[meteorite-list] NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Fires Past Record for Speed Change

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 15:22:15 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201006072222.o57MMFL2022449_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-192

NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Fires Past Record for Speed Change
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 07, 2010

PASADENA, Calif.-- Deep in the heart of the asteroid belt, on its way to
the first of the belt's two most massive inhabitants, NASA's
ion-propelled Dawn spacecraft has eclipsed the record for velocity
change produced by a spacecraft's engines.

The previous standard-bearer for velocity change, NASA's Deep Space 1,
also impelled by ion propulsion, was the first interplanetary spacecraft
to use this technology. The Deep Space 1 record fell on Saturday, June
5, when the Dawn spacecraft's accumulated acceleration over the mission
exceeded 4.3 kilometers per second (9,600 miles per hour).

"We are using this amazing ion-engine technology as a stepping-stone to
orbit and explore two of the asteroid belt's most mysterious objects,
Vesta and Ceres," said Robert Mase, Dawn project manager from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

A spacecraft's change in velocity refers to its ability to change its
path through space by using its own rocket engines. This measurement of
change begins only after the spacecraft exits the last stage of the
launch vehicle that hurled it into space.

To get to where it is in both the record books and the asteroid belt,
the Dawn spacecraft had to fire its three engines ??? one at a time-- for
a cumulative total of 620 days. In that time, it has used less than 165
kilograms (363 pounds) of xenon propellant. Over the course of its
eight-plus-year mission, Dawn's three ion engines are expected to
accumulate 2,000 days of operation -- 5.5 years of thrusting -- for a
total change in velocity of more than 38,620 kilometers per hour (24,000
miles per hour).

"I am delighted that it will be Dawn that surpasses DS1's record," said
Marc Rayman, chief engineer for the Dawn mission and a previous project
manager for Deep Space 1."It is a tribute to all those involved in the
design and operations of this remarkable spacecraft."

At first glance, Dawn's pedal-to-the-metal performance is a
not-so-inspiring 0-to-97 kilometers per hour (0-to-60 miles per hour) in
four days. But due to its incredible efficiency, it expends only 37
ounces of xenon propellant during that time. Then take into
consideration that after those four days of full-throttle thrusting, it
will do another four days, and then another four. By the end of 12 days,
the spacecraft will have increased its velocity by more than 290
kilometers per hour (180 miles per hour), with more days and weeks and
months of continuous thrusting to come. In one year's time, Dawn's ion
propulsion system can increase the spacecraft's speed by 8,850
kilometers per hour (5,500 miles per hour), while consuming the
equivalent of only 16 gallons of fuel.

"This is a special moment for the spacecraft team," said Dawn's
principal investigator, Chris Russell of the University of California
Los Angeles. "In only 407 days, our minds will be on another set of
records, the data records that Dawn will transmit when we enter Vesta
orbit."

Dawn's 4.8-billion-kilometer (3-billion-mile) odyssey includes
exploration of asteroid Vesta in 2011 and 2012, and the dwarf planet
Ceres in 2015. These two icons of the asteroid belt have been witness to
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. In addition,
the way the Dawn spacecraft orbits both Vesta and Ceres will be used to
measure the celestial bodies' masses and gravity fields.

While Dawn surpassed Deep Space 1's record for velocity change, Deep
Space 1 will continue to reign as holder for the longest duration of
powered spaceflight for another few months. Dawn is expected to take
over that record on about August 10 of this year.

The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL, a division of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of California, Los
Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Other
scientific partners include Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Ariz.;
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau,
Germany; DLR Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany; Italian
National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome; and the Italian Space Agency,
Rome. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built
the Dawn spacecraft.

To learn more about Dawn and its mission to the asteroid belt, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/dawn

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
david.c.agle at nasa.gov

2010-192
Received on Mon 07 Jun 2010 06:22:15 PM PDT