Space News and Ramblings

Something very interesting and yes, cool is going on in space right now. What you ask?
After gently cruising through interplanetary space for over four years, Dawn, NASA’s asteroid probe, will enter orbit around asteroid 4 Vesta at 1 a.m. EDT on July 16th. The arrival marks the beginning of a yearlong study of the second-largest object in the belt of rocky bodies between Mars and Jupiter.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 9, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 26,000 miles (41,000 km). Vesta has an average diameter of 329 miles (530 km), and the image resolves details roughly 2½ miles (4 km) in size.

NASA / JPL / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA

Yesterday NASA released an image of Vesta taken on July 9th, when Dawn was only 26,000 miles (42,000 km) from the asteroid. As chief engineer Marc Rayman noted earlier this month, the spacecraft's destination looks, "wrinkled, ancient, wizened, with a tremendous amount of character that bears witness to some fascinating episodes in the solar system's history."

Launched on September 27, 2007, Dawn carries high-resolution cameras, spectrometers, and other instruments to investigate the true nature of two alien worlds: Vesta and 1 Ceres. After exploring Vesta for a year, Dawn will set sail for Ceres in late 2012. Scientists believe that these two objects, which formed early in the life of the solar system, carry important clues to the formation of the terrestrial planets.
Ok, I copied that part. But I wanted to get it right, and it is the first time we have had an orbiter this far out in our very own solar system.
What else you ask? Neptune has made the first complete orbit around the sun since 1846. Long time huh. I think its fascinating that it takes this planet so long to make one complete orbit. Strange stuff?
But, this is what I think makes space in general such a wonderful thing to contemplate. When you watch programs on tv or read articles, you get "facts" the only problem with these facts is the fact that without actual visual up close encounters everything is an educated guess. Fine and well, just remember that there are lots of surprises and we DO NOT know everything yet. So to put a fine point on it we still need children, and people to be inspired, educated, and entertained enough to want to find out these things. You cannot Google everything. And that's why I have such a passion for a facility dedicated to these objectives. Stay in touch and keep looking up!

And try to stay cool.
Larry