Ceres High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO), Late summer through fall 2015 |
Ceres High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO), Late summer through fall 2015 |
Aug 17 2015, 01:42 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
DAWN arrived in its new lower mapping orbit on August 13th. The DAWN team is preparing to resume science observation tomorrow on the 17th.
From the Current Mission Status page at the DAWN website: QUOTE August 13, 2015 - Dawn Arrives in Third Mapping Orbit
Dawn completed the maneuvering to reach its third mapping orbit and stopped ion-thrusting this afternoon. This was a little ahead of schedule because the spiral descent went so well that some of the allocated thrusting time was not needed. Since July 14, the spacecraft has reduced its orbital altitude from 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) to approximately 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The orbit period has correspondingly decreased from 3.1 days to 19 hours. Dawn is scheduled to begin its new observations on the evening of Aug. 17 (PDT) and continue for more than two months. First, however, the mission control team will measure the actual orbit parameters accurately and transmit them to the spacecraft. |
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Aug 28 2015, 01:17 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 423 Joined: 13-November 14 From: Norway Member No.: 7310 |
Two news articles from MPS and DLR:
http://dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/t...#/gallery/20333 QUOTE "Presumably, the mountain is younger than the crater, but to determine this precisely we need to wait for the images from the next orbit and data from the spectrometer, which will hopefully determine what material is on the surface." QUOTE The craters on the dwarf planet are comparable with craters on a rocky body such as the Moon, indicating that the crust of Ceres may not be very stable. One possible explanation for the flat crater interior [of Gaue] is that molten material may once have filled the crater. “In any case, something must have happened there after the crater was formed.” QUOTE Next to a mountain chain, fine fissures can be seen, as well as more evidence of loose material on the crater rim. [...] "The unusually smooth plain [in Urvara] is most probably formed by the deposition of fine material that was presumably once molten. These are, of course, just initial suppositions that we are discussing in the mission team," adds Jaumann http://www.mps.mpg.de/4087934/news_publica..._9379333?c=6775 QUOTE The structure of the mountain top can be seen much more clearly than before. “It is actually more a type of high plateau. The surface looks strikingly similar to the surroundings at the foot of the mountain,” is how Nathues describes it. QUOTE “The bright rays [on the conical mountain] are possibly flow structures,” says Martin Hoffmann, a member of the camera team at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Investigations over the coming months should show whether they are connected to possible cryovolcanism.”
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