Dawn (spacecraft)
| Dawn | |
|---|---|
 Artist's concept of Dawn with Vesta (left) & Ceres (right) (the proximity of Vesta to Ceres is not to scale.) |
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| Organization: | NASA |
| Mission type: | Flyby / Orbiter |
| Flyby of: | Mars (February 4, 2009) |
| Satellite of: | Vesta (currently) Ceres (planned) |
| Orbital insertion date: | Vesta: July 2011 Ceres: February 2015 (planned) |
| Launch date: | 2007-09-27 (5 years, 265 days ago) |
| Launch vehicle: | Delta 7925-H |
| Launch site: | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Mission duration: | Until July 2015 |
| Webpage: | dawn.jpl.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/index.html |
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Dawn is an unmanned NASA space probe.[1] It has orbited and studied the asteroid Vesta, which is in the asteroid belt.[1]
Dawn was launched on September 27, 2007[1][2][3][4] at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Delta 7925-H rocket.[2][3] It then travelled to Mars for a gravity assist, making its closest approach to Mars on February 2009.[1]
Next, Dawn set off for Vesta.[1] It went into orbit in July, 2011.[1] In September 2012, Dawn left Vesta and headed for Ceres,[1] a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt. The space probe should start orbiting Ceres in February 2015.[1][4][5] By the time Dawn reaches Ceres, it will have travelled 5.1 billion km.[4]
References [change]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Schilling, Govert (July 2011), "Solar System sleuth", BBC Sky at Night Magazine (74): 38-43
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Dawn Launch". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/launch/index.html. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Week in Photos: Dawn Lifts Off, Pike Poisoned, More". National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/photogalleries/wip-week48/. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gilliland, Ben (2011-07-25), "First light of Dawn settles on Vesta", Metro (London: Associated Newspapers): 22-23
- ↑ "NASA spacecraft Dawn is orbiting Vesta asteroid". The Daily Telegraph. 2011-07-19. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/nasa-spacecraft-dawn-is-orbiting-vesta-asteroid/story-e6freuyi-1226097359392. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
Other websites [change]
- "Dawn Mission Overview". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/mission/index.html. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
- "Video: NASA Asteroid Probe Launched" (Video). National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070927-dawn-video.html. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
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