Dawn (spacecraft) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Dawn
Dawn Flight Configuration 2.jpg
Artist's concept of Dawn with Vesta (left) & Ceres (right) (the proximity of Vesta to Ceres is not to scale.)
Organization: NASA
Mission type: Flyby / Orbiter
Flyby of: Mars (February 4, 2009)
Satellite of: Vesta
Ceres
Orbital insertion date: Vesta: July 2011
Ceres: March 2015
Launch date: September 27, 2007
(&&&&&&&&&&&&&011.&&&&&011 years, &&&&&&&&&&&&0241.&&&&&0241 days ago)
Launch vehicle: Delta 7925-H
Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Mission duration: Until July 2015
Webpage: dawn.jpl.nasa.gov
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/index.html
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Dawn is an unmanned NASA space probe. It has orbited and studied the asteroid Vesta, and it is currently orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres. Both Vesta and Ceres are in the asteroid belt. Dawn is the first spacecraft to visit Ceres and the first to visit Vesta. It also is the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies.

Dawn was launched on September 27, 2007 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Delta 7925-H rocket. It then travelled to Mars for a gravity assist, making its closest approach to Mars in February 2009.

Vesta darkside
One of the photos Dawn took of Vesta

Next, Dawn set off for Vesta. It went into orbit in July, 2011. On September 5, 2012, Dawn left Vesta and headed for Ceres. It began to orbit Ceres on March 6, 2015.

Images for kids

  • SERT-1 spacecraft

    SERT-1: first ion engine NASA spacecraft; launched on July 20, 1964.

  • 4 Vesta 1 Ceres Moon at 20 km per px

    Scale comparison of Vesta, Ceres, and Earth's moon

  • PIA19547-Ceres-DwarfPlanet-Dawn-RC3-AnimationFrame25-20150504

    Dawn image of Ceres from 13,600 km, May 4, 2015

  • Dawn at Launch Pad

    Dawn prior to encapsulation at its launch pad on July 1, 2007

  • PIA19559-Ceres-DwarfPlanet-Dawn-OpNav8-image1-20150516-crop

    Framing camera view of the Ceres bright spots

  • Dawn ignition

    Dawn launching on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17 on September 27, 2007

  • Mars image by Dawn probe

    Greyscale NIR image of Mars (northwest Tempe Terra), taken by Dawn during its 2009 flyby

  • Central Mound at the South Pole on the asteroid Vesta image of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft 14f2 311811321 detail

    Central Mound at the South Pole on the asteroid Vesta on August 12, 2011

  • Vesta Snowman craters close-up

    The snowman shaped craters on Vesta

  • Vesta Cratered terrain with hills and ridges

    Craters and ridges of Vesta

  • USGS-Ceres-Nomenclature-20161207

    Map of Ceres feature names

  • PIA20918-Ceres-Dawn-GlobalMap-Annotated-20160926

    Topographical map of Ceres

  • PIA19063-Ceres-DwarfPlanet-DawnMission-March2015

    The first color map of Ceres by Dawn (exaggerated color, March 2015)


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