Dawn Mission
Encyclopedia
Dawn is a NASA
spacecraft
tasked with the exploration
and study of the two largest members of the asteroid belt
– Vesta
and the dwarf planet
Ceres. The spacecraft was constructed with some European cooperation, with partners in Germany
, Italy
, and the Netherlands
providing Dawns framing cameras, mapping spectrometer, and solar array. The Dawn mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
, a division of the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena
, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
. Launched on September 27, 2007, Dawn reached Vesta on July 16, 2011, and will orbit and explore it until 2012. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Ceres in 2015. It will be the first spacecraft to visit either body.
Dawn is intended to be the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies (or three, counting the Sun), using an innovative ion drive to travel between its targets. All multi-target missions using conventional drives, such as the Voyager program
, were restricted to flybys.
Dawn is NASA’s first purely exploratory mission to use ion propulsion.
Dawn was launched on 27 September 2007 from pad 17-B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
on a Delta 7925-H
rocket. Its original scheduled launch date was three months earlier on 20 June, but it suffered many interruptions and delays.
On 10 April 2007, the spacecraft arrived at the Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary of SPACEHAB, Inc.
in Titusville, Florida
, where it was prepared for launch. The launch was originally scheduled for June 20, but was delayed until June 30 due to delays with part deliveries. A broken crane at the launch pad, used to raise the solid rocket booster
s, further delayed the launch for a week, until July 7, but on June 15 the second stage was successfully hoisted into position. A mishap at the Astrotech Space Operations facility, involving slight damage to one of the solar arrays, did not have an effect on the launch date; however, bad weather caused the launch to slip to July 8. Range tracking problems then delayed the launch to July 9, and then July 15. Launch planning was then suspended in order to avoid conflicts with the Phoenix mission
to Mars, which was successfully launched on August 4.
The launch of Dawn was first rescheduled for September 26, 2007, then September 27, due to bad weather delaying fueling of the second stage, the same problem which had earlier delayed the July 7 launch attempt. The launch window extended from 07:20–07:49 EDT (11:20–11:49 GMT). During the final built-in hold at T−4 minutes, a ship entered the exclusion area offshore, the strip of ocean where the rocket boosters were likely to fall after separation. After commanding the ship to leave the area, the launch was required to wait for the end of a collision avoidance window with the International Space Station
. The spacecraft finally launched at 07:34 EDT from pad 17-B on a Delta II launch vehicle, propelling Dawn to a velocity of 11.46 kilometers per second (25,600 miles per hour) relative to Earth. Thereafter, Dawn's ion thruster
s took over.
propellant
for a total change in velocity of 1.81 kilometers per second (4050 miles per hour). On November 20, 2008, Dawn performed its first trajectory
correction maneuver (TCM1), firing its number 1 thruster for 2 hours, 11 minutes. Following Dawn's solar conjunction, a course correction maneuver originally scheduled for January 2009 was determined not necessary.
Dawn made its closest approach (549 km) to Mars
on February 17, 2009 during a successful gravity assist. On this day, the spacecraft placed itself in safe mode
, resulting in some data acquisition loss. The spacecraft was reported to be back in full operation two days later, with no impact on the subsequent mission identified. The root cause
of the event was reported to be a software programming error.
On May 3, 2011, Dawn acquired its first targeting image 1.2 million kilometers from Vesta, and began its approach phase to the asteroid. On June 12, Dawn's speed relative to Vesta was slowed in preparation for its orbital insertion 34 days later.
Dawn was scheduled to be inserted into orbit at 05:00 UTC on July 16 after a period of thrusting with its ion engines. Because its antenna is pointed away from the Earth during thrusting, scientists were not able to immediately confirm whether or not Dawn successfully made the maneuver. The spacecraft would then reorient itself and was scheduled to check in at 06:30 UTC on July 17. NASA later confirmed that it received telemetry from Dawn indicating that the spacecraft successfully entered orbit around Vesta. The exact time of insertion has not been confirmed as it depended on Vesta's mass distribution, which has only been estimated.
