
Retrieved: July 23, 2010 from NASA - Milford-NASA
... both navigation and science study of the planetoids. DAWN carries two such cameras for redundancy (NASA 2010 g). The second instrument is a group of 21 sensors. These sensors make up what is known as the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector. Their purpose is to identify the element composition of both Cer ...
... both navigation and science study of the planetoids. DAWN carries two such cameras for redundancy (NASA 2010 g). The second instrument is a group of 21 sensors. These sensors make up what is known as the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector. Their purpose is to identify the element composition of both Cer ...
Asteroids - Elements Magazine
... material to become planets. These “minor bodies” are therefore keys to understanding how the Solar System formed and evolved. As leftover planetary building blocks, they are of great importance in understanding planetary compositions. They may also provide clues to the origin of life, as similar bod ...
... material to become planets. These “minor bodies” are therefore keys to understanding how the Solar System formed and evolved. As leftover planetary building blocks, they are of great importance in understanding planetary compositions. They may also provide clues to the origin of life, as similar bod ...
Comets vs. Asteroids
... What makes comets look fuzzy and have tails? When they are at home in the Oort Cloud or Kuiper Belt, comets are just dull, dark chunks of ice, dust, and rock. In this state, they may not be much different from asteroids. But as comets get closer to the Sun and begin to warm up, some of the materials ...
... What makes comets look fuzzy and have tails? When they are at home in the Oort Cloud or Kuiper Belt, comets are just dull, dark chunks of ice, dust, and rock. In this state, they may not be much different from asteroids. But as comets get closer to the Sun and begin to warm up, some of the materials ...
Rocks in Space
... orbiting then landing on 433 Eros in February 2001 • The Japanese mission Hayabusa landed on the asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005 • The Rosetta probe flew past asteroids 2867 Šteins and 21 Lutetia in 2008 and 2010, on its way to rendezvous with a comet. • The Dawn spacecraft reached orbit around 4 Ves ...
... orbiting then landing on 433 Eros in February 2001 • The Japanese mission Hayabusa landed on the asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005 • The Rosetta probe flew past asteroids 2867 Šteins and 21 Lutetia in 2008 and 2010, on its way to rendezvous with a comet. • The Dawn spacecraft reached orbit around 4 Ves ...
Hubble observations of Ceres and Pluto:
... The Dawn spacecraft is set to launch in June 2007. First it will encounter the secondlargest asteroid Vesta in 2011, then on to Ceres in 2015. These are like two baby planets, whose growth was stunted by their proximity to their gigantic neighbor, Jupiter. As such, they represent two case studies of ...
... The Dawn spacecraft is set to launch in June 2007. First it will encounter the secondlargest asteroid Vesta in 2011, then on to Ceres in 2015. These are like two baby planets, whose growth was stunted by their proximity to their gigantic neighbor, Jupiter. As such, they represent two case studies of ...
13.Asteroids - University of New Mexico
... In 1991 asteroid 951 Gaspra was visited by the Galileo spacecraft and became the first asteroid to have hiresolution images taken of it. In 1993 Galileo made a close encounter with asteroid 243 Ida. Both Gaspra and Ida are classified as S-type asteroids composed of metal-rich silicates. In 1997 the ...
... In 1991 asteroid 951 Gaspra was visited by the Galileo spacecraft and became the first asteroid to have hiresolution images taken of it. In 1993 Galileo made a close encounter with asteroid 243 Ida. Both Gaspra and Ida are classified as S-type asteroids composed of metal-rich silicates. In 1997 the ...
Dwarf Planets
... has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a (near-spherical) shape has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit is not a satellite The term "dwarf planet" applies only to objects in the Solar System and is distinct from "planet" and "small solar s ...
... has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a (near-spherical) shape has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit is not a satellite The term "dwarf planet" applies only to objects in the Solar System and is distinct from "planet" and "small solar s ...
IMPACT CRATERING ON THE SMALL PLANETS CERES AND
... Rome, Italy; 8JHU-APL, Laurel, MD; 9NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD; 10University of Georgia, Atlanta, GA; 11University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 12Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Introduction: Dawn global high-resolution mapping of Ceres at ~35 m pixel scales reveals ...
... Rome, Italy; 8JHU-APL, Laurel, MD; 9NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD; 10University of Georgia, Atlanta, GA; 11University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 12Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Introduction: Dawn global high-resolution mapping of Ceres at ~35 m pixel scales reveals ...
FIT_colloq_2nov2012
... (2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satelli ...
... (2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satelli ...
Glaciopanspermia
... compared with the terrestrial planets. Thus, life may have evolved early on Ceres. Furthermore, Ceres (1) is a differentiated body with a rocky core and an icy mantle, possibly still partly liquid, with a depth of more than 100 km; (2) may have or have had hydrothermal vents at its rocky core [5] an ...
... compared with the terrestrial planets. Thus, life may have evolved early on Ceres. Furthermore, Ceres (1) is a differentiated body with a rocky core and an icy mantle, possibly still partly liquid, with a depth of more than 100 km; (2) may have or have had hydrothermal vents at its rocky core [5] an ...
Asteroid Belt
... David Jewitt, Harold Weaver, Jessica Agarwal,Max Mutchler & Michal Drahus, Nature, Volume 467, 14 October 2010 ...
... David Jewitt, Harold Weaver, Jessica Agarwal,Max Mutchler & Michal Drahus, Nature, Volume 467, 14 October 2010 ...
Dawn (spacecraft)

Dawn is a space probe launched by NASA in September 2007 with the mission of studying two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres. It is currently in orbit about its second target, the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn is the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies, the first spacecraft to visit either Vesta or Ceres, and also the first to visit a dwarf planet, arriving at Ceres in March 2015, a few months before New Horizons flew by Pluto in July 2015.Dawn entered Vesta orbit on July 16, 2011, and completed a 14-month survey mission before leaving for Ceres in late 2012. Dawn entered Ceres orbit on March 6, 2015, and is predicted to remain in orbit perpetually after the conclusion of its mission.The Dawn mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with spacecraft components contributed by European partners from the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. It is the first NASA exploratory mission to use ion propulsion, which enabled it to enter and leave the orbit of multiple celestial bodies. Previous multi-target missions using conventional drives, such as the Voyager program, were restricted to flybys.