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Vesta
Vesta is the second largest asteroid in the belt between Jupiter and Mars. It is as big across as the state of Arizona, has a large impact crater at one end, and rotates about once every five hours. Launched in 2007, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft (image on the left) will enter orbit around Vesta on July 16, 2011. It will be the first spacecraft to orbit Vesta and later Ceres, the largest asteroid in the belt. Dawn will reach Ceres in 2015.
This movie was created using images obtained by Dawn, about 483,000 kilometers (300,000 miles) from Vesta, on June 1, 2011.
Artist concept courtesy of William K. Hartmann/UCLA & Movie courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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Goodbye to our Friend Spirit
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit arrived at the red planet in January 2004, landing in a large crater named Gusev. The rover drove almost 8 kilometers (5 miles) before getting stuck in a thick deposit of sandy soil on May 6, 2009. Attempts to free the rover failed, and in January 2010 it became a stationary science platform. Three months later, Spirit entered a low-power hibernation mode, stopping communications. NASA could not reestablish contact with the rover and declared Spirit’s mission officially over on May 25, 2011.
Artist concept courtesy of NASA/JPL |
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Bright Moons
The Cassini spacecraft obtained this view of three of Saturn's moons (Dione, Rhea and Enceladus) set against the dark night side of the planet. Even though Saturn (left) is too dark to see, its rings are still visible.
Image courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Space Science Institute |
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