteroid 233 Asterope Occults HIP 115544 (6.8 Magnitude Star)
   May 25 - Asteroid 10389 Robmanning Closest Approach To Earth (1.414 AU)
   May 26 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (25 Degrees)
   May 27 - Asteroid 2008 KV2 Near-Venus Flyby (0.032 AU)
   May 28 - STP-26/FASTRAC-A & B/FalconSat 4/OREOS/RAC Minotaur 4 Launch
   May 28 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #249 (OTM-249)
   May 28 - Asteroid 7032 Hitchcock Closest Approach To Earth (1.463 AU)
   May 28 - Frank Drake's 80th Birthday (1930)
   May 29 - Asteroid 5145 Pholus Closest Approach To Earth (22.402 AU)
   May 30 - Comet 142P/Ge-Wang Perihelion (2.488 AU)
   May 31 - Asteroid 25399 Vonnegut Closest Approach To Earth (1.653 AU)
   May 31 - European Space Agency's 35th Birthday (1975)

June 2010
   Jun ?? - Hayabusa (MUSES-C) Return To Earth
   Jun ?? - Equars VLS-1 Launch (Brazil)
   Jun ?? - Monitor IR1 Rokot KM Launch
   Jun ?? - Insat 4-D GSLV-1 Launch
   Jun ?? - Nilesat 2 Ariane 5 Launch
   Jun ?? - Meteor 3M N2 Soyuz 2-1B Launch
   Jun ?? - Katysat 1/KiwiSat/Atmocube/Cubesat-RAFT/Funsat/UCISAT Dnepr 1 Launch
   Jun ?? - Rascom-QAF 1R Ariane 5 Launch
* Jun ?? - Amsat Phase 3E Express Ariane 5 Launch
* Jun ?? - Hausat 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Jun 01 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #250 (OTM-250)
   Jun 01 - Asteroid 73491 Robmatson Closest Approach To Earth (1.791 AU)
   Jun 01 - 20th Anniversary (1990), ROSAT Launch
   Jun 02 - Asteroid 472 Roma Closest Approach To Earth (1.812 AU)
   Jun 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Tethys, Rhea & Pandora
   Jun 03 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 4 Launch, USA's First Spacewalk (Ed
White)
* Jun 04 - Asteroid 2655 Guangxi Occults HIP 53492 (6.4 Magnitude Star)
   Jun 04 - Asteroid 1999 MN Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)
   Jun 04 - Asteroid 19578 Kirkdouglas Closest Approach To Earth (0.967 AU)
   Jun 04 - Asteroid 24102 Jacquecassini Closest Approach To Earth (1.901 AU)
   Jun 05 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jun 05 - Asteroid 1999 HE1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU)
   Jun 05 - Asteroid 2004 KH17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)
* Jun 06 - Asteroid 1 Ceres Occults TYC 6846-00936-1 (10.7 Magnitude Star)
   Jun 07 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #251 (OTM-251)
   Jun 08 - Comet 215P/NEAT Perihelion (3.213 AU)
   Jun 08 - Comet 183P/Korlevic-Juric Closest Approach To Earth (3.514 AU)
   Jun 08 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 9 Launch (Soviet Venus
Orbiter/Lander)
   Jun 08 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Luna 6 Launch (Soviet Moon Flyby)
   Jun 08 - Giovanni Cassini's 385th Birthday (1625)
   Jun 09 - Kuiper Belt Oject 28978 Ixion Closest Approach To Earth (40.346 AU)
   Jun 10 - Asteroid 2007 YG Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Jun 10 - Asteroid 2023 Asaph Closest Approach To Earth (1.999 AU)
   Jun 11 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Vega 1, Venus Landing/Balloon
   Jun 12 - Asteroid 5020 Asimov Closest Approach To Earth (0.944 AU)
   Jun 12 - Kuiper Belt Object 50000 Quaoar Closest Approach To Earth (42.155 AU)
   Jun 13 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #252 (OTM-252)
   Jun 13 - Asteroid 2007 XB10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
   Jun 14 - Asteroid 2003 YS17 Near-Venus Flyby (0.044 AU)
   Jun 14 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Vega 2, Venus Landing/Balloon
   Jun 14 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 10, Venus Landing
   Jun 15 - Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (1.137 AU)
   Jun 15 - Asteroid 2002 Euler Closest Approach To Earth (1.283 AU)
   Jun 15 - Asteroid 1 Ceres Closest Approach To Earth (1.825 AU)
   Jun 16 - Asteroid 6735 Madhatter Closest Approach To Earth (1.310 AU)
   Jun 17 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #253 (OTM-253)
   Jun 17 - Comet C/2008 FK75 (Lemmon-Siding Spring) Closest Approach To Earth
(4.057 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2003 MN Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2007 DD Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2451 Dollfus Closest Approach To Earth (1.367 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2866 Hardy Closest Approach To Earth (1.739 AU)
   Jun 17 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of the Dhofar 378 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Jun 18 - Asteroid 2956 Yeomans Closest Approach To Earth (1.538 AU)
   Jun 19 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pan & Polydeuces
   Jun 20 - Asteroid 69230 Hermes Closest Approach To Earth (1.041 AU)
   Jun 20 - 340th Anniversary (1670), Discovery Of Nova 1670 Vulpeculae
   Jun 21 - Summer Solstice, 11:28 UT
   Jun 21 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jun 21 - Asteroid 5641 McCleese Closest Approach To Earth (0.804 AU)
   Jun 21 - Asteroid 4017 Disneya Closest Approach To Earth (1.505 AU)
   Jun 22 - Asteroid 13801 Kohlhase Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU)
   Jun 22 - Royal Greenwich Observatory's 335th Birthday (1675)
   Jun 23 - Asteroid 2008 EY5 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Jun 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #254 (OTM-254)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 2008 YC3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 2007 CS5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 2008 WM64 Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 4099 Wiggins Closest Approach To Earth (1.780 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 1913 Sekanina Closest Approach To Earth (1.981 AU)
   Jun 24 - Dwarf Planet 134340 Pluto Closest Approach To Earth (30.860 AU)
   Jun 24 - Fred Hoyle's 95th Birthday (1915)
   Jun 25 - Pluto At Opposition
   Jun 25 - Rupert Wildt's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Jun 26 - Partial Lunar Eclipse
   Jun 26 - Comet 100P/Hartley Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU)
   Jun 26 - Asteroid 8353 Megryan Closest Approach To Earth (1.774 AU)
   Jun 26 - Charles Messier's 280th Birthday (1730)
   Jun 27 - Asteroid 154590 (2003 MA3) Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
   Jun 27 - Asteroid 4763 Ride Closest Approach To Earth (1.644 AU)
   Jun 28 - Asteroid 2005 ED318 Near-Earth Flyby (0.070 AU)
   Jun 28 - Asteroid 2118 Flagstaff Closest Approach To Earth (2.042 AU)
* Jun 30 - Progress M-06M Soyuz U Launch
   Jun 30 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #255 (OTM-255)

July 2010
* Jul ?? - Akatsuki (Planet-C)/Ikaros/Waseda-Sat2/Unitec-1/Negai-Star/AWVONS
            H-2A Launch (Japan Venus Orbiter)
   Jul ?? - AEHF F-1 Atlas 5 Launch
   Jul ?? - Sinosat 4 CZ-3B Launch
   Jul ?? - NROL-25 Delta 4M Launch
   Jul ?? - SSR-1 VSL-1 Launch (Brazil)
   Jul ?? - Dragon 2 Falcon 9 Launch
   Jul ?? - Microscope Ariane 5 Launch
   Jul ?? - Insat 4-G Ariane 5 Launch
   Jul ?? - AMC-1R Ariane 5 Launch
   Jul ?? - Sudansat 1 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Jul 01 - Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington Perihelion (1.358 AU)
   Jul 01 - Asteroid 2005 UU3 Near-Venus Flyby (0.006 AU)
   Jul 02 - Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) Perihelion (0.405 AU)
   Jul 02 - Comet 116P/Wild 4 Closest Approach To Earth (2.119 AU)
   Jul 02 - Asteroid 2063 Bacchus Closest Approach To Earth (1.432 AU)
   Jul 02 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Giotto, Earth Flyby
   Jul 02 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Giotto Launch (ESA's Comet Halley Mission)
   Jul 03 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #256 (OTM-256)
   Jul 04 - Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Perihelion (1.423 AU)
   Jul 04 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Deep Impact, Comet Tempel 1 Impact/Flyby
   Jul 05 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Calypso, Enceladus & Daphnis
   Jul 05 - Comet 143P/Kowal-Mrkos Closest Approach To Earth (2.539 AU)
   Jul 05 - Asteroid 1814 Bach Closest Approach To Earth (1.492 AU)
   Jul 06 - Earth At Aphelion (1.017 AU From Sun)
   Jul 06 - Asteroid 91287 Simon-Garfunkel Closest Approach To Earth (1.306 AU)
   Jul 07 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jul 07 - Comet C/2009 U1 (Garradd) Perihelion (2.964 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 2001 KM20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 6602 Gilclark Closest Approach To Earth (1.098 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 5649 Donnashirley Closest Approach To Earth (1.927 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 3297 Hong Kong Closest Approach To Earth (2.328 AU)
   Jul 09 - Asteroid 3352 McAuliffe Closest Approach To Earth (1.517 AU)
   Jul 10 - Rosetta, Asteroid 21 Lutetia Flyby
   Jul 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #257 (OTM-257)
   Jul 10 - Asteroid 1578 Kirkwood Closest Approach To Earth (3.673 AU)
   Jul 11 - Total Solar Eclipse, Visible in South Pacific, Chile
   Jul 11 - Asteroid 2008 UP100 Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
   Jul 11 - Asteroid 4769 Castalia Closest Approach To Earth (0.973 AU)
   Jul 11 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Gamma Observatory Launch (Soviet Union)
   Jul 12 - Comet 158P/Kowal-LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (3.677 AU)
   Jul 12 - Asteroid 2009 BD Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)
   Jul 12 - Asteroid 37582 Faraday Closest Approach To Earth (1.082 AU)
   Jul 12 - Asteroid 2919 Dali Closest Approach To Earth (1.688 AU)
   Jul 13 - Asteroid 4457 van Gogh Closest Approach To Earth (1.862 AU)
* Jul 14 - Comet C/2009 U5 (Grauer) Perihelion (6.046 AU)
   Jul 14 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Mariner 4, Mars Flyby
   Jul 15 - Asteroid 5430 Luu Closest Approach To Earth (0.966 AU)
   Jul 15 - Asteroid 2228 Soyuz-Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (2.496 AU)
   Jul 16 - Comet C/2009 K2 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.590 AU)
   Jul 16 - Asteroid 7336 Saunders Closest Approach To Earth (0.205 AU)
   Jul 16 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Badr-A Launch (1st Pakistan Satellite)
   Jul 16 - 45th Anniversary (1965), 1st Proton Rocket Launch (USSR)
   Jul 17 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Apollo-Soyuz Handshake
   Jul 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #258 (OTM-258)
   Jul 18 - Comet P/1999 U3 (LINEAR) Perihelion (1.921 AU)
   Jul 18 - Asteroid 2002 BF25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)
   Jul 18 - Asteroid 13926 Berners-Lee Closest Approach To Earth (1.319 AU)
   Jul 18 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Rohini 1 Launch (India's 1st Satellite)
   Jul 18 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Zond 3 Launch (USSR Moon Flyby)
   Jul 18-25 - COSPAR 2010 Scientific Assembly
   Jul 19 - Asteroid 2008 NP3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)
   Jul 20 - Asteroid 17078 Sellers Closest Approach To Earth (1.831 AU)
   Jul 20 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of Jupiter Moon Callirrhoe
   Jul 21 - Comet 65P/Gunn Closest Approach To Earth (1.602 AU)
   Jul 21 - Asteroid 2000 UQ30 Near-Mars Flyby (0.050 AU)
   Jul 21 - Asteroid 8249 Gershwin Closest Approach To Earth (1.493 AU)
   Jul 22 - Comet 77P/Longmore Closest Approach To Earth (2.369 AU)
   Jul 22 - Asteroid 2007 HR Near-Mars Flyby (0.021 AU)
   Jul 23 - Asteroid 2006 KL21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
   Jul 23 - Asteroid 5049 Sherlock Closest Approach To Earth (1.028 AU)
   Jul 24 - 60th Anniversary (1950), 1st Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral
(Bumper/V-2 Rocket)
   Jul 25 - Cassini, Distant Fly of Prometheus & Atlas
   Jul 25 - Asteroid 3153 Lincoln Closest Approach To Earth (1.384 AU)
   Jul 25 - Asteroid 5738 Billpickering Closest Approach To Earth (3.106 AU)
   Jul 25 - 20th Anniversary (1990), CRRES Launch
   Jul 25 - Christoph Scheiner's 435th Birthday (1575)
   Jul 26 - Asteroid 38237 Roche Closest Approach To Earth (1.263 AU)
   Jul 26 - Asteroid 2160 Spitzer Closest Approach To Earth (1.664 AU)
   Jul 26 - Asteroid 117329 Spencer Closest Approach To Earth (1.699 AU)
   Jul 26 - Asteroid 2925 Beatty Closest Approach To Earth (1.818 AU)
   Jul 28 - Asteroid 11548 Jerrylewis Closest Approach To Earth (2.009 AU)
   Jul 29 - STS-134 Launch, Space Shuttle Endeavour, International Space Station
   Jul 29 - South Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   Jul 30 - Asteroid 4221 Picasso Closest Approach To Earth (1.586 AU)
   Jul 30 - 400th Anniversary (1610), Galileo Observes Saturn's Rings
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 2006 EB Near-Earth Flyby (0.080 AU)
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 1994 CB Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 118401 LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.956 AU)
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 1941 Wild Closest Approach To Earth (2.229 AU)

August 2010
   Aug ?? - NROL-35 Atlas 5 Launch
   Aug ?? - NROL-39 Atlas 5 Launch
   Aug ?? - NROL-41 Atlas 5 Launch
   Aug ?? - XM-5 Zenit 3SL Launch
   Aug ?? - Luch 5A/Amos 5 Proton M-Briz M Launch
   Aug ?? - Radio-Astron (Spektr R) Zenit 2-Fregat-SB Launch
   Aug ?? - Cassiope 1 Falcon 9 Launch
   Aug ?? - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of NWA 2737 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Aug 01 - Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 01 - Comet 176P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.955 AU)
   Aug 01 - Asteroid 5231 Verne Closest Approach To Earth (1.665 AU)
   Aug 01 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of the SAU 051 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Aug 01 - Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Aug 02 - 5th Anniversary (2005), MESSENGER, Earth Flyby
   Aug 03 - Asteroid 2830 Greenwich Closest Approach To Earth (1.753 AU)
   Aug 03 - Asteroid 9500 Camelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.956 AU)
   Aug 04 - Asteroid 2266 Tchaikovsky Closest Approach To Earth (2.724 AU)
   Aug 05 - Asteroid 17640 Mount Stromlo Closest Approach To Earth (1.031 AU)
   Aug 05 - Neil Armstrong's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Aug 06 - Southern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 06 - Comet 2P/Encke Perihelion (0.336 AU)
   Aug 06 - Asteroid 1282 Utopia Closest Approach To Earth (2.094 AU)
   Aug 07 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (27 Degrees)
   Aug 07 - Asteroid 8146 Jimbell Closest Approach To Earth (2.322 AU)
   Aug 08 - Asteroid 15000 CCD Closest Approach To Earth (1.772 AU)
   Aug 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #259 (OTM-259)
   Aug 10 - Asteroid 6239 Minos Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
* Aug 10 - Asteroid 716 Berkeley Closest Approach To Earth (1.906 AU)
   Aug 10 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Magellan, Venus Orbit Insertion
   Aug 11 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan
   Aug 12 - Perseids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 12 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 PG115 Closest Approach To Earth (35.910)
   Aug 12 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Echo 1 Launch
   Aug 13 - Cassini, Enceladus Flyby
   Aug 13 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione, Calypso & Epimetheus
   Aug 13 - Asteroid 2002 AC9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Aug 13 - Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon Closest Approach To Earth (1.964 AU)
   Aug 14 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Atlas, Pandora, Dahpnis, Janus, Pan &
            Tethys
   Aug 14 - Comet 223P/Skiff Perihelion (2.420 AU)
   Aug 15 - Asteroid 4808 Ballaero Closest Approach To Earth (1.838 AU)
   Aug 16 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #260 (OTM-260)
   Aug 16 - Asteroid 2007 XZ9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)
   Aug 16 - Comet 95P/Chiron Closest Approach To Earth (15.420)
   Aug 16 - Asteroid 4148 McCartney Closest Approach To Earth (1.404 AU)
   Aug 16 - Asteroid 1024 Hale Closest Approach To Earth (1.420 AU)
   Aug 17 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Venera 7 Launch (USSR Venus Lander)
   Aug 18 - Comet C/2009 P2 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (5.704 AU)
   Aug 18 - Asteroid 2004 SC56 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
   Aug 18 - Asteroid 4337 Arecibo Closest Approach To Earth (2.349 AU)
   Aug 18 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Suisei Launch (Japan Comet Halley Mission)
   Aug 19 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Sputnik 5 Launch (Carried Dogs Belka &
Strelka)
   Aug 20 - Venus At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (46 Degrees)
   Aug 20 - Neptune At Opposition
   Aug 20 - Asteroid 2041 Lancelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.986 AU)
   Aug 20 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Viking 1 Launch (Mars Lander/Orbiter)
   Aug 20 - 125th Anniversary (1885), Ernst Hartwig's Discovery of S Andromedae
   Aug 21 - Asteroid 469 Argentina Closest Approach To Earth (2.589 AU)
   Aug 21 - Kuiper Belt Object 2007 OR10 Closest Approach To Earth (85.142 AU)
   Aug 21 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 5 Launch (Gordon Cooper & Charles
Conrad)
   Aug 22 - Asteroid 2074 Shoemaker Closest Approach To Earth (1.039 AU)
   Aug 24 - Asteroid 2005 QQ87 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Aug 24 - Asteroid 2003 JN14 Near-Mars Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Aug 24 - Asteroid 8256 Shenzhou Closest Approach To Earth (1.172 AU)
   Aug 25 - Northern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 25 - Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Closest Approach To Earth (0.651 AU)
   Aug 25 - Asteroid 697 Galilea Closest Approach To Earth (1.474 AU)
   Aug 25 - Asteroid 11911 Angel Closest Approach To Earth (1.797 AU)
   Aug 26 - Asteroid 2007 DS7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
   Aug 26 - Asteroid 2007 RY8  Near-Venus Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Aug 27 - Asteroid 2006 EK53 Near-Mars Flyby (0.045 AU)
   Aug 28 - Astroid 2007 DD Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Aug 28 - Asteroid 4116 Elachi Closest Approach To Earth (1.069 AU)
   Aug 29 - Asteroid 36800 Katarinawitt Closest Approach To Earth (1.009 AU)
   Aug 29 - Asteroid 7359 Messier Closest Approach To Earth (1.791 AU)
   Aug 29 - Asteroid 2006 SQ372 Closest Approach To Earth (23.719 AU)
   Aug 29 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Discovery of Nova Cygni 1975
   Aug 30 - Comet 2P/Encke Closest Approach To Earth (1.114 AU)
   Aug 30 - Asteroid 4055 Magellan Closest Approach To Earth (0.560 AU)
   Aug 30 - Asteroid 4342 Freud Closest Approach To Earth (1.522 AU)
   Aug 30 - Asteroid 203 Pompeja Closest Approach To Earth (1.664 AU)
   Aug 31 - Comet 186P/Garradd Closest Approach To Earth (3.853 AU)
   Aug 31 - Asteroid 1999 CG9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.083 AU)
   Aug 31 - Asteroid 1566 Icarus Closest Approach To Earth (0.602 AU)

