Welcome to the American Geophysical Union fall meeting edition of this week's International Space Updates.

The NASA Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission, currently operated by the University of California, Berkeley, is ready to move its five satellites into "prime observing position" next January.  NASA launched THEMIS to help study what and why auroras occurring in Earth's atmosphere have the ability to change from a small wave of light to a spectacular and beautiful streak of color.  It will hopefully be possible to learn more about the connection between the Sun and Earth, and how Earth's magnetosphere works.

So far, researchers have observed "the dynamics of a rapidly developing substorm, confirm the existence of giant magnetic ropes and witness small explosions in the outskirts of Earth's magnetic field."

Researchers still evaluate scientific data in an attempt to locate liquid water or water vapor on other planets.  According to NASA scientists evaluating data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft, it is possible the Saturn moon Enceladus still has water - and may even have life.  The images taken by Cassini revealed icy jets being shot out of a "near-surface pockets" of water located on the surface of Enceladus - further flybys will need to occur before scientists are completely sure about the possibility of liquid water.

As the NASA Mars rovers must find safe locations to "hibernate" during the harsh Martian winter, engineers are using new software technology to locate possible safe havens for the rovers.  The rover Spirit could use the "Von Braun" section of Mars, but all paths to get to the Martian mesa are all too dangerous to use with the rough weather quickly approaching.  According to software used by Ohio State University researchers, if Spirit attempts to reach Von Braun but is unable to due to the difficult landscape, there aren't very many ideal locations for the rover to take temporary refuge before continuing its trip.

The software can also help plan out future mission routes, assuming the rovers are still able to function normally after the winter ends.