Date: September 28th 2007

09 27 07

Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne c brown@nasa gov

Allard Beutel Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468 allard beutel@nasa gov

DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif 818-393-9011 david c agle@jpl nasa gov

RELEASE: 07-213

NASA'S DAWN SPACECRAFT ENROUTE TO SHED LIGHT ON ASTEROID BELT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on its way to study a pair of asteroids after lifting off Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:34 a m EDT

Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif , received telemetry on schedule at 9:44 a m indicating Dawn had achieved proper orientation in space and its massive solar array was generating power from the sun

"Dawn has risen, and the spacecraft is healthy," said the mission's project manager Keyur Patel of JPL "About this time tomorrow [Friday morning], we will have passed the moon's orbit "

During the next 80 days, spacecraft controllers will test and calibrate the myriad of spacecraft systems and subsystems, ensuring Dawn is ready for the long journey ahead

"Dawn will travel back in time by probing deep into the asteroid belt," said Dawn Principal Investigator Christopher Russell, University of California, Los Angeles "This is a moment the space science community has been waiting for since interplanetary spaceflight became possible "

Dawn's 3-billion-mile odyssey includes exploration of asteroid Vesta in 2011 and the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015 These two icons of the asteroid belt have been witness to much of our solar system's history By using Dawn's instruments to study both asteroids, scientists more accurately can compare and contrast the two Dawn's science instrument suite will measure elemental and mineral composition, shape, surface topography, tectonic history, and it will seek water-bearing minerals In addition, the Dawn spacecraft and how it orbits Vesta and Ceres will be used to measure the celestial bodies' masses and gravity fields

The spacecraft's engines use a unique, hyper-efficient system called ion propulsion, which uses electricity to ionize xenon to generate thrust The 12-inch-wide ion thrusters provide less power than conventional engines but can maintain thrust for months at a time

The management of the Dawn launch was the responsibility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla The Delta 2 launch vehicle was provided by United Launch Alliance, Denver

The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington

The University of California, Los Angeles, is responsible for overall Dawn mission science Other scientific partners include Los Alamos National Laboratory, N M ; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg, Germany; DLR Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin; Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome; and the Italian Space Agency Orbital Sciences Corp of Dulles, Va , designed and built the Dawn spacecraft

To learn more about Dawn and its mission to the asteroid belt, visit:

http://www nasa gov/dawn

-end-

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