Events Calendar

Special Lecture with JPLs Dr. Marc Rayman

Now Flying Through a Solar System Near You: NASA's Dawn Mission to the Asteroid BeltThe ambitious and exciting Dawn mission, launched in September 2007, is NASA's latest venture into the solar system. The spacecraft will orbit both Ceres and Vesta, which are among the last unexplored worlds in the inner solar system. They are the two largest residents of the asteroid belt, that vast collection of bodies between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres is so large that it is included in the category of dwarf planets, along with Pluto. The alien landscapes Dawn will reveal should provide humankind with a new perspective on the solar system. Remnants from the time that planets were formed, Ceres and Vesta hold clues that will help scientists investigate the dawn of the solar system.Dawn will be the first spacecraft ever to orbit an object in the asteroid belt and the first ever to orbit two targets. Such a mission would be impossible without the use of ion propulsion, a technology that has mostly been in the domain of science fiction, but which was tested extensively on the Deep Space 1 mission, paving the way for Dawn. Dr. Marc Rayman will describe the Dawn mission and its use of ion propulsion as well as its two exotic destinations. He also will share the excitement of controlling a spacecraft in deep space.

Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: -- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics