News
11.05.2011: Land ho! A first glimpse of Vesta
The framing cameras on board the spacecraft Dawn catch sight of the mission's first scientific target. More
04.05.2011: Dawn begins its approach of asteroid Vesta
The camera system on board navigates NASA’s Dawn spacecraft towards its first destination. More
21.03.2011: Dawn opens its eyes
Four months before arriving at the asteroid Vesta, the camera system on board the spacecraft successfully completes its last dry run. More
07.01.2011: A look into Vesta’s interior
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research discover a cosmic chunk in space that orginiated from deep inside the third largest asteroid. More
23.02.2009: A glimpse of Mars
Das Kamerasystem an Bord der NASA-Sonde DAWN bewährt sich bei seiner Begegnung mit dem roten Planeten. More
13.02.2009: A rehearsal in space
The up-coming Mars swing-by offers the camera system aboard NASA’s space probe DAWN a challenging testing opportunity. More
Science
The targets of the Dawn mission could not be more different: While Vesta once had a hot, molten interior that produced lava flows, Ceres has always been a cold body, under whose surface possibly frozen water can be found. In addition, both bodies allow for a look back into an early phase of our solar system. Both asteroids are among the largest survivors from this early phase of planet formation. more...
Mission
Dawn is a NASA mission managed by the Jet Propulaion Laboratory (JPL) that will reach the asteroids Vesta and Ceres within the next years. The space probe will encounter its first destination, the asteroid Vesta, in the summer of 2011. Presumably at the end of July, Dawn will start orbiting Vesta and deliver its first high-resolution images of the surface. more...
Cameras
The mission's success crucially depends on the two cameras, Dawn's eyes. The cameras were developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research with significant contributions by the Institute for Planetary Research of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering of the Technical University Braunschweig. more...