September 2010
   Sep ?? - Afristar 3 (Worldstar 3) Ariane 5 Launch
   Sep ?? - Astrosat 1 PSLV Launch (India)
   Sep ?? - Giove A2 Soyuz FG-Fregat Launch
   Sep ?? - Insat 3-D GSLV Launch (India)
   Sep ?? - CBERS 3 CZ-4B Launch
   Sep ?? - Lapansat 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Sep ?? - Eros C Start 1 Launch (Israel)
   Sep ?? - Bissat Cosmos 3M Launch
* Sep ?? - NROL-32 Delta 4-Heavy Launch
* Sep ?? - GPS 2F-2 Atlas 5 Launch
* Sep ?? - Condor E Strela Launch
   Sep 01 - Asteroid 3895 Earhart Closest Approach To Earth (1.772 AU)
   Sep 02 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Polydeuces & Telesto
   Sep 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #261 (OTM-261)
   Sep 02 - Asteroid 2008 EL68 Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
   Sep 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Aegaeon, Titan, Epimetheus & Dione
   Sep 03 - Comet 227P/Catalina-LINEAR Perihelion (1.795 AU)
   Sep 03 - Asteroid 79896 Billhaley Closest Approach To Earth (2.010 AU)
   Sep 04 - Asteroid 2753 Duncan Closest Approach To Earth (1.845 AU)
   Sep 05 - Asteroid 9007 James Bond Closest Approach To Earth (1.181 AU)
   Sep 08 - Asteroid 3673 Levy Closest Approach To Earth (1.208 AU)
   Sep 08 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Viking 2 Launch (Mars Orbiter/Lander)
   Sep 08 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Kaoru Ikeya & Tsutomu Seki's Discovery of
Comet Ikeya-Seki
   Sep 08 - Marshall Space Flight Center's 50th Birthday (1960)
   Sep 08 - Thomas Keith Glennan's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Sep 09 - Asteroid 2005 VL1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.048 AU)
   Sep 09 - Asteroid 1940 Whipple Closest Approach To Earth (2.081 AU)
   Sep 10 - Comet 97P/Metcalf-Brewington Closest Approach To Earth (2.530 AU)
   Sep 10 - Asteroid 426 Hippo Closest Approach To Earth (2.214 AU)
   Sep 11 - 25th Anniversary (1985), ICE, Comet Giacobini-Zinner Flyby
   Sep 12 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Luna 16 Launch (Soviet Moon Sample Return)
   Sep 13 - Asteroid 19383 Rolling Stones Closest Approach To Earth (0.971 AU)
   Sep 13 - Asteroid 5143 Heracles Closest Approach To Earth (2.234 AU)
   Sep 14 - Asteroid 2001 XE1 Near-Mars Flyby (0.035 AU)
   Sep 14 - Asteroid 18458 Caesar Closest Approach To Earth (1.521 AU)
   Sep 14 - John Dobson's 95th Birthday (1915)
   Sep 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #261A (OTM-261A)
   Sep 15 - Asteroid 2005 UH6 Near-Venus Flyby (0.023 AU)
   Sep 16 - STS-133 Launch, Space Shuttle Discovery, International Space Station
   Sep 17 - Asteroid 4147 Lennon Closest Approach To Earth (1.467 AU)
   Sep 18 - Asteroid 3354 McNair Closest Approach To Earth (1.237 AU)
   Sep 18 - Asteroid 9954 Brachiosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.540 AU)
   Sep 19 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (18 Degrees)
   Sep 21 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #262 (OTM-262)
   Sep 21 - Jupiter at Opposition
   Sep 21 - Uranus At Opposition
   Sep 22 - Asteroid 4923 Clarke Closest Approach To Earth (0.928 AU)
   Sep 23 - Autumnal Equinox (03:09 UT)
   Sep 23 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Enceladus, Calypso & Polydeuces
   Sep 24 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Sep 24 - John Young's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Sep 25 - Asteroid 85990 (1999 JV6) Near-Venus Flyby (0.026 AU)
   Sep 26 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Cassini, Hyperion Flyby
   Sep 27 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #263 (OTM-263)
   Sep 27 - Asteroid 3169 Ostro Closest Approach To Earth (1.132 AU)
   Sep 27 - Asteroid 7853 Confucius Closest Approach To Earth (2.735 AU)
   Sep 28 - Comet P/1998 U4 (Spahr) Closest Approach To Earth (3.665 AU)
   Sep 28 - Asteroid 2002 TZ57 Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
* Sep 28 - Asteroid 477 Italia Closest Approach To Earth (1.020 AU)
   Sep 28 - Asteroid 73079 Davidbaltimore Closest Approach To Earth (1.590 AU)
   Sep 28 - Ismael Bullialdus' 405th Birthday (1605)
   Sep 29 - Comet 31P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 2 Perihelion (3.424 AU)
   Sep 29 - Comet C/2008 FK75 (Lemmon-Siding Spring) Perihelion (4.511 AU)
   Sep 30 - Asteroid 2005 NZ6 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.047 AU)
   Sep 30 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Charles Kowal's Discovery of Jupiter Moon
Themisto

October 2010
   Oct ?? - Express AM-4/Express MD-2 Proton M-Briz M Launch
   Oct ?? - TerreStar 2 Ariane 5 Launch
* Oct ?? - Unamsat 3 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Oct 01 - Glory Taurus Launch
   Oct 01 - Asteroid 137032 (1998 UO1) Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Oct 01 - Asteroid 7225 Huntress Closest Approach To Earth (1.478 AU)
   Oct 02 - Asteroid 1996 Adams Closest Approach To Earth (1.212 AU)
   Oct 02 - Asteroid 12104 Chesley Closest Approach To Earth (2.050 AU)
   Oct 02 - Hayden Planetarium's 75th Birthday (1935)
* Oct 03 - Asteroid 136 Austria Closest Approach To Earth (1.161 AU)
   Oct 03 - Asteroid 4444 Escher Closest Approach To Earth (1.210 AU)
   Oct 03 - Asteroid 1772 Gagarin Closest Approach To Earth (1.792 AU)
   Oct 03 - 195th Anniversary (1815), Chassigny Meteorite Fall (Mars Meteorite)
   Oct 04 - Comet P/2002 X2 (NEAT) Perihelion (2.127 AU)
   Oct 04-10 - World Space Week
   Oct 05 - Asteroid 1221 Amor Closest Approach To Earth (1.756 AU)
   Oct 06 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Ulysses Launch (Solar Polar Orbiter)
   Oct 08 - Asteroid 2001 TB Near-Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)
   Oct 08 - Asteroid 9250 Chamberlin Closest Approach To Earth (2.581 AU)
   Oct 09 - Draconids Meteor Shower Peak
   Oct 09 - Asteroid 1322 Coppernicus Closest Approach To Earth (1.461 AU)
   Oct 09 - Asteroid 5720 Halweaver Closest Approach To Earth (1.613 AU)
   Oct 10 - Asteroid 2062 Aten Closest Approach To Earth (0.586 AU)
   Oct 10 - Asteroid 83360 Catalina Closest Approach To Earth (1.221 AU)
   Oct 10 - Asteroid 2801 Huygens Closest Approach To Earth (1.362 AU)
   Oct 10 - Very Large Array's (VLA) 30th Birthday (1980)
   Oct 11 - Cassini, End of Equinox Mission
* Oct 11 - Asteroid 11998 Fermilab Closest Approach To Earth (1.427 AU)
   Oct 11 - Asteroid 19148 Alaska Closest Approach To Earth (2.612 AU)
   Oct 11 - 65th Anniversary (1945), WAC Corporal Launch
   Oct 12 - Comet P/1998 U4 (Spahr) Near-Jupiter Flyby (0.357 AU)
   Oct 12 - Asteroid 742 Edisona Closest Approach To Earth (1.707 AU)
   Oct 12 - Asteroid 16809 Galapagos Closest Approach To Earth (1.735 AU)
   Oct 14 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Oct 14 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #264 (OTM-264)
   Oct 14 - Asteroid 162269 (1999 VO6) Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
   Oct 14 - Asteroid 2009 BU5 Near-Mars Flyby (0.046 AU)
   Oct 14 - Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris Closest Approach To Earth (95.667 AU)
   Oct 15 - Asteroid 13070 Seanconnery Closest Approach To Earth (0.928 AU)
   Oct 16 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Mimas, Pallene, Telesto, Methone &
            Aegaeon
   Oct 16 - Comet 142P/Ge-Wang Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU)
   Oct 16 - 35th Anniversary (1975), GOES 1 Launch (1st Weather Satellite
            in Geosynchronous Orbit)
   Oct 17 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione & Rhea
   Oct 17 - New Horizons, Halfway to Pluto
   Oct 17 - Asteroid 25924 Douglasadams Closest Approach To Earth (1.619 AU)
   Oct 18 - Asteroid 2009 ST Near-Vesta Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Oct 18 - Kuiper Belt Object 15760 (1992 QB1) Closest Approach To Earth (40.106
AU)
   Oct 19 - Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's 100th Birthday (1910)
   Oct 20 - Comet Hartley 2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.121 AU)
   Oct 20 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Zond 8 Launch (USSR Moon Flyby)
   Oct 21 - Orionids Meteor Shower Peak
   Oct 21 - Asteroid 4535 Adamcarolla Closest Approach To Earth (2.183 AU)
   Oct 22 - Asteroid 202683 (2006 US216) Near-Venus Flyby (0.025 AU)
   Oct 22 - Asteroid 4783 Wasson Closest Approach To Earth (1.481 AU)
   Oct 22 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 9, Venus Landing (Soviet Venus
Orbiter/Lander)
   Oct 23 - Asteroid 2000 TU28 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Oct 23 - Asteroid 2247 Hiroshima Closest Approach To Earth (1.185 AU)
   Oct 23 - Karl Jansky's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Oct 24 - Asteroid 2009 FD Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
   Oct 24 - Asteroid 2710 Veverka Closest Approach To Earth (1.687 AU)
   Oct 25 - Asteroid 2005 UN Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
   Oct 25 - Asteroid 1998 SD9 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.048 AU)
   Oct 25 - Asteroid 10217 Richardcook Closest Approach To Earth (1.075 AU)
   Oct 25 - Asteroid 3066 McFadden Closest Approach To Earth (1.262 AU)
   Oct 25 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 10, Venus Landing
   Oct 26 - Asteroid 2004 XD6 Near-Mars Flyby (0.023 AU)
   Oct 26 - Asteroid 82332 Las Vegas Closest Approach To Earth (1.576 AU)
* Oct 26 - Asteroid 1193 Africa Closest Approach To Earth (1.955 AU)
   Oct 27 - Asteroid 162269 (1999 VO6) Near-Venus Flyby (0.041 AU)
   Oct 27 - Asteroid 4766 Malin Closest Approach To Earth (1.457 AU)
   Oct 27 - Asteroid 3693 Barringer Closest Approach To Earth (1.607 AU)
   Oct 28 - Asteroid 4151 Alanhale Closest Approach To Earth (2.247 AU)
   Oct 29 - Asteroid 2007 JB21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)
* Oct 30 - Comet 223P/Skiff Closest Approach To Earth (1.636 AU)
   Oct 30 - Asteroid 2003 UV11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.013 AU)
   Oct 30 - Asteroid 2848 ASP Closest Approach To Earth (1.577 AU)
   Oct 30 - Asteroid 6487 Tonyspear Closest Approach To Earth (1.692 AU)
   Oct 30 - Asteroid 16035 Sasandford Closest Approach To Earth (1.856 AU)
* Oct 31 - Asteroid 30444 Shemp Closest Approach To Earth (1.489 AU)
   Oct 31 - Michael Collins' 80th Birthday (1930)

November 2010
* Nov ?? - Cubesats/PW-Sat 1/Laser Relativity Satellite (LARES) Vega Launch
(Inaugural Vega Launch)
* Nov ?? - Cosmos Glonass K1+K2 Soyuz 2 Fregat Launch
* Nov ?? - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of the NWA 480 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
* Nov 01 - Daylight Saving - Set Clock Back 1 Hour (United States)
* Nov 02 - Asteroid 2008 EL Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)
* Nov 02 - Harlow Shapley's 125th Birthday (1885)
* Nov 03 - Taurids Meteor Shower Peak
* Nov 04 - Asteroid 2006 JY26 Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)
* Nov 05 - Moon Occults Venus
* Nov 05 - Asteroid 9134 Encke Closest Approach To Earth (1.901 AU)
* Nov 06 - Asteroid 736 Harvard Closest Approach To Earth (1.061 AU)
* Nov 07 - Asteroid 2002 VE68 Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)
* Nov 07 - Asteroid 3753 Cruithne Closest Approach To Earth (0.422 AU)
* Nov 07 - Asteroid 63163 Jerusalem Closest Approach To Earth (1.417 AU)
* Nov 07 - Asteroid 582 Olympia Closest Approach To Earth (1.450 AU)
* Nov 07 - Asteroid 8734 Warner Closest Approach To Earth (1.736 AU)
* Nov 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #265 (OTM-265)
* Nov 08 - Asteroid 243 Ida Closest Approach To Earth (1.759 AU)
* Nov 08 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Little Joe 5 Launch
* Nov 09 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione & Enceladus
* Nov 09 - Comet C/2009 T1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (6.120 AU)
* Nov 09 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Venus Express Launch (ESA Venus Orbiter)
* Nov 09 - 40th Anniversary (1970), OFO-1 (Orbiting Frog Otolith) Launch
* Nov 10 - Asteroid 149 Medusa Closest Approach To Earth (1.042 AU)
* Nov 10 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Luna 17 Launch (USSR Moon Rover Mission)
* Nov 11 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
* Nov 11 - Asteroid 253 Mathilde Closest Approach To Earth (1.402 AU)
* Nov 11 - Asteroid 3623 Chaplin Closest Approach To Earth (1.717 AU)
* Nov 11 - Asteroid 10050 Rayman Closest Approach To Earth (2.075 AU)
* Nov 11 - Vesto Slipher's 135th Birthday (1875)
* Nov 12 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1, Saturn Flyby
* Nov 14 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #266 (OTM-266)
* Nov 14 - Asteroid 2009 TN8 Near-Vesta Flyby (0.029 AU)
* Nov 16 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Venera 3 Launch (USSR Venus Lander)
* Nov 17 - Leonids Meteor Shower Peak
* Nov 17 - Asteroid 2933 Amber Closest Approach To Earth (1.588 AU)
* Nov 17 - Asteroid 2005 JU81 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
* Nov 17 - Kuiper Belt Object 90377 Sedna Closest Approach To Earth (86.372 AU)
* Nov 18 - Asteroid 2005 BT1 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.024 AU)
* Nov 18 - Asteroid 7958 Leakey Closest Approach To Earth (0.928 AU)
* Nov 18 - Asteroid 7934 Sinatra Closest Approach To Earth (1.522 AU)
* Nov 20 - Comet C/2009 W2 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth  (6.161 AU)
* Nov 20 - Asteroid 6373 Stern Closest Approach To Earth (1.798 AU)
* Nov 20 - Asteroid 1000 Piazzia Closest Approach To Earth (3.073 AU)
* Nov 20 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Hayabusa, Asteroid 25143 Itokawa Sample
Collection
* Nov 21 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #267 (OTM-267)
* Nov 21 - Asteroid 12485 Jenniferharris Closest Approach To Earth (1.056 AU)
* Nov 22 - Comet C/2009 U1 (Garradd) Closest Approach To Earth (2.652 AU)
* Nov 23 - Asteroid 2008 KT Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
* Nov 23 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Tiros II Launch (Weather Satellite)
* Nov 24 - Asteroid 5254 Ulysses Closest Approach To Earth (3.616 AU)
* Nov 25 - Asteroid 2002 KL3 Near-Venus Flyby (0.031 AU)
* Nov 25 - Asteroid 498 Tokio Closest Approach To Earth (1.545 AU)
* Nov 26 - Asteroid 164294 (2004 XZ130) Near-Venus Flyby (0.032 AU)
* Nov 26 - Asteroid 5102 Benfranklin Closest Approach To Earth (1.478 AU)
* Nov 26 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Asterix 1 Launch (France's 1st Satellite)
* Nov 27 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #268 (OTM-268)
* Nov 27 - Comet P/2009 SK280 (Spacewatch-Hill) Closest Approach To Earth (3.499
AU)
* Nov 28 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Hyperion
* Nov 28 - Asteroid 207945 (1991 JW) Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
* Nov 28 - Nathaniel Bliss' 310th Birthday (1700)
* Nov 29 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan
* Nov 29 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of Y000593 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
* Nov 30 - ATV-2 (Johannes Kepler) Ariane 5 Launch
* Nov 30 - Cassini, Enceladus Flyby
* Nov 30 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Atlas & Janus
* Nov 30 - Asteroid 13609 Lewicki Closest Approach To Earth (1.500 AU)
* Nov 30 - Asteroid 5382 McKay Closest Approach To Earth (1.762 AU)

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-176

Cassini Captures Ghostly Dance Of Saturn's Northern Lights
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
November 24, 2009

PASADENA, Calif. - In the first video showing the auroras above the
northern latitudes of Saturn, Cassini has spotted the tallest known
"northern lights" in the solar system, flickering in shape and
brightness high above the ringed planet.

The new video reveals changes in Saturn's aurora every few minutes, in
high resolution, with three dimensions. The images show a previously
unseen vertical profile to the auroras, which ripple in the video like
tall curtains. These curtains reach more than 1,200 kilometers (750
miles) above the edge of the planet's northern hemisphere.

The new video and still images are online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini , http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://ciclops.org .

Auroras occur on Earth, Jupiter, Saturn and a few other planets, and the
new images will help scientists better understand how they are generated.

"The auroras have put on a dazzling show, shape-shifting rapidly and
exposing curtains that we suspected were there, but hadn't seen on
Saturn before," said Andrew Ingersoll of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, who is a member of the Cassini imaging team that
processed the new video. "Seeing these things on another planet helps us
understand them a little better when we see them on Earth."

Auroras appear mostly in the high latitudes near a planet's magnetic
poles. When charged particles from the magnetosphere -- the magnetic
bubble surrounding a planet -- plunge into the planet's upper
atmosphere, they cause the atmosphere to glow. The curtain shapes show
the paths that these charged particles take as they flow along the lines
of the magnetic field between the magnetosphere and the uppermost part
of the atmosphere.

The height of the curtains on Saturn exposes a key difference between
Saturn's atmosphere and our own, Ingersoll said. While Earth's
atmosphere has a lot of oxygen and nitrogen, Saturn's atmosphere is
composed primarily of hydrogen. Because hydrogen is very light, the
atmosphere and auroras reach far out from Saturn. Earth's auroras tend
to flare only about 100 to 500 kilometers (60 to 300 miles) above the
surface.

The speed of the auroral changes in the video is comparable to some of
those on Earth, but scientists are still working to understand the
processes that produce these rapid changes. The height will also help
them learn how much energy is required to light up auroras.

"I was wowed when I saw these images and the curtain," said Tamas
Gombosi of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who chairs Cassini's
magnetosphere and plasma science working group. "Put this together with
the other data Cassini has collected on the auroras so far, and you
really get a new science."

Ultraviolet and infrared instruments on Cassini have captured images of
and data from Saturn's auroras before, but in these latest images,
Cassini's narrow-angle camera was able to capture the northern lights in
the visible part of the light spectrum, in higher resolution. The movie
was assembled from nearly 500 still pictures spanning 81 hours between
Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, 2009. Each picture had an exposure time of two or
three minutes. The camera shot pictures from the night side of Saturn.

The images were originally obtained in black and white, and the imaging
team highlighted the auroras in false-color orange. The oxygen and
nitrogen in Earth's upper atmosphere contribute to the colorful flashes
of green, red and even purple in our auroras. But scientists are still
working to determine the true color of the auroras at Saturn, whose
atmosphere lacks those chemicals.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, manages the mission for the Science Mission Directorate at
NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard
cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL.  The imaging team
is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jia-rui.c.cook@...

Joe Mason 720-974-5859
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
jmason@...

2009-176

Cassini Significant Events
for 11/11/09 - 11/17/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired
on Nov. 17 from the Deep Space Network tracking
complex at Canberra, Australia. The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and
all subsystems are operating normally.
Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the
"Present Position" page at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/presentposition/ .

Wednesday, Nov. 11 (DOY 315)

Based on analysis of the preliminary data, the
Navigation Team proposed the cancellation of
Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #222, planned to
execute on Nov. 12. This was approved by the
project. NAV also noted that it might be possible
to cancel OTM-223. Cancellation was contingent
upon an update to Enceladus pointing and
agreement by the various instrument teams.
Science Planning performed an OTM cancellation
assessment based on a preliminary spacecraft
ephemeris without the maneuver in it. The results
are very clear: an unplanned Live Inertial Vector
Propagator (IVP) update for Enceladus would need
to be performed should both OTMs be canceled. The
instrument teams completed their evaluation of
the proposed pointing update to Enceladus and
Rhea vectors on DOY 324-325 during the Enceladus
8 flyby period. The unplanned live update is a
go, and OTM-223 has also been cancelled.

