* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Dawn spacecraft

Blobrana · L

Dawn has completed the final intensive phase of its extraordinary exploration of Vesta, and it has now begun its gradual departure. Propelled by its uniquely efficient ion propulsion system, the probe is spiraling ever higher, reversing the winding path it followed into orbit last year.
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Blobrana · L

The Dawn spacecraft arrived at Vesta, 2011

Dawn Spacecraft Unveils Vesta Images

Blobrana · L

Dawn Easing into its Final Science Orbit

After successfully completing nearly five months scrutinizing the giant asteroid Vesta at its lowest orbit altitude, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will begin its final major science data-gathering phase at Vesta on June 15, at an average altitude of 680 kilometres above the surface.
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Blobrana · L

Far from Earth, on the opposite side of the sun, deep in the asteroid belt, Dawn is gradually spiralling around the giant protoplanet Vesta. Under the gentle pressure of its uniquely efficient ion propulsion system, the explorer is scaling the gravitational mountain from its low-altitude mapping orbit (LAMO) to its second high-altitude mapping orbit (HAMO2).
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Blobrana · L

Dawn Gets Extra Time to Explore Vesta

NASA's Dawn mission has received official confirmation that 40 extra days have been added to its exploration of the giant asteroid Vesta, the second most massive object in the main asteroid belt. The mission extension allows Dawn to continue its scientific observations at Vesta until Aug. 26, while still arriving at the dwarf planet Ceres at the same originally scheduled target date in February 2015.
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Blobrana · L

Vesta is spending the 205th anniversary of its discovery by treating Dawn to more spectacular vistas. When Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers first spotted Vesta, he could hardly have imagined that the power of the noble human spirit for adventure and the insatiable hunger for knowledge would propel a ship from Earth to that mysterious point of light among the stars. And yet today our spacecraft is conducting a detailed and richly rewarding exploration of the world that Olbers found.
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Blobrana · L

Dawn is scrutinising Vesta from its low-altitude mapping orbit (LAMO), circling the rocky world five and a half times a day. The spacecraft is healthy and continuing its intensive campaign to reveal the astonishing nature of this body in the mysterious depths of the main asteroid belt.
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Blobrana · L

Dawn concludes 2011 more than 40 thousand times nearer to Vesta than it began the year. Now at its lowest altitude of the mission, the bold adventurer is conducting its most detailed exploration of this alien world and continuing to make thrilling new discoveries.
Circling the protoplanet 210 kilometres beneath it every 4 hours, 21 minutes on average, Dawn is closer to the surface than the vast majority of Earth-orbiting satellites are to that planet.
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Blobrana · L

NASA's Dawn Spirals Down to Lowest Orbit

NASA's Dawn spacecraft successfully manoeuvred into its closest orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta today, beginning a new phase of science observations. The spacecraft is now circling Vesta at an altitude averaging about 210 kilometers in the phase of the mission known as low altitude mapping orbit.
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