Text
October 06, 2011
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Giant Asteroid Vesta Has Mountain Taller Than Anything on Earth

space.com - A NASA spacecraft orbiting the asteroid Vesta is revealing new details about the huge space rock’s surface, including a massive mountain that rises taller than Mt. Everest on Earth.

NASA’s Dawn probe has been circling Vesta since mid-July, when it arrived in the asteroid belt that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. So far, Dawn has beamed back surprising views of Vesta that revealed an enormous mountain in the asteroid’s southern hemisphere and show that its crater surface is incredibly diverse place. [Latest Photos of Asteroid Vesta]

[FULL STORY]

Tags: science space Vesta NASA Dawn probe asteroid

Photo
July 19, 2011
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This is the first image obtained by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft after successfully entering orbit around Vesta.

This is the first image obtained by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft after successfully entering orbit around Vesta.

Tags: vesta giant astroid science NASA photo picture Astronomy

Photo
July 15, 2011
10 notes
All Eyes on Vesta!!! NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 9, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 26,000 miles (41,000 kilometers) away from Vesta, which is also considered a protoplanet because it is a large body that almost became a planet. Each pixel in the image corresponds to roughly 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers).

All Eyes on Vesta!!!

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 9, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 26,000 miles (41,000 kilometers) away from Vesta, which is also considered a protoplanet because it is a large body that almost became a planet. Each pixel in the image corresponds to roughly 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers).

Tags: vesta dawn nasa space science

Link
July 15, 2011
6 notes

Investigating the Asteroids

xevilious:

From the Economist:

LAST week all eyes were on the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, as NASA’s space shuttle blasted off on its final mission (see article). Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of kilometres away, another NASA spacecraft was approaching its destination. If all goes to plan, then on July 16th Dawn, the largest robotic probe ever launched by America’s space agency, will drop into orbit around Vesta, the second-largest member of the asteroid belt.

Read on…

I’m going to have such a huge nerdgasm when Dawn starts sending back close up pics of Vesta. I can’t wait!!!

(via xevilious-deactivated20121024)

Tags: nasa space asteroid dawn robot nerdgasm vesta

Link
June 24, 2011
16 notes

Dawn Spacecraft Creeping up on Protoplanet

xevilious:

From the ADS:

The craft’s visit to Vesta will be the first prolonged encounter with an object in the main asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter and the first trip to a protoplanet, a large body that almost became a planet.

More at the link

(via xevilious-deactivated20121024)

Tags: science NASA Vesta protoplanet Dawn spacecraft