[meteorite-list] Dawn Re-Lights the Ionic Fire

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2180  

Dawn Re-Lights the Ionic Fire
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 08, 2009

Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif., have received a transmission from the Dawn spacecraft confirming
it has re-ignited its ion propulsion system. For those of you scoring at
home, Thruster # 1 received the honors. Over the course of its
eight-year mission, first to asteroid Vesta and then off to dwarf planet
Ceres, Dawn's three ion engines will accumulate 2,000 days of operation.

The mission of the 1180 kilograms (2,600 pound) spacecraft is to
reconnoiter Vesta and Ceres, the asteroid belt's two biggest residents.

Dawn is currently 299 million kilometers (185.6 million miles) from
Earth. At that distance, it takes almost 17 minutes for a transmission
from the spacecraft to arrive on Earth.

For more information on Dawn please visit: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/