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Dawn

Dawn

Dawn orbited the protoplanet Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres as part of its mission to characterize the conditions and processes that shaped our solar system.

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Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Sept. 27, 2007

Type

Orbiter

Target

Exoplanets

Status

Past

About the mission

Dawn orbited the protoplanet Vesta and is now in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres as part of its mission to characterize the conditions and processes that shaped our solar system. Vesta and Ceres are the two most massive bodies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. By studying these two giant remnants from the epoch of planet formation, Dawn will provide scientists with new knowledge of how the solar system formed and evolved.

Thanks to its ion propulsion system, Dawn is the only spacecraft ever to have the capability to orbit two extraterrestrial destinations.

Dawn's science investigations at Vesta result in a number of findings about the protoplanet:

  • Vesta is more closely related to the terrestrial planets (including Earth) than to typical asteroids. Like planets, it has a dense core, surrounded by a mantle and a crust.
  • Vesta has a crater more than 300 miles in diameter. In the center is a mountain more than twice the height of Mount Everest.
  • Vesta has a network of more than 90 chasms -- some with dimensions rivaling those of the Grand Canyon -- that are scars from two giant impacts hundreds of miles away.
  • Vesta is the source of more meteorites on Earth than Mars or the moon.

Instruments

  • Camera
  • Gamma ray spectrometer
  • Neutron spectrometer
  • Visible mapping spectrometer
  • Infrared mapping spectrometer
  • Gravity measurements (using telecommunications subsystem and Deep Space Network)

Mission Highlights

Feb. 17, 2009

Dawn flies by Mars on its way to the main asteroid belt.

July 15, 2011

Dawn enters orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta, becoming the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn spends 14 months in orbit, fully imaging the surface, taking pictures in stereo, measuring the composition and temperature, determining the interior structure, and searching for moons. It uses its ion propulsion system to spiral down to an altitude of only 130 miles (210 kilometers).

Sept. 4, 2012

Dawn departs Vesta.

March 6, 2015

: Dawn enters orbit around dwarf planet Ceres to begin science investigations.

Sept. 27, 2017

: Dawn Celebrates 10 Years of Spaceflight

Nov. 1, 2018

: End of Mission
Exoplanets target

More about Solar System

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Radar Observations of Elongated Near-Earth Asteroid 2011 AG5

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NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun

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Three-Telescope View of the Sun

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NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot

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NASA’s Juno Team Assessing Camera After 48th Flyby of Jupiter

News .

NASA’s Psyche Mission Continues Preparation for Launch in 2023

› Blog: Dawn Journal
› Mission Website
› NASA Dawn Website
› Dawn Blog
› Dawn on Twitter

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