Science

First Image Of Asteroid Vesta Captured From Its Orbit

At 531km in diameter, Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt. On Friday 15, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft entered its orbit firing its ion thruster to reduce its speed. Then it captured this image.

This is the first time a man-made object has visited the main asteroid belt and entered orbit around one of the objects populating that area of the solar system. Vesta is a remnant protoplanet. After finishing its mission there, Dawn will fire its ion engine again to head to Ceres, the largest body in the belt. [NASA]

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(2 Comments)
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    EckyThump

    Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    This is great, but we really need to get a mining operation out in the asteroid belt! That is where we need to go to get the resources we need to actually build in space! #]

    Reply
  • [–]

    TSH

    Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    I wonder whether it might be a better idea to set up a mooonbase. You have the issues of grit of course, but it’s just so much closer than the asteroid belt!

    Reply

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