Should all go as planned, the spacecraft will successfully place itself in the planet's orbit this coming March

Jan 3, 2015 08:18 GMT  ·  By

In just a couple of months, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will get busy orbiting Ceres, a dwarf planet about the size of the state of Texas. This celestial body is located in the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and has never before been visited by a spacecraft.

In a recent statement, scientists with NASA detail that, should things go according to plan, the Dawn spacecraft will reach Ceres on March 6, 2015. It will then carry out a series of maneuvers and hopefully manage to place itself in the dwarf planet's orbit.

Dawn's impressive career

This spacecraft that NASA expects will soon get to work studying the dwarf planet Ceres left Earth many years ago. Specifically, it launched on September 27, 2007 from the Space Launch Complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US.

In February 2009, it successfully completed a flyby of Mars, and in July 2011, it reached and started exploring the protoplanet Vesta. The space probe went on to study this celestial body for 14 straight months, during which time it snapped several pictures of it and gathered data concerning its makeup.

Eventually, the spacecraft left Vesta and embarked on its journey to Ceres. NASA says that the Dawn space probe is now traveling towards the dwarf planet at a speed of about 450 miles per hour (approximately 725 kilometers per hour). Some 400,000 miles (640,000 miles) stand between them.

Scientists explain that, to travel through space, the spacecraft relies on a so-called ion propulsion engine. They go on detail that, when compared to chemical propulsion, this other type is more efficient. Hence the fact that Dawn has until now completed more thrust time than any other space probe.

“In an ion propulsion engine, an electrical charge is applied to xenon gas, and charged metal grids accelerate the xenon particles out of the thruster. These particles push back on the thruster as they exit, creating a reaction force that propels the spacecraft,” NASA brainiacs say.

Introducing Vesta and Ceres

As shown by previous investigations, Ceres and Vesta are the absolute largest bodies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Thus, Ceres is estimated to have an average diameter of about 590 miles (some 950 kilometers), whereas Vesta's average diameter is one of 326 miles (525 kilometers).

Evidence at hand indicates that, whereas Vesta is a fairly dry place, Ceres packs a rather thick ice mantle and also accommodates for a pretty impressive ocean that is hidden under its crust. Besides, scientists have reasons to believe that Ceres is a somewhat cooler place than Vesta.

In case anyone was wondering, the NASA astronomers behind the Dawn mission are this eager to study Vesta and Ceres because they expect that the anatomy of these two celestial bodies will help them better understand the formation of the Solar System.

The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter
The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter

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NASA's Dawn spacecraft is nearing Ceres
The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter
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