NASA’s Dawn spacecraft becomes first probe to enter orbit around object in asteroid belt
Image of the asteroid Vesta captured from a distance of about 26,000 miles (41,000 km) by the Dawn spacecraft's framing camera on July 9, 2011 (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)
Article Summary
On Saturday, NASA’a Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around the asteroid Vesta, becoming the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn will study Vesta for a year before heading for the dwarf planet Ceres. With previous multi-target missions, such as the Voyager program, considered rapid planetary flybys, Dawn is also set to become the first spacecraft to enter orbit around one extraterrestrial body before continuing under powered flight to a second.
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