Posted on 03/06/2015 2:40:15 PM PST by BenLurkin
The ion-powered Dawn spacecraft was captured by the gravitational pull of Ceres – located between Mars and Jupiter – at 4:30 a.m., according to JPL.
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With this achievement, Dawn also reached another space milestone as the first craft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies in the same mission. Dawn orbited the asteroid Vesta for 14 months in 2011-12. Vesta and Ceres are the largest bodies in the solar system’s main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
(Excerpt) Read more at losangeles.cbslocal.com ...
Looking forward to some new pics.
I did some analysis on the Dawn High Gain Antenna, so it is great to see it still going.
So when does the mining operation start?
I want to know what the reflective spots are.
Likely ice, obviously, but it’ll be nice for confirmation.
A new planet in the making, or the remains of Krypton?
The glint on the surface that they picked up a few days ago almost certainly had to be a reflection from ice unless it was a Cerean with a signal mirror. If there is lots of water/ice on that planet/asteroid/whatever, it might be the most valuable piece of real estate other than the Earth itself in the solar system. Plop a nuclear power plant on the planet, make hydrogen/oxygen, make rocket fuel and air.
Er… I think the correct term is “Little’ planets. Just saying. src/
Yeah! A fueling stop!
Let me guess - it looks like a rock.
Well then get some popcorn out for... December.
See, first it's in the dark, then photos are only taken for navigational and orientational purposes, then months of mumblemumblemumble have to take place before the science photos can begin in December.
No joke. That's the plan.
Because, of course, they have to see what's there first, so they can decide if we get to see what's there later.
So... then it's just like our missile guidance system.
Now Hold On A Minute How Does This Work Again? - Missile Guidance System
Alderaan!
Pronounced like the breakfast food, hilarious watching the anchors trying to pronounce it. Both are named after the Greek goddess.
I would love to see the images from the ISS that ‘they’ have deemed too something or another for us to see. There were some pretty wild videos released in real time, from manned space fights, of things going one direction and then reversing course, before Muslim outreach program started a new policy of no more real time video or images.
And in a related story, NASA announced that as part of it’s Muslim outreach effort Ceres will now be renamed Xerxes.
By all reliable accounts Alderaan existed "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." That would rule out its being in our solar system as well.
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