[meteorite-list] NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Begins Science Orbits of Vesta (Eucrite exposed?)

From: Michael Gilmer <*meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 13:56:20 -0400 Message-ID: <CAKBPJW-w48cD08YZkaK6Np6DsEBg16EdacbT8JkAcz72gi+BaA_at_mail.gmail.com> · meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com

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On 8/1/11, Ron Baalke <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>
> August 01, 2011
>
> Dwayne C. Brown
> Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-1726
> dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov
>
> Priscilla Vega
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
> 818-354-1357
> priscilla.r.vega at jpl.nasa.gov
>
>
> RELEASE: 11-254
>
> NASA'S DAWN SPACECRAFT BEGINS SCIENCE ORBITS OF VESTA
>
> WASHINGTON -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft, the first ever to orbit an
> object in the main asteroid belt, is spiraling toward its first of
> four intensive science orbits. That initial orbit of the rocky world
> Vesta begins Aug. 11, at an altitude of nearly 1,700 miles (2,700
> kilometers) and will provide in-depth analysis of the asteroid. Vesta
> is the brightest object in the asteroid belt as seen from Earth and
> is thought to be the source of a large number of meteorites that fall
> to Earth.
>
> The Dawn team unveiled the first full-frame image of Vesta taken on
> July 24:
>
> http://go.nasa.gov/ohdkyh
>
> This image was taken at a distance of 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers).
> Images from Dawn's framing camera, taken for navigation purposes and
> as preparation for scientific observations, are revealing the first
> surface details of the giant asteroid. These images go all the way
> around Vesta, since the giant asteroid turns on its axis once every
> five hours and 20 minutes.
>
> "Now that we are in orbit around one of the last unexplored worlds in
> the inner solar system, we can see that it's a unique and fascinating
> place," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission manager
> at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
>
> After traveling nearly four years and 1.7 billion miles (2.8 billion
> kilometers), Dawn has been captured by Vesta's gravity, and there
> currently are 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) between the asteroid and
> the spacecraft. The giant asteroid and its new neighbor are
> approximately 114 million miles (184 million kilometers) away from
> Earth.
>
> "We have been calling Vesta the smallest terrestrial planet," said
> Chris Russell, Dawn's principal investigator at the UCLA. "The latest
> imagery provides much justification for our expectations. They show
> that a variety of processes were once at work on the surface of Vesta
> and provide extensive evidence for Vesta's planetary aspirations."
>
> Engineers still are working to determine the exact time that Dawn
> entered Vesta's orbit, but the team has reported an approximate orbit
> insertion time of 9:47 p.m. PDT on July 15 (12:47 a.m. EDT on July
> 16).
>
> In addition to the framing camera, Dawn's instruments include the
> gamma ray and neutron detector and the visible and infrared mapping
> spectrometer. The gamma ray and neutron detector uses 21 sensors with
> a very wide field of view to measure the energy of subatomic
> particles emitted by the elements in the upper yard (meter) of the
> asteroid's surface. The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer
> will measure the surface mineralogy of both Vesta and Dawn's next
> target, the dwarf planet Ceres. The spectrometer is a modification of
> a similar one flying on the European Space Agency's Rosetta and Venus
> Express missions.
>
> Dawn also will make another set of scientific measurements at Vesta
> and Ceres using the spacecraft's radio transmitter in tandem with
> sensitive antennas on Earth. Scientists will monitor signals from
> Dawn and later Ceres to detect subtle variations in the objects'
> gravity fields. These variations will provide clues about the
> interior structure of these bodies by studying the mass distributed
> in each gravity field.
>
> "The new observations of Vesta are an inspirational reminder of the
> wonders unveiled through ongoing exploration of our solar system,"
> said Jim Green, planetary division director at NASA Headquarters in
> Washington.
>
> Dawn launched in September 2007. Following a year at Vesta, the
> spacecraft will depart in July 2012 for Ceres, where it will arrive
> in 2015. Dawn's mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL for
> NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project
> of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall
> Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
>
> UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences
> Corp. in Dulles, Va., designed and built the spacecraft. The German
> Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research,
> the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical
> Institute are international partners on the mission team.
>
> For more information about Dawn, visit:
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/dawn
> 	
> -end-
>
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