's earliest eon by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanet
s remaining intact since their formation. Ceres and Vesta
have many contrasting characteristics that are thought to have resulted from them forming in two different regions of the early solar system; Peter Thomas of Cornell University has proposed that Ceres has a differentiated interior; its oblateness appears too small for an undifferentiated body, which indicates that it consists of a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle. There is a large collection of potential samples from Vesta accessible to scientists, in the form of over 200 HED meteorite
s, giving insight into Vestian geologic history and structure. Vesta is thought to consist of a metallic iron–nickel core, an overlying rocky olivine
mantle, with a surface crust.
To cruise from Earth
to its targets, Dawn traveled in a long outward spiral
trajectory. NASA posts and continually updates the current location and status of Dawn online. The estimated chronology is as follows:
An extended mission following the completion of the Ceres study is also possible, although unlikely, as greater return is expected by spending the available time at Vesta and Ceres. Although 2 Pallas
would have been a feasible extended target for the originally scheduled launch date, launch delays have meant that this may no longer be the case. Fuel was also not specifically allocated to break orbit from Ceres, and will depend upon the details of the flight reaching Ceres.
. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
provided overall planning and management of the mission, the flight system and scientific payload development, and provided the Ion Propulsion System. Orbital Sciences Corporation
provided the spacecraft, which constituted the company's first interplanetary mission. The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
and the German Aerospace Center
(DLR) provided the framing cameras, the Italian Space Agency
provided the mapping spectrometer
, and the DOE
Los Alamos National Laboratory
provided the gamma ray
and neutron
spectrometer.
, a visual and infrared spectrometer from Italy
and a gamma ray and neutron detector from the United States
.
Dawn is intended to study two large bodies in the asteroid belt
in order to answer questions about the formation of the solar system
, as well as to test the feasibility of its ion drive.
Ceres and Vesta were chosen as two contrasting protoplanet
s, the first one apparently "wet" (that is, icy
) and the other "dry" (or rocky
), whose accretion
was terminated by the formation of Jupiter
. They provide a bridge in our understanding between the formation of rocky planets and the icy bodies of our solar system, and under what conditions a rocky planet can hold water.
The IAU
adopted a new definition of planet on August 24, 2006, which introduced the term "dwarf planet" for ellipsoidal
worlds that were too small to qualify for planetary status by "clearing their neighborhood"
. If the IAU's definition stands and the spacecraft experiences no delays, Dawn will become the first mission to study a dwarf planet, arriving at Ceres five months prior to the arrival of New Horizons
at Pluto
.
Ceres is a dwarf planet whose mass comprises about one-third of the total mass of the bodies in the asteroid belt and whose spectral
characteristics suggest a composition similar to that of a water-rich carbonaceous chondrite
. Smaller Vesta, a water-poor achondritic
asteroid
, has experienced significant heating and differentiation
. It shows signs of a metallic core, a Mars-like density and lunar-like basaltic flows.
Both bodies formed very early in the history of the solar system, thereby retaining a record of events and processes from the time of the formation of the terrestrial planets. Radionuclide
dating of pieces of meteorites thought to come from Vesta suggests that Vesta differentiated quickly, in only three million years. Thermal evolution studies suggest that Ceres must have formed a little later, more than three million years after the formation of CAI
s (the oldest known objects of Solar System origin).
Moreover, Vesta is the source of many smaller objects in the solar system. Most (but not all) V-type near-Earth asteroids, and some outer main-belt
asteroids, have spectra
similar to Vesta, and are thus known as vestoids. Five percent of the meteoritic
samples found on Earth, the
Howardite Eucrite Diogenite
("HED") meteorites, are thought to be the result of a collision or collisions with Vesta.
The status of the Dawn mission has changed several times. In December 2003, the project was first cancelled, and then reinstated in February 2004. In October 2005, work on Dawn was placed in "stand down" mode. In January 2006, Dawn's "stand down" was discussed in the press as "indefinitely postponed", even though NASA had announced no new decisions regarding the mission's status. On March 2, 2006, Dawn was publicly, but not formally canceled by NASA headquarters.
The spacecraft's manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corporation
, appealed the decision and offered to build the spacecraft at cost, forgoing any profit in order to gain experience in a new market field. NASA
then put the cancellation under review, and on March 27, 2006, it was announced that the mission would not be canceled after all. In the last week of September 2006, the Dawn mission instrument payload integration reached a full functional status. Although originally projected to cost US$373,000,000, after cost overruns, the final cost of the mission was US$446,000,000 in 2007.
