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Space TopicsDawnDawn Journals: Dawn Project System Engineer Marc Rayman is contributing updates on the status of Dawn to The Planetary Society Weblog! Also, here's a summary of the Vesta phase of the mission. Dec 30, 2011: The Om of orbit adjustment Nov 29, 2011: Riding gravitational currents to LAMO Oct 31, 2011: HAMO successfully completed, LAMO ahead Sep 27, 2011: Fourth year in space, and arrival in HAMO Sep 1, 2011: Spiraling down from Survey Orbit Aug 11, 2011: In Survey Orbit Jul 18, 2011: Dawn has arrived!! Jun 23, 2011: Closing in on Vesta May 27, 2011: Vesta to choose Dawn's arrival time May 3, 2011: On the threshold of a new world Mar. 31, 2011: Calibrating instruments and thrusters on Vesta approach Feb. 27, 2011: HAMO2; the destination glows bright Jan. 31, 2011: ORT ORT ORT Dec. 30, 2010: LAMO (Low Altitude Mapping Orbit) Nov. 30, 2010: Attitude Adjustment Oct 31, 2010: Approaching conjunction Sep 27, 2010: Third anniversary in space, and how to map Vesta Aug 30, 2010: Getting warmer, farther from the Sun? Jul 26, 2010: A Year from Vesta Jun 27, 2010: Dawn 9.0 May 27, 2010: Surveying Vesta Apr 28, 2010: Matching paces with Vesta Mar 28, 2010: It's just a phase Feb 28, 2010: Forever farther from Earth than the Sun Jan 30, 2010: Thruster Two's time to shine Dec 30, 2009: Patiently accelerating Nov 27, 2009: In the asteroid belt, but far from asteroids Oct 31, 2009: Taking up residence in the asteroid belt Sep 27, 2009: Good performance means a longer stay at Vesta! Aug 30, 2009: Earth catches up Jul 31, 2009: Quiet Cruise Jun 28, 2009: Back to powered flight May 27, 2009: Testing Flight Software 8.0 Apr. 29, 2009: Upgrades! Mar. 29, 2009: Safe without Safe Mode Mar. 8, 2009: Safely past Mars Feb. 13, 2009: Mars encounter Jan. 27, 2009: Just missing the bull's eye at Mars Dec. 30, 2008: Conjunction junction Nov. 26, 2008: Aiming away from a bull's eye at Mars Oct. 30, 2008: A pause in thrusting Sep. 27, 2008: One year since launch Aug. 28, 2008: Some explanations of orbital dynamics Jul. 27, 2008: We crave power! Jun. 26, 2008: Cruising past Mars' orbit May 29, 2008: Dawn Journal Apr. 22, 2008: Software updates Mar. 30, 2008: One Mar. 3, 2008: Backup camera checks out Jan. 31, 2008: Safely cruising Dec. 17, 2007: Checkout complete, interplanetary cruise underway Oct. 26, 2007: Testing, Testing, Testing Nov. 14, 2007: Halfway through checkout Oct. 9, 2007: Firing Up the Ion Propulsion System Oct. 2, 2007: Launch! Sep. 21, 2007: Awaiting launch II September 14, 2007: What to expect after the launch II September 5, 2007: Dawn prepares to launch II Jul. 17, 2007: More than one way to leave the launch pad Jul. 6, 2007: More bad weather - Awaiting launch Jun. 26, 2007: What to expect after the launch Jun. 12, 2007: Readying the rocket Jun. 4, 2007: Dawn prepares for launch Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter circles the main asteroid belt, remnants of the formation of the solar system, millions of rocky bodies with orbits too disturbed by the gravitational pull of Jupiter for them to coalesce into a single planet. Among these are a few big ones, protoplanets that started down the road to terrestrial planethood but failed to thrive. Ceres and Vesta are the most massive of the minor planets, and the Dawn mission aims to visit them both to discover what clues they may hold to how our solar system, and particularly the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), formed. Ceres and Vesta could hardly be more different. Ceres is a spherical, ice-rich world, similar (perhaps) to the icy moons of the outer solar system. Vesta is probably all rock and metal, and is so battered by past collisions with other asteroids that its shape is noticeably lumpy. Both bodies likely formed only 5 to 10 million years after the birth of the solar system, unlike Mars and Earth, which took much longer (30 and 50 million years, respectively). Although both formed in a relatively short period of time, Ceres was left with primordial water, while Vesta was not. The water at Ceres prevented it from developing the internal volcanic activity that developed on drier Vesta. Ceres' water almost certainly melted into a global subsurface ocean, and there may yet be liquid water beneath its icy crust. Recent Headlines
31 Dec 11 Mars Exploration Rover Update: Opportunity Climbs to Greeley Haven and We Look Back at 2011
30 Nov 11 Mars Exploration Rover Update: Opportunity Crunches Homestake and Scouts Locales for Winter
31 Oct 11 Mars Exploration Rover Update: Opportunity Heads for New Discovery as Winter Blows In at Cape York
30 Sep 11 Mars Exploration Rover Update: Opportunity Digs In at Endeavour, Team Remembers 9/11
01 Sep 11 Mars Exploration Rover Update: Opportunity Finds Martian Mystery at Endeavour Crater
31 Aug 11 Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Arrives at Endeavour Crater, Mission Begins Anew
30 Jun 11 Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Roves Back into Record Books, Spirit is Honored
12 Jun 11 Voyager Discovers Possible Sea of Huge, Turbulent, Magnetic Bubbles at Solar System Edge |
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