NASA DAWN readied for engagement with CERES

This artist's concept shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft heading toward the dwarf planet Ceres. 

Dawn spent nearly 14 months orbiting Vesta, the second most massive object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, from 2011 to 2012.

It is heading towards Ceres, the largest member of the asteroid belt.

When Dawn arrives, it will be the first spacecraft to go into orbit around two destinations in our solar system beyond Earth. 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is ready to engage with dwarf planet Ceres, and mission managers have stated.

Dawn has been cruising toward Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, since September 2012, when it departed from its other target, Vesta.

Ceres presents an icy—possibly watery—counterpoint to the dry Vesta, where Dawn spent almost 14 months.

Vesta and Ceres are two of the largest surviving protoplanets—bodies that almost became planets—and will give scientists clues about the planet-forming conditions at the dawn of our solar system.

When Dawn enters orbit around Ceres, it will be the first spacecraft to see a dwarf planet up-close and the first spacecraft to orbit two solar system destinations beyond Earth.

"Our flight plan around Ceres will be choreographed to be very similar to the strategy that we successfully used around Vesta," said Bob Mase, Dawn's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

"This approach will build on that and enable scientists to make direct comparisons between these two giants of the asteroid belt."

As a prelude, the team will begin approach operations in late January 2015. The next month, Ceres will be big enough in Dawn's view to be imaged and used for navigation purposes.

Dawn will arrive at Ceres—or, more accurately, it will be captured by Ceres' gravity—in late March or the beginning of April 2015.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft will be getting an up-close look at the dwarf planet Ceres starting in late March or the beginning of April 2015. 

This graphic shows the science-gathering orbits planned for the spacecraft, with the altitudes above the surface noted for each of the orbits. 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Dawn will make its first full characterization of Ceres later in April, at an altitude of about 8,400 miles (13,500 kilometers) above the icy surface.

Then, it will spiral down to an altitude of about 2,750 miles (4,430 kilometers), and obtain more science data in its survey science orbit.

This phase will last for 22 days, and is designed to obtain a global view of Ceres with Dawn's framing camera, and global maps with the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR).

Dawn will then continue to spiral its way down to an altitude of about 920 miles (1,480 kilometers), and in August 2015 will begin a two-month phase known as the high-altitude mapping orbit.

During this phase, the spacecraft will continue to acquire near-global maps with the VIR and framing camera at higher resolution than in the survey phase.

The spacecraft will also image in "stereo" to resolve the surface in 3-D.