A magnetometer and laser altimeter were considered but not flown.
ion thruster
s which inherited engineering technology from the DS1
spacecraft. They have a specific impulse
of 3,100 s and produce a thrust
of 90 mN. The whole spacecraft, including the ion propulsion thrusters, is powered by a 10 kW (at 1 AU) triple-junction photovoltaic
solar array manufactured by Dutch Space. To get to Vesta, Dawn is allocated 275 kg (606 lb) of xenon, with another 110 kg (243 lb) to reach Ceres, out of a total capacity of 425 kg (937 pounds) of on-board propellant. With the propellant it carries, it can perform a velocity change
of over 10 km/s, far more than any other spacecraft has done with onboard propellant after separation from the launch rocket.
Dawn is NASA’s first purely exploratory mission to use ion propulsion engines.
bearing the names of more than 360,000 space enthusiasts. The names were submitted online as part of a public outreach effort between September 2005 and November 4, 2006. The microchip (about the size of a United States nickel coin
) was installed on 17 May 2007 above the forward ion thruster, underneath the spacecraft's high-gain antenna
. More than one microchip was made, with a back-up copy on display at the 2007 Open House at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena, California
.
, it could take progressively higher-resolution images. The images were taken by the Framing Camera instrument, and published online and at news conferences by NASA and MPI.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
tasked with the exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
and study of the two largest members of the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
– Vesta
4 Vesta
Vesta, formally designated 4 Vesta, is one of the largest asteroids, with a mean diameter of about . It was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, and is named after the Roman virgin goddess of home and hearth, Vesta....
and the dwarf planet
Dwarf planet
A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite...
Ceres. The spacecraft was constructed with some European cooperation, with partners in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
providing Dawns framing cameras, mapping spectrometer, and solar array. The Dawn mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
, a division of the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Launched on September 27, 2007, Dawn reached Vesta on July 16, 2011, and will orbit and explore it until 2012. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Ceres in 2015. It will be the first spacecraft to visit either body.
Dawn is intended to be the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies (or three, counting the Sun), using an innovative ion drive to travel between its targets. All multi-target missions using conventional drives, such as the Voyager program
Voyager program
The Voyager program is a U.S program that launched two unmanned space missions, scientific probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment of the late 1970s...
, were restricted to flybys.
Dawn is NASA’s first purely exploratory mission to use ion propulsion.
Dimensions
With its solar array in the retracted launch position, the Dawn spacecraft is 2.36 meters (7 feet, 9 inches) long. With its solar arrays fully extended, Dawn is 19.7 meters (65 ft) long.Launch
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...
on a Delta 7925-H
Delta II
Delta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and was in service from 1989 until November 1, 2011...
rocket. Its original scheduled launch date was three months earlier on 20 June, but it suffered many interruptions and delays.
On 10 April 2007, the spacecraft arrived at the Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary of SPACEHAB, Inc.
SPACEHAB
Astrotech Corporation , formerly Spacehab Inc., is an aerospace company headquartered in Austin, Texas which provides commercial space products and services to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, international space agencies, and global commercial customers...
in Titusville, Florida
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is the county seat of Brevard County. Nicknamed Space City, USA, Titusville is on the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center and south-southwest of the Canaveral National Seashore...
, where it was prepared for launch. The launch was originally scheduled for June 20, but was delayed until June 30 due to delays with part deliveries. A broken crane at the launch pad, used to raise the solid rocket booster
Solid rocket booster
Solid rocket boosters or Solid Rocket Motors, SRM, are used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from the launchpad up to burnout of the SRBs. Many launch vehicles include SRBs, including the Ariane 5, Atlas V , and the NASA Space Shuttle...
s, further delayed the launch for a week, until July 7, but on June 15 the second stage was successfully hoisted into position. A mishap at the Astrotech Space Operations facility, involving slight damage to one of the solar arrays, did not have an effect on the launch date; however, bad weather caused the launch to slip to July 8. Range tracking problems then delayed the launch to July 9, and then July 15. Launch planning was then suspended in order to avoid conflicts with the Phoenix mission
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008...
to Mars, which was successfully launched on August 4.
