- This image, processed to show the true size of Vesta, shows the first glimpse of the giant asteroid Vesta in front of a spectacular background of stars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has snapped a first image of its target – the massive asteroid, Vesta.
Appearing as a white dot, Vesta imagery was taken from 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from the object.
Still, having visual contact with the object means technicians can fine-tune the spacecraft’s navigation during its approach to the space rock.
Dawn is expected to achieve orbit around Vesta on July 16th.
Vesta is 530 kilometers (330 miles) in diameter and the second most massive object in the asteroid belt – known as a protoplanet, because it is a large body that almost formed into a planet.
Dawn will remain in orbit around Vesta for one year. Then, once scientific duties are completed, the craft will undergo another long cruise phase.
The craft’s next assignment is to arrive in 2015 at another target, Ceres, an even more massive body in the asteroid belt.
Dawn was launched in September 2007 and is managed by JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
Dawn is a project of the directorate’s Discovery Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
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