In addition to the Live IVP update mentioned
above, Uplink Operations held a kickoff meeting
for the Radio Science (RSS) Enceladus 8 Live
Update Block (LUB) on DOY 324. RSS has evaluated
the most recent data and no updates will be
required to the product developed alongside the
background sequence development in October. These
files will be uplinked to the spacecraft on Nov. 18.

Thursday, Nov. 12 (DOY 316):

A news note on the Cassini Web page highlighted
an image of the massive bright clouds of tiny ice
particles hovering above the darkened rings of
Saturn. The picture was taken on Sept. 22, around
the time of Saturn's equinox, when the icy
particle clouds appeared particularly dramatic
because of the unique lighting geometry of the
equinox period. These levitating icy particle
clouds, which are known as "spokes," have a
radial extent of up to 10,000 kilometers. For the
complete text of the feature link to:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20091113/

Judges have selected the U.S. winners for the
Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest.
Details on the contest, selected essays, and images can be found at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/scientistforaday8thedition/sfad8thview/

Friday, Nov. 13 (DOY 317):

Science and engineering teams delivered files for
the third and final input port for the S58
Science Operations Plan process. The files have
been merged and released for review. The process
concludes Nov. 30 with the final development
process - the Science and Sequence Update Process -
beginning the following week. S58 execution begins
March 1, 2010.

The S54 sequence concluded and S55 began
execution today at 2009-315T12:44 PST. The
sequence will run for 39 days and conclude on
Dec. 22. During that time there will be two
targeted encounters, one of Enceladus and one of
Titan, and six non-targeted flybys - one each of
Helene, Pandora, Titan, Calypso, Rhea and
Pallene. Six maneuvers are scheduled, numbered 223
through 228.

Science at the start of S55 included observations
for an Optical Remote Sensing Titan cloud
monitoring campaign. Imaging Science then
observed the dark-side of Saturn in search of
lightning, obtained images of the transits of
Titan across Hyperion and Enceladus across Rhea
for orbit determination purposes, conducted
Saturn wide angle camera photopolarimetry
observations, and imaged a couple of stars as
part of a charge transfer calibration.
Magnetospheric and Plasma Science (MAPS)
instruments continued with the solar wind-aurora
campaign, and began a magnetospheric boundaries
campaign. The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph
performed observations as part of a large
campaign to measure Saturn's magnetosphere at
apoapsis, and took a distant look at Enceladus to
map volatiles in the immediate neighborhood.
These observations will test the connection of
volatile changes to plume eruptions.

Tuesday, Nov. 17 (DOY 321)

An encounter strategy meeting was held today to
cover the period between Nov. 21 and Dec. 12,
Enceladus flyby E8 and Titan flyby T63, and
maneuvers 224 - 226. Navigation has determined
that maneuver #224 is a good candidate for early
uplink. After examining the schedule, it appears
that there are two DSN passes early Saturday
morning after the main engine cover is reopened that would work.


Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more
information about the Cassini Project:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/
    ------------------------

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2372

Cassini Sends Back Images of Enceladus as Winter Nears
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
November 21, 2009

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sailed seamlessly through the Nov. 21
flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and started transmitting uncalibrated
temperature data and images of the rippling terrain. These data and
images will be processed and analyzed in the coming weeks. They will
help scientists create the most-detailed-yet mosaic image of the
southern part of the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere and a contiguous
thermal map of one of the intriguing "tiger stripe" features, with the
highest resolution to date.

"These first raw images are spectacular, and paint an even more
fascinating picture of Enceladus," said Bob Pappalardo, Cassini project
scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The
Cassini teams will be delving into the data to better understand the
workings of this bizarre, active moon."

Scientists are particularly interested in the tiger stripes, which are
fissures in the south polar region, because they spew jets of water
vapor and other particles hundreds of kilometers, or miles, from the
surface. This flyby was scientists' last peek at the tiger stripes
before the south pole fades into the darkness of winter for several
years. The thermal imaging work focused on the tiger stripe known as
Baghdad Sulcus.

The Nov. 21 encounter, which is sometimes called "E8" because it is the
eighth targeted flyby of Enceladus, brought Cassini to within about
1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) of the moon's surface, at around 82
degrees south latitude. Cassini is now cruising toward Rhea, another one
of Saturn's moons, for more imaging and mapping work.

To see a full gallery of raw images, click here
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/>. For more information on the
flyby, click here
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/enceladus20091121/>.


[Image]

Unprocessed image from Cassini's Enceladus flyby

This unprocessed image was captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during
its Nov. 21, 2009 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus. It shows the ridges
and fractures on the surface of the icy moon. Image credit:
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Full image and caption
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/cassini-b-20091121.html>


enlarge image
<http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/cassini/20091121/cassini20091121-b-full.jpg>

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/enceladus20091121/

Cassini
Enceladus Flyby - Nov. 21, 2009

E-8: Cassini Returns to the Tiger Stripes

On Nov. 21 Cassini will again fly by Enceladus, this time with a very
different geometry, approaching within 1,606 kilometers (997.9 miles) of
the surface. The closest approach will occur over 82 degrees south
latitude.

The spacecraft will again be under the control of thrusters during the
flyby, to allow for precise tracking of surface features during
closest-approach; the Composit Infrared Spectrograph (CIRS) instrument
will make a map of thermal emission from the tiger stripe Baghdad Sulcus.

This is the eighth targeted flyby of Enceladus; the flyby is sometimes
referred to as "E-8."

Enceladus Flyby
Nov. 21, 2009 (SCET)

Altitude
1,606 kilometers (998 miles)

Speed
7.7 km/sec (17,200 mph)

Details
+ Mission Description (PDF, 1.2 MB)
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/files/20091102-21_enceladus_mission_description.pdf>

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/111209.php

New Horizons Roused for Long-Distance Checkup
November 12, 2009

Call it a burst of activity between naps: the New Horizons team woke
its Pluto-bound spacecraft from hibernation this week for some onboard
housekeeping.

On pre-programmed commands from controllers at the Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. - transmitted to
the spacecraft in August through NASA's Deep Space Network of antenna
stations - New Horizons came out of hibernation on Nov. 9. The
spacecraft had been "sleeping" since Aug. 27, when it completed its
third annual instrument and system checkout.

"Although we hibernate about 90 percent of the time from August through
May each year, between checkouts we wake the spacecraft up in November
and January to re-point its antenna toward Earth and to conduct some
maintenance activities," says Mission Principal Investigator Alan Stern,
of the Southwest Research Institute. "So far, this wake up is going
smoothly."

Aside from turning the spacecraft's antenna, operators will also upload
some tweaks to New Horizons' fault-protection software. The team puts
the spacecraft back into hibernation on Nov. 20.

Distance milestone: Late tonight, New Horizons will reach 15
astronomical units from the Sun - the equivalent of 15 times the
distance from Earth to the Sun. Cruising between the orbits of Saturn
and Uranus, the spacecraft is speeding toward Pluto at 37,110 miles
(nearly 60,000 kilometers) per hour.

Cassini Significant Events
for 11/04/09 - 11/10/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Nov. 10 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Canberra, Australia.  The
Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all
subsystems are operating normally.

Wednesday, Nov. 4 (DOY 308)

Today a meeting was held to present and discuss the results of the
Enceladus 7 flyby. The Spacecraft Team used AACS telemetry data
gathered from the 100 km E7 flyby to derive an estimate of the
Enceladus plume density and of the torque experienced by the
spacecraft due to the plume. After reviewing results from AACS and
the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS), the Project gave the go
ahead to do the E9 flyby on reaction wheels. INMS data was in good
agreement with the AACS analysis. The E9 flyby is nearly identical to
the E7 flyby, but with different instruments having pointing priority.

For the E9 flyby, Science Planning had asked all teams to deliver two
sets of input files, one for reaction wheels, and one for thrusters.
The version on thrusters will be archived and the reaction wheel
version will continue on in the sequence development process.

Thursday, Nov. 5 (DOY 309):

Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #221 was performed today.  This was the
cleanup maneuver from the Enceladus 7 encounter on Nov. 2.  The main
engine burn began at 2:44 AM PST. Telemetry immediately after the
maneuver showed a burn duration of 1.73 seconds, giving a delta-V of
0.298 m/s. All subsystems reported nominal performance after the
maneuver.

After the S55 final sequence approval meeting was held today, eight
Instrument Expanded Block files were uplinked for five instruments
and Optical Navigation. The background sequence will go up to the
spacecraft on Monday.

A scientist on the Visual and Infrared Mapping  Spectrometer team
wrote an update on the JPL Blog about the "First Morsels of Science"
coming back from the Enceladus flyby on Nov. 2. It is available at
http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/?p=58. The blog entry notes that mission
managers have cleared the spacecraft to do an April 28, 2010,
Enceladus flyby on reaction wheels, enabling scientists to do very
sensitive radio science measurements.

Friday, Nov. 6 (DOY 310):

At the S59 Science Forum on Nov. 2, it was pointed out that the Dione
2 flyby is only 1.5 days after the Titan 67 flyby, which brought up
an unlikely but not impossible scenario:  If something were to happen
during or shortly after the T67 flyby such that the Project needed to
weigh the return of D2 science versus T67 science, which should be
considered of higher science importance?

To start the evaluation it is important to know that in this case the
Project regards the science on both flybys as important. Both Imaging
Science (ISS) and Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) observations
are tagged as being high priority science for both flybys. Science
Planning pinged members of the instrument teams to get their feedback
on, if they had to choose, which would it be?  After reviewing the
responses, the answer was_ both flybys contain observations that are
at the highest priority.  It would appear to be a draw.  So now the
flight team would have to factor in what is happening operationally
at the time. There is no way in this still hypothetical case to
determine what the exact results would be, but factors in making a
decision include 1) what caused the incident, 2) is the DSN involved,
3) when is the next pass for downlink, 4) what is being kept on the
SSR, what is being overwritten, and when, 5) how much time does the
team have to decide, 6) is there time to command changes to what is
programmed in the background sequence, and, 7) are there other
scheduled onboard events that occur in the near term - such as a
maneuver or engineering activity - that might have an affect on the
plans that are made? It never is a simple decision, but at least the
flight team has given the matter some thought and will be prepared to
respond should it become necessary.

Monday, Nov. 9 (DOY 313)

The Target Working Team (TWT)/ Orbiter Science Team (OST) integrated
products for S60, covering orbits 131 through 133 in May and June,
2010, were delivered today. The integrated products are in their
final form and no re-integration is planned. The next step in
sequence development, Science Operations Plan (SOP) implementation,
will kick off on Nov. 23. The handoff package template from
integration to the SOP process has been updated to better track more
involved prime-rider pointing designs, and two new milestones have
been added to the S60 schedule for prime-rider coordination. Between
now and the kickoff, the instrument teams will be working on pointing
designs for the sequence.

Participating teams delivered Port 1 SASFs today as part of the SOP
process for S59.  As was mentioned earlier in this report, the files
include the Enceladus 9 flyby as designed for reaction wheels.

Tuesday, Nov. 10 (DOY 314)

An image of the recently illuminated north side of Saturn's rings was
Astronomy Picture of the Day today.  Check it out at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091110.html

Science in a nutshell: This week ISS obtained wide angle camera data
for Saturn photopolarimetry 1x2 mosaics, collected images for
satellite orbit determination, searched for lightning on Saturn, took
a look at the outer moon Bestla, observed the E-ring at low
resolution, low elevation, and high-phase, and obtained narrow angle
camera images of Titan's shadow on Saturn. Looking at the shadow of
Titan on Saturn is useful for Titan aerosol science. This is a unique
geometry that only occurs a few times during the Extended Mission and
not at all in the prime tour or proposed Extended Extended Mission.

CIRS wrapped up the far-IR hemisphere mapping activity, with scans of
the northern hemisphere and pole of Saturn, and measured oxygen
compounds - H2O, CO2 - in the stratosphere as a function of latitude.

Magnetospheric and Plasma Science (MAPS) instruments continued the
southwest auroral campaign, began a magnetospheric boundaries
campaign, and began a southwest auroral campaign to observe the
auroral magnetosphere and Saturn Kilometric Radiation source regions.
The Cosmic Dust Analyzer conducted an observation that is part of the
ISD survey campaign.

UVIS performed several apoapse system scans of the Saturn
magnetosphere and mapped volatiles in the immediate neighborhood of
Enceladus. These icy atmosphere observations test the connection of
volatile changes to plume eruptions.

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

According to
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?/archives/374-Jupiter-L-Named-H\
erse.html Jupiter L was named Herse.

Does anybody know what its provisional designation was?

Cassini Significant Events
for 10/21/09 - 10/27/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Oct. 27 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Madrid, Spain.  The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all subsystems are
operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" page
at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.

Wednesday, Oct. 21 (DOY 294):

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday saw the conclusion of the 49th
Project Science Group meeting held at JPL.

Onboard the spacecraft, the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer performed
three observations as part of the Solar Wind-Aurora campaign. The
Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) spent about 26 hours this week
mapping the northern hemisphere of Saturn to determine upper
troposphere and tropopause temperatures and executed a stray light
calibration. Sunlight falling on the CIRS telescope can possibly be
scattered into the instrument by mirror imperfections. To quantify
the effects of ring particle impacts on the mirror performance, CIRS
monitored the scattered infrared solar radiation as a function of the
offset angle from the sun.  Imaging Science (ISS) spent about 25
hours searching for lightning on Saturn, observed the transits of
Rhea across Dione and Tethys, Enceladus across Tethys, and Titan
across Rhea.  ISS also observed the outer moon Bestia for about 6
hours, performed a post equinox, edge-on observation of the E Ring,
and performed Saturn photopolarimetry with the wide-angle camera,
measuring the intensity and polarization of reflected light.

Thursday, Oct. 22 (DOY 295):

Both S55 and S56 are currently in the Science and Sequence Update
Process (SSUP), the final sequence development process before uplink
to the spacecraft.  Today teams submitted any final Spacecraft
Activity Sequence Files (SASF) as part of the S55 Final Sequence
Integration and Validation phase. Changes this late in the process
are permitted for health and safety reasons only, rather than for
science enhancement.  For S56, the first SASFs were delivered as part
of the Sub-Sequence Generation (SSG) process.  Next week the
Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation (PSIV1) cycle 1
merged background sequence products will be released along with the
stripped subsequences. These stripped subsequences are for review
purposes in the PSIV1 phase and the basis for the detailed
subsequences used to build the PSIV2 cycle 1 sequence products.

Monday, Oct. 26 (DOY 299)

The development process for the S54 E7 DOY 305 Live Update Block
kicked off today.  A special orbit determination solution was
delivered at 4:00 PM; the Sequence Phase List of Ancillary Files was
out by 7 PM.   The Go/No-go meeting will be Tuesday afternoon at 2:00
PM.  The schedule is somewhat compressed as the uplink windows are
Friday night and Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Final products from the S57 Science Operations Plan process were
handed off from Science Planning to Uplink Operations today.  The DSN
station allocation file has been posted for team access. Negotiations
are almost complete and are pending only the final two days.
Tomorrow the S57 SSUP kickoff/SSG waiver disposition meeting will be
held.

Tuesday, Oct. 27 (DOY 300)

The USTREAM TV archive of the Cassini scientists answering students'
questions about Saturn has received 630 views since it was posted one
week ago.  This translates to up to 19,000 people, depending on how
many viewers were individuals versus  classrooms of 30 students. To
view the video go to: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2391081.

An encounter strategy meeting was held today to cover the period
between Nov. 2 and Nov. 21, Enceladus flybys E7 and E8, and maneuvers
221-223.

The Cassini-Huygens Analysis and Results of the Mission (CHARM)
teleconference for October was held today.  Topic: "The Search for
Activity on Icy Satellites that aren't Enceladus." The presentation
package is online and available at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/video/products/MultimediaProductsCharm/

    ------------------------
Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

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Have fun, don't forget to ask questions and answer them, and learn about outer
Solar System,

Jason Perry
perry@...

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/enceladus20091102/

Cassini
Enceladus Flyby - Nov. 2, 2009

E-7: Cassini's Return to the Plumes

On November 2, 2009, Cassini will make its deepest plume passage yet,
flying 102.7 kilometers (63.8 miles) from the surface of Enceladus.

The plume passage will allow in situ measurements by
fields-and-particles instruments such as the Ion and Neutral Mass
Spectrometer and the Cosmic Dust Analyzer, to gain an understanding of
plume and surface composition, and to investigate temporal variability
in the plume by comparing with data from previous flybys.

This is the seventh targeted flyby of Enceladus, sometimes referred to
as "E-7."

Enceladus Flyby
Nov. 2, 2009 (SCET)

*Altitude*
103 kilometers (64 miles)

*Speed*
7.7 km/sec (17,200 mph)

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2343

Robot Armada Might Scale New Worlds
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 27, 2009

An armada of robots may one day fly above the mountain tops of Saturn's
moon Titan, cross its vast dunes and sail in its liquid lakes.

Wolfgang Fink, visiting associate in physics at the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena says we are on the brink of a great paradigm
shift in planetary exploration, and the next round of robotic explorers
will be nothing like what we see today.

"The way we explore tomorrow will be unlike any cup of tea we've ever
tasted," said Fink, who was recently appointed as the Edward and Maria
Keonjian Distinguished Professor in Microelectronics at the University
of Arizona, Tucson. "We are departing from traditional approaches of a
single robotic spacecraft with no redundancy that is Earth-commanded to
one that allows for having multiple, expendable low-cost robots that can
command themselves or other robots at various locations at the same time."

Fink and his team members at Caltech, the U.S. Geological Survey and the
University of Arizona are developing autonomous software and have built
a robotic test bed that can mimic a field geologist or astronaut,
capable of working independently and as part of a larger team. This
software will allow a robot to think on its own, identify problems and
possible hazards, determine areas of interest and prioritize targets for
a close-up look.

The way things work now, engineers command a rover or spacecraft to
carry out certain tasks and then wait for them to be executed. They have
little or no flexibility in changing their game plan as events unfold;
for example, to image a landslide or cryovolcanic eruption as it
happens, or investigate a methane outgassing event.

"In the future, multiple robots will be in the driver's seat," Fink
said. These robots would share information in almost real time. This
type of exploration may one day be used on a mission to Titan, Mars and
other planetary bodies. Current proposals for Titan would use an
orbiter, an air balloon and rovers or lake landers.

In this mission scenario, an orbiter would circle Titan with a global
view of the moon, with an air balloon or airship floating overhead to
provide a birds-eye view of mountain ranges, lakes and canyons. On the
ground, a rover or lake lander would explore the moon's nooks and
crannies. The orbiter would "speak" directly to the air balloon and
command it to fly over a certain region for a closer look. This aerial
balloon would be in contact with several small rovers on the ground and
command them to move to areas identified from overhead.

"This type of exploration is referred to as tier-scalable
reconnaissance," said Fink. "It's sort of like commanding a small army
of robots operating in space, in the air and on the ground simultaneously."

A rover might report that it's seeing smooth rocks in the local
vicinity, while the airship or orbiter could confirm that indeed the
rover is in a dry riverbed - unlike current missions, which focus only
on a global view from far above but can't provide information on a local
scale to tell the rover that indeed it is sitting in the middle of dry
riverbed.

A current example of this type of exploration can best be seen at Mars
with the communications relay between the rovers and orbiting spacecraft
like the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. However, that information is just
relayed and not shared amongst the spacecraft or used to directly
control them.

"We are basically heading toward making robots that command other
robots," said Fink, who is director of Caltech's Visual and Autonomous
Exploration Systems Research Laboratory, where this work has taken place.

"One day an entire fleet of robots will be autonomously commanded at
once. This armada of robots will be our eyes, ears, arms and legs in
space, in the air, and on the ground, capable of responding to their
environment without us, to explore and embrace the unknown," he added.

Papers describing this new exploration are published in the journal
"Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine" and in the Proceedings of
the SPIE.

For more information on this work, visit http://autonomy.caltech.edu.
More information on JPL missions is at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/.

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.