The launch of Dawn was first rescheduled for September 26, 2007, then September 27, due to bad weather delaying fueling of the second stage, the same problem which had earlier delayed the July 7 launch attempt. The launch window extended from 07:20–07:49 EDT (11:20–11:49 GMT). During the final built-in hold at T−4 minutes, a ship entered the exclusion area offshore, the strip of ocean where the rocket boosters were likely to fall after separation. After commanding the ship to leave the area, the launch was required to wait for the end of a collision avoidance window with the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. The spacecraft finally launched at 07:34 EDT from pad 17-B on a Delta II launch vehicle, propelling Dawn to a velocity of 11.46 kilometers per second (25,600 miles per hour) relative to Earth. Thereafter, Dawn's ion thruster
Ion thruster
An ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion that creates thrust by accelerating ions. Ion thrusters are categorized by how they accelerate the ions, using either electrostatic or electromagnetic force. Electrostatic ion thrusters use the Coulomb force and...
s took over.
Status
After initial checkout, during which the ion thrusters accumulated more than 11 days of thrust, Dawn began long-term cruise propulsion on December 17, 2007. On October 31, 2008, Dawn completed its first thrusting phase to send it on to Mars for a gravity assist flyby in February 2009. During this first interplanetary cruise phase, Dawn spent 270 days, or 85% of this phase, using its thrusters. It expended less than 72 kilograms (158 pounds) of xenonXenon
Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. The element name is pronounced or . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts...
propellant
Propellant
A propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...
for a total change in velocity of 1.81 kilometers per second (4050 miles per hour). On November 20, 2008, Dawn performed its first trajectory
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
correction maneuver (TCM1), firing its number 1 thruster for 2 hours, 11 minutes. Following Dawn's solar conjunction, a course correction maneuver originally scheduled for January 2009 was determined not necessary.
Dawn made its closest approach (549 km) to Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
on February 17, 2009 during a successful gravity assist. On this day, the spacecraft placed itself in safe mode
Safe mode (spacecraft)
Safe mode is an operating mode of a modern spacecraft during which all non-essential systems are shut down and only essential functions such as thermal management, radio reception and attitude control are active.-Triggering events:...
, resulting in some data acquisition loss. The spacecraft was reported to be back in full operation two days later, with no impact on the subsequent mission identified. The root cause
Root cause
A root cause is rarely an initiating cause of a causal chain which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is misused to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to change performance and prevent an undesirable outcome.In...
of the event was reported to be a software programming error.
On May 3, 2011, Dawn acquired its first targeting image 1.2 million kilometers from Vesta, and began its approach phase to the asteroid. On June 12, Dawn's speed relative to Vesta was slowed in preparation for its orbital insertion 34 days later.
Dawn was scheduled to be inserted into orbit at 05:00 UTC on July 16 after a period of thrusting with its ion engines. Because its antenna is pointed away from the Earth during thrusting, scientists were not able to immediately confirm whether or not Dawn successfully made the maneuver. The spacecraft would then reorient itself and was scheduled to check in at 06:30 UTC on July 17. NASA later confirmed that it received telemetry from Dawn indicating that the spacecraft successfully entered orbit around Vesta. The exact time of insertion has not been confirmed as it depended on Vesta's mass distribution, which has only been estimated.
Mission
The mission's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar systemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
's earliest eon by investigating in detail two of the largest protoplanet
Protoplanet
Protoplanets are large planetary embryos that originate within protoplanetary discs and have undergone internal melting to produce differentiated interiors. They are believed to form out of kilometer-sized planetesimals that attract each other gravitationally and collide...
s remaining intact since their formation. Ceres and Vesta
4 Vesta
Vesta, formally designated 4 Vesta, is one of the largest asteroids, with a mean diameter of about . It was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, and is named after the Roman virgin goddess of home and hearth, Vesta....
have many contrasting characteristics that are thought to have resulted from them forming in two different regions of the early solar system; Peter Thomas of Cornell University has proposed that Ceres has a differentiated interior; its oblateness appears too small for an undifferentiated body, which indicates that it consists of a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle. There is a large collection of potential samples from Vesta accessible to scientists, in the form of over 200 HED meteorite
HED meteorite
HED meteorites are a subgroup of achondrite meteorites. HED stands for "Howardite–Eucrite–Diogenite".These achondrites came from a differentiated parent body and experienced extensive igneous processing not much different from the magmatic rocks found on Earth and for this reason they closely...
s, giving insight into Vestian geologic history and structure. Vesta is thought to consist of a metallic iron–nickel core, an overlying rocky olivine
Olivine
The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....
mantle, with a surface crust.
