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Dawn
Missions to Dwarf Planets
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Dawn
Dawn Mission to Asteroids Dawn Mission to Dwarf Planets

Goals: Dawn is designed to study the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanets remaining intact since their formations. The orbiter will visit both the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, two main asteroid belt worlds that followed very differently evolutionary paths.

Accomplishments: Dawn arrived in orbit at asteroid Vesta on 16 June 2011 and departed for Ceres on 5 September 2012.
   

Key Dates
27 Sep 2007:  Launch
16 Jul 2011:  Orbit Insertion at Asteroid Vesta
5 Sep 2012:  Leaves Vesta -- Travels to Ceres
Jul 2015:  End of Dwarf Planets Mission
Jul 2015:  End of Asteroid Mission
Status: En Route to Ceres
Fast Facts
Dawn Facts Since its discovery in 1801, Ceres (right) has been classified as a planet, an asteroid and a dwarf planet. It is the nearest dwarf planet to our sun.

Dawn traveled 2.8 billion kilometers (1.8 billion miles) to get from Earth to Vesta. It will travel another 1.6 billion kilometers (990 million miles) to get to Ceres.

Dawn used Mars' gravity to give it a boost to the main asteroid belt.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft on July 16 became the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Science & Technology Features
12 Feb 2013: 
Asteroid DA14 Flyby Toolkit
8 Feb 2013: 
50 Years of Robotic Planetary Exploration: Julie Castillo-Rogez, Planetary Geophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
6 Feb 2013: 
State of the Solar System
4 Feb 2013: 
Asteroid 2012 DA14 - Earth Flyby Reality Check
23 Aug 2012: 
50 Years of Robotic Planetary Exploration: Ralph Carruth (Manager, Materials and Processes Laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)
People Spotlight
Lucy McFadden Lucy McFadden
"I searched my soul...and didn't want to do anything more than continue to study astronomy and geology. I figured I was bound to become a scientist." Read More...
Carol Raymond - Deputy Principal Investigator
Britney Schmidt - Postdoctoral Fellow
Shonte Tucker - Spacecraft Thermal Engineer
Christopher Russell - Dawn Mission Principal Investigator
Meet More Space Explorers Meet More Space Explorers
Headlines
30 Apr 2013: 
Dawn Journal
25 Mar 2013: 
NASA Scientists Find Moon, Asteroids Share History
1 Mar 2013: 
Dawn Journal
More Headlines More Headlines
Links
Solar System Bodies: Dwarf Planets
Images of Dawn
Images Taken by Dawn
Videos Featuring Dawn
Dawn Launch Press Kit (1.96 MB, PDF)
NSSDC Master Catalog: Dawn
Awards and Recognition   Solar System Exploration Roadmap   Contact Us   Site Map   Print This Page
NASA Official: Kristen Erickson
Advisory: Dr. James Green, Director of Planetary Science
Outreach Manager: Alice Wessen
Curator/Editor: Phil Davis
Science Writers: Samantha Harvey & Autumn Burdick
Producer: Greg Baerg
Webmaster: David Martin
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Last Updated: 29 Apr 2013