Probe On Its Way To Rendezvous With Asteroids

The following goes out to everyone at NASA, involved in any way with the oft-delayed, trouble-prone Dawn spacecraft... high five!

After a tumultuous gestation process, Dawn spacecraft rocketed towards the stars Thursday morning. Not to put too fine a point on this... but we really can't believe it, and that is in no way meant to speak ill of the space agency.

As ANN has reported, trouble first surfaced for Dawn in January 2006, while the probe was still under development. NASA postponed the project, and threatened to cancel it outright due to cost overruns and technical issues. The agency actually did cancel the program two months later... but by the end of March, Dawn was back on, following outcry from the scientific community.

Even after Dawn made it on top of its Delta II launch booster, bad omens continued. A worker's wrench fell on the probe in June, while tests were underway in preparation for spin testing. A solar panel was dented, but deemed OK to launch.

Logistical and weather issues conspired to delay Dawn further... but Thursday morning, it began its three billion kilometer (1.7 billion mile) journey through the inner solar system to study the asteroids Ceres and Vesta.

The Delta 2 rocket, fitted with nine strap-on solid-fuel boosters, safely climbed away from the Florida coastline and launch complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"We have our time machine up and flying," said Dawn Principal Investigator Christopher Russell of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dawn is scheduled to begin its exploration of Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015. The two icons of the asteroid belt are located in orbit between Mars and Jupiter and have been witness to so much of our solar system's history.

By using the same set of instruments at two separate destinations, scientists can more accurately formulate comparisons and contrasts. Dawn's science instrument suite will measure shape, surface topography and tectonic history, elemental and mineral composition as well as seek out water-bearing minerals.

A critical milestone for the spacecraft came in acquiring its signal, which NASA reports was successfully executed late Thursday morning.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/dawn