To cruise from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
to its targets, Dawn traveled in a long outward spiral
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point.-Spiral or helix:...
trajectory. NASA posts and continually updates the current location and status of Dawn online. The estimated chronology is as follows:
- September 27, 2007: launch
- February 17, 2009: MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
gravity assist - July 16, 2011: Vesta4 VestaVesta, formally designated 4 Vesta, is one of the largest asteroids, with a mean diameter of about . It was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, and is named after the Roman virgin goddess of home and hearth, Vesta....
arrival - est. July 2012: Vesta departure
- est. February 2015: Ceres arrival
- est. July 2015: End of primary operations
An extended mission following the completion of the Ceres study is also possible, although unlikely, as greater return is expected by spending the available time at Vesta and Ceres. Although 2 Pallas
2 Pallas
Pallas, formally designated 2 Pallas, is the second asteroid to have been discovered , and one of the largest. It is estimated to constitute 7% of the mass of the asteroid belt, and its diameter of 530–565 km is comparable to, or slightly larger than, that of 4 Vesta. It is however 20%...
would have been a feasible extended target for the originally scheduled launch date, launch delays have meant that this may no longer be the case. Fuel was also not specifically allocated to break orbit from Ceres, and will depend upon the details of the flight reaching Ceres.
Mission team
The Dawn mission team is led by UCLA space scientist and Dawn Principal Investigator Christopher T. RussellChristopher T. Russell
Christopher Thomas Russell is head of the Space Physics Center at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA, professor in UCLA's Department of Earth and Space Sciences, and Director of the UCLA Branch of the California Space Grant Consortium. He received a B.Sc. from the...
. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
provided overall planning and management of the mission, the flight system and scientific payload development, and provided the Ion Propulsion System. Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
provided the spacecraft, which constituted the company's first interplanetary mission. The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research is a research institute in Astronomy/Astrophysics, located in Lindau , Germany; 20 km north east of Göttingen. The exploration of our solar system is the central theme for the scientific research done at this Institute...
and the German Aerospace Center
German Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has multiple locations throughout Germany. Its headquarters are located in Cologne. It is engaged in a wide range of research and development projects in...
(DLR) provided the framing cameras, the Italian Space Agency
Italian Space Agency
The Italian Space Agency is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy...
provided the mapping spectrometer
Spectrometer
A spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
, and the DOE
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
provided the gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
and neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
spectrometer.
Instruments
The Dawn spacecraft carries a suite of three instruments built by three countries: a framing camera from GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, a visual and infrared spectrometer from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and a gamma ray and neutron detector from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
- Framing camera (FC) — The framing camera uses 20 mm aperture, f/7.5 refractive optical system with a focal length of 150 mm. A frame-transfer charge-coupled deviceCharge-coupled deviceA charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
(CCD), a Thomson TH7888A, at the focal plane has 1024 × 1024 sensitive 93-μrad pixels, yielding a wide field of view. An 8-position filter wheel permits panchromaticPanchromaticPanchromatic film is a type of black-and-white photographic film that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light. A panchromatic film therefore produces a realistic reproduction of a scene as it appears to the human eye. Almost all modern photographic film is panchromatic, but some types are...
(clear filter) and spectrally selective imaging (7 narrow band filters). The broadest filter allows imaging from about 400 to 1050 nm. In addition, the framing camera will acquire images for optical navigation in the vicinities of Vesta and Ceres. The FC computer is a custom radiation-hardenedRadiation hardeningRadiation hardening is a method of designing and testing electronic components and systems to make them resistant to damage or malfunctions caused by ionizing radiation , such as would be encountered in outer space, high-altitude flight, around nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, or during...
