Exploring the asteroid belt with ion propulsion: Dawn mission history, status and plans
Christopher T. Russell
(1)
,
Maria Antonella Barucci
(2, 3)
,
Richard P. Binzel
(4)
,
Maria Teresa Capria
(5)
,
U. Christensen
(6)
,
Angioletta Coradini
(5)
,
Maria Cristina de Sanctis
(5)
,
W. C. Feldman
(7)
,
Ralf Jaumann
(8)
,
Horst Uwe Keller
(6)
,
Alexander S. Konopliv
(9)
,
Thomas B. Mccord
(10)
,
Lucy-Ann A. Mcfadden
(11)
,
K. D. Mckeegan
(1)
,
H. Y. Mcsween
(12)
,
Stefano Mottola
(8)
,
A. Nathues
(6)
,
Gerhard Neukum
(13)
,
C. M. Pieters
(14)
,
T. H. Prettyman
(15)
,
Carol A. Raymond
(9)
,
Holger Sierks
(6)
,
D. E. Smith
(16)
,
Tilman Spohn
(8)
,
M. V. Sykes
(7)
,
F. Vilas
(17)
,
Maria T. Zuber
(4)
1
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California
2 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
3 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
4 EAPS - Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences [MIT, Cambridge]
5 Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma] = University of Rome Tor Vergata
6 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
7 Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell, Suite 106, Tucson
8 DLR - German Aerospace Center
9 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
10 Space Science Institute, Winthrop
11 Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland
12 Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tennessee
13 IGGG - IGGG, Freie Universität Berlin
14 Department of Geological Science, Brown University
15 LANL, MS D466 NIS-1, Space & Atmospheric Sci., Los Alamos
16 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
17 MMT Observatory, University of Arizona
2 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
3 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
4 EAPS - Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences [MIT, Cambridge]
5 Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma] = University of Rome Tor Vergata
6 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
7 Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell, Suite 106, Tucson
8 DLR - German Aerospace Center
9 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
10 Space Science Institute, Winthrop
11 Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland
12 Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tennessee
13 IGGG - IGGG, Freie Universität Berlin
14 Department of Geological Science, Brown University
15 LANL, MS D466 NIS-1, Space & Atmospheric Sci., Los Alamos
16 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
17 MMT Observatory, University of Arizona
Résumé
In this report, we describe the journey Dawn has taken in the recent past, its present status, and its future mission. The overall objective of Dawn is to explore backward in time via its observations of the primitive bodies, Vesta and Ceres. Thus Dawn embarks on three journeys. The first is its tumultuous temporal terrestrial trek during development. The second is its soon-to-be voyage in space to 4 Vesta, the second most massive asteroid in the main belt, and to 1 Ceres, the most massive. The third is its journey backward in time to infer the conditions as the solar system was formed. Finally, we discuss how it is possible to go back even further in time, beyond the horizon of the Dawn mission to obtain "pre Dawn" observations at 10 Hygiea, the fourth most massive asteroid, and one more primitive than Vesta and Ceres.