14 DAY TRIAL // NASA's Dawn probe, launched in September 2007 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, reached dwarf planet Ceres and placed itself in its orbit back on March 6 of this year.
The spacecraft, now hovering over its target orb at an altitude of about 915 miles (approximately 1,470 kilometers), has helped scientists document mountains, craters and fractures on Ceres' surface in unprecedented detail.
Some of the geological features studied and imaged by the Dawn spacecraft since it began orbiting Ceres months ago are featured in a photo series released by NASA scientists this Tuesday.
The images, available in the gallery below at a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, are said to be the closest and most detailed views of the dwarf planet so far. Combined, they cover nearly 1% of the surface of Ceres.
“The spacecraft's view is now three times as sharp as in its previous mapping orbit, revealing exciting new details of this intriguing dwarf planet,” explains Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer and mission director.
The spacecraft still has a lot of work to do
Ceres orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It has a diameter of about 945 kilometers (587 miles), which makes it the largest object in our Solar System's asteroid belt. NASA's Dawn spacecraft is the first probe to visit it and study its geography and chemical profile.
As noted, Dawn is currently orbiting Ceres at an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). This means the probe needs just 11 days to circle the dwarf planet a total of 14 times and image its surface in its entirety.
In a few weeks, in late October, the spacecraft will be allowed to move even closer to its target orb and study it from an altitude of just 230 miles (375 kilometers).
The data and the images Dawn will deliver over the next few months should help put together an accurate map of the dwarf planet's geography, maybe even produce a 3D model of its surface.