XilinxXilinxXilinx, Inc. is a supplier of programmable logic devices. It is known for inventing the field programmable gate array and as the first semiconductor company with a fabless manufacturing model....
with a Leon core and 8 GiBGibGib may refer to:* A castrated male cat or ferret* Gibibit , measurement unit of digitally stored computer information* Gibraltar, British overseas territory* Drywall, construction material...
of memory. The camera will offer resolutions of 17 m/pixel for Vesta and 66 m/pixel for Ceres. Because the framing camera is vital for both science and navigation, the payload has two identical and physically separate cameras (FC1 & FC2) for redundancy, each with its own optics, electronics, and structure.
- Visual and infraredInfraredInfrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
spectrometerSpectrometerA spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
(VIR) — This instrument is a modification of the visible and infrared thermal-imaging spectrometer used on the Rosetta and Venus ExpressVenus ExpressVenus Express is the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency. Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and has been continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. Equipped with seven science instruments, the main objective of the...
spacecraft. It also draws its heritage from the SaturnSaturnSaturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
orbiter Cassini's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer. The spectrometer's VIR spectral frames are 256 (spatial) × 432 (spectral), and the slit length is 64 mrad. The mapping spectrometer incorporates two channels, both fed by a single grating. A CCD yields frames from 0.25 to 1.0 μm, while an array of HgCdTe photodiodes cooled to about 70K spans the spectrum from 0.95 to 5.0 μm. - Gamma RayGamma rayGamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
and NeutronNeutronThe neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
Detector (GRaND) — This instrument is based on similar instruments flown on the Lunar ProspectorLunar ProspectorThe Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition and possible...
and Mars Odyssey space missions. It will be used to measure the abundances of the major rock-forming elements (oxygen, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium, titanium, and iron) in Vesta and Ceres, as well as potassium, thorium, uranium, and water (inferred from hydrogen content).
Motivation
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
in order to answer questions about the formation of the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, as well as to test the feasibility of its ion drive.
Ceres and Vesta were chosen as two contrasting protoplanet
Protoplanet
Protoplanets are large planetary embryos that originate within protoplanetary discs and have undergone internal melting to produce differentiated interiors. They are believed to form out of kilometer-sized planetesimals that attract each other gravitationally and collide...
s, the first one apparently "wet" (that is, icy
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
) and the other "dry" (or rocky
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
), whose accretion
Accretion (astrophysics)
In astrophysics, the term accretion is used for at least two distinct processes.The first and most common is the growth of a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter in an accretion disc. Accretion discs are common around smaller stars or stellar remnants...
was terminated by the formation of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
. They provide a bridge in our understanding between the formation of rocky planets and the icy bodies of our solar system, and under what conditions a rocky planet can hold water.
The IAU
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
adopted a new definition of planet on August 24, 2006, which introduced the term "dwarf planet" for ellipsoidal
Hydrostatic equilibrium
Hydrostatic equilibrium or hydrostatic balance is the condition in fluid mechanics where a volume of a fluid is at rest or at constant velocity. This occurs when compression due to gravity is balanced by a pressure gradient force...
worlds that were too small to qualify for planetary status by "clearing their neighborhood"
Clearing the neighbourhood
"Clearing the neighbourhood of its orbit" is a criterion for a celestial body to be considered a planet in the Solar System. This was one of the three criteria adopted by the International Astronomical Union in its 2006 definition of planet....
. If the IAU's definition stands and the spacecraft experiences no delays, Dawn will become the first mission to study a dwarf planet, arriving at Ceres five months prior to the arrival of New Horizons
New Horizons
New Horizons is a NASA robotic spacecraft mission currently en route to the dwarf planet Pluto. It is expected to be the first spacecraft to fly by and study Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, Hydra and S/2011 P 1. Its estimated arrival date at the Pluto-Charon system is July 14th, 2015...
at Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
.
Ceres is a dwarf planet whose mass comprises about one-third of the total mass of the bodies in the asteroid belt and whose spectral
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
characteristics suggest a composition similar to that of a water-rich carbonaceous chondrite
Carbonaceous chondrite
Carbonaceous chondrites or C chondrites are a class of chondritic meteorites comprising at least 7 known groups and many ungrouped meteorites. They include some of the most primitive known meteorites...
