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Dawn: An Ion-Propelled Journey to the Beginning of the Solar SystemThe Dawn mission is designed to perform a scientific investigation of the two heaviest mainbelt asteroids Vesta and Ceres. These bodies are believed to preserve records of the physical and chemical conditions present during the formation of the solar system. The mission uses an ion propulsion system to enable the single Dawn spacecraft and its complement of scientific instruments to orbit both of these asteroids. Dawn's three science instruments - the gamma ray and neutron detector, the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, and the primary framing camera - were successfully tested after launch and are functioning normally. The ion propulsion system includes three ion thrusters of the type flown previously on NASA's Deep Space 1 mission. A minimum of two ion thrusters is necessary to accomplish the Dawn mission. Checkout of two of the ion thrusters was completed as planned within 30 days after launch. This activity confirmed that the spacecraft has two healthy ion thrusters. While further checkout activities are still in progress, the activities completed as of the end of October indicate that the spacecraft is well on its way toward being ready for the start of the thrusting-cruise phase of the mission beginning December 15th.
Document ID
20090017867
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Brophy, John R.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Rayman, Marc D.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Pavri, Betina
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2008
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2008 IEEE Aerospace Conference
Location: Big Sky, MT
Country: United States
Start Date: March 1, 2008
End Date: March 8, 2008
Sponsors: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Vesta
asteroid belts
DAWN
Ceres

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