Dawn flies past Mars
Posted: Thu, Feb 19, 2009, 8:00 AM ET (1300 GMT)
NASA's Dawn mission flew past Mars late Tuesday on its way to the asteroid belt. The spacecraft passed 550 kilometers from the surface of Mars at 7:28 pm EST Tuesday (0028 GMT Wednesday), accelerating the spacecraft by over 9,000 km/h. The gravity-assist swingby gave the spacecraft enough of a speed boost to put it on course for the large main belt asteroid Vesta. Dawn, launched in 2007, is propelled primarily by its own ion thrusters, but needed the Mars flyby to get enough speed to make the mission viable. Dawn is scheduled to arrive at Vesta in September 2011, followed by a trip to the largest main belt asteroid, Ceres, in 2015.
NASA's Dawn mission flew past Mars late Tuesday on its way to the asteroid belt. The spacecraft passed 550 kilometers from the surface of Mars at 7:28 pm EST Tuesday (0028 GMT Wednesday), accelerating the spacecraft by over 9,000 km/h. The gravity-assist swingby gave the spacecraft enough of a speed boost to put it on course for the large main belt asteroid Vesta. Dawn, launched in 2007, is propelled primarily by its own ion thrusters, but needed the Mars flyby to get enough speed to make the mission viable. Dawn is scheduled to arrive at Vesta in September 2011, followed by a trip to the largest main belt asteroid, Ceres, in 2015.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
NASA proposing to spend up to $1 billion on ISS deorbit tug
Posted: Sat, Mar 18 10:37 AM ET (1437 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, March 20
If China attacks Taiwan, war could start in space: Pentagon
Taiwan News — 6:48 am ET (1048 GMT) The venture-backed rocket industry is finally coming back to Earth
Quartz — 6:45 am ET (1045 GMT) No hope of UK rocket launch until 2024 after Virgin Orbit failure
The Daily Telegraph — 6:44 am ET (1044 GMT) Cornwall Council responds to Virgin Orbit ‘pause’
Falmouth (UK) Packet — 6:44 am ET (1044 GMT) Japan’s budding space program grounded by persistent setbacks
Japan Times — 6:41 am ET (1041 GMT) |