. Smaller Vesta, a water-poor achondritic
Achondrite
An achondrite is a stony meteorite that does not contain chondrules. It consists of material similar to terrestrial basalts or plutonic rocks and has been differentiated and reprocessed to a lesser or greater degree due to melting and recrystallization on or within meteorite parent bodies...
asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
, has experienced significant heating and differentiation
Igneous differentiation
In geology, igneous differentiation is an umbrella term for the various processes by which magmas undergo bulk chemical change during the partial melting process, cooling, emplacement or eruption.-Primary melts:...
. It shows signs of a metallic core, a Mars-like density and lunar-like basaltic flows.
Both bodies formed very early in the history of the solar system, thereby retaining a record of events and processes from the time of the formation of the terrestrial planets. Radionuclide
Radionuclide
A radionuclide is an atom with an unstable nucleus, which is a nucleus characterized by excess energy available to be imparted either to a newly created radiation particle within the nucleus or to an atomic electron. The radionuclide, in this process, undergoes radioactive decay, and emits gamma...
dating of pieces of meteorites thought to come from Vesta suggests that Vesta differentiated quickly, in only three million years. Thermal evolution studies suggest that Ceres must have formed a little later, more than three million years after the formation of CAI
Ca-Al-rich inclusions
A calcium-aluminium-rich inclusion or Ca-Al-rich Inclusion is a submillimeter to centimeter-sized light-colored calcium- and aluminium-rich inclusion found in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites...
s (the oldest known objects of Solar System origin).
Moreover, Vesta is the source of many smaller objects in the solar system. Most (but not all) V-type near-Earth asteroids, and some outer main-belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
asteroids, have spectra
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
similar to Vesta, and are thus known as vestoids. Five percent of the meteoritic
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
samples found on Earth, the
Howardite Eucrite Diogenite
HED meteorite
HED meteorites are a subgroup of achondrite meteorites. HED stands for "Howardite–Eucrite–Diogenite".These achondrites came from a differentiated parent body and experienced extensive igneous processing not much different from the magmatic rocks found on Earth and for this reason they closely...
("HED") meteorites, are thought to be the result of a collision or collisions with Vesta.
Cancellations and reinstatements
The spacecraft's manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
, appealed the decision and offered to build the spacecraft at cost, forgoing any profit in order to gain experience in a new market field. NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
then put the cancellation under review, and on March 27, 2006, it was announced that the mission would not be canceled after all. In the last week of September 2006, the Dawn mission instrument payload integration reached a full functional status. Although originally projected to cost US$373,000,000, after cost overruns, the final cost of the mission was US$446,000,000 in 2007.
A magnetometer and laser altimeter were considered but not flown.
Propulsion system
The Dawn spacecraft is propelled by three xenonXenon
Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. The element name is pronounced or . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts...
ion thruster
Ion thruster
An ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion that creates thrust by accelerating ions. Ion thrusters are categorized by how they accelerate the ions, using either electrostatic or electromagnetic force. Electrostatic ion thrusters use the Coulomb force and...
s which inherited engineering technology from the DS1
Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1 is a spacecraft of the NASA New Millennium Program dedicated to testing a payload of advanced, high risk technologies....
spacecraft. They have a specific impulse
Specific impulse
Specific impulse is a way to describe the efficiency of rocket and jet engines. It represents the derivative of the impulse with respect to amount of propellant used, i.e., the thrust divided by the amount of propellant used per unit time. If the "amount" of propellant is given in terms of mass ,...
of 3,100 s and produce a thrust
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system....
of 90 mN. The whole spacecraft, including the ion propulsion thrusters, is powered by a 10 kW (at 1 AU) triple-junction photovoltaic
Photovoltaic module
A solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
solar array manufactured by Dutch Space. To get to Vesta, Dawn is allocated 275 kg (606 lb) of xenon, with another 110 kg (243 lb) to reach Ceres, out of a total capacity of 425 kg (937 pounds) of on-board propellant. With the propellant it carries, it can perform a velocity change
Delta-v
In astrodynamics a Δv or delta-v is a scalar which takes units of speed. It is a measure of the amount of "effort" that is needed to change from one trajectory to another by making an orbital maneuver....
of over 10 km/s, far more than any other spacecraft has done with onboard propellant after separation from the launch rocket.
Dawn is NASA’s first purely exploratory mission to use ion propulsion engines.
