* Astronomy

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RE: Dawn spacecraft

Blobrana · L

Nasa's Dawn space probe has begun an eight-year journey to the Solar System's asteroid belt.
The US spacecraft, which will visit the small worlds of Ceres and Vesta, blasted-off at 1134 GMT (1234 BST) from the Cape Canaveral Airforce Station.
The probe's journey of nearly five billion kilometres will hopefully help scientists decipher how the Solar System formed.
The asteroids are thought to be the leftovers after the planets were made.
Dawn will reach Vesta in 2011 before going on to visit Ceres in 2015.

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Blobrana · L

NASA's Dawn spacecraft began its 1.7 billion mile journey through the inner solar system to study a pair of asteroids Thursday at 7:34 a.m. EDT.
The Delta 2 rocket, fitted with nine strap-on solid-fuel boosters, safely climbed away from the Florida coastline and launch complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"We have our time machine up and flying" - Christopher Russell, Dawn Principal Investigator, University of California, Los Angeles.

Dawn is scheduled to begin its exploration of Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015. The two icons of the asteroid belt are located in orbit between Mars and Jupiter and have been witness to so much of our solar system's history.
By using the same set of instruments at two separate destinations, scientists can more accurately formulate comparisons and contrasts.
Dawn's science instrument suite will measure shape, surface topography and tectonic history, elemental and mineral composition as well as seek out water-bearing minerals.
A critical milestone for the spacecraft comes in is acquiring its signal. The launch team expects that to occur in approximately 2-3 hours.

Blobrana · L

Rising above a cloud-filled horizon, the Delta II rocket carrying the Dawn spacecraft roars into the sky. Liftoff was at 7:34 a.m. EDT from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Dawn is the ninth mission in NASA's Discovery Program. The spacecraft will be the first to orbit two planetary bodies, asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, during a single mission. Vesta and Ceres lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is also NASA's first purely scientific mission powered by three solar electric ion propulsion engines.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Blobrana · L

A Delta II rocket with the Dawn spacecraft aboard lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Thursday. NASA's Dawn spacecraft rocketed away toward an unprecedented double encounter in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

John Raoux: AP

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Blobrana · L

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has launched on a mission to investigate two titans of the asteroid belt. By studying the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, astronomers hope to learn more about how the rest of the solar system formed, including Earth.
Dawn lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida, US, at 1234 GMT on Thursday aboard a Delta II rocket.
Before it gets to the asteroid belt, Dawn will first swing by Mars in February 2011. This encounter will boost it on towards its scheduled rendezvous with asteroid Vesta in August 2011.

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Blobrana · L

T+plus 1 hour 2 minutes.

Dawn spacecraft Separation

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Dawn Separation in 4 minutes

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Third Stage Burnout

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T+plus 56 minutes

Third Stage Ignition