Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 6, 2015 #1 Share Posted March 6, 2015 NASA Spacecraft Becomes First to Orbit a Dwarf Planet NASA's Dawn spacecraft has become the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet. The spacecraft was approximately 38,000 miles (61,000) kilometers from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity at about 4:39 a.m. PST (7:39 a.m. EST) Friday.Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California received a signal from the spacecraft at 5:36 a.m. PST (8:36 a.m. EST) that Dawn was healthy and thrusting with its ion engine, the indicator Dawn had entered orbit as planned. Read more... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted March 6, 2015 #2 Share Posted March 6, 2015 A red letter year for planetary probing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred_mc Posted March 7, 2015 #3 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I hope we don't have to wait for a long time to get updates on the bright spots. Seems quite interesting what they are I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted March 7, 2015 #4 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Dawn will take its next images on April 10th, just under five weeks from now. Most of another week will probably pass before the pictures can be processed and released to the public. The Sun is currently in the same direction as Ceres, from Dawn's point of view. This leaves Dawn facing the unlit side of Ceres. It will continue to approach Ceres from this direction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc14 Posted March 7, 2015 #5 Share Posted March 7, 2015 The little ion engine that could. Well done Dawn team. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVG Posted March 8, 2015 #6 Share Posted March 8, 2015 It's very interesting what the bright lights might be.. I hope it brings back memories of early space flight and what is out there.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Grey Posted March 8, 2015 #7 Share Posted March 8, 2015 NASA is not dead. Excellent work gentlemen! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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