QUESTION:
What would you tell me about Masursky asteroid ?  I have understood 
that Cassini spacecraft will fly near to it in the C18 sequence.

ANSWER from Ellis Miner on January 3, 2000:
Very little is known about the asteroid 2685 Masursky.  At Cassini's
closest approach to the asteroid, named after the late Harold Masursky at
the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona, the asteroid
will span only a couple of picture elements of the Cassini Narrow Angle
Imaging Camera.  The data will provide the first indication of the color
(and hence the classification) of the asteroid.  The asteroid was
discovered by Dr. Edward Bowell of USGS Flagstaff on May 3 1981.

Why is the asteroid Masursky important?  The answer probably lies more in
our respect for the person than for the asteroid itself.  The American
Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences has named one of
their four annual prizes after Masursky. the Masursky Meritorious Service
Award, awarded in recognition of outstanding lifetime service to the field
of planetary sciences.  It is also the asteroid to which Cassini comes
closest (unless one counts Saturn's moon, Phoebe, which is thought to be a
captured asteroid.

The closest approach of Cassini to Masursky will be on Sunday, January 23,
at a distance of about a million miles.