Dawn approaches Ceres
Posted: Tue, Mar 3, 2015, 7:27 AM ET (1227 GMT)
NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on track to enter orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres at the end of this week, project officials said Monday. Dawn will go into orbit around Ceres on Friday after using its ion thrusters to travel there from the lare asteroid Vesta. Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt and designated a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, appears to have signs of recent geological activity on its surface, scientists said, based on ever-improving images returned by Dawn. Of particular interest are bright spots recently detected on Ceres' surface, which may be patches of ice recently exposed by plumes or other geological activity.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on track to enter orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres at the end of this week, project officials said Monday. Dawn will go into orbit around Ceres on Friday after using its ion thrusters to travel there from the lare asteroid Vesta. Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt and designated a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, appears to have signs of recent geological activity on its surface, scientists said, based on ever-improving images returned by Dawn. Of particular interest are bright spots recently detected on Ceres' surface, which may be patches of ice recently exposed by plumes or other geological activity.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Starship explodes during preparations for static-fire test
Posted: Sun, Jun 22 6:52 AM ET (1052 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, July 1
Move over Starlink, here comes Kuiper
Gulf News — 4:58 am ET (0858 GMT) USSF Seeks Industry Ideas For Space-Based Interceptors
Aviation Week — 4:57 am ET (0857 GMT) Don’t forget about Iran’s space program
POLITICO — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) EU Space Act is ‘orbital equivalent of GDPR’, says lawyer
Luxembourg Times — 4:53 am ET (0853 GMT) Poland’s second ever astronaut is safe in space
Euro Weekly News — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) |
