[meteorite-list] Dawn has Departed the Giant Asteroid Vesta

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 14:54:16 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201209052154.q85LsGZb022424_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-277

Dawn has Departed the Giant Asteroid Vesta
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
September 05, 2012

Dawn Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- Mission controllers received confirmation today that
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has escaped from the gentle gravitational grip of
the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn is now officially on its way to its
second destination, the dwarf planet Ceres.

Dawn departed from Vesta at about 11:26 p.m. PDT on Sept. 4 (2:26 a.m.
EDT on Sept. 5). Communications from the spacecraft via NASA's Deep
Space Network confirmed the departure and that the spacecraft is now
traveling toward Ceres.

"As we respectfully say goodbye to Vesta and reflect on the amazing
discoveries over the past year, we eagerly look forward to the next
phase of our adventure at Ceres, where even more exciting discoveries
await," said Robert Mase, Dawn project manager, based at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Launched on Sept. 27, 2007, Dawn slipped into orbit around Vesta on July
15, 2011 PDT (July 16 EDT). Over the past year, Dawn has comprehensively
mapped this previously uncharted world, revealing an exotic and diverse
planetary building block. The findings are helping scientists unlock
some of the secrets of how the solar system, including our own Earth,
was formed.

A web video celebrating Dawn's "greatest hits" at Vesta is available at
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=151669301_
_. Two of Dawn's last looks at Vesta are also now available, revealing
the creeping dawn over the north pole.

Dawn spiraled away from Vesta as gently as it arrived. It is expected to
pull into its next port of call, Ceres, in early 2015.

Dawn's mission 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. The California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Dawn, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and
http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov .

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

2012-277
Received on Wed 05 Sep 2012 05:54:16 PM PDT