The Dawn mission was launched on 27 September 2007 at 07:34 local time from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a Delta II Heavy 2925H-9.5 rocket including a Star 48 upper stage. The objective of the mission is the most thorough investigation of two asteroids: Vesta and Ceres. With Dawn, researchers expect to find out what happened during the first few millions of years after the planets were formed.
The Dawn mission is headed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL is a department of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The University of California in Los Angeles is responsible for the scientific part of the mission. The German camera system on board the spacecraft was developed and built under the management of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, in collaboration with the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin and the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The camera project is financially supported by the Max Planck Society, DLR and NASA/JPL.
Facts of the Dawn mission
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Launch: |
27 September 2007, Cape Canaveral |
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Launch vehicle: |
Delta 2925 H-9.5 |
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Mars flyby: |
February 2009 |
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Arrival at Vesta: |
July 2011 |
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Arrival at Ceres: |
February 2015 |
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Ground receiving stations: |
Canberra, Madrid, Goldstone |
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Ground control station: |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena |
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Orbit around Vesta: |
Polar orbit at an altitude of 2420 to 180 kilometres |
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Orbit around Ceres: |
Polar orbit at an altitude of 5920 to 480 kilometres |
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Propulsion system: |
3 xenon ion engines |
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Spacecraft mass: |
1250 kilograms |
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Dimensions: |
Height approx. 2 metres, span approx. 20 metres |
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Energy supply: |
Gallium arsenide solar cells, 10 kW at Earth, 1 kW at Ceres |