Dawn mission

E60886

The Dawn mission was a NASA space probe that studied the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres, to investigate the conditions and processes of the early solar system.

Aliases (2)

Statements (53)
Predicate Object
instanceOf NASA space probe
interplanetary spacecraft
builtBy Orbital Sciences Corporation
CeresOrbitInsertionDate 2015-03-06
communicationEnded 2018-11-01
countryOfOrigin United States
discovered evidence of hydrated minerals on Ceres
evidence of subsurface ice on Ceres
enteredOrbitAround Ceres
Vesta
equippedWithInstrument framing camera
gamma ray and neutron detector
visible and infrared mapping spectrometer
exploredRegion asteroid belt
finalOrbit stable orbit around Ceres
firstSpacecraftToOrbit a dwarf planet
a main-belt asteroid
fundingProgram Discovery-class mission
launchDate 2007-09-27
launchedBy United Launch Alliance
launchSite Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17B
launchVehicle Delta II 7925H
managedBy Jet Propulsion Laboratory
massAtLaunch 1217 kilograms
approximately 1.2 metric tons
missionEnd 2018-11-01
missionStatus completed
missionType asteroid belt exploration mission
planetary science mission
objective compare Vesta and Ceres as protoplanets
investigate conditions of the early Solar System
study processes of planetary formation
operator NASA
powerSource solar panels
primaryTarget 1 Ceres
4 Vesta
principalInvestigator Christopher T. Russell
program NASA Discovery Program
reasonForEndOfMission exhaustion of hydrazine fuel
scientificDiscipline astrogeology
planetary science
spaceAgency NASA
studied asteroid Vesta
dwarf planet Ceres
studiedFeature Ceres’ bright spots in Occator crater
Ceres’ internal structure
Ceres’ surface composition
Vesta’s differentiated interior
Vesta’s surface geology
usesPropulsion ion propulsion
solar electric propulsion
VestaDepartureDate 2012-09-05
VestaOrbitInsertionDate 2011-07-16

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
participatedIn
Ceres ("Dawn spacecraft")
visitedBy

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