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Posted by baalke on September 27, 2007, 5:24 pm
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Sept. 27, 2007
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Allard Beutel
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
allard.beutel@nasa.gov
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
david.c.agle@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 07-213
NASA'S DAWN SPACECRAFT ENROUTE TO SHED LIGHT ON ASTEROID BELT
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on its way to study
a
pair of asteroids after lifting off Thursday from the Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station at 7:34 a.m. EDT.
Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, Calif., received telemetry on schedule at 9:44 a.m.
indicating Dawn had achieved proper orientation in space and its
massive solar array was generating power from the sun.
"Dawn has risen, and the spacecraft is healthy," said the mission's
project manager Keyur Patel of JPL. "About this time tomorrow [Friday
morning], we will have passed the moon's orbit."
During the next 80 days, spacecraft controllers will test and
calibrate the myriad of spacecraft systems and subsystems, ensuring
Dawn is ready for the long journey ahead.
"Dawn will travel back in time by probing deep into the asteroid
belt," said Dawn Principal Investigator Christopher Russell,
University of California, Los Angeles. "This is a moment the space
science community has been waiting for since interplanetary
spaceflight became possible."
Dawn's 3-billion-mile odyssey includes exploration of asteroid Vesta
in 2011 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 Dawn's instruments to study both asteroids,
scientists more accurately can compare and contrast the two. Dawn's
science instrument suite will measure elemental and mineral
composition, shape, surface topography, tectonic history, and it will
seek water-bearing minerals. In addition, the Dawn spacecraft and how
it orbits Vesta and Ceres will be used to measure the celestial
bodies' masses and gravity fields.
The spacecraft's engines use a unique, hyper-efficient system called
ion propulsion, which uses electricity to ionize xenon to generate
thrust. The 12-inch-wide ion thrusters provide less power than
conventional engines but can maintain thrust for months at a time.
The management of the Dawn launch was the responsibility of NASA's
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The Delta 2 launch vehicle was provided by
United Launch Alliance, Denver.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL, a division of
the California Institute of Technology, 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 Los Alamos
National Laboratory, N.M.; Max Planck Institute for Solar System
Research, Katlenburg, Germany; DLR Institute for Planetary Research,
Berlin; Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome; and the
Italian Space Agency. 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
-end-
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