When was dawn spacecraft launched

Dawn also reinforced the idea that dwarf planets could have hosted oceans over a significant part of their history — and potentially still do. Ceres and Vesta are important to the study of distant planetary systems, too, as they provide a glimpse of the conditions that may exist around young stars. Because Ceres has conditions of interest to scientists who study chemistry that leads to the development of life, NASA follows strict planetary protection protocols for the disposal of the Dawn spacecraft.

F Ring Informants. During its very close flyby of Enceladus on March 9, , Cassini took images of parts of the icy moon from different viewing angles, allowing the construction of stereo views. These "3-D" views, Sliced-up Craters 3-D. These false-color images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft chronicle a day in the life of a huge storm that developed from a small spot that appeared 12 weeks earlier in Saturn's northern mid-latitudes. A Day in the Life.

Like a rope of brilliant neon, Saturn's rings outshine everything else in this night side view, while the sunlit southern face of the rings reflects a dim glow onto the atmosphere below.

When viewe Gleaming Rings. As the closest-orbiting of Saturn's intermediate-sized moons, Mimas is occasionally captured against the planet's dim and shadowed northern latitudes.

The moon is seen here next to the shadows cast First Quarter Mimas. During its closest flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on April 16, the Cassini spacecraft came within 1, kilometers miles of the moon's surface and found that the outer layer of the thick, hazy Titan's Upper Atmosphere: A.

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2, miles 4, kilometers. The image, with a resolution of 1, Dawn Survey Orbit Image Janus peeks out from beneath the ringplane, partially lit here by reflected light from Saturn. A couple of craters can be seen on the moon's surface. LinkedIn Northrop Grumman Corporation. YouTube Northrop Grumman Media.

Instagram NorthropGrumman. Share Tweet Share Email Print. Northrop Grumman-built Dawn spacecraft concludes its year mission for NASA exploring planetary formation in the solar system.

The slow approach ensures there are no time-critical thruster firings. As it approaches, Dawn will conduct a survey of the region around the asteroid for any possible natural satellites, dust and debris.

It will then use ion propulsion to brake itself into a polar mapping orbit around Vesta. By the time it reaches the asteroid, Dawn will have accumulated about 1, days of ion engine operation.

During nine months of Vesta orbit operations, the ion engine will be used to ensure a changing series of circular near-polar orbits, allowing Dawn to study the entire surface of the asteroid.

The highest orbit will be roughly 2, kilometers altitude, the lowest under kilometers. Ceres arrival: 1 February After leaving Vesta, the spacecraft will spend nearly three years en route to Ceres, making about three-fourths of one orbit around the sun as it spirals outward toward the dwarf planet.

Dawn will use its ion propulsion to make a slow approach to and drop into orbit around Ceres. As at Vesta, Dawn will enter a series of circular near-polar orbits that will provide vantage points for studying nearly the entire surface of the dwarf planet. End of mission: July At the planned end of Dawn's primary mission, the spacecraft was to be in a quarantine orbit around Ceres at an altitude of kilometers.

This orbit ensured that the decommissioned spacecraft would not impact Ceres for 50 years, supposedly allowing time for action in case some kind of life was detected. RCS Propellants: 46 kg lb. Electric System: The scientific objectives of the mission are to characterize the asteroids' internal structure, density, shape, size, composition and mass and to return data on surface morphology, cratering, and magnetism.

These measurements will help determine the thermal history, size of the core, role of water in asteroid evolution and what meteorites found on Earth come from these bodies, with the ultimate goal of understanding the conditions and processes present at the solar system's earliest epoch and the role of water content and size in planetary evolution.

The data returned will include, for both asteroids, full surface imagery, full surface spectrometric mapping, elemental abundances, topographic profiles, gravity fields, and mapping of remnant magnetism, if any. The Dawn spacecraft is generally box-shaped 1. The spacecraft core is a graphite composite cylinder, with the titanium hydrazine and xenon tanks mounted inside. Mounting, access, and other panels are aluminum core with aluminum facesheets.