One of the most exciting and innovative robotic space exploration missions we have been privileged to witness has won one of space exploration’s most prestigious awards. From NASA.gov NASA’s Dawn project team recently earned two prestigious awards, honoring its successful mission to giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. On March 8, the Dawn project […]
NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion thruster. / Image Credit NASA. After arriving at the dwarf planet Ceres one month ago, NASA’s ion powered Dawn spacecraft entered an initial capture orbit which took it to a maximum altitude of more than 46,000 miles above the icy body. Firing steadily, a 2.6 kw ion engine, one […]
Two enlarged images of Ceres taken on February 12 / Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA Dawn’s arrival at Ceres is now just over two weeks away. From NASA.gov: “Craters and mysterious bright spots are beginning to pop out in the latest images of Ceres from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. These images, taken Feb. 12 at a distance of […]
Ceres In Sight : Image Credit NASA 2014 is not quite over with just yet, but it is not too soon to begin marking your calendars for what could be one of the most intriguing events of 2015, the arrival of the Dawn spacecraft at the dwarf planet Ceres. Having already recorded a 14 month […]
On Thursday, JPL published the above photo with graphic, which depicts the first time the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, or any asteroid for that matter, have been photographed from the surface of the Red Planet. There is an interesting lesson in perspective here, as the release gives a brief mention of the NASA’s truly remarkable […]
NASA is shutting down its NEXT (NASA’s Evolutionary Zenon Thruster) ion engine which has been running continuously at the Glenn Research Center for over five years. From the Glenn Press Release: “The NEXT thruster operated for more than 48,000 hours,” said Michael J. Patterson, principal investigator for NEXT at Glenn. “We will voluntarily terminate this test at […]
Is the inner solar system one big swimming hole? The discovery of what is by all appearances is a dry stream bed on Mars by the Curiosity rover this week adds to a growing body of evidence that sometime in the distant past, at least portions of the Red Planet once more closely resembled our own blue marble, somewhat inappropriately […]
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