Contacts:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Priscilla Vega 626-298-3290
Jia-Rui Cook 818-354-0850
Priscilla.r.vega@jpl.nasa.gov
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov
NASA Headquarters
Dwayne Brown
202-358-1725
Dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Related links:
› Dawn at Vesta press kit
› Launch press kit
› Press release Panelists:
W. James Adams, deputy director, Planetary Science Directorate, NASA Headquarters.
Robert Mase, Dawn project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Christopher Russell, Dawn principal investigator, UCLA.
Carol Raymond, Deputy principal investigator, JPL.
This news conference presents the Dawn spacecraft's upcoming visit to the giant asteroid Vesta and recent images obtained upon approach.
Dawn's year-long visit to Vesta will be the first prolonged visit to a main belt asteroid. Dawn's observations will help scientists understand the earliest chapter of our solar system's history. Vesta is also thought to be source of a large number of meteorites that fall to Earth.
With a hyper-efficient ion propulsion system that gently matches the path of the spacecraft with the path of Vesta, Dawn is expected to start orbiting Vesta on July 16.
The panelists will discuss why Vesta is so exciting and reveal tantalizing new images of this unknown world as the Dawn spacecraft closes in on the protoplanet.
Mase 1 - Dawn Launch
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NASA's Dawn spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 7:34 a.m. EDT (4:34 a.m. PDT) on Sept. 27, 2007.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mase 2 - Animation of Dawn's Path Through the Solar System
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This animation shows the path of NASA's Dawn spacecraft through the solar system, on its way to orbit the two most massive objects in the main asteroid belt. Dawn arrives at the protoplanet Vesta in July 2011 and the dwarf planet Ceres in February 2015.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mase 3 - Animation of Dawn Arriving at Vesta
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This animation shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft as it prepares to orbit the protoplanet Vesta. The Vesta in this image is a conceptual model, based on the expected distribution of craters on Vesta's surface.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Russell 1 - Dawn's Approach to Vesta
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› Still image of Vesta
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained these images on its approach to the protoplanet Vesta, the second-most massive object in the main asteroid belt. The nine sets of images were obtained for navigation purposes. Each set includes 20 frames. Each of the first five sets covers 30 minutes in duration. Each of the last four sets covers 60 minutes in duration. The first set was taken on May 3, 2011, the start of the spacecraft's approach to Vesta. The other sets were obtained on May 10, May 17, May 24, June 1, June 8, June 14, June 17 and June 20, 2011.
The still image was obtained on June 20, 2011.
Dawn has not yet arrived at Vesta. Vesta is expected to capture the spacecraft into its orbit on July 16. Official science gathering begins in early August.
The Dawn mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the agency'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. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The framing cameras were developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin made significant contributions in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering in Braunschweig. The framing camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR and NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information about Dawn, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/PSI
Russell 2 - Animation of Dawn Flying Above the Surface of Vesta
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This animation shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft flying above an artist's concept of the surface of Vesta. The Vesta surface is a conceptual model, based on the expected distribution of craters on Vesta's surface.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Russell 3 - Possible Piece of Vesta
Scientists believe a large number of the meteorites that are found on Earth originate from the protoplanet Vesta. A cataclysmic impact at the south pole of Vesta, the second most massive object in the main asteroid belt, created an enormous crater and excavated a great deal of debris. Some of that debris ended up as other asteroids and some of it likely ended up on Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team.
Raymond 1 - Animation of Dawn's Orbit Patterns Around Vesta
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This shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft and the different altitudes of its orbit phases as the spacecraft gathers science around Vesta. An initial reconnaissance phase, known as survey orbit, takes place at an altitude of approximately 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) and lasts about 20 days. A closer phase known as high altitude mapping orbit will take place about 420 miles (680 kilometers) above the surface and last about 30 days. The lowest phase is known as low altitude mapping orbit, approximately 120 miles (200 kilometers) above the surface, and lasts about 70 days. Dawn will also conduct one more high altitude mapping orbit phase for about 20 days as it spirals away from Vesta.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Raymond 2 - Vesta in Spectrometer View
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On June 8, 2011, the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft captured the instrument's first images of Vesta that are larger than a few pixels, from a distance of about 218,000 miles (351,000 kilometers). The images were taken for calibration purposes.
Images obtained in the visible part of the light spectrum, at about 0.55 microns in wavelength, appears on the left. An image obtained in the infrared spectrum, at around 3 microns in wavelength, appears on the right. The spatial resolution of this image is about 60 miles (90 kilometers) per pixel.
The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer will be able to provide images of Vesta in 432 wavelengths, which will help scientists determine the composition of Vesta.
The Dawn mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the agency'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. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. Dawn's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer was provided by the Italian Space Agency and is managed by Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics, in collaboration with Selex Galileo, where it was built. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/ASI/INAF
Raymond 3 - Dawn and Hubble Views of Vesta
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› Still image of Dawn and Hubble views of Vesta
These views of the protoplanet Vesta were obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Images from Dawn appear on the left and images from Hubble appear on the right. Dawn's images of Vesta are a little more than twice as sharp as Hubble's. Images from Hubble, which is in orbit around the Earth, were obtained on May 14 and 16, 2007, when Vesta was 109 million miles (176 million kilometers) away from Earth. Dawn's images were taken on June 20, 2011, when Dawn was about 117,000 miles (189,000 kilometers) away from Vesta.
In the still image, the Dawn view (left) was obtained on June 20, 2011. The Hubble view (right) was obtained on May 14, 2007.
Vesta is the second most massive object in the main asteroid belt. Dawn has not yet arrived at Vesta. Vesta is expected to capture the spacecraft into its orbit on July 16. Official science gathering begins in early August.
The Dawn mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the agency'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. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The framing cameras were developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin made significant contributions in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering in Braunschweig. The framing camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR and NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information about Dawn, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov . Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/PSI and NASA/ESA/STScI/UMd
Raymond 4 - Animation of Dawn Scanning the Vesta Surface
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This animation shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft scanning a conceptual model of the surface of Vesta. Vesta is the second-most massive object in the main asteroid belt and is considered a protoplanet because it is a large body that almost became a planet. Dawn is visiting Vesta from July 2011 to July 2012.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute are part of the mission team. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Mount Etna, Italy
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The summit of the Mount Etna volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is shown near the center of this radar image. Lava flows of different ages and surface roughness appear in shades of purple, green, yellow and pink surrounding the four small craters at the summit. › Read more
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/BATC
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