NASA’s Dawn spacecraft achieves Ceres orbit, makes history, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft successfully entered Ceres' orbit early on Friday, making history as the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet.
Dawn was approximately 38,000 miles from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity at approximately 7:39 a.m. ET.
Ceres, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, is 310 million miles from Earth.
Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is managing the mission, received a signal from Dawn at 8:36 a.m ET, showing that the spacecraft was healthy and thrusting with its ion engine. The engine thrust was a key indicator that Dawn had entered Ceres’ orbit as planned.Read More
Dawn was approximately 38,000 miles from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity at approximately 7:39 a.m. ET.
Ceres, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, is 310 million miles from Earth.
Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is managing the mission, received a signal from Dawn at 8:36 a.m ET, showing that the spacecraft was healthy and thrusting with its ion engine. The engine thrust was a key indicator that Dawn had entered Ceres’ orbit as planned.Read More