Media contact: Carolina Martinez/JPL 818-354-9382

Related Links

http://autonomy.caltech.edu

Cassini Significant Events
for 10/14/09 - 10/20/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired
on Oct. 20 from the Deep Space Network tracking
complex at Canberra, Australia. The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and
all subsystems are operating normally.
Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the
"Present Position" page at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm .

Wednesday, Oct. 14 (DOY 287):

The main engine cover was opened today completing
the 51st in-flight cycle of the cover. Cycle #52 will begin on Oct. 30.

Cassini scientists participated in a press
briefing at NASA headquarters today on
constructing the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system.

Observations from Cassini complemented data
collected by NASA's Interstellar Boundary
Explorer. Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera
on Cassini's Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument
suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the
sun's influence, may not have the comet-like
shape predicted by existing models. In a paper
published Oct. 15 in Science Express, scientists
presented a new view of the heliosphere, which
suggests that it moves more like a slippery ball
through smoke. The "smoke" in this case is the
interstellar medium, the matter that fills the
local region of our galaxy and is forced to flow
around the heliosphere. Here are the links to the
full story, images, and video:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/newsrelease20091015/
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=3700

Thursday, Oct. 15 (DOY 288):

Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #218 was performed
today. This was the cleanup maneuver from the
Titan 62 encounter on Oct. 12. The main engine
burn began at 7:00 PM PDT. Telemetry immediately
after the maneuver showed a burn duration of 4.97
seconds, giving a delta-V of 0.845 m/s. All
subsystems reported nominal performance after the maneuver.

Today marked the 12th anniversary of the launch of the Cassini Spacecraft.

The Instrument Operations Working Group met today
to view presentations relating to changes in
operations processes for the proposed Extended
Extended Mission (XXM). Topics included the XXM
Uplink Sequence Implementation Process that
combines and streamlines the Science Operations
Plan Process and the Science and Sequence Update
Process, XXM RBOT Response, and XXM Integration
rules, contingency plans, and pointing. These
same presentations will be given next week at the
Tuesday plenary session of the Cassini Project Science Group meeting.

Friday, October 16 (DOY 289):

At periapsis on orbit #119, RADAR created a
global map of Saturn's equatorial region. During
the week, Imaging Science (ISS) observed the
transits of Mimas across Rhea and of Tethys
across Titan, and performed lightning searches on
Saturn. The Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer (VIMS) created regional and global
mosaics of Saturn, and observed the E and G
rings. The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph
(UVIS) executed several slow extreme and far
ultraviolet scans across Saturn's visible
hemisphere, and mapped volatiles in the immediate
neighborhood of Enceladus to test the connection
of volatile changes to plume eruptions. The
Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) performed a
Magnetosphere and Plasma Science (MAPS) survey
and led the pointing for the MAPS team Solar
Wind-Aurora Campaign observations. The Composite
Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) measured oxygen
compounds in the stratosphere of Saturn.

Sunday, Oct. 18 (DOY 291):

An AACS prime reaction wheel friction test took
place on Oct. 18. Wheels 1, 2, and 4 were spun up
to +/-900 rpm and then allowed to coast down to 0 rpm.
Performance was consistent with past friction test results.

Monday, Oct. 19 (DOY 292):

Cassini scientists, operations personnel, and
flight team members gathered this week for the
49th Project Science Group meeting. Instrument
Team meetings, working group meetings, and plenary
sessions were held all week.

Tuesday, Oct. 20 (DOY 293):

Today students from across the United States who
entered the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay
contest called in and asked questions of Cassini
scientists during a live USTREAM TV webcast.
Instrument scientists and observation designers
answered the students' questions. Over 2,000
students in 68 classrooms watched the live event.
The webcast has been archived and is available at
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2391081 .

Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #219 was performed
today. This was the apoapsis maneuver setting up
for the Enceladus 7 encounter on Nov. 2. The main
engine burn began at 6:29 PM PDT. Telemetry
immediately after the maneuver showed the
duration was 24.42 seconds, giving a delta-V of
4.16 m/s. All subsystems reported nominal performance after the maneuver.

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more
information about the Cassini Project:
<<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

Welcome to the Space Calendar!

This Space Calendar covers space-related activities and anniversaries
for the upcoming year.  It is also available on the web at:

      http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/

The web version of the Space Calendar includes over 1,800 links to related
home pages.

This calendar is compiled and maintained by Ron Baalke.  Please send any
updates or corrections to ron@....  Note that launch dates
are subject to change at any time.  Also, note that anniversary dates are
listed in 5 year increments only.

The following people have contributed to this month's calendar:

o Dieter Kaemmer, Vicky Barlow, Marc Rayman, Patrick Schmeer


                           =========================
                                SPACE CALENDAR
                               October 26, 2009
                           =========================

* indicates changes from last month's calendar.

October 2009
* Oct 26 - Asteroid 2009 UN1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.073 AU)
   Oct 26 - Asteroid 7495 Feynman Closest Approach To Earth (1.895 AU)
   Oct 27 - Ares I-X Test Flight
   Oct 27 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults TYC 0546-01851-1 (9.6 Magnitude Star)
   Oct 27 - Asteroid 2062 Aten Closest Approach To Earth (0.840 AU)
   Oct 27 - Asteroid 7536 Fahrenheit Closest Approach To Earth (1.920 AU)
* Oct 27 - Asteroid 1958 Chandra Closest Approach To Earth (2.086 AU)
   Oct 28 - Comet 157P/Tritton Closest Approach To Earth (0.975 AU)
   Oct 28 - Asteroid 1281 Jeanne Occults HIP 56775 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
   Oct 28 - Asteroid 2008 UC202 Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU)
   Oct 28 - Asteroid 9618 Johncleese Closest Approach To Earth (1.145 AU)
   Oct 28 - Asteroid 3420 Standish Closest Approach To Earth (2.305 AU)
   Oct 28 - 35th Anniverary (1974), Luna 23 Launch (USSR Moon Lander)
* Oct 29 - NSS-12/Thor 6 Ariane 5ECA Launch
* Oct 29 - Cosmos-Glonass M21,M22 & M23 Proton M-DM2 Launch
   Oct 29 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #220 (OTM-220)
* Oct 30 - Asteroid 2009 UR5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
* Oct 30 - Asteroid 2009 TQ8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Oct 30 - Asteroid 25930 Spielberg Closest Approach To Earth (1.288 AU)
   Oct 30 - 10th Anniversary (1999), Discovery of the Los Angeles Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)

November 2009
   Nov ?? - Gonets D1 M2-M4 Rocket KM Launch
   Nov ?? - Cosmos-Garpun N-1Proton M-Briz M Launch
   Nov ?? - HealthSat (G-Sat 4)/Tauvex GSLV Launch
   Nov 01 - Daylight Saving - Set Clock Back 1 Hour (United States)
* Nov 01 - Comet P/2009 S1 (Gibbs) Closest Approach To Earth (1.674 AU)
   Nov 01 - Asteroid 20734 (1999 XA169) Occults HIP 9572 (5.9 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 01 - Asteroid 19774 (2000 OS51) Occults HIP 2213 (6.4 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 01 - Asteroid 2009 UK14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)
   Nov 01 - 15th Anniversary (1994), Wind Launch
   Nov 02 - Cassini, Enceladus Flyby
   Nov 02 - SMOS/Proba 2 Rokot KM Launch
   Nov 02 - Asteroid 2006 JY26 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)
   Nov 02 - Asteroid 2000 VZ44 Near-Earth Flyby (0.070 AU)
   Nov 03 - Taurids Meteor Shower Peak
* Nov 03 - Asteroid 3766 Junepatterson Occults HIP 103703 (6.1 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 03 - Asteroid 2874 Jim Young  Closest Approach To Earth (0.954 AU)
   Nov 03 - Asteroid 32096 Puckett Closest Approach To Earth (1.521 AU)
   Nov 03 - Asteroid 2069 Hubble Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU)
   Nov 04 - Asteroid 217807 (2000 XK44) Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
   Nov 05 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #221 (OTM-221)
   Nov 05 - Asteroid 17058 Rocknroll Closest Approach To Earth (1.470 AU)
   Nov 05 - Asteroid 7861 Messenger Closest Approach To Earth (1.562 AU)
* Nov 06 - Asteroid 485 Genua Occults HIP 7632 (6.9 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 06 - Asteroid 2009 UH14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)
   Nov 07 - Asteroid 2006 WV1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
   Nov 08 - Comet 14P/Wolf Closest Approach To Earth (2.217 AU)
   Nov 08 - Asteroid 2002 KM3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
   Nov 08 - Asteroid 3753 Cruithne Closest Approach To Earth (0.409 AU)
   Nov 08 - Asteroid 18725 Atacama Closest Approach To Earth (1.471 AU)
   Nov 08 - Asteroid 1677 Tycho Brahe Closest Approach To Earth (1.684 AU)
* Nov 09 - Asteroid 278 Paulina Occults HIP 22743 (6.7 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 09 - Asteroid 2007 JB21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.056 AU)
* Nov 09 - Asteroid 2009 TA1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
   Nov 09 - Asteroid 9249 Yen Closest Approach To Earth (1.448 AU)
   Nov 09 - Carl Sagan's 75th Birthday (1934)
   Nov 10 - Progress M-SO-2 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 5R)
   Nov 10 - Comet 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson Closest Approach To Earth (2.262 AU)
* Nov 10 - Asteroid 7585 (1991 PK8) Occults HIP 16852 (4.3 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 10 - Asteroid 2200 Pasadena Closest Approach To Earth (1.715 AU)
   Nov 11 - Rosetta, 3rd Earth Gravity Assist
* Nov 11 - Comet P/2009 T2 (La Sagra) Closest Approach To Earth (0.940 AU)
* Nov 11 - Asteroid 2009 UP1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.075 AU)
   Nov 12 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #222 (OTM-222)
* Nov 12 - Asteroid 2009 UD19 Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
   Nov 12 - Audouin  Dollfus' 85th Birthday (1924)
* Nov 13 - Dawn Enters the Asteroid Belt
   Nov 13 - Asteroid 11365 NASA Closest Approach To Earth (0.885 AU)
   Nov 13 - Asteroid 2410 Morrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.330 AU)
* Nov 14 - Intelsat 14 Atlas 5 Launch
   Nov 14 - Lotus S N1 Soyuz U Launch
   Nov 14 - Comet C/2009 F2 (McNaught) Perihelion (5.875 AU)
   Nov 14 - Asteroid 9860 Archaeopteryx Closest Approach To Earth (2.249 AU)
   Nov 14 - 40th Anniversary (1969), Apollo 12 Launch (Manned Moon Mission)
* Nov 15 - Eutelsat W7 Proton M-Briz M Launch
   Nov 15 - Asteroid 2004 PZ19 Near-Ceres Flyby (0.022 AU)
   Nov 15 - 5th Anniversary (2004), SMART-1, Moon Orbit Insertion
* Nov 16 - STS-129 Launch, Space Shuttle Discovery (International Space Station)
* Nov 16 - Comet 227P/Catalina-LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.999 AU)
* Nov 16 - Comet P/2009 U2 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (3.116 AU)
   Nov 16 - Comet C/2008 S3 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (7.734 AU)
   Nov 16 - Asteroid 7328 Casanova Closest Approach To Earth (1.452 AU)
   Nov 16 - Kuiper Belt Object 90377 Sedna Closest Approach To Earth (86.685 AU)
   Nov 17 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #223 (OTM-223)
   Nov 17 - Leonids Meteor Shower Peak
* Nov 17 - Comet C/2009 T3 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.390 AU)
* Nov 17 - Asteroid 4489 (1988 AK) Occults HIP 3505 (5.2 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 17 - Asteroid 2009 UF2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
   Nov 17 - Asteroid 9950 ESA Closest Approach To Earth (0.944 AU)
* Nov 18 - Asteroid 2190 Coubertin Occults HIP 30570 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 18 - Asteroid 313 Chaldaea Occults HIP 32226 (5.9 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 18 - Asteroid 202683 (2006 US216) Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU)
   Nov 18 - 20th Anniversary (1989), COBE Launch
* Nov 19 - Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS-3) F-3 Delta 4M Launch
   Nov 19 - Comet Wilson-Harrington Closest Approach To Earth (0.379 AU)
* Nov 19 - Comet C/2009 Q4 (Boattini) Perihelion (1.321 AU)
   Nov 19 - Asteroid 2246 Bowell Closest Approach To Earth (3.132 AU)
   Nov 20 - 5th Anniversary (2004), Swift Launch
   Nov 20 - Edwin Hubble's 120th Birthday (1889)
   Nov 21 - Cassini, Enceladus & Rhea Flyby
   Nov 21 - Comet C/2009 F1 (Larson) Closest Approach To Earth (1.646 AU)
* Nov 21 - Asteroid 194 Prokne Occults HIP 54857 (6.8 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 21 - Asteroid 1815 Beethoven Closest Approach To Earth (1.769 AU)
   Nov 21 - Asteroid 3581 Alvarez Closest Approach To Earth (1.871 AU)
   Nov 21 - Asteroid 12002 Sues Closest Approach To Earth (2.099 AU)
   Nov 22 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #224 (OTM-224)
   Nov 22 - Asteroid 1998 VF32 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU
* Nov 22 - Asteroid 2009 TK12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)
   Nov 23 - Asteroid 2004 XJ Near-Earth Flyby (0.090 AU)
* Nov 23 - Asteroid 2097 Galle Closest Approach To Earth (1.827 AU)
   Nov 24 - Asteroid 4305 Clapton Closest Approach To Earth (1.911 AU)
   Nov 25 - Comet C/2007 VO53 (Spacewatch) Closest Approach To Earth (4.499 AU)
   Nov 25 - Asteroid 3353 Jarvis Closest Approach To Earth (1.000 AU)
* Nov 25 - Asteroid 2975 Spahr Closest Approach To Earth (1.395 AU)
   Nov 25 - Asteroid 67 Asia Closest Approach To Earth (1.597 AU)
* Nov 26 - Asteroid 6156 Dall Occults HIP 107596 (6.2 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 26 - Asteroid 149244 Kriegh Closest Approach To Earth (1.418 AU)
   Nov 26 - 10th Anniversary (1999), Galileo Io 25 Flyby
   Nov 26 - 10th Anniversary (1999), Discovery of SAU 005 & 008 (Mars Meteorites)
   Nov 27 - Comet P/2003 A1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.691 AU)
* Nov 27 - Comet C/2009 T1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (6.034 AU)
   Nov 27 - Asteroid 2791 Paradise Closest Approach To Earth (1.517 AU)
   Nov 28 - Comet 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT Perihelion (2.172 AU)
* Nov 28 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults TYC 0562-01167-1 (10.4 Magnitude Star)
   Nov 28 - 45th Anniversary (1964), Mariner 4 Launch (Mars Flyby Mission)
* Nov 29 - Inaugural Falcon 9 Test Launch
   Nov 29 - MESSENGER, Deep Space Maneuver 5 (DSM-5)
   Nov 29 - Asteroid 6469 Armstrong Closest Approach To Earth (1.417 AU)
   Nov 29 - Asteroid 5451 Plato Closest Approach To Earth (1.891 AU)
* Nov 30 - Intelsat 15 Zenit 3SLB Launch
   Nov 30 - Comet 169P/NEAT Perihelion (0.608 AU)
   Nov 30 - Asteroid 2005 XC1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU)
   Nov 30 - 55th Anniversary (1954), Sylacauga Meteorite Fall (Hit Woman)

December 2009
   Dec ?? - TacSat 4 Minotaur 4 Launch
   Dec ?? - Ofeq 8 Shavit 2 Launch (Israel)
* Dec ?? - Shi Jian 9 CZ-2D2 Launch (China)
* Dec ?? - TanDEM-X Dnepr 1 Launch
* Dec ?? - Cartosat 2B/Jugnu PSLV-C15 Launch
   Dec 01 - Asteroid 2006 WQ127 Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)
   Dec 02 - Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.688 AU)
* Dec 02 - Asteroid 1981 Midas Closest Approach To Earth (2.227 AU)
   Dec 02 - 35th Anniversary (1974), Pioneer 11, Jupiter Flyby
   Dec 03 - Kuiper Belt Object 19521 Chaos Closest Approach To Earth (40.745 AU)
   Dec 03 - 105th Anniversary (1904), Charles Perrine's Discovery of Himalia
(Jupiter Moon)
   Dec 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #225 (OTM-225)
   Dec 04 - Asteroid 3905 Doppler Closest Approach To Earth (0.978 AU)
   Dec 04 - Asteroid 31664 Randiiwessen Closest Approach To Earth (1.746 AU)
   Dec 04 - 50th Anniversary (1959), Little Joe 2 Launch (Monkey "Sam")
   Dec 05 - Comet 203P/Korlevic Closest Approach To Earth (2.217 AU)
   Dec 05 - Asteroid 3728 IRAS Closest Approach To Earth (1.252 AU)
   Dec 06 - Comet 137P/Shoemaker-Levy 2 Closest Approach To Earth (1.727 AU)
   Dec 06 - Comet 100P/Hartley Perihelion (1.982 AU)
* Dec 06 - Asteroid 7046 Reshetnev Occults HIP 7447 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 07 - Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Delta 2 Launch
   Dec 07 - Asteroid 2002 XN14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
   Dec 07 - Asteroid 1198 Atlantis Closest Approach To Earth (1.192 AU)
   Dec 07 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 XR190 Closest Approach To Earth (57.011 AU)
   Dec 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #226 (OTM-226)
* Dec 08 - Comet C/2009 U3 (Hill) Closest Approach To Earth (1.117 AU)
   Dec 08 - Asteroid 2829 Bobhope Closest Approach To Earth (2.494 AU)
   Dec 09 - Cassini, Distant Helene Flyby
   Dec 09 - Comet P/2008 J3 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (2.138 AU)
   Dec 09 - Comet 200P/Larsen Closest Approach To Earth (3.103 AU)
   Dec 09 - Asteroid 19 Fortuna At Opposition (9.3 Magnitude)
* Dec 09 - Asteroid 2825 Crosby Closest Approach To Earth (0.912 AU)
   Dec 09 - Asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock Closest Approach To Earth (1.802 AU)
   Dec 10 - Helios 2 Ariane 5 Launch
* Dec 10 - Comet C/2009 U1 (Garradd) Closest Approach To Earth (3.043 AU)
   Dec 10 - Asteroid 9965 GNU Closest Approach To Earth (1.854 AU)
   Dec 10 - Asteroid 334 Chicago Closest Approach To Earth (2.987 AU)
   Dec 10 - 10th Anniversary (1999), X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton)
Launch
   Dec 10 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Claxton Meteorite Fall (Hit Mailbox)
   Dec 10 - 35th Anniversary (1974), Helios 1 Launch (Solar Orbiter)
   Dec 11 - Asteroid 3767 DiMaggio Closest Approach To Earth (1.805 AU)
   Dec 12 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
* Dec 12 - Comet 226P/Pigott-LINEAR-Kowalski Closest Approach To Earth (2.060
AU)
   Dec 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower Peak
* Dec 13 - Asteroid 7754 Gopalan Occults HIP 13327 (5.5 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 13 - Asteroid 9349 Lucas Closest Approach To Earth (1.421 AU)
   Dec 13 - 5th Anniversary (2004), Cassini, 2nd Titan Flyby
   Dec 13 - Sir William Hunter McCrea's 105th Birthday (1904)
* Dec 14 - Asteroid 128 Nemesis Closest Approach To Earth (1.598 AU)
   Dec 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #227 (OTM-227)
   Dec 15 - Comet 220P/McNaught Perihelion (1.549 AU)
* Dec 15 - Asteroid 1745 Ferguson Occults HIP 34351 (6.8 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 15 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Vega 1 Launch (Soviet Venus/Comet Halley
Mission)
   Dec 16 - 15th Anniversary (1994), Discovery of QUE 94201 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
* Dec 17 - Asteroid 4 Vesta Occults TYC 0845-00848-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 19 - Asteroid 5841 Stone Closest Approach To Earth (0.942 AU)
* Dec 20 - Soyuz TMA-17 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 21S)
   Dec 20 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #228 (OTM-228)
   Dec 20 - Asteroid 2002 PR1 Near-Ceres Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Dec 20 - Asteroid 3568 ASCII Closest Approach To Earth (2.394 AU)
   Dec 20 - Ames Research Center's 70th Birthday (1939)
   Dec 20 - Mt. Wilson Observatory's 105th Birthday (1904)
   Dec 21 - Winter Solstice (17:47 UT)
   Dec 21 - Comet 31P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 2 Closest Approach To Earth (2.624 AU)
   Dec 21 - Asteroid 7000 Curie Closest Approach To Earth (1.361 AU)
   Dec 21 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Vega 2 Launch (Soviet Venus/Comet Halley
Mission)
   Dec 22 - Ursids Meteor Shower Peak
   Dec 22 - Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 Closest Approach To Earth (1.019 AU)
   Dec 22 - Asteroid 2003 YL118 Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)
   Dec 22 - Asteroid 8084 Dallas Closest Approach To Earth (1.705 AU)
   Dec 23 - Asteroid 64070 NEAT Closest Approach To Earth (1.153 AU)
   Dec 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #229 (OTM-229)
   Dec 24 - Comet P/2003 CP7 (LINEAR-NEAT) Closest Approach To Earth (2.822 AU)
* Dec 24 - Asteroid 224 Oceana Occults HIP 26034 (6.6 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 24 - Asteroid 2007 MK13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
* Dec 24 - Asteroid 4547 Massachusetts Closest Approach To Earth (1.603 AU)
   Dec 24 - 30th Anniversary (1979), Inaugural Ariane 1 Launch
   Dec 25 - Asteroid 11 Parthenope At Opposition (9.9 Magnitude)
   Dec 25 - Asteroid 2004 XG29 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Dec 25 - Asteroid 6456 Golombek Closest Approach To Earth (1.968 AU)
   Dec 26 - Cassini, Distant Tethys Flyby
   Dec 26 - Asteroid 2008 YZ32 Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)
   Dec 26 - Asteroid 51829 Williemccool Closest Approach To Earth (1.350 AU)
   Dec 26 - 35th Anniversary (1974), Salyut 4 Launch (USSR Space Station)
   Dec 27 - Comet 30P/Reinmuth 1 Closest Approach To Earth (1.180 AU)
   Dec 27 - Asteroid 2161 Grissom Closest Approach To Earth (1.663 AU)
   Dec 27 - 25th Anniversary (1984), Discovery of ALH84001 (Mars Meteorite)
   Dec 28 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Dec 28 - Asteroid 1998 HE3 Near-Venus Flyby (0.017 AU)
   Dec 28 - Asteroid 324 Bamberga At Opposition (9.8 Magnitude)
   Dec 28 - Maarten Schmidt's 80th Birthday (1929)
* Dec 29 - Asteroid 599 Luisa Occults HIP 26592 (6.6 Magnitude Star)
* Dec 29 - Asteroid 5290 Langevin Occults HIP 20268 (5.8 Magnitude Star)
   Dec 29 - Asteroid 896 Sphinx Closest Approach To Earth (1.649 AU)
   Dec 30 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #230 (OTM-230)
   Dec 31 - Venus, Express, Mars Express, End of Extended Mission
   Dec 31 - Partial Lunar Eclipse
   Dec 31 - Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain Closest Approach To Earth (1.258 AU)
   Dec 31 - Asteroid 7367 Giotto Closest Approach To Earth (2.209 AU)
   Dec 31 - Asteroid 4169 Celsius Closest Approach To Earth (2.216 AU)
   Dec 31 - 5th Anniversary (2004), Cassini, Iapetus Flyby
   Dec 31 - Robert Aiken's 145th Birthday (1864)

