NASA / JPL
DAWN Update... At 4:28 PM, Pacific Time today, the Dawn spacecraft passed within 341 miles of Mars...as part of a gravity assist maneuver that will help the NASA probe remain on-course during its journey to asteroid Vesta, which Dawn will arrive at in August of 2011.
ABOVE: Dawn's position near Mars, as of 8:20 PM, PST on February 17, 2009. (Where is Dawn
now?) - NASA / JPL
In other news, two other spacecraft are on schedule to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) within the next three months: The Kepler spacecraft and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Kepler was just attached to its third stage booster yesterday, and is set to be transported to Launch Complex 17-B at CCAFS on February 19, to be mated to the Delta II rocket that will ferry Kepler into space. Lift-off is scheduled for March 5.
NASA / Troy Cryder
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived in Florida on February 13, and is currently undergoing check-ups at a processing facility in Titusville before being prepped for launch. Lift-off for LRO (onboard an Atlas V rocket) is currently scheduled for April 24...but may change in response to scheduling issues between NASA, the U.S. Air Force and United Launch Alliance, the organization responsible for conducting rocket launches at CCAFS (as well as at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California). If the launch of LRO is delayed, then it will take off no earlier than May 7.
NASA / Jim Grossman
There’s a second spacecraft that will hitch a ride with LRO during launch to the Moon, and it’s called the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). LCROSS is currently en route to Florida (via cargo truck) after being shipped from its manufacturing facility (at Northrop Grumman) in Redondo Beach, California yesterday. For info on what LCROSS will do at the Moon, go here.
NASA / Northrop Grumman
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