With all of the news lately about the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars, it might be easy to forget about the other missions currently going on all over the solar system. That includes the asteroid belt, where the Dawn spacecraft has been orbiting and studying the giant asteroid Vesta since July of last year, sending back incredible photos and information about this unique world.
But now, Dawn has departed from Vesta to continue its mission elsewhere; on September 4 it escaped Vesta's gravitational pull and is now headed for its next rendezvous - the dwarf planet Ceres. It is expected to arrive there in early 2015, the same year that the New Horizons spacecraft will finally reach Pluto.
As Robert Mase, Dawn project manager, states: "As we respectfully say goodbye to Vesta and reflect on the amazing discoveries over the past year, we eagerly look forward to the next phase of our adventure at Ceres, where even more exciting discoveries await."
Dawn's study of Vesta, which had never been seen up close before, has greatly increased scientists' knowledge of the largest asteroids and how they formed.
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