January 2010
   Jan ?? - IGS-4A/IGS-4B H-2A Launch
   Jan ?? - Amsat Phase 3E Express Ariane 5 Launch
   Jan ?? - Hausat 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Jan ?? - X-Sat PSLV Launch
   Jan ?? - SRE-2 PSLV Launch
   Jan ?? - Dragon 1 Falcon 9 Launch
   Jan ?? - ResourceSat 2/YouthSat PSLV Launch (India)
   Jan ?? - Cubesats/PW-Sat 1/Laser Relativity Satellite (LARES) Vega Launch
(Inaugural Vega Launch)
   Jan 01 - Comet C/2009 O4 (Hill) Perihelion (2.564 AU)
   Jan 01 - Asteroid 25143 Itokawa Closest Approach To Earth (0.571 AU)
   Jan 01 - Asteroid 6984 Lewiscarroll Closest Approach To Earth (2.306 AU)
   Jan 02 - Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 Perihelion (1.984 AU)
   Jan 02 - Asteroid 9342 Carygrant Closest Approach To Earth (1.350 AU)
   Jan 02 - Isaac Asimov's 90th Birthday (1920)
   Jan 02 - Leslie Peltier's 110th Birthday (1900)
   Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak
   Jan 03 - Asteroid 6524 Baalke Closest Approach To Earth (1.252 AU)
   Jan 03 - 10th Annivesary (2000), Galileo, Europa 26 Flyby
   Jan 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #231 (OTM-231)
   Jan 04 - Earth At Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun)
* Jan 04 - Asteroid 1461 Jean-Jacques Occults HIP 46938 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
   Jan 05 - Comet 82P/Gehrels 3 Closest Approach To Earth (2.650 AU)
   Jan 05 - Asteroid 1069 Planckia Closest Approach To Earth (2.047 AU)
   Jan 05 - Asteroid 8000 Isaac Newton Closest Approach To Earth (2.333 AU)
   Jan 05 - Asteroid 2404 Antarctica Closest Approach To Earth (2.520 AU)
   Jan 05 - 105th Anniversary (1905), Charles Perrine's Discovery of Jupiter Moon
Elara
   Jan 06 - Comet P/2005 S2 (Skiff) Closest Approach To Earth (6.374 AU)
   Jan 06 - Asteroid 9963 Sandage Closest Approach To Earth (1.473 AU)
* Jan 06 - Asteroid 2305 King Closest Approach To Earth (1.807 AU)
   Jan 06 - Asteroid 3784 Chopin Closest Approach To Earth (2.673 AU)
   Jan 06 - 25th Anniversary (1985), La Criolla Meteorite Fall (Hit House)
   Jan 07 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Sakigake Launch (Japan Comet Halley Mission)
   Jan 07 - 400th Anniversary (1610), Galileo Galilei's Discovery of Jupiter's
Moons
   Jan 08 - Asteroid 2005 YO3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
   Jan 08 - Asteroid 12382 Niagara Falls Closest Approach To Earth (1.922 AU)
   Jan 09 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #232 (OTM-232)
   Jan 09 - 20th Anniversary (1990), STS-32 Columbia Launch (LDEF Satellite)
   Jan 10 - Asteroid 10221 Kubrick Closest Approach To Earth (1.373 AU)
   Jan 11 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pandora & Methone
* Jan 11 - Comet C/2009 T3 (LINEAR) Perihelion (2.282 AU)
   Jan 12 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jan 12 - Comet 169P/NEAT Near-Earth Flyby (0.194 AU)
* Jan 12 - Comet P/2009 T2 (La Sagra) Perihelion (1.755 AU)
   Jan 12 - Comet 82P/Gehrels 3 Perihelion (3.633 AU)
   Jan 12 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Deep Impact Delta 2 Launch,
   Jan 12 - Royal Astronomical Society's 190th Birthday (1820)
   Jan 13 - Asteroid 9885 Linux Closest Approach To Earth (1.237 AU)
   Jan 13 - Asteroid 3350 Scobee Closest Approach To Earth (1.715 AU)
   Jan 13 - Asteroid 2421 Nininger Closest Approach To Earth (2.334 AU)
   Jan 13 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Discovery of EETA 79001 (Mars Meteorite)
   Jan 14 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (2.444 AU)
   Jan 14 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Huygens Probe, Titan Landing
   Jan 15 - Annular Solar Eclipse, Visible in Africa, India & China
   Jan 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #233 (OTM-233)
   Jan 15 - Asteroid 9000 Hal Closest Approach To Earth (1.707 AU)
   Jan 16 - Comet C/2009 Q4 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (0.581 AU)
* Jan 16 - Asteroid 6524 Baalke Occults TYC 0750-00975-1 (10.4 Magnitude Star)
   Jan 16 - Asteroid 29075 (1950 DA) Closest Approach To Earth (0.901 AU)
   Jan 17 - Comet 64P/Swift-Gehrels Closest Approach To Earth (1.822 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 2009 DA43 Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 5554 Keesey Closest Approach To Earth (1.235 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 35352 Texas Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)
   Jan 17 - Asteroid 13681 Monty Python Closest Approach To Earth (2.194 AU)
   Jan 18 - Asteroid 2008 XM Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU)
   Jan 19 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1's Discovery of Saturn Moon Janus
   Jan 19 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 2 launch (Unmanned Suborbital Flight)
   Jan 19 - 170th Anniversary (1840), Discovery of Antarctica
   Jan 20 - X-37B OTV-1 Atlas 5 Launch
   Jan 20 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #234 (OTM-234)
   Jan 20 - Asteroid 11714 Mikebrown Closest Approach To Earth (2.347 AU)
   Jan 20 - Buzz Aldrin's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Jan 21 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Little Joe Launch (Miss Sam Monkey)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 2003 BH Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 7672 Hawking Closest Approach To Earth (1.226 AU)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 12574 LONEOS Closest Approach To Earth (1.493 AU)
   Jan 22 - Asteroid 7231 Porco Closest Approach To Earth (2.390 AU)
   Jan 24 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of Dhofar 019 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Jan 24 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Hiten Launch (Japan Moon Orbiter)
   Jan 25 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #235 (OTM-235)
   Jan 25 - Asteroid 9949 Brontosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.357 AU)
   Jan 26 - Asteroid 2198 Ceplecha Closest Approach To Earth (1.490 AU)
   Jan 26 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1's Discovery of Saturn Moon
Epimetheus
   Jan 27 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione, Telesto, Methone, Pan & Prometheus
   Jan 27 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (25 Degrees)
   Jan 27 - Asteroid 3768 Monroe Closest Approach To Earth (2.357 AU)
   Jan 28 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jan 28 - Mars Closest Approach To Earth (0.664 AU)
   Jan 28 - Asteroid 14702 Benclark Closest Approach To Earth (2.323 AU)
   Jan 28 - Asteroid 37452 Spirit Closest Approach To Earth (2.830 AU)
   Jan 29 - Mars at Opposition
   Jan 29 - Comet P/1998 VS24 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (3.286 AU)
   Jan 29 - Asteroid 6775 Giorgini Closest Approach To Earth (2.112 AU)
   Jan 30 - Asteroid 2008 CN1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)
   Jan 31 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #236 (OTM-236)
   Jan 31 - Comet 224P/LINEAR-NEAT Perihelion (1.990 AU)

February 2010
   Feb ?? - Cosmo-Skymed 4 Delta 2 Launch
   Feb ?? - GPS 2F-2 Atlas 5 Launch
   Feb ?? - Badr 5 (Arabsat 5B) Ariane 5 Launch
   Feb ?? - TacSat 1 Falcon 1 Launch
   Feb ?? - Astra 3-B Ariane 5 Launch
   Feb ?? - Beidou 2-C (Compass M-2) CZ-3A Launch
   Feb ?? - Prisma/Picard Dnepr 1 Launch
* Feb ?? - COMS 1 Ariane 5 Launch
   Feb 01 - Asteroid 9937 Triceratops Closest Approach To Earth (1.588 AU)
   Feb 02 - Comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) Closest Approach To Earth (2.193 AU)
* Feb 03 - Progress M-4M Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 36P)
   Feb 03 - Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atlas 5 Launch
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 2008 CD119 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 9770 Discovery Closest Approach To Earth (1.167 AU)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 1862 Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (1.306 AU)
   Feb 03 - Asteroid 12820 Robinwilliams Closest Approach To Earth (2.009 AU)
   Feb 04 - STS-130 Launch, Space Shuttle Endeavour, Node 3, Cupola,
International Space Station
   Feb 04 - Asteroid 2008 CL20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Feb 04 - Asteroid 2001 UF18 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.026 AU)
   Feb 06 - Asteroid 2001 SF286 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.036 AU)
   Feb 07 - Comet C/2009 K2 (Catalina) Perihelion (3.246 AU)
   Feb 07 - Asteroid 2099 Opik Closest Approach To Earth (1.753 AU)
   Feb 07 - Asteroid 4701 Milani Closest Approach To Earth (1.795 AU)
   Feb 08 - Comet 203P/Korlevic Perihelion (3.182 AU)
   Feb 08 - Comet 139P/Vaisala-Oterma Closest Approach To Earth (3.377 AU)
   Feb 08 - Asteroid 216 Kleopatra Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)
   Feb 08 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of GRV 99027 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Feb 09 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Galileo, Venus Flyby
   Feb 10 - Comet C/2009 P2 (Boattini) Perihelion (6.544 AU)
   Feb 10 - Asteroid 2008 CQ116 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
   Feb 10 - Asteroid 6000 United Nations Closest Approach To Earth (2.018 AU)
   Feb 11 - Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 Closest Approach To Earth (5.207 AU)
   Feb 11 - Asteroid 8952 ODAS Closest Approach To Earth (1.658 AU)
   Feb 11 - Asteroid 48300 Kronk Closest Approach To Earth (2.050 AU)
   Feb 11 - Kuiper Belt Object 55565 (2002 AW197) Closest Approach To Earth
(45.458 AU)
   Feb 11 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Ohsumi Launch (Japan's 1st Satellite)
* Feb 12 - Asteroid 2009 UN3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Feb 12 - Asteroid 17023 Abbott Closest Approach To Earth (1.164 AU)
   Feb 12 - Asteroid 1991 Darwin Closest Approach To Earth (1.721 AU)
   Feb 13 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Calypso & Epimetheus
   Feb 13 - Cassini, Mimas Flyby
   Feb 13 - Asteroid 2001 TE2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Feb 13 - Asteroid 17196 Mastrodemos Closest Approach To Earth (1.653 AU)
   Feb 14 - Chinese New Year
   Feb 14 - Asteroid 1996 BG1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.042 AU)
   Feb 14 - 10th Anniversary (2000), NEAR, Asteroid Eros Orbit Insertion
   Feb 14 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Voyager 1, Family Portrait Images
   Feb 14 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Solar Maximum Mission Launch
   Feb 15 - NROL-29 Atlas 5 Launch
   Feb 17 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Ranger 8 Launch (Moon Impact Mission)
   Feb 18 - Asteroid 2005 YQ96 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.034 AU)
   Feb 18 - Asteroid 2991 Bilbo Closest Approach To Earth (1.760 AU)
   Feb 18 - 80th Anniversary (1930), Clyde Tombaugh's Discovery of Pluto
   Feb 19 - Comet 149P/Mueller 4 Perihelion (2.651 AU)
   Feb 19 - Asteroid 9941 Iguanodo Closest Approach To Earth (1.066 AU)
   Feb 19 - Kuiper Belt Object 90482 Orcus Closest Approach To Earth (46.951 AU)
   Feb 20 - Comet 157P/Tritton Perihelion (1.360 AU)
* Feb 20 - Asteroid 2009 UD2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
   Feb 20 - Asteroid 2002 XY38 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
   Feb 20 - Asteroid 17024 Costello Closest Approach To Earth (1.545 AU)
   Feb 21 - Tom Gehrels' 85th Birthday (1925)
   Feb 22 - Comet 81P/Wild 2 Perihelion (1.598 AU)
   Feb 22 - Comet 126P/IRAS Perihelion (1.713 AU)
   Feb 22 - Asteroid 4 Vesta Closest Approach To Earth (1.411 AU)
   Feb 22 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Galileo, Io 27 Flyby
   Feb 23 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #237 (OTM-237)
   Feb 23 - Comet 94P/Russell Closest Approach To Earth (1.275 AU)
   Feb 25 - Asteroid 33342 (1998 WT24) Near-Mercury Flyby (0.022 AU)
   Feb 25 - Asteroid 88292 Bora-Bora Closest Approach To Earth (1.790 AU)
   Feb 25 - Asteroid 9661 Hohmann Closest Approach To Earth (3.896 AU)
   Feb 26 - Asteroid 2009 FY4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
   Feb 26 - Asteroid 3808 Tempel Closest Approach To Earth (0.974 AU)
   Feb 26 - Asteroid 99942 Apophis Closest Approach To Earth (1.631 AU)
   Feb 27 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #238 (OTM-238)
* Feb 28 - Cryosat 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Feb 28 - Comet P/1999 XN120 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.837 AU)