Microchip
Onboard Dawn is a small computer microchipIntegrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
bearing the names of more than 360,000 space enthusiasts. The names were submitted online as part of a public outreach effort between September 2005 and November 4, 2006. The microchip (about the size of a United States nickel coin
Nickel (United States coin)
The nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name....
) was installed on 17 May 2007 above the forward ion thruster, underneath the spacecraft's high-gain antenna
High-gain antenna
A high-gain antenna is an antenna with a focused, narrow radiowave beam width. This narrow beam width allows more precise targeting of the radio signal - also known as a directional antenna...
. More than one microchip was made, with a back-up copy on display at the 2007 Open House at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
.
Vesta approach
As Dawn approached Vesta4 Vesta
Vesta, formally designated 4 Vesta, is one of the largest asteroids, with a mean diameter of about . It was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, and is named after the Roman virgin goddess of home and hearth, Vesta....
, it could take progressively higher-resolution images. The images were taken by the Framing Camera instrument, and published online and at news conferences by NASA and MPI.
Vesta orbit
After entering orbit (captured by Vesta's gravity), it moved itself to a lower, closer orbit by running its xenon ion rocket engine via solar power.See also
- Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)NEAR ShoemakerThe Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker , renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene M. Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit over a...
, 253 Mathilde253 Mathilde253 Mathilde is a main-belt asteroid about 50 km in diameter that was discovered by Johann Palisa in 1885. It has a relatively elliptical orbit that requires more than four years to circle the Sun. This asteroid has an unusually slow rate of rotation, requiring 17.4 days to complete a...
flyby, and orbited 433 Eros433 Eros433 Eros is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 1898, and the first asteroid to be orbited by a probe . It is an S-type asteroid approximately 34.4×11.2×11.2 km in size, the second-largest NEA after 1036 Ganymed, and belongs to the Amor group.Eros is a Mars-crosser asteroid, the first known...
from 2000-2001 - HayabusaHayabusawas an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....
, 25143 Itokawa25143 Itokawa25143 Itokawa is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.-Discovery and naming:...
rendezvous and sampling. - Rosetta (spacecraft)Rosetta (spacecraft)Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft of the European Space Agency on a mission to study the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander. The spacecraft was launched on 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 rocket and will reach the comet by...
, 2867 Šteins2867 Šteins2867 Šteins is a small main-belt asteroid that was discovered in 1969 by N. S. Chernykh. It is named after Kārlis Šteins, a Latvian and Soviet astronomer...
and 21 Lutetia21 Lutetia21 Lutetia is a large main-belt asteroid of an unusual spectral type. It measures about 100 kilometers in diameter . It was discovered in 1852 by Hermann Goldschmidt, and is named after Lutetia, the Latin name for Paris....
flyby, and planning to orbit 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko - Galileo probe, 951 Gaspra951 Gaspra951 Gaspra is an S-type asteroid that orbits very close to the inner edge of the asteroid belt. Gaspra was the first asteroid ever to be closely approached when it was visited by the Galileo spacecraft, which flew by on its way to Jupiter on 29 October 1991.-Characteristics:Apart from a multitude...
and 243 Ida243 Ida243 Ida is an asteroid in the Koronis family of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 29 September 1884 by Johann Palisa and named after a nymph from Greek mythology. Later telescopic observations categorized Ida as an S-type asteroid, the most numerous type in the inner asteroid belt. On 28...
flybys - See also asteroids visited by spacecraft
- 2007 in spaceflight
- 2011 in spaceflight2011 in spaceflightThe year 2011 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight, including the retirement of the Space Shuttle after its final flight in July 2011 and the launch of China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, in September...
External links
- Dawn mission home page at JPL
- Dawn mission home page at NASA
- Dawn Website at UCLA Space Physics Center
- Visual and Infrared Spectrometer Instrument at INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica)
- Dawn Framing Camera at Max Planck Institute for Solar System ResearchMax Planck Institute for Solar System ResearchThe Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research is a research institute in Astronomy/Astrophysics, located in Lindau , Germany; 20 km north east of Göttingen. The exploration of our solar system is the central theme for the scientific research done at this Institute...
- Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer for Dawn, short paper on the instrument, from 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference