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NASA's Dawn spacecraft is running out of fuel and out of touch with mission control, the agency said Thursday.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft is out of fuel and out of touch with mission control, the agency said Thursday.
This puts an end to the 11-year mission of the spacecraft, which sent him on a 4.3-kilometer journey to two of the largest objects in the main asteroid belt of our solar system. Dawn visited Vesta and Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit two deep space destinations.
Dawn missed two communication sessions with NASA's Deep Space Network over the last two days, which means she lost the ability to turn her antennas to Earth or her solar panels to the sun. The end of the mission is not unexpected, as the spaceship has been running out of fuel for some time.
This is NASA's second historic mission this week to run out of fuel and to end, as NASA's Kepler Space Telescope did on Tuesday.
"Today, we celebrate the end of our Dawn mission – its incredible technical achievements, vital science, and the entire team that made the spacecraft make these discoveries," said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator. NASA Science Mission Mission in Washington. . "The amazing images and data Dawn has collected from Vesta and Ceres are essential to understanding the history and evolution of our solar system."
Vesta and Ceres are considered time capsules since the beginning of our solar system. Dawn's experiments have allowed astronomers to examine the different ways in which Vesta and Ceres have formed and evolved, as well as to reveal that dwarf planets can also harbor oceans.
Vesta probably was formed in the internal solar system and remained between Mars and Jupiter, and it evolved like other rocky planets. Its craters provided a road map of the impacts on the ancient surface, suggesting that large planets had crashed into it. It also suggests that planets are "born big" rather than start small and grow.
Ceres was formed further from the sun and migrated to the same area of the internal solar system. On the surface, Dawn found ammonia, which requires the formation of cold temperatures in the external solar system.
Vesta did not have as much water as Ceres; it has melted its own interior to form a metal core and a rocky crust, while Ceres has a mantle resembling rocky clay and an outer shell rich in icy water. This is why scientists studying Dawn's data think that Ceres once housed an ocean and that there might even be liquid under the surface.
Dawn has also detected an abundance of organic molecules in one of Ceres craters, which could come from the ocean of the planet. On Earth, these same organic molecules are associated with life.
Luminous elements on the dark surface of Ceres and a giant solitary volcano suggest that the surface of the dwarf planet has been geologically active recently.
"The fact that the license plate frame of my car proclaims:" My other vehicle is in the main asteroid belt "shows how proud I am of Dawn," said the director. Mission and Chief Engineer Marc Rayman at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "The demands we made on Dawn were huge, but they took up the challenge every time. It's hard to say goodbye to this amazing spaceship, but the time has come. "
Dawn will remain in orbit around Ceres for at least 20 years, although engineers placing it in this orbit are confident that it could last 50 years. They do not want Ceres to collide, as this could disrupt intriguing chemistry on the dwarf planet – a chemistry that could lead to the development of life.
"In many ways, Dawn's legacy is just beginning," said Principal Researcher Carol Raymond of JPL. "Dawn's data will be deepened by scientists working on planetary growth and differentiation, as well as the time and place where life could have formed in our solar system. Ceres and Vesta also play an important role in the study of distant planetary systems, as they provide insight into the conditions that may exist around young stars. "
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