March 2010
   Mar ?? - HJ-1C CZ-2C Launch
   Mar ?? - Unamsat 3 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Mar ?? - Condor E Strela Launch
* Mar ?? - Pleiades 1 Soyuz 2-1b-Fregat Launch
   Mar 01 - Asteroid 2007 EF Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Mar 01 - Asteroid 39382 Opportunity Closest Approach To Earth (2.932 AU)
   Mar 01 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Laques & Lechaceux's Discovery of Saturn
Moon Helene
   Mar 02 - Cassini, Rhea Flyby
   Mar 02 - Comet 65P/Gunn Perihelion (2.440 AU)
   Mar 02 - Asteroid 2001 PT9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)
   Mar 02 - Asteroid 18106 Blume Closest Approach To Earth (2.705 AU)
   Mar 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Calypso
   Mar 03 - Cassini, Helene Flyby
   Mar 03 - Asteroid 2742 Gibson Closest Approach To Earth (1.979 AU)
   Mar 03 - Asteroid 11881 Mirstation Closest Approach To Earth (2.115 AU)
* Mar 04 - GOES-P Delta 4M Launch
   Mar 04 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Rosetta, 1st Earth Gravity Assist
   Mar 05 - Comet 219P/LINEAR Perihelion (2.364 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 2008 EY5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 2006 AM4 Near-Mercury (0.043 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 951 Gaspra Closest Approach To Earth (1.507 AU)
   Mar 05 - Asteroid 3130 Hillary Closest Approach To Earth (1.959 AU)
   Mar 06 - Asteroid 2006 LD1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Mar 06 - Michelangelo's 535th Birthday (1475)
   Mar 07 - Asteroid 2007 FB Near-Earth Flyby (0.054 AU)
   Mar 07 - Asteroid 30785 Greeley Closest Approach To Earth (1.882 AU)
   Mar 08 - Comet 162P/Siding Spring Perihelion (1.233 AU)
   Mar 08 - Asteroid 4149 Harrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.508 AU)
   Mar 09 - Asteroid 4370 Dickens Closest Approach To Earth (1.597 AU)
   Mar 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #239 (OTM-239)
   Mar 10 - Asteroid 447 Valentine Closest Approach To Earth (2.083 AU)
   Mar 11 - Asteroid 719 Albert Closest Approach To Earth (2.154 AU)
   Mar 11 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Pioneer 5 Launch (Solar Orbiter)
   Mar 12 - Comet C/2009 K3 (Beshore) Closest Approach To Earth (3.744 AU)
   Mar 12 - Simon Newcomb's 175th Birthday (1835)
   Mar 13 - 30th  Anniversary (1980), Pascu/Seidelmann/Baum/Currie's Discovery of
Saturn Moon Calypso
   Mar 13 - Percival Lowell's 155th Birthday (1855)
   Mar 14 - Daylight Saving - Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (United States)
   Mar 14 - Comet 202P/Scotti Closest Approach To Earth (2.405 AU)
   Mar 14 - Giovanni Schiaparelli's 175th Birthday (1835)
   Mar 15 - Asteroid 2002 AJ129 Near-Mars Flyby (0.041 AU)
   Mar 15 - Asteroid 16857 Goodall Closest Approach To Earth (1.312 AU)
   Mar 15 - Asteroid 78577 JPL Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU)
   Mar 16 - Asteroid 2008 JC Near-Venus Flyby (0.022 AU)
   Mar 16 - Asteroid 10799 Yucatan Closest Approach To Earth (1.941 AU)
   Mar 16 - Asteroid 7291 Hyakutake Closest Approach To Earth (2.726 AU)
   Mar 16 - Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake Closest Approach To Earth (51.283 AU)
   Mar 16 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Mariner 10, 3rd Mercury Flyby
   Mar 16 - Caroline Herschel's 260th Birthday (1750)
   Mar 17 - Asteroid 8103 Fermi Closest Approach To Earth (1.931 AU)
   Mar 17 - Asteroid 51824 Mikeanderson Closest Approach To Earth (2.305 AU)
   Mar 17 - Jim Irwin's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Mar 18 - STS-131 Launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Multi-Purpose Logistics
Module,
            International Space Station
* Mar 18 - Comet C/2009 U3 (Hill) Perihelion (1.377 AU)
   Mar 18 - Asteroid 1999 MN Near-Mercury Flyby (0.015 AU)
   Mar 18 - Asteroid 6758 Jesseowens Closest Approach To Earth (1.454 AU)
   Mar 18 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Soviet Rocket Launch Explosion (48 Dead)
   Mar 18 - 45th Anniversary (1965), 1st Spacewalk, Leonov On Voskhod 2
   Mar 19 - Asteroid 3356 Resnik Closest Approach To Earth (1.183 AU)
   Mar 19 - Asteroid 6223 Dahl Closest Approach To Earth (2.059 AU)
   Mar 19 - Asteroid 886 Washingtonia Closest Approach To Earth (3.064 AU)
   Mar 19 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Hiten, Moon Flyby (Japan)
   Mar 20 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Telesto, Prometheus & Methone
   Mar 20 - Vernal Equinox, 17:32 UT
   Mar 20 - Asteroid 9880 Stegosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.341 AU)
   Mar 20 - Asteroid 4433 Goldstone Closest Approach To Earth (1.742 AU)
   Mar 20 - Asteroid 19367 Pink Floyd Closest Approach To Earth (1.753 AU)
   Mar 21 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pallene & Polydeuces
   Mar 21 - Saturn At Opposition
   Mar 21 - Asteroid 2001 FE7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
   Mar 21 - Asteroid 3656 Hemingway Closest Approach To Earth (1.121 AU)
   Mar 21 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Ranger 9 Launch (Moon Impact Mission)
   Mar 23 - Asteroid 2000 EW70 Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
   Mar 23 - Asteroid 128523 Johnmuir Closest Approach To Earth (1.892 AU)
   Mar 23 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 3 Launch (Virgil Grissom, John Young)
   Mar 24 - Comet C/2009 O2 (Catalina) Perihelion (0.694 AU)
   Mar 24 - Comet 195P/Hill Closest Approach To Earth (4.018 AU)
   Mar 24 - Asteroid 11246 Orvillewright Closest Approach To Earth (1.906 AU)
   Mar 24 - Asteroid 1691 Oort Closest Approach To Earth (2.531 AU)
   Mar 25 - Comet C/2008 N1 (Holmes) Closest Approach To Earth (2.504 AU)
   Mar 25 - Asteroid 3355 Onizuka Closest Approach To Earth (1.218 AU)
* Mar 25 - Asteroid 2187 La Silla Closest Approach To Earth (1.850 AU)
   Mar 25 - Asteroid 1877 Marsden Closest Approach To Earth (3.233 AU)
   Mar 25 - 10th Anniversary (2000), IMAGE Launch
   Mar 25 - 355th Anniversary (1655), Christiaan Huygens' Discovery of Saturn
Moon Titan
   Mar 26 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #240 (OTM-240)
   Mar 26 - Comet C/2009 O2 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (0.808 AU)
   Mar 26 - Comet P/2001 R6 (LINEAR-Skiff) Perihelion (2.179 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 2004 FU162 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 2007 MT20 Near-Venus Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla Closest Approach To Earth (2.190 AU)
   Mar 26 - Asteroid 51823 Rickhusband Closest Approach To Earth (2.634 AU)
   Mar 27 - Asteroid 267 Glo Closest Approach To Earth (1.840 AU)
* Mar 27 - Asteroid 2343 Siding Spring Closest Approach To Earth (1.926 AU)
   Mar 28 - Daylight Saving - Set Clock Ahead 1 Hour (Europe)
   Mar 28 - Comet C/2007 S2 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (5.368 AU)
   Mar 28 - Asteroid 17744 Jodiefoster Closest Approach To Earth (2.066 AU)
   Mar 29 - Comet 94P/Russell Perihelion (2.240 AU)
   Mar 29 - Asteroid 1225 Ariane Closest Approach To Earth (1.183 AU)
   Mar 29 - Asteroid 5036 Tuttle Closest Approach To Earth (1.612 AU)
* Mar 29 - Asteroid 2929 Harris Closest Approach To Earth (1.945 AU)
   Mar 30 - Asteroid 17059 Elvis Closest Approach To Earth (1.615 AU)
   Mar 30 - Asteroid 3000 Leonardo Closest Approach To Earth (1.775 AU)
   Mar 30 - Asteroid 4957 Brucemurray Closest Approach To Earth (2.083 AU)
   Mar 31 - Comet P/2008 Y3 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.266 AU)

April 2010
   Apr ?? - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), End of Primary Mission
   Apr ?? - Cosmos Glonass K1+K2 Soyuz 2 Fregat Launch
   Apr ?? - Cosmos-Prognoz N11 Proton K-DM2 Launch
   Apr ?? - Dialog 1 Rokot-Briz Launch
   Apr ?? - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), End of Primary Mission
   Apr ?? - Kanopus-V/Belka 2 Soyuz FG-Fregat Launch
   Apr ?? - Tugsat 1 (Brite-Austria) Dnepr 1 Launch
   Apr ?? - Electro-L Zenit 2-Fregat Launch
   Apr ?? - Megha-Tropiques PSLV Launch
* Apr ?? - Zohreh 1 Soyuz FG-Fregat Launch
* Apr ?? - Sich 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Apr 01 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Tiros 1 Launch (1st Weather Satellite)
* Apr 02 - Soyuz TMA-18 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 22S)
   Apr 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #241 (OTM-241)
   Apr 02 - Comet 149P/Mueller 4 Closest Approach To Earth (1.802 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 2001 XO88 Near-Vesta Flyby (0.037 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 3949 Mach Closest Approach To Earth (1.138 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 18932 Robinhood Closest Approach To Earth (1.599 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 3351 Smith Closest Approach To Earth (2.857 AU)
   Apr 02 - Asteroid 1006 Lagrangea Closest Approach To Earth (3.266 AU)
   Apr 04 - Easter Sunday
   Apr 04 - American Rocket Society's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Apr 05 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Apr 05 - Comet 81P/Wild 2 Closest Approach To Earth (0.673 AU)
   Apr 05 - Asteroid 2009 HE60 Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)
   Apr 05 - Asteroid 1604 Tombaugh Closest Approach To Earth (2.292 AU)
   Apr 05 - 20th Anniversary (1990), 1st Pegasus Rocket Launch
   Apr 06 - Comet P/1999 XB69 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (2.008 AU)
   Apr 06 - Asteroid 2004 ER21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Apr 06 - Asteroid 132524 APL Closest Approach To Earth (1.871 AU)
   Apr 06 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Intelsat 1 Launch (1st Commercial
Communications Satellite)
   Apr 07 - Cassini, Dione Flyby
   Apr 07 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Mimas, Tethys, Calypso, Epimetheus & Janus
   Apr 07 - Kuiper Belt Object 136108 Haumea Closest Approach To Earth (50.125
AU)
   Apr 08 - STS-132 Launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis, International Space Station
   Apr 08 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (19 Degrees)
* Apr 08 - Asteroid 310 Margarita Closest Approach To Earth (1.438 AU)
   Apr 08 - Asteroid 7818 Muirhead Closest Approach To Earth (2.023 AU)
   Apr 08 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Voyager 1's Discovery of Saturn Moon Telesto
   Apr 09 - Comet 211P/Hill Closest Approach To Earth (2.191 AU)
   Apr 09 - Asteroid 2007 TD Near-Venus Flyby (0.038 AU)
   Apr 09 - Asteroid 1034 Mozartia Closest Approach To Earth (1.593 AU)
   Apr 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #242 (OTM-242)
   Apr 10 - Asteroid 2004 FG11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)
   Apr 10 - Asteroid 4238 Audrey Closest Approach To Earth (1.228 AU)
   Apr 10 - Asteroid 5682 Beresford Closest Approach To Earth (1.879 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 2003 TT9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 3162 Nostalgia Closest Approach To Earth (2.404 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 5223 McSween Closest Approach To Earth (2.722 AU)
   Apr 11 - Asteroid 4179 Toutatis Closest Approach To Earth (2.873 AU)
   Apr 11 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Apollo 13 Launch
   Apr 12 - Asteroid 17062 Bardot Closest Approach To Earth (2.119 AU)
   Apr 12 - Yuri's Night - World Space Party
   Apr 13 - Comet 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh Closest Approach To Earth (2.670 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 2008 FH Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 5203 Pavarotti Closest Approach To Earth (1.307 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 4150 Starr Closest Approach To Earth (1.388 AU)
   Apr 13 - Asteroid 2985 Shakespeare Closest Approach To Earth (1.876 AU)
   Apr 13 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Transit 1B Launch (1st Experimental
Navigation Satellite)
   Apr 14 - Comet 173P/Mueller 5 Closest Approach To Earth (4.094 AU)
   Apr 14 - Asteroid 5035 Swift Closest Approach To Earth (1.644 AU)
   Apr 14 - Asteroid 6227 Alanrubin Closest Approach To Earth (2.044 AU)
   Apr 16 - Asteroid 2008 CB6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)
   Apr 16 - Asteroid 2001 QE71 Near-Earth Flyby (0.094 AU)
   Apr 16 - Asteroid 7862 Keikonakamura Closest Approach To Earth (2.051 AU)
   Apr 16 - Petrus Apianus' 515th Birthday (1495)
   Apr 17 - Comet C/2009 F2 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.982 AU)
   Apr 17 - Asteroid 10051 Albee Closest Approach To Earth (2.115 AU)
   Apr 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #243 (OTM-243)
   Apr 18 - Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (1.264 AU)
   Apr 19 - Comet 30P/Reinmuth 1 Perihelion (1.884 AU)
   Apr 19 - Asteroid 2005 YU55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
   Apr 19 - Asteroid 5891 Gehrig Closest Approach To Earth (1.724 AU)
   Apr 19-25 - Astronomy Week
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 2008 UC202 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 6336 Dodo Closest Approach To Earth (1.708 AU)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 2000 Herschel Closest Approach To Earth (2.039 AU)
   Apr 20 - Asteroid 11247 Wilburwright Closest Approach To Earth (2.570 AU)
   Apr 21 - Asteroid 1288 Santa Closest Approach To Earth (2.036 AU)
   Apr 21 - Asteroid 43844 Rowling Closest Approach To Earth (2.173 AU)
   Apr 22 - Lyrids Meteor Shower Peak
   Apr 22 - Asteroid 4628 Laplace Closest Approach To Earth (1.442 AU)
   Apr 23 - Asteroid 8575 Hawaii Closest Approach To Earth (2.136 AU)
   Apr 23 - Asteroid 51827 Laurelclark Closest Approach To Earth (2.143 AU)
   Apr 24 - Astronomy Day
   Apr 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #244 (OTM-244)
   Apr 24 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Hubble Space Telescope Launch (STS-31)
   Apr 24 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Mao 1 Launch (1st Chinese Satellite)
   Apr 25 - Asteroid 2004 US1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Apr 26 - Comet C/2007 VO53 (Spacewatch) Perihelion (4.843 AU)
   Apr 26 - Asteroid 6676 Monet Closest Approach To Earth (1.947 AU)
* Apr 27 - Progress M-05M Soyuz 2-1a Launch (International Space Station 37P)
   Apr 27 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Prometheus, Telesto, Pandora & Pallene
   Apr 27 - Comet P/2008 CL94 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (5.251 AU)
   Apr 28 - Cassini, Enceladus Flyby
   Apr 28 - Asteroid 656 Beagle Closest Approach To Earth (1.912 AU)
   Apr 28 - Asteroid 51825 Davidbrown Closest Approach To Earth (2.149 AU)
   Apr 28 - Asteroid 5555 Wimberly Closest Approach To Earth (2.306 AU)
   Apr 28 - Jan Oort's 110th Birthday (1900)
   Apr 29 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #245 (OTM-245)
   Apr 29 - Asteroid 2002 JR100 Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
   Apr 29 - Asteroid 5450 Sokrates Closest Approach To Earth (1.931 AU)
   Apr 30 - Comet C/2009 K5 (McNaught) Perihelion (1.423 AU)
   Apr 30 - Asteroid 9769 Nautilus Closest Approach To Earth (1.050 AU)

May 2010
   May ?? - SBIRS-Geo 1 (SBIRS-High 2) Atlas 5 Launch
   May ?? - Cosmos-Geizer N21 Proton K Launch
   May ?? - Hylas Ariane 5 Launch
   May ?? - Bluesat Dnepr 1 Launch
   May ?? - Yamal 301/302 Proton K-DM-2M Launch
   May 02 - Asteroid 2007 DB61 Near-Earth Flyby (0.090 AU)
   May 03 - Asteroid 24101 Cassini Closest Approach To Earth (2.343 AU)
   May 04 - Comet 104P/Kowal 2 Perihelion (1.180 AU)
   May 04 - Asteroid (141495) 2002 EZ11 Near-Mars Flyby (0.018 AU)
   May 05 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   May 06 - Asteroid 9016 Henrymoore Closest Approach To Earth (2.898 AU)
   May 07 - Space Day
   May 07 - Asteroid 2009 BD Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)
   May 07 - Asteroid 2688 Halley Closest Approach To Earth (1.867 AU)
   May 07 - Asteroid 4255 Spacewatch Closest Approach To Earth (2.438 AU)
   May 08 - Asteroid 1224 Fantasia Closest Approach To Earth (1.728 AU)
* May 09 - Asteroid 2022 West Closest Approach To Earth (2.018 AU)
* May 10 - GPS 2F F-1 Delta 4M Launch
   May 11 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #246 (OTM-246)
   May 11 - Asteroid 2005 JR5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
   May 11 - Asteroid 6471 Collins Closest Approach To Earth (1.430 AU)
   May 12 - Asteroid 2007 TZ68 Near-Mars Flyby (0.012 AU)
   May 12 - Asteroid 9133 d'Arrest Closest Approach To Earth (1.879 AU)
   May 14 - Griffith Observatory's 75th Birthday (1935)
   May 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #247 (OTM-247)
   May 15 - Asteroid 10204 Turing Closest Approach To Earth (2.010 AU)
   May 16 - Moon Occults Venus
   May 18 - Cassini, Enceladus & Methone Flyby
   May 19 - Comet 24P/Schaumasse Closest Approach To Earth (2.277 AU)
   May 19 - Asteroid 2003 QC10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU)
   May 20 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   May 20 - Asteroid 2004 FG11 Near-Mercury (0.039 AU)
   May 20 - Asteroid 11055 Honduras Closest Approach To Earth (0.985 AU)
   May 20 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Galileo, Ganymede 28 Flyby
   May 21 - Asteroid 1865 Cerberus Closest Approach To Earth (0.334 AU)
   May 21 - Asteroid 3259 Brownlee Closest Approach To Earth (1.833 AU)
   May 21 - Asteroid 6433 Enya Closest Approach To Earth (1.879 AU)
   May 22 - Asteroid 232 Russia Closest Approach To Earth (1.175 AU)
   May 22 - 15th Anniversary (1995), Saturn Ring Plane Crossing (1 of 3)
   May 23 - Aquarius Delta 2 Launch
   May 23 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #248 (OTM-248)
   May 23 - Asteroid 2008 GA4 Near-Venus Flyby (0.031 AU)
   May 23 - Asteroid 9969 Braille Closest Approach To Earth (0.427 AU)
   May 23 - Asteroid 8088 Australia Closest Approach To Earth (1.526 AU)
   May 23 - Asteroid 6030 Zolensky Closest Approach To Earth (2.274 AU)
   May 24 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Midas 2 Launch (1st Experimental Infrared
Surveillance Satellite)
   May 25 - Asteroid 10389 Robmanning Closest Approach To Earth (1.414 AU)
   May 26 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (25 Degrees)
   May 27 - Asteroid 2008 KV2 Near-Venus Flyby (0.032 AU)
   May 28 - STP-26/FASTRAC-A & B/FalconSat 4/OREOS/RAC Minotaur 4 Launch
   May 28 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #249 (OTM-249)
   May 28 - Asteroid 7032 Hitchcock Closest Approach To Earth (1.463 AU)
   May 28 - Frank Drake's 80th Birthday (1930)
   May 29 - Asteroid 5145 Pholus Closest Approach To Earth (22.402 AU)
   May 30 - Comet 142P/Ge-Wang Perihelion (2.488 AU)
   May 31 - Asteroid 25399 Vonnegut Closest Approach To Earth (1.653 AU)
   May 31 - European Space Agency's 35th Birthday (1975)

June 2010
   Jun ?? - Hayabusa (MUSES-C) Return To Earth
   Jun ?? - Equars VLS-1 Launch (Brazil)
   Jun ?? - Monitor IR1 Rokot KM Launch
   Jun ?? - Insat 4-D GSLV-1 Launch
   Jun ?? - Nilesat 2 Ariane 5 Launch
   Jun ?? - Meteor 3M N2 Soyuz 2-1B Launch
   Jun ?? - Katysat 1/KiwiSat/Atmocube/Cubesat-RAFT/Funsat/UCISAT Dnepr 1 Launch
* Jun ?? - Rascom-QAF 1R Ariane 5 Launch
   Jun 01 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #250 (OTM-250)
   Jun 01 - Asteroid 73491 Robmatson Closest Approach To Earth (1.791 AU)
   Jun 01 - 20th Anniversary (1990), ROSAT Launch
   Jun 02 - Asteroid 472 Roma Closest Approach To Earth (1.812 AU)
   Jun 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Tethys, Rhea & Pandora
   Jun 03 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 4 Launch, USA's First Spacewalk (Ed
White)
   Jun 04 - Asteroid 1999 MN Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)
   Jun 04 - Asteroid 19578 Kirkdouglas Closest Approach To Earth (0.967 AU)
   Jun 04 - Asteroid 24102 Jacquecassini Closest Approach To Earth (1.901 AU)
   Jun 05 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jun 05 - Asteroid 1999 HE1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU)
   Jun 05 - Asteroid 2004 KH17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)
   Jun 07 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #251 (OTM-251)
   Jun 08 - Comet 215P/NEAT Perihelion (3.213 AU)
   Jun 08 - Comet 183P/Korlevic-Juric Closest Approach To Earth (3.514 AU)
   Jun 08 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 9 Launch (Soviet Venus
Orbiter/Lander)
   Jun 08 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Luna 6 Launch (Soviet Moon Flyby)
   Jun 08 - Giovanni Cassini's 385th Birthday (1625)
   Jun 09 - Kuiper Belt Oject 28978 Ixion Closest Approach To Earth (40.346 AU)
   Jun 10 - Asteroid 2007 YG Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
   Jun 10 - Asteroid 2023 Asaph Closest Approach To Earth (1.999 AU)
   Jun 11 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Vega 1, Venus Landing/Balloon
   Jun 12 - Asteroid 5020 Asimov Closest Approach To Earth (0.944 AU)
   Jun 12 - Kuiper Belt Object 50000 Quaoar Closest Approach To Earth (42.155 AU)
   Jun 13 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #252 (OTM-252)
   Jun 13 - Asteroid 2007 XB10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
   Jun 14 - Asteroid 2003 YS17 Near-Venus Flyby (0.044 AU)
   Jun 14 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Vega 2, Venus Landing/Balloon
   Jun 14 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 10, Venus Landing
   Jun 15 - Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (1.137 AU)
* Jun 15 - Asteroid 2002 Euler Closest Approach To Earth (1.283 AU)
   Jun 15 - Asteroid 1 Ceres Closest Approach To Earth (1.825 AU)
   Jun 16 - Asteroid 6735 Madhatter Closest Approach To Earth (1.310 AU)
   Jun 17 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #253 (OTM-253)
   Jun 17 - Comet C/2008 FK75 (Lemmon-Siding Spring) Closest Approach To Earth
(4.057 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2003 MN Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2007 DD Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
* Jun 17 - Asteroid 2451 Dollfus Closest Approach To Earth (1.367 AU)
   Jun 17 - Asteroid 2866 Hardy Closest Approach To Earth (1.739 AU)
   Jun 17 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of the Dhofar 378 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Jun 18 - Asteroid 2956 Yeomans Closest Approach To Earth (1.538 AU)
   Jun 19 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pan & Polydeuces
   Jun 20 - Asteroid 69230 Hermes Closest Approach To Earth (1.041 AU)
   Jun 20 - 340th Anniversary (1670), Discovery Of Nova 1670 Vulpeculae
   Jun 21 - Summer Solstice, 11:28 UT
   Jun 21 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Jun 21 - Asteroid 5641 McCleese Closest Approach To Earth (0.804 AU)
   Jun 21 - Asteroid 4017 Disneya Closest Approach To Earth (1.505 AU)
   Jun 22 - Asteroid 13801 Kohlhase Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU)
   Jun 22 - Royal Greenwich Observatory's 335th Birthday (1675)
   Jun 23 - Asteroid 2008 EY5 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Jun 24 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #254 (OTM-254)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 2008 YC3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 2007 CS5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 2008 WM64 Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 4099 Wiggins Closest Approach To Earth (1.780 AU)
   Jun 24 - Asteroid 1913 Sekanina Closest Approach To Earth (1.981 AU)
   Jun 24 - Dwarf Planet 134340 Pluto Closest Approach To Earth (30.860 AU)
   Jun 24 - Fred Hoyle's 95th Birthday (1915)
   Jun 25 - Pluto At Opposition
   Jun 25 - Rupert Wildt's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Jun 26 - Partial Lunar Eclipse
   Jun 26 - Comet 100P/Hartley Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU)
   Jun 26 - Asteroid 8353 Megryan Closest Approach To Earth (1.774 AU)
   Jun 26 - Charles Messier's 280th Birthday (1730)
   Jun 27 - Asteroid 154590 (2003 MA3) Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
   Jun 27 - Asteroid 4763 Ride Closest Approach To Earth (1.644 AU)
   Jun 28 - Asteroid 2005 ED318 Near-Earth Flyby (0.070 AU)
   Jun 28 - Asteroid 2118 Flagstaff Closest Approach To Earth (2.042 AU)
   Jun 30 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #255 (OTM-255)

