Dawn Spacecraft To Leave Asteroid Vesta For Dwarf Planet Ceres
Source: Associated Press
Dawn Spacecraft To Leave Asteroid Vesta For Dwarf Planet Ceres
By ALICIA CHANG 09/05/12 05:05 AM ET AP
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After spending a year gazing at Vesta, NASA's Dawn spacecraft was set to cruise toward the most massive space rock in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – a voyage that will take nearly three years.
Firing its ion propulsion thrusters, Dawn had been slowly spiraling away from Vesta for more than a month until it was to pop free from its gravitational grip. Since its antenna was pointed away from Earth during this last maneuver, engineers would not know until Wednesday how it went.
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Launched in 2007, Dawn is on track to become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with two celestial bodies in a bid to learn about the solar system's evolution.
Dawn slipped into orbit last year around Vesta – about the size of Arizona – and beamed back stunning close-ups of the lumpy surface. Its next destination is the Texas-size Ceres, also known as a dwarf planet.
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Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/dawn-spacecraft-asteroid-vesta-planet-ceres_n_1857142.html
