Dawn

On December 31, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, and made Bennu the smallest object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.

The asteroid will fly safely past Earth on Saturday, Dec. 22, at a distance of about 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers).

Recently analyzed data from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has revealed water locked inside the clays that make up its scientific target, the asteroid Bennu.

On New Year's Day 2019, NASA's New Horizons will fly by a distant Kuiper Belt Object—and open a new chapter in how we define our place in the cosmos.

As OSIRIS-REx closes in on its target destination, the asteroid Bennu, anticipation is building for the first-ever, closeup glimpse of this prominent clump of rock. Meet a few members of our team.

Here’s a lineup of the various kinds of small bodies that orbit the Sun and sometimes impact planets and each other.

Small worlds witnessed dramatic changes in our solar system that occurred long before humans. Here's how we're studying them.

NASA will host a live Science Chat at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 7, to discuss upcoming encounters of two of the agency’s planetary missions, New Horizons and OSIRIS-REx.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter. Here are some great shots from its extended mission in the main asteroid belt.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter.

NASA has given approval for the implementation and 2021 launch of the Lucy spacecraft to the Trojan asteroids.

A mission of firsts makes history at a comet despite setbacks.

Team exceeded all challenges over 11 years of exploration of Vesta and Ceres.

The path through the solar system is a rocky road. Asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects—all kinds of small bodies of rock, metal and ice are in constant motion as they orbit the Sun. But what’s the difference between them? Why do these miniature worlds fascinate space explorers so much?

OSIRIS-REx searched the area around Bennu (circled in green) for any signs of dust plumes, which could present a hazard to the spacecraft, For now, the coast is clear.

Now drawing to a close, the mission that explored the planet-like worlds of Vesta and Ceres revealed Solar System time capsules and broke engineering barriers.

How does a mission like Dawn grow from an idea to a spacecraft exploring distant worlds?

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will host a live Science Chat Friday, Sept. 7, on what NASA's Dawn spacecraft, nearing the end of its 11-year mission, has taught us about the early solar system.

OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it safely back to Earth. The spacecraft has traveled approximately 1.1 billion miles (1.8 billion km) since its Sept. 8, 2016, launch and is scheduled to arrive at Bennu on Dec. 3.

Dawn has given us valuable information about planet-like worlds Vesta and Ceres, providing insight into the history of our solar system.

Ion propulsion isn’t new. In fact, ion propulsion, a type of electric propulsion, was originally conceived of in the early 1900s.

During its decade-long journey, Dawn has observed planet-like worlds Vesta and Ceres, collecting detailed data about the two fascinating bodies in the main asteroid belt.

Keri Bean is a science planning and sequencing engineer for Dawn and is training to be a Mars rover driver for the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Learn more about her.

Kristina is the lead systems engineer for Dawn at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Learn more about her.

When you see these prominent features of Ceres, you might recognize some of their Earthly cousins.