Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




IRON AND ICE
US space probe leaves asteroid's orbit, NASA says
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Sept 6, 2012


The US space probe Dawn has left the orbit of Vesta, one of the biggest asteroids in the solar system, and is headed for a rendezvous with the dwarf planet Ceres in February 2015, NASA said.

Dawn left behind Vesta at around 0626 GMT on September 5, after nearly a year spent circling the asteroid and mapping its previously uncharted surface, NASA said on its website.

"The findings are helping scientists unlock some of the secrets of how the solar system, including our own Earth, was formed," NASA said.

Vesta and Ceres are both located between Mars and Jupiter.

NASA's deep space network of antennas and communications facilities confirmed the spacecraft's departure from Vesta's orbit, the space agency said.

Launched September 27, 2007, Dawn is equipped with a high resolution camera and two spectrometers.

It weighs 1.2 tons and is 1.64 meters (5.3 feet) long and 1.27 meters (4.1 feet) wide, and is powered by an electric motor with ion propulsion that enables it to travel great distances at high speeds.

Discovered in 1801, Cereis is spherical body that is 960 kilometers (596 miles) in diameter and is made up of dense frozen water around a rocky core.

It was classified in 2006 as one of three "dwarf planets" in our solar system along with Pluto and Eris, under a new definition arrived at by the International Astronomical Union after it took away Pluto's status as a planet.

Vesta was discovered in 1807. It is a large, irregularly shaped rock, with an iron core and no trace of water. Its diameter is 520 kilometers (323 miles).

Dawn will travel a total of 5.1 billion kilometers (3.2 billion miles) on its $466 million mission.

.


Related Links
Asteroid and Comet Mission News, Science and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








IRON AND ICE
Dawn has Departed the Giant Asteroid Vesta
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 06, 2012
Mission controllers received confirmation that NASA's Dawn spacecraft has escaped from the gentle gravitational grip of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn is now officially on its way to its second destination, the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn departed from Vesta at about 11:26 p.m. PDT on Sept. 4 (2:26 a.m. EDT on Sept. 5). Communications from the spacecraft via NASA's Deep Space Network confirme ... read more


IRON AND ICE
NASA's GRAIL Moon Twins Begin Extended Mission Science

Flags at half mast across US for Armstrong funeral

Walls of Lunar Crater May Hold Patchy Ice, LRO Radar Finds

Russia's moonshot hope 'not a dream'

IRON AND ICE
NASA's Mars rover parked to test robotic arm

Curiosity Has a Photo Day

Marks of Laser Exam on Martian Soil

Opportunity Drives And Images Rock Outcrop

IRON AND ICE
Space-age food served up with seeds of success

Africa eyes joint space agency

Africa needs own space agency: Sudan's Bashir

Moles, crabs and Moon dust: DLR at the ILA Space Pavilion

IRON AND ICE
Tiangong Orbit Change Signals Likely Date for Shenzhou 10

China Focus: Timeline for China's space research revealed

China eyes next lunar landing as US scales back

China unveils ambitious space projects

IRON AND ICE
ISS crew complete space station repair

Crew Wraps Up Preparations for Wednesday's Spacewalk

Building MLM Under Way at Khrunichev

Astronauts Complete Second Expedition 32 Spacewalk

IRON AND ICE
First-Stage Fuel Loaded; Launch Weather Forecast Improves

NASA launches mission to explore radiation belts

ISRO to score 100 with a cooperative mission Sep 9

NASA Administrator Announces New Commercial Crew And Cargo Milestones

IRON AND ICE
Birth of a planet

A Hot Potential Habitable Exoplanet around Gliese 163

NASA's Kepler Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting a Pair of Stars

How Old are the First Planets?

IRON AND ICE
Amazon takes on iPad with new Kindle Fire tablet

US judge OKs partial settlement in e-book case

Empire-style computers? Frenchman takes PCs to lap of luxury

Google-Microsoft field smartphones to take on iPhone 5




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement