Philosophy
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on July 18, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 6,500 miles (10,500 kilometers) away from the protoplanet Vesta. The smallest detail visible is about 1.2 miles (2.0 km).
Dawn took this image while it was orbiting around Vesta, traveling from the day side to the night side. The large structure near the south pole that showed up so prominently in previous images is visible in the center of the illuminated surface. Compared to other images, more of the surface beneath the spacecraft is in the shadow of night. Vesta turns on its axis once very five hours and 20 minutes.
Dawn entered orbit around Vesta on July 15, 2011, and will spend a year orbiting the body. Next stop on its itinerary will be an encounter with the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA. The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science.
The Dawn framing cameras have been developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, with significant contributions by DLR German Aerospace Center, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The Framing Camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR, and NASA/JPL.
Check with NASA's home page for further developments and images.
NASA
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Philosophy
Another Dawn snap of Vesta
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on July 18, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 6,500 miles (10,500 kilometers) away from the protoplanet Vesta. The smallest detail visible is about 1.2 miles (2.0 km)."Image: Vesta's South Pole As Seen From Orbit"
July 24th, 2011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 24th, 2011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Dawn took this image while it was orbiting around Vesta, traveling from the day side to the night side. The large structure near the south pole that showed up so prominently in previous images is visible in the center of the illuminated surface. Compared to other images, more of the surface beneath the spacecraft is in the shadow of night. Vesta turns on its axis once very five hours and 20 minutes.
Dawn entered orbit around Vesta on July 15, 2011, and will spend a year orbiting the body. Next stop on its itinerary will be an encounter with the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA. The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science.
The Dawn framing cameras have been developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, with significant contributions by DLR German Aerospace Center, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The Framing Camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR, and NASA/JPL.
Check with NASA's home page for further developments and images.
NASA
- The Iau Will Have A Problem Now...asteroid Or Dwarf Planet--vesta
Like Earth and other terrestrial planets, Vesta has ancient basaltic lava flows on the surface and a large iron core. It also has tectonic features, troughs, ridges, cliffs, hills and a giant mountain. False colors in this montage represent different...
- Vesta's Huge Mountain
"New images of protoplanet Vesta reveal mountain bigger than Everest" Planetary scientists are getting an initial look at the protoplanet Vesta via NASA's Dawn mission, revealing a surprising range of features – including long parallel troughs...
- Juno Spacecraft To Carry Three Lego Figurines
Three LEGO figurines representing the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno and Galileo Galilei are shown here aboard the Juno spacecraft. "Juno spacecraft to carry three figurines to Jupiter orbit" August 4th, 2011 JPL/NASA Three LEGO figurines representing...
- Dawn Snaps Vesta's "snowman"
Using its framing camera, Dawn obtained this image of Vesta on July 24, 2011, from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers). The three vertically-aligned craters on the left have been nicknamed "the snowman" by camera team members. "Dawn's...
- Asteroid Vesta Today
Image taken from a distance of about 26,000 miles (41,000 kilometers). More science here that ISS and shuttles. "NASA Spacecraft to Enter Asteroid's Orbit on July 15" Julj 15th, 2011 NASA On July 15, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will begin a prolonged...