Let the countdown begin. NASA's Dawn spacecraft is less than 1-year away from giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn is slated to enter orbit around Vesta in late July 2011 where it will remain for a year.
Previous missions have shown us a handful of asteroids, but none as large as this hulking relic of the early solar system. Measuring 350 miles across and containing almost 10% of the mass of the entire asteroid belt, Vesta is a world unto itself, advises a recent NASA audio report.
The Dawn spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center in September 2007. After orbiting Vesta for a year, the Dawn spacecraft will execute a course change for a voyage to the asteroid Ceres where it will orbit in 2015. Scientists hope to expand their knowledge of asteroids and the asteroid belt between Mars and Juipter.
As Washington debates the 2010 NASA authorization bills, there is growing interest within the epistemic community for asteroid science. The new destination policy of the White House raises greater interest in asteroids.
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