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Dawn Discovery Mission: Symbiosis with 1 AU Observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

C. T. Russell*
Affiliation:
Inst, of Geophysics and Planetary Physics & Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences, U. California, Los Angeles, USA

Abstract

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The Dawn mission, the ninth in the series of NASA Discovery missions, is scheduled for launch in late May 2006 on a voyage to both Vesta and Ceres. The mission carries a framing camera, visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, laser altimeter and magnetometer to understand and contrast these two very different bodies. Vesta apparently accreted dry, differentiated, and formed an iron core. Ceres apparently contains much water and ice and has remained relatively cool over its lifetime. The community of 1AU observers can help optimize the Dawn mission by improving the knowledge of Vesta and Ceres rotation axes, thus improving our knowledge of when regions and features will be best illuminated. The detection of any satellites would not just identify a potential hazard, and a secondary target of interest, but would also determine the mass of the primaries, enabling better mission planning. Characterization of the surface in any way, including identifying potential targets for detailed study, is also most welcome.

Type
I. Joint Discussions
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Pacific 2005

References

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