July 2010
   Jul ?? - Planet-C/IKAROS/Waseda-Sat2/Unitec-1/Negai-Star/AWVONS H-2A Launch
(Japan Venus Orbiter)
   Jul ?? - AEHF F-1 Atlas 5 Launch
   Jul ?? - Sinosat 4 CZ-3B Launch
   Jul ?? - NROL-25 Delta 4M Launch
   Jul ?? - SSR-1 VSL-1 Launch (Brazil)
   Jul ?? - Dragon 2 Falcon 9 Launch
   Jul ?? - Microscope Ariane 5 Launch
   Jul ?? - Insat 4-G Ariane 5 Launch
* Jul ?? - AMC-1R Ariane 5 Launch
* Jul ?? - Sudansat 1 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Jul 01 - Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington Perihelion (1.358 AU)
   Jul 01 - Asteroid 2005 UU3 Near-Venus Flyby (0.006 AU)
   Jul 02 - Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) Perihelion (0.405 AU)
   Jul 02 - Comet 116P/Wild 4 Closest Approach To Earth (2.119 AU)
   Jul 02 - Asteroid 2063 Bacchus Closest Approach To Earth (1.432 AU)
   Jul 02 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Giotto, Earth Flyby
   Jul 02 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Giotto Launch (ESA's Comet Halley Mission)
   Jul 03 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #256 (OTM-256)
   Jul 04 - Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Perihelion (1.423 AU)
   Jul 04 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Deep Impact, Comet Tempel 1 Impact/Flyby
   Jul 05 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Calypso, Enceladus & Daphnis
   Jul 05 - Comet 143P/Kowal-Mrkos Closest Approach To Earth (2.539 AU)
   Jul 05 - Asteroid 1814 Bach Closest Approach To Earth (1.492 AU)
   Jul 06 - Earth At Aphelion (1.017 AU From Sun)
   Jul 06 - Asteroid 91287 Simon-Garfunkel Closest Approach To Earth (1.306 AU)
   Jul 07 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
* Jul 07 - Comet C/2009 U1 (Garradd) Perihelion (2.964 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 2001 KM20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 6602 Gilclark Closest Approach To Earth (1.098 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 5649 Donnashirley Closest Approach To Earth (1.927 AU)
   Jul 08 - Asteroid 3297 Hong Kong Closest Approach To Earth (2.328 AU)
   Jul 09 - Asteroid 3352 McAuliffe Closest Approach To Earth (1.517 AU)
   Jul 10 - Rosetta, Asteroid 21 Lutetia Flyby
   Jul 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #257 (OTM-257)
   Jul 10 - Asteroid 1578 Kirkwood Closest Approach To Earth (3.673 AU)
   Jul 11 - Total Solar Eclipse, Visible in South Pacific, Chile
   Jul 11 - Asteroid 2008 UP100 Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
   Jul 11 - Asteroid 4769 Castalia Closest Approach To Earth (0.973 AU)
   Jul 11 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Gamma Observatory Launch (Soviet Union)
   Jul 12 - Comet 158P/Kowal-LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (3.677 AU)
   Jul 12 - Asteroid 2009 BD Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)
   Jul 12 - Asteroid 37582 Faraday Closest Approach To Earth (1.082 AU)
* Jul 12 - Asteroid 2919 Dali Closest Approach To Earth (1.688 AU)
   Jul 13 - Asteroid 4457 van Gogh Closest Approach To Earth (1.862 AU)
   Jul 14 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Mariner 4, Mars Flyby
   Jul 15 - Asteroid 5430 Luu Closest Approach To Earth (0.966 AU)
   Jul 15 - Asteroid 2228 Soyuz-Apollo Closest Approach To Earth (2.496 AU)
   Jul 16 - Comet C/2009 K2 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.590 AU)
   Jul 16 - Asteroid 7336 Saunders Closest Approach To Earth (0.205 AU)
   Jul 16 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Badr-A Launch (1st Pakistan Satellite)
   Jul 16 - 45th Anniversary (1965), 1st Proton Rocket Launch (USSR)
   Jul 17 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Apollo-Soyuz Handshake
   Jul 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #258 (OTM-258)
   Jul 18 - Comet P/1999 U3 (LINEAR) Perihelion (1.921 AU)
   Jul 18 - Asteroid 2002 BF25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)
   Jul 18 - Asteroid 13926 Berners-Lee Closest Approach To Earth (1.319 AU)
   Jul 18 - 30th Anniversary (1980), Rohini 1 Launch (India's 1st Satellite)
   Jul 18 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Zond 3 Launch (USSR Moon Flyby)
   Jul 18-25 - COSPAR 2010 Scientific Assembly
   Jul 19 - Asteroid 2008 NP3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)
   Jul 20 - Asteroid 17078 Sellers Closest Approach To Earth (1.831 AU)
   Jul 20 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of Jupiter Moon Callirrhoe
   Jul 21 - Comet 65P/Gunn Closest Approach To Earth (1.602 AU)
   Jul 21 - Asteroid 2000 UQ30 Near-Mars Flyby (0.050 AU)
   Jul 21 - Asteroid 8249 Gershwin Closest Approach To Earth (1.493 AU)
   Jul 22 - Comet 77P/Longmore Closest Approach To Earth (2.369 AU)
   Jul 22 - Asteroid 2007 HR Near-Mars Flyby (0.021 AU)
   Jul 23 - Asteroid 2006 KL21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
   Jul 23 - Asteroid 5049 Sherlock Closest Approach To Earth (1.028 AU)
   Jul 24 - 60th Anniversary (1950), 1st Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral
(Bumper/V-2 Rocket)
   Jul 25 - Cassini, Distant Fly of Prometheus & Atlas
   Jul 25 - Asteroid 3153 Lincoln Closest Approach To Earth (1.384 AU)
   Jul 25 - Asteroid 5738 Billpickering Closest Approach To Earth (3.106 AU)
   Jul 25 - 20th Anniversary (1990), CRRES Launch
   Jul 25 - Christoph Scheiner's 435th Birthday (1575)
   Jul 26 - Asteroid 38237 Roche Closest Approach To Earth (1.263 AU)
* Jul 26 - Asteroid 2160 Spitzer Closest Approach To Earth (1.664 AU)
   Jul 26 - Asteroid 117329 Spencer Closest Approach To Earth (1.699 AU)
* Jul 26 - Asteroid 2925 Beatty Closest Approach To Earth (1.818 AU)
   Jul 28 - Asteroid 11548 Jerrylewis Closest Approach To Earth (2.009 AU)
* Jul 29 - STS-134 Launch, Space Shuttle Endeavour, International Space Station
   Jul 29 - South Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   Jul 30 - Asteroid 4221 Picasso Closest Approach To Earth (1.586 AU)
   Jul 30 - 400th Anniversary (1610), Galileo Observes Saturn's Rings
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 2006 EB Near-Earth Flyby (0.080 AU)
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 1994 CB Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 118401 LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.956 AU)
   Jul 31 - Asteroid 1941 Wild Closest Approach To Earth (2.229 AU)

August 2010
   Aug ?? - NROL-35 Atlas 5 Launch
   Aug ?? - NROL-39 Atlas 5 Launch
   Aug ?? - NROL-41 Atlas 5 Launch
   Aug ?? - XM-5 Zenit 3SL Launch
   Aug ?? - Luch 5A/Amos 5 Proton M-Briz M Launch
   Aug ?? - Radio-Astron (Spektr R) Zenit 2-Fregat-SB Launch
   Aug ?? - Cassiope 1 Falcon 9 Launch
   Aug ?? - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of NWA 2737 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Aug 01 - Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 01 - Comet 176P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.955 AU)
   Aug 01 - Asteroid 5231 Verne Closest Approach To Earth (1.665 AU)
   Aug 01 - 10th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of the SAU 051 Meteorite (Mars
Meteorite)
   Aug 01 - Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Aug 02 - 5th Anniversary (2005), MESSENGER, Earth Flyby
   Aug 03 - Asteroid 2830 Greenwich Closest Approach To Earth (1.753 AU)
   Aug 03 - Asteroid 9500 Camelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.956 AU)
   Aug 04 - Asteroid 2266 Tchaikovsky Closest Approach To Earth (2.724 AU)
   Aug 05 - Asteroid 17640 Mount Stromlo Closest Approach To Earth (1.031 AU)
   Aug 05 - Neil Armstrong's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Aug 06 - Southern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 06 - Comet 2P/Encke Perihelion (0.336 AU)
   Aug 06 - Asteroid 1282 Utopia Closest Approach To Earth (2.094 AU)
   Aug 07 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (27 Degrees)
   Aug 07 - Asteroid 8146 Jimbell Closest Approach To Earth (2.322 AU)
   Aug 08 - Asteroid 15000 CCD Closest Approach To Earth (1.772 AU)
   Aug 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #259 (OTM-259)
   Aug 10 - Asteroid 6239 Minos Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)
   Aug 10 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Magellan, Venus Orbit Insertion
   Aug 11 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Titan
   Aug 12 - Perseids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 12 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 PG115 Closest Approach To Earth (35.910)
   Aug 12 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Echo 1 Launch
   Aug 13 - Cassini, Enceladus Flyby
   Aug 13 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione, Calypso & Epimetheus
   Aug 13 - Asteroid 2002 AC9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Aug 13 - Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon Closest Approach To Earth (1.964 AU)
   Aug 14 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Atlas, Pandora, Dahpnis, Janus, Pan &
            Tethys
   Aug 14 - Comet 223P/Skiff Perihelion (2.420 AU)
   Aug 15 - Asteroid 4808 Ballaero Closest Approach To Earth (1.838 AU)
   Aug 16 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #260 (OTM-260)
   Aug 16 - Asteroid 2007 XZ9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)
   Aug 16 - Comet 95P/Chiron Closest Approach To Earth (15.420)
   Aug 16 - Asteroid 4148 McCartney Closest Approach To Earth (1.404 AU)
   Aug 16 - Asteroid 1024 Hale Closest Approach To Earth (1.420 AU)
   Aug 17 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Venera 7 Launch (USSR Venus Lander)
   Aug 18 - Comet C/2009 P2 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (5.704 AU)
   Aug 18 - Asteroid 2004 SC56 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
   Aug 18 - Asteroid 4337 Arecibo Closest Approach To Earth (2.349 AU)
   Aug 18 - 25th Anniversary (1985), Suisei Launch (Japan Comet Halley Mission)
   Aug 19 - 50th Anniversary (1960), Sputnik 5 Launch (Carried Dogs Belka &
Strelka)
   Aug 20 - Venus At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (46 Degrees)
   Aug 20 - Neptune At Opposition
   Aug 20 - Asteroid 2041 Lancelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.986 AU)
   Aug 20 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Viking 1 Launch (Mars Lander/Orbiter)
   Aug 20 - 125th Anniversary (1885), Ernst Hartwig's Discovery of S Andromedae
   Aug 21 - Asteroid 469 Argentina Closest Approach To Earth (2.589 AU)
   Aug 21 - Kuiper Belt Object 2007 OR10 Closest Approach To Earth (85.142 AU)
   Aug 21 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 5 Launch (Gordon Cooper & Charles
Conrad)
   Aug 22 - Asteroid 2074 Shoemaker Closest Approach To Earth (1.039 AU)
* Aug 23 - Comet C/2009 U5 (Grauer) Perihelion (0.571 AU)
   Aug 24 - Asteroid 2005 QQ87 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Aug 24 - Asteroid 2003 JN14 Near-Mars Flyby (0.049 AU)
   Aug 24 - Asteroid 8256 Shenzhou Closest Approach To Earth (1.172 AU)
   Aug 25 - Northern Iota Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak
   Aug 25 - Comet 10P/Tempel 2 Closest Approach To Earth (0.651 AU)
   Aug 25 - Asteroid 697 Galilea Closest Approach To Earth (1.474 AU)
   Aug 25 - Asteroid 11911 Angel Closest Approach To Earth (1.797 AU)
   Aug 26 - Asteroid 2007 DS7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
   Aug 26 - Asteroid 2007 RY8  Near-Venus Flyby (0.043 AU)
   Aug 27 - Asteroid 2006 EK53 Near-Mars Flyby (0.045 AU)
   Aug 28 - Astroid 2007 DD Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
   Aug 28 - Asteroid 4116 Elachi Closest Approach To Earth (1.069 AU)
   Aug 29 - Asteroid 36800 Katarinawitt Closest Approach To Earth (1.009 AU)
   Aug 29 - Asteroid 7359 Messier Closest Approach To Earth (1.791 AU)
   Aug 29 - Asteroid 2006 SQ372 Closest Approach To Earth (23.719 AU)
   Aug 29 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Discovery of Nova Cygni 1975
   Aug 30 - Comet 2P/Encke Closest Approach To Earth (1.114 AU)
   Aug 30 - Asteroid 4055 Magellan Closest Approach To Earth (0.560 AU)
   Aug 30 - Asteroid 4342 Freud Closest Approach To Earth (1.522 AU)
   Aug 30 - Asteroid 203 Pompeja Closest Approach To Earth (1.664 AU)
   Aug 31 - Comet 186P/Garradd Closest Approach To Earth (3.853 AU)
   Aug 31 - Asteroid 1999 CG9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.083 AU)
   Aug 31 - Asteroid 1566 Icarus Closest Approach To Earth (0.602 AU)

September 2010
   Sep ?? - Afristar 3 (Worldstar 3) Ariane 5 Launch
   Sep ?? - Astrosat 1 PSLV Launch (India)
   Sep ?? - Giove A2 Soyuz FG-Fregat Launch
   Sep ?? - Insat 3-D GSLV Launch (India)
   Sep ?? - CBERS 3 CZ-4B Launch
   Sep ?? - Lapansat 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
   Sep ?? - Eros C Start 1 Launch (Israel)
   Sep ?? - Bissat Cosmos 3M Launch
   Sep 01 - Asteroid 3895 Earhart Closest Approach To Earth (1.772 AU)
   Sep 02 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Polydeuces & Telesto
   Sep 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #261 (OTM-261)
   Sep 02 - Asteroid 2008 EL68 Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
* Sep 03 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Aegaeon, Titan, Epimetheus & Dione
* Sep 03 - Comet 227P/Catalina-LINEAR Perihelion (1.795 AU)
   Sep 03 - Asteroid 79896 Billhaley Closest Approach To Earth (2.010 AU)
   Sep 04 - Asteroid 2753 Duncan Closest Approach To Earth (1.845 AU)
   Sep 05 - Asteroid 9007 James Bond Closest Approach To Earth (1.181 AU)
   Sep 08 - Asteroid 3673 Levy Closest Approach To Earth (1.208 AU)
   Sep 08 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Viking 2 Launch (Mars Orbiter/Lander)
   Sep 08 - 45th Anniversary (1965), Kaoru Ikeya & Tsutomu Seki's Discovery of
Comet Ikeya-Seki
   Sep 08 - Marshall Space Flight Center's 50th Birthday (1960)
   Sep 08 - Thomas Keith Glennan's 105th Birthday (1905)
   Sep 09 - Asteroid 2005 VL1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.048 AU)
   Sep 09 - Asteroid 1940 Whipple Closest Approach To Earth (2.081 AU)
   Sep 10 - Comet 97P/Metcalf-Brewington Closest Approach To Earth (2.530 AU)
   Sep 10 - Asteroid 426 Hippo Closest Approach To Earth (2.214 AU)
   Sep 11 - 25th Anniversary (1985), ICE, Comet Giacobini-Zinner Flyby
   Sep 12 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Luna 16 Launch (Soviet Moon Sample Return)
   Sep 13 - Asteroid 19383 Rolling Stones Closest Approach To Earth (0.971 AU)
* Sep 13 - Asteroid 5143 Heracles Closest Approach To Earth (2.234 AU)
   Sep 14 - Asteroid 2001 XE1 Near-Mars Flyby (0.035 AU)
   Sep 14 - Asteroid 18458 Caesar Closest Approach To Earth (1.521 AU)
   Sep 14 - John Dobson's 95th Birthday (1915)
* Sep 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #261A (OTM-261A)
* Sep 15 - Comet C/2009 U5 (Grauer) Closest Approach To Earth (0.657 AU)
   Sep 15 - Asteroid 2005 UH6 Near-Venus Flyby (0.023 AU)
* Sep 16 - STS-133 Launch, Space Shuttle Discovery, International Space Station
   Sep 17 - Asteroid 4147 Lennon Closest Approach To Earth (1.467 AU)
   Sep 18 - Asteroid 3354 McNair Closest Approach To Earth (1.237 AU)
   Sep 18 - Asteroid 9954 Brachiosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.540 AU)
   Sep 19 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (18 Degrees)
* Sep 21 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #262 (OTM-262)
   Sep 21 - Jupiter at Opposition
   Sep 21 - Uranus At Opposition
   Sep 22 - Asteroid 4923 Clarke Closest Approach To Earth (0.928 AU)
   Sep 23 - Autumnal Equinox (03:09 UT)
* Sep 23 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Enceladus, Calypso & Polydeuces
* Sep 24 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
   Sep 24 - John Young's 80th Birthday (1930)
   Sep 25 - Asteroid 85990 (1999 JV6) Near-Venus Flyby (0.026 AU)
   Sep 26 - 5th Anniversary (2005), Cassini, Hyperion Flyby
* Sep 27 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #263 (OTM-263)
   Sep 27 - Asteroid 3169 Ostro Closest Approach To Earth (1.132 AU)
   Sep 27 - Asteroid 7853 Confucius Closest Approach To Earth (2.735 AU)
* Sep 28 - Comet P/1998 U4 (Spahr) Closest Approach To Earth (3.665 AU)
   Sep 28 - Asteroid 2002 TZ57 Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
   Sep 28 - Asteroid 73079 Davidbaltimore Closest Approach To Earth (1.590 AU)
   Sep 28 - Ismael Bullialdus' 405th Birthday (1605)
   Sep 29 - Comet 31P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 2 Perihelion (3.424 AU)
   Sep 29 - Comet C/2008 FK75 (Lemmon-Siding Spring) Perihelion (4.511 AU)
   Sep 30 - Asteroid 2005 NZ6 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.047 AU)
   Sep 30 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Charles Kowal's Discovery of Jupiter Moon
Themisto

