NASA - Dawn Spacecraft Enroute to Asteroid Belt

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on its way to study a pair of asteroids after lifting off Thursday, September 27, 2007 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:34 a.m. EDT (4:34 a.m. PDT).

Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., received telemetry on schedule at 9:44 a.m. EDT (6:44 a.m. PDT) indicating Dawn had achieved proper orientation in space and its massive solar array was generating power from the sun.

During the next 80 days, spacecraft controllers will test and calibrate the myriad of spacecraft systems and subsystems, ensuring Dawn is ready for the long journey ahead.

Dawn's 4.8-billion-kilometer (3-billion-mile) odyssey includes exploration of asteroid Vesta in 2011 and the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015. These two icons of the asteroid belt have been witness to much of our solar system's history. By using Dawn's instruments to study both asteroids, scientists more accurately can compare and contrast the two. Dawn's science instrument suite will measure elemental and mineral composition, shape, surface topography, and tectonic history, and will also seek water-bearing minerals. In addition, the Dawn spacecraft and how it orbits Vesta and Ceres will be used to measure the celestial bodies' masses and gravity fields.

The spacecraft's engines use a unique, hyper-efficient system called ion propulsion, which uses electricity to ionize xenon to generate thrust. The 30-centimeter-wide (12-inch) ion thrusters provide less power than conventional engines but can maintain thrust for months at a time.

The management of the Dawn launch was the responsibility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The Delta 2 launch vehicle was provided by United Launch Alliance, Denver.

The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Other scientific partners include Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M.; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg, Germany; DLR Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin; Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome; and the Italian Space Agency. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NASA
• Dawn
• space
• science
• spacecraft
• rocket
• asteroid

[bullcurr]

space is too extreme to ever be truly safe

[GeneralBerger]

Hopefully one day someone cough*me*cough will create a safer way to get into space....cough*space elevator*cough

[GreenmeGo]

Nice exploration

[Viracocha711]

What is that at 1:00 ?

[619badazz13]

man has never been past earths orbit

[mogetossj4]

the human race will one day travel to the space like how we travel to other countris and some people will work in the moon or mars that will be in the future I hope that.

[darlacoconut]

these probes are fantastic. if only they could auto-refuel on the bodies they travel to? if vesta turns out to have a large amount of water ice; this could make it a more desirable destination than Mars for manned expeditions? we're getting better at this. telemetry is 10 million times better than the 1960's. If the power could be doubled for currently designed ion engines... there is a myriad of technologies humans have, just need to intergrate together into a fluent and efficient ship?

[bullcurr]

no to expect a place full of high speed rocks, particles, radiation, absolute zero and whatever else is out there to be anything like safe is just being a pussy about it. We as a race need to face these realities, and press upward and not be cowards.

[fusionstar916]

@bullcurr yea with all the borgs, wraiths, and replicators around. it will never be safe.

[JuliusScenester]

haha, awesome

[Orizan]

You're right, it shouldn't be that hard, now get on it.

[1010100101]

1:00 you can see UFO

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