Dawn Mission patch shows the spacecraft and asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres.

Dawn

Dawn was NASA’s first truly interplanetary spaceship. The mission featured extended stays at two very different extraterrestrial bodies:  giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. Both small worlds reside in the debris-strewn main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Occurred 5 years ago

Type

Orbiter

Launch

Sept. 27, 2007

TargetS

Vesta and Ceres

Status

Successful

Dawn was the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial destinations – the protoplanet Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres, both in the asteroid belt beyond Mars.

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