[meteorite-list] Dawn Obtains First Low Altitude Images of Vesta

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:19:55 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201112211719.pBLHJtEL021296_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-391

Dawn Obtains First Low Altitude Images of Vesta
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
December 21, 2011

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has sent back the first images
of the giant asteroid Vesta from its low-altitude mapping orbit. The
images, obtained by the framing camera, show the stippled and lumpy
surface in detail never seen before, piquing the curiosity of scientists
who are studying Vesta for clues about the solar system's early history.

At this detailed resolution, the surface shows abundant small craters,
and textures such as small grooves and lineaments that are reminiscent
of the structures seen in low-resolution data from the higher-altitude
orbits. Also, this fine scale highlights small outcrops of bright and
dark material.

A gallery of images can be found online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/multimedia/gallery-index.html .

The images were returned to Earth on Dec. 13. Dawn scientists plan to
acquire data in the low-altitude mapping orbit for at least 10 weeks.
The primary science objectives in this orbit are to learn about the
elemental composition of Vesta's surface with the gamma ray and neutron
detector and to probe the interior structure of the asteroid by
measuring the gravity field.

The Dawn mission to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
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. The Dawn Framing
Cameras have been developed and built under the leadership of the Max
Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany,
with significant contributions by DLR German Aerospace Center, Institute
of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of
Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The
framing camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR, and
NASA/JPL.

More information about the Dawn mission is online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov .

Jia-Rui Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jccook at jpl.nasa.gov

2011-391
Received on Wed 21 Dec 2011 12:19:55 PM PST