October 2010
* Oct ?? - Express AM-4/Express MD-2 Proton M-Briz M Launch
* Oct ?? - TerreStar 2 Ariane 5 Launch
* Oct 01 - Glory Taurus Launch
* Oct 01 - Asteroid 137032 (1998 UO1) Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
* Oct 01 - Asteroid 7225 Huntress Closest Approach To Earth (1.478 AU)
* Oct 02 - Asteroid 1996 Adams Closest Approach To Earth (1.212 AU)
* Oct 02 - Asteroid 12104 Chesley Closest Approach To Earth (2.050 AU)
* Oct 02 - Hayden Planetarium's 75th Birthday (1935)
* Oct 03 - Asteroid 4444 Escher Closest Approach To Earth (1.210 AU)
* Oct 03 - Asteroid 1772 Gagarin Closest Approach To Earth (1.792 AU)
* Oct 03 - 195th Anniversary (1815), Chassigny Meteorite Fall (Mars Meteorite)
* Oct 04 - Comet P/2002 X2 (NEAT) Perihelion (2.127 AU)
* Oct 04-10 - World Space Week
* Oct 05 - Asteroid 1221 Amor Closest Approach To Earth (1.756 AU)
* Oct 06 - 20th Anniversary (1990), Ulysses Launch (Solar Polar Orbiter)
* Oct 08 - Asteroid 2001 TB Near-Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)
* Oct 08 - Asteroid 9250 Chamberlin Closest Approach To Earth (2.581 AU)
* Oct 09 - Draconids Meteor Shower Peak
* Oct 09 - Asteroid 1322 Coppernicus Closest Approach To Earth (1.461 AU)
* Oct 09 - Asteroid 5720 Halweaver Closest Approach To Earth (1.613 AU)
* Oct 10 - Asteroid 2062 Aten Closest Approach To Earth (0.586 AU)
* Oct 10 - Asteroid 83360 Catalina Closest Approach To Earth (1.221 AU)
* Oct 10 - Asteroid 2801 Huygens Closest Approach To Earth (1.362 AU)
* Oct 10 - Very Large Array's (VLA) 30th Birthday (1980)
* Oct 11 - Cassini, End of Equinox Mission
* Oct 11 - Asteroid 19148 Alaska Closest Approach To Earth (2.612 AU)
* Oct 11 - 65th Anniversary (1945), WAC Corporal Launch
* Oct 12 - Comet P/1998 U4 (Spahr) Near-Jupiter Flyby (0.357 AU)
* Oct 12 - Asteroid 742 Edisona Closest Approach To Earth (1.707 AU)
* Oct 12 - Asteroid 16809 Galapagos Closest Approach To Earth (1.735 AU)
* Oct 14 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
* Oct 14 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #264 (OTM-264)
* Oct 14 - Asteroid 162269 (1999 VO6) Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
* Oct 14 - Asteroid 2009 BU5 Near-Mars Flyby (0.046 AU)
* Oct 14 - Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris Closest Approach To Earth (95.667 AU)
* Oct 15 - Asteroid 13070 Seanconnery Closest Approach To Earth (0.928 AU)
* Oct 16 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Mimas, Pallene, Telesto, Methone &
            Aegaeon
* Oct 16 - Comet 142P/Ge-Wang Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU)
* Oct 16 - 35th Anniversary (1975), GOES 1 Launch (1st Weather Satellite
            in Geosynchronous Orbit)
* Oct 17 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione & Rhea
* Oct 17 - New Horizons, Halfway to Pluto
* Oct 17 - Asteroid 25924 Douglasadams Closest Approach To Earth (1.619 AU)
* Oct 18 - Asteroid 2009 ST Near-Vesta Flyby (0.043 AU)
* Oct 18 - Kuiper Belt Object 15760 (1992 QB1) Closest Approach To Earth (40.106
AU)
* Oct 19 - Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's 100th Birthday (1910)
* Oct 20 - Comet Hartley 2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.121 AU)
* Oct 20 - 40th Anniversary (1970), Zond 8 Launch (USSR Moon Flyby)
* Oct 21 - Orionids Meteor Shower Peak
* Oct 21 - Asteroid 4535 Adamcarolla Closest Approach To Earth (2.183 AU)
* Oct 22 - Asteroid 202683 (2006 US216) Near-Venus Flyby (0.025 AU)
* Oct 22 - Asteroid 4783 Wasson Closest Approach To Earth (1.481 AU)
* Oct 22 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 9, Venus Landing (Soviet Venus
Orbiter/Lander)
* Oct 23 - Asteroid 2000 TU28 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
* Oct 23 - Asteroid 2247 Hiroshima Closest Approach To Earth (1.185 AU)
* Oct 23 - Karl Jansky's 105th Birthday (1905)
* Oct 24 - Asteroid 2009 FD Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
* Oct 24 - Asteroid 2710 Veverka Closest Approach To Earth (1.687 AU)
* Oct 25 - Asteroid 2005 UN Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
* Oct 25 - Asteroid 1998 SD9 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.048 AU)
* Oct 25 - Asteroid 10217 Richardcook Closest Approach To Earth (1.075 AU)
* Oct 25 - Asteroid 3066 McFadden Closest Approach To Earth (1.262 AU)
* Oct 25 - 35th Anniversary (1975), Venera 10, Venus Landing
* Oct 26 - Asteroid 2004 XD6 Near-Mars Flyby (0.023 AU)
* Oct 26 - Asteroid 82332 Las Vegas Closest Approach To Earth (1.576 AU)
* Oct 27 - Asteroid 162269 (1999 VO6) Near-Venus Flyby (0.041 AU)
* Oct 27 - Asteroid 4766 Malin Closest Approach To Earth (1.457 AU)
* Oct 27 - Asteroid 3693 Barringer Closest Approach To Earth (1.607 AU)
* Oct 28 - Asteroid 4151 Alanhale Closest Approach To Earth (2.247 AU)
* Oct 29 - Asteroid 2007 JB21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)
* Oct 30 - Asteroid 2003 UV11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.013 AU)
* Oct 30 - Asteroid 2848 ASP Closest Approach To Earth (1.577 AU)
* Oct 30 - Asteroid 6487 Tonyspear Closest Approach To Earth (1.692 AU)
* Oct 30 - Asteroid 16035 Sasandford Closest Approach To Earth (1.856 AU)
* Oct 31 - Michael Collins' 80th Birthday (1930)

Cassini Significant Events
for 10/07/09 - 10/13/09

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on Oct. 13 from the
Deep Space Network tracking complex at Madrid, Spain.  The Cassini
spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and all subsystems are
operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of
the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" page
at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.

Wednesday, Oct. 7 (DOY 280):

The Science Operations Plan process for S59 kicked off today. The
first delivery port for this sequence will not occur until Nov. 9,
after the flight team has had a chance to review the results of the
Enceladus 7 flyby, and determine if E9, occurring within S59, will
use reaction wheels or thrusters.  In order to prevent a delay in
development, two versions of the flyby sequence have been developed,
one on wheels, and one on thrusters. Only one of these will proceed
past port 1.

Thursday, Oct. 8 (DOY 281):

An Instrument Operations Working Group meeting was held today to
brief instrument personnel on various topics. This particular
presentation was aimed at the Operations Team Leads and engineers
responsible for telemetry processing.   In addition, a demonstration
was given on the new MPS editor, the SEQGEN GUI on Solaris 10.

Friday, Oct. 9 (DOY 282):

Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM) #217 was performed today.  This was the
approach maneuver setting up for the Titan 62 encounter on Oct. 12.
The Reaction Control Subsystem burn began at 5:30 AM PDT. Telemetry
immediately after the maneuver showed the burn duration was 130.13
seconds, giving a delta-V of 0.15 m/s. All subsystems reported
nominal performance after the maneuver.

The S54 DOY-286 Live Inertial Vector Propagator update for Rhea,
Tethys, and Enceladus was uplinked on today at 17:27:51 UTC.
Radiation was nominal, and it has been confirmed as registered
onboard.

Saturday, Oct. 10 (DOY 283):

Today the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) measured oxygen
compounds, both H2O and CO2, in Saturn's stratosphere as a function
of latitude. Afterwards the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer concluded its
solar wind-aurora campaign with a final 3-hour observation. The day
finished with data collection for the bi-annual Scientist for a Day
outreach activity.  The spacecraft obtained images of three possible
targets, Saturn and the rings, Tethys with Saturn's rings, and Titan.
The data will be returned to Earth on the next downlink. After
reviewing essays submitted by participating students, winners will be
selected and the results presented at a live teleconference on Oct.
20.

Monday, Oct. 12 (DOY 285)

Monday was a very busy day for those involved in sequence
development.  As part of the ongoing Science Operations Plan (SOP)
processes, a port 3 delivery was due today for S57, and a port 2
delivery for S58.  Last Friday Science Planners handed off all
products for S56 to Uplink Operations for the final development
process. Tomorrow a kick off meeting for that process will be held.

The main engine cover was closed/deployed today for dust hazard
avoidance. It will be opened/stowed again on Oct. 14.  This is the
51st in-flight cycle for the cover.

On Oct. 12, Cassini flew by Titan at an altitude of 1300 km and a
speed of 6 kilometers per second. Closest approach for T62 occurred
at 3:02 AM PDT, latitude 64 degrees S. This flyby marked Cassini's
return to more nearly equatorial orbits, setting up the spacecraft
for future close encounters with icy moons.

For T62, the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) performed a
self-calibrating solar occultation observation; the information came
from a ratio of signal during occultation to signal of the unocculted
sun or star just before and after occultation.

Solar occultations by Titan are the most valuable Titan observations
for UVIS. They provide detailed vertical profiles of N, N2, and some
hydrocarbons to more than 3000 km altitude.  Solar occultation
measurements give a measure of the density profile of the main
constituents of the atmosphere, and the rate of change of the N2
density with altitude gives information on the temperature.

UVIS also conducted Extreme Ultraviolet and Far Ultraviolet
observations during this flyby. These observations give information
on airglow, hydrocarbon absorptions, haze and optical properties
globally, but with lower vertical resolution.

   The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) observed the
formation, evolution, and decay of clouds, particularly mid-latitude
and equatorial clouds. In ride-along mode, a solar occultation
provided information on the vertical structure and composition of
Titan's atmosphere and haze layer. VIMS also obtained a global map of
the western region of Senkyo.

CIRS carried out far-infrared limb sounding at 70 and 75 degrees
latitude South to collect information on the atmospheric temperature,
aerosols, and composition.  ISS acquired a full-disk mosaic of
western Senkyo at low phase angles, and rode along with VIMS to
monitor clouds.

T62 was a south polar, post-dusk flyby.  Magnetometer (MAG)
measurements provided a description of the draping and the pileup of
the external magnetic field around Titan near the terminator.  This
will be a good complement to the data set acquired at T52-T61 and be
used to characterize the background field for a similar local time
with respect to Saturn and different SKR longitudes.

Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) measured thermal plasmas in
Titan's ionosphere and surrounding environment; searched for
lightning in Titan's atmosphere, and investigated the interaction of
Titan with Saturn's magnetosphere.

Tuesday, Oct. 13 (DOY 286)

A non-targeted flyby of Rhea occurred today.

The topic at the Mission Planning Forum today was Y-thruster bias
plans and strategies.  In recent weeks the project has studied the
options and met to review implementing reaction wheel biases using
the Y-facing thrusters with S60 as the target start sequence. These
new biases will be performed after the spacecraft turns to the
delta-momentum vector. This saves hydrazine, and uses the Y-thrusters
rather than the Z-thrusters, which will better balance the hydrazine
throughput between the Y and Z thrusters, and therefore perhaps a
longer life span for the B-branch thrusters. After studying various
options, a final plan has been achieved, and was presented along with
implementation specifics and details on what flexibilities exist for
integration.

Visit the JPL Cassini home page for more information about the
Cassini Project: <http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/>
    ------------------------

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2338

Galileo's Jupiter Journey Began Two Decades Ago
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 16, 2009

--Launch: Oct. 18, 1989, from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on space
shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-34
--Arrival in orbit around Jupiter: Dec. 7, 1995
--VEEGA (Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist) is the acronym mission
planners gave for Galileo's flight path through the inner solar system
--Observed impacts of fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter
--Approximate number of people (from around the world) who worked on the
Galileo mission: 800
--More than 100 scientists from United States, Great Britain, Germany,
France, Canada and Sweden carried out Galileo's experiments

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Galileo spacecraft began what would become a
14-year odyssey of exploration 20 years ago this Sunday, Oct. 18.
Galileo was humanity's first emissary to orbit a planet in the outer
solar system - Jupiter.

Galileo was launched into space aboard the space shuttle Atlantis on
Oct. 18, 1989, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew of Atlantis
deployed Galileo out of the shuttle's cargo bay only hours after launch.
Then, a little over seven hours after leaving Earth, Galileo was
propelled onto its interplanetary flight path by a two-stage, solid-fuel
motor called an Inertial Upper Stage. Although earlier plans called for
Galileo to use a more powerful upper stage so that it could fly directly
to Jupiter, the final flight took it by other planets first so that it
could gain energy from the gravity of each. Galileo flew past Venus on
Feb. 10, 1990, and then twice past Earth -- once on Dec. 8, 1990, and
again on Dec. 8, 1992.

Even before its arrival at Jupiter in 1995, Galileo was making
groundbreaking discoveries. On Oct. 29, 1991, the spacecraft flew past
asteroid Gaspra - sending back the first close up images of one of these
celestial wanderers. Then on Aug. 28, 1993, Galileo encountered the
15.2-kilometer-wide (9.4-mile) asteroid Ida, where it took the first
images of an asteroid and discovered the first asteroid moon, the
1.6-kilometer-wide (1-mile) Dactyl. During the latter part of its
interplanetary cruise, Galileo was used to observe the collisions of
fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter in July 1994.

Galileo arrived at Jupiter on Dec. 7, 1995, entering orbit and dropping
a probe into the giant planet's atmosphere. The probe's velocity as it
entered Jupiter's atmosphere was a blistering 47.6 kilometers per second
(106,500 miles per hour). After the atmospheric drag and a deployed
parachute slowed its descent rate, the probe relayed to Galileo the
first in-place studies of Jupiter's clouds and winds, furthering
scientists' understanding of how the gas giant evolved. The probe also
made composition measurements designed to assess the degree of evolution
of Jupiter compared to the sun.

While the descent of the probe was a highlight of Galileo's mission, it
was hardly the only one. Galileo extensively investigated the geologic
diversity of Jupiter's four largest moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and
Europa. It found that Io's extensive volcanic activity is 100 times
greater than that found on Earth. Galileo discovered strong evidence
that Jupiter's moon Europa has a melted saltwater ocean under an ice
layer on its surface. Scientists estimate such an ocean could be up to
100 kilometers (62 miles) deep underneath its frozen surface and contain
about twice as much water as all of Earth's oceans. Data showed moons
Ganymede and Callisto may also have a liquid-saltwater layer. The
biggest discovery surrounding Ganymede was the presence of a magnetic
field. No other moon of any planet is known to have one.

When Galileo turned its instruments towards the giant gas world itself,
the spacecraft made the first observations of ammonia clouds in another
planet's atmosphere. It also observed numerous thunderstorms on Jupiter
many times larger than those on Earth, with lightning strikes up to
1,000 times more powerful than on Earth. It was the first spacecraft to
dwell in a giant planet's magnetosphere long enough to identify its
global structure and to investigate the dynamics of Jupiter's magnetic
field. Galileo determined that Jupiter's ring system is formed by dust
kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smash into the planet's four
small inner moons. Galileo data showed that Jupiter's outermost ring is
actually two rings, one embedded within the other.

Having traveled approximately 4.6 billion kilometers (about 2.8 billion
miles), the hardy spacecraft endured more than four times the cumulative
dose of harmful Jovian radiation it was designed to withstand -- and
still major systems functioned. But while it was still enjoying
relatively good health, the spacecraft's propellant was low. Without
propellant, Galileo would not be able to point its antenna toward Earth
or adjust its trajectory, so controlling the spacecraft would no longer
be possible. Mission managers at NASA and JPL decided to place their
resilient Jovian explorer on a collision course with Jupiter to
eliminate any chance of an unwanted impact between the spacecraft and
Europa. The possibility of life existing on Europa is so compelling and
has raised so many unanswered questions that it is prompting plans for
future spacecraft to return to the icy moon.

The Galileo spacecraft's 14-year odyssey came to an end on Sunday, Sept.
21, 2003, when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter's shadow, then
disintegrated in the planet's dense atmosphere at 11:57 a.m. Pacific
Daylight Time. Its entry speed was 48.2 kilometers per second (nearly
108,000 miles per hour). That is the equivalent of traveling from Los
Angeles to New York City in 82 seconds.

JPL's Deep Space Network tracking station in Goldstone, Calif., received
the last signal at 12:43:14 PDT, 46 minutes after it was sent. The delay
is due to the time it takes for the signal to travel to Earth. Hundreds
of former Galileo project members and their families were present at JPL
for a celebration to bid the spacecraft goodbye.

Galileo project scientist Torrence Johnson said at the time, "We haven't
lost a spacecraft, we've gained a steppingstone into the future of space
exploration."

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
managed the Galileo mission for NASA. JPL designed and built the Galileo
orbiter, and operated the mission.

Additional information about the Galileo mission and its discoveries is
available online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo-legacy and
http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov .

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2337

Cassini Data Help Redraw Shape of Solar System
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 15, 2009

Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft
suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may not
have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models. In a paper
published Oct. 15 in Science Express, researchers from the Johns Hopkins
Applied Physics Laboratory present a new view of the heliosphere, and
the forces that shape it.

"These images have revolutionized what we thought we knew for the past
50 years; the sun travels through the galaxy not like a comet but more
like a big, round bubble," said Stamatios Krimigis of the Applied
Physics Lab, in Laurel, Md., principal investigator for Cassini's
Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument which carries the Ion and Neutral
Camera. "It's amazing how a single new observation can change an entire
concept that most scientists had taken as true for nearly fifty years."

As the solar wind flows from the sun, it carves out a bubble in the
interstellar medium. Models of the boundary region between the
heliosphere and interstellar medium have been based on the assumption
that the relative flow of the interstellar medium and its collision with
the solar wind dominate the interaction. This would create a
foreshortened "nose" in the direction of the solar system's motion, and
an elongated "tail" in the opposite direction.

The Ion and Neutral Camera images suggest that the solar wind's
interaction with the interstellar medium is instead more significantly
controlled by particle pressure and magnetic field energy density.

"The map we've created from the images suggests that pressure from a hot
population of charged particles and interaction with the interstellar
medium's magnetic field strongly influence the shape of the
heliosphere," says Don Mitchell, Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument/Ion
and Neutral Camera co-investigator at the Applied Physics Lab.

Since entering into orbit around Saturn in July of 2004, the Ion and
Neutral Camera has been mapping energetic neutral atoms near the planet,
as well as their dispersal across the entire sky. The energetic neutral
atoms are produced by energetic protons, which are responsible for the
outward pressure of the heliosphere beyond the interface where the solar
wind collides with the interstellar medium, and which interact with the
magnetic field of the interstellar medium.

"Energetic neutral atom imaging has demonstrated its power to reveal the
distribution of energetic ions, first in Earth's own magnetosphere, next
in the giant magnetosphere of Saturn and now throughout vast structures
in space-out to the very edge of our sun's interaction with the
interstellar medium," says Edmond C. Roelof, Magnetospheric Imaging
Instrument co-investigator at the Applied Physics Lab.

The results from Cassini complement and extend findings from NASA's
Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft. Data from IBEX and
Cassini have made it possible for scientists to construct the first
comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky
Way galaxy.

Researchers from University of Arizona, Tucson; Southwest Research
Institute, San Antonio; and University of Texas at San Antonio
contributed to the article. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative
project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was
designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Magnetospheric Imaging
Instrument was developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory.

More information on the Cassini mission is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov> and on the Magnetospheric Imaging
Instrument Web site at http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/CASSINI/ .

More information on the Interstellar Boundary Explorer is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/ibex

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/titan20091012/

Cassini
Titan Flyby
October 12,2009

T-62: Studying Titan's Atmosphere and Retuning to the Plane

Studying Titan's clouds and atmosphere in the south, the Ultraviolet
Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) and the Visible and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer (VIMS) observe the sun's light as it passes behind Titan.

This flyby also marks Cassini's return to a more equatorial orbit,
setting up the spacecraft for future close encounters with icy moons.

Titan Flyby
Oct. 12, 2009 (SCET)

*Altitude*
1300 kilometers (808 miles)

*Speed*
6.0 km/sec (13,400 mph)

*Details*
+ Mission Description PDF (535 KB)
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/files/20091012_titan_mission_description.pdf>