Thursday, December 15, 2011

Spacecraft Snaps Giant Asteroid Vesta Up Close

SCIENCE -- December 15, 2011 at 3:22 PM EDT

Spacecraft Snaps Giant Asteroid Vesta Up Close


In mid-July, NASA's Dawn spacecraft swung into a yearlong orbit around Vesta, the second-most massive object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Since then, it has been snapping pictures of the protoplanet's rugged surface and beaming them back to Earth, revealing images of craters, mountains, rocky plains and steep slopes.

On December 12, Dawn maneuvered into its closest orbit yet around the giant asteroid, beginning a new phase of observations, according to NASA. The spacecraft is now circling Vesta at an altitude of about 130 miles.


MORE INCLUDING PHOTO ESSAY: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/12/dawn-beams-back-images.html

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

No comments:

Post a Comment