NASA'S Dawn Spacecraft Begins Science Orbits Of Vesta

NASA'S Dawn Spacecraft Begins Science Orbits Of Vesta

NASA'S Dawn Spacecraft Begins Science Orbits Of Vesta WASHINGTON -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft, the first ever to orbit an object in the main asteroid belt, is spiraling toward its first of four intensive science orbits. That initial orbit of the rocky world Vesta begins Aug. 11, at an altitude of nearly 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) and will provide in-depth analysis of the asteroid. Vesta is the brightest object in the asteroid belt as seen from Earth and is thought to be the source of a large number of meteorites that fall to Earth.

The Dawn team unveiled the first full-frame image of Vesta taken on July 24:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/multimedia/pia14317.html

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