Dawn Liftoff at Dawn... on mission to Ceres and Vesta

Dawn Mission ^ | 09/28/2007 | NASA

[cogitator]

I'm mainly posting this because the liftoff image is one of the most impressive I've seen.

[cogitator]

We have liftoff.

[BenLurkin]

That is cool.

[1rudeboy]

I never succeeded in getting my Estes rockets to do that, but Lord knows I tried.

[BenLurkin]

ATK Solid Motors Used To Launch Heavy Payload On Delta II Vehicle

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) propulsion and composite technologies supported the successful launch of the United Launch Alliance’s Delta II rocket carrying NASA’s Dawn spacecraft that will use an ion propulsion system to visit and orbit the asteroids Vesta and Ceres.

Nine GEM-46 solid propulsion strap-on boosters manufactured in ATK’s Salt Lake City, Utah facility provided augmented thrust for the launch while the STAR 48B rocket motor, manufactured in Elkton, Maryland, acted as the third-stage rocket motors. ATK’s Clearfield, Utah facility produced the composite cases for the GEM-46 boosters using an automated filament winding process developed and refined through its 40-year-heritage in composite manufacturing.

Six of the boosters ignited at lift-off with the first-stage main engine and provided over 824,000 pound maximum thrust for the launch vehicle. Just over one minute later, the remaining three boosters ignited to provide an additional 427,000 pound maximum thrust. The spent motors were jettisoned from the rocket as it continued its ascent.

Following burnout and separation of the GEM-46 boosters and the rocket’s liquid second stage, an ATK-produced STAR(TM) 48B third-stage rocket motor fired approximately 55 minutes into flight to provide the final velocity increment needed by the spacecraft to begin its journey.

ATK is a $4 billion advanced weapon and space systems company employing approximately 16,500 people in 21 states. News and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070927/aqth093.html?.v=20

[1rudeboy]

There must be no wind at all. Zero.

[Southack]

Ceres and Vesta...two new worlds to explore, and the U.S. leads the way.

Again.

[Thrownatbirth]

That’ll make a nice screensaver.

[poobear]

http://www.nasa.gov/

Watch the whole thing, third column, top, click video.

Watched it from our house, quite a show!

[Thrownatbirth]

Nice day for a walk on the beach, too. Thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

the asteroids Vesta and Ceres

Ceres was reclassified as a "dwarf planet" by the IAU, at the same time the same body reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet". Slow week, possibly of interest to the list. :')

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[SunkenCiv]

images of Ceres and Vesta

[Army Air Corps]

cogitator - Thanks for the post.

SunkenCiv - Thanks for the ping.

Ion propulsion, eh? Scotty would be proud...

[cogitator]

That’ll make a nice screensaver.

If you go to the Web site there's also a BIG version.

[cogitator]

It's on this News page:

NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Enroute to Shed Light on Asteroid Belt

Look for the high-resolution JPEG link.

[cogitator]

I’m pretty sure that a couple of meteorites found on Earth have been identified as coming from Vesta. No time to search for the confirmation (you can!).

[mikrofon]

Dawn... on mission to Ceres and Vesta

Let's hope that the craft's computers aren't running Vista...

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Ceres, of course, holds a prominent position in the history of mathematical astronomy, probability theory and in establishing the reputation of Karl F. Gauss as Europe’s leading mathematician.

http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~cherlin/History/Papers1999/weiss.html

[SunkenCiv]

The Dwarf Planets
by Mike Brown

...The smallest body that is generally round is Saturn's satellite Mimas, which has a diameter of about 400 km... Objects with more ice will become round at smaller sizes while those with less rock might be bigger... anything larger than 400 km in the Kuiper belt is round, and thus a dwarf planet... If we assume that the typical small Kuiper belt object reflects 10% of the sunlight that hits its surface we know how bright a 400 km object would be in the Kuiper belt. As of late August 2006, 44 objects this size or larger in the Kuiper belt... and one (Sedna) in the region beyond the Kuiper belt. In addition our large ongoing Palomar survey has detected approximately 30 more objects of this size which are currently undergoing detailed study... Our best estimate is that a complete survey of the Kuiper belt would double this number. For now, the number of known objects in the solar system which are likely to be round is 53, with the number jumping to 80 when the objects from our survey are announced, and to ~200 when the Kuiper belt is fully surveyed.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks.

“When Uranus was discovered in 1781, it was found to fit the Titius-Bode law.”

Just a bit of whinin’ from me, T-B is at best a mnemonic. Here’s what some astronomy prof guy sez:

http://astroprofspage.com/archives/1160

First of all, it isn’t really a “law” at all, in the scientific sense of the word. It is at best a “rule.” There is no physical basis for it, and not even any solid theoretical basis. It is a mathematical formulation that isn’t even mathematically sound... in 1846, Neptune was discovered, and it lay nowhere near where the Titius-Bode law predicted that it should be found. Astronomers again began to think of the relationship as simply a mathematical curiosity: basically, a numbers game.

[RightWhale]

5% of meteorites found on earth come from Vesta

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903165/posts

LIVE thread.