{"id":10274,"date":"2015-04-01T18:54:52","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T22:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10274"},"modified":"2015-04-01T18:54:52","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T22:54:52","slug":"asteroids-update-on-dawn-at-ceres-aimdart-deflection-mission-capture-in-a-gas-filled-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10274","title":{"rendered":"Asteroids: Update on Dawn at Ceres + AIM\/DART deflection mission + Capture in a gas-filled bag"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you have been wondering why there have not been any images lately from the\u00a0Dawn probe<\/a>\u00a0of the Ceres asteroid (or dwarf planet as it is now categorized)\u00a0and those two bright spots on the objects surface, it is because the probe shot past the object and has been far behind Ceres. Seen it could only see Ceres’\u00a0night side, no imaging has been done. The planned trajectory has it coming back into orbit around Ceres later this month.<\/p>\n

Here is an\u00a0overview of the status of the mission:\u00a0Dawn Journal: Preparing to Photograph Ceres – The Planetary Society<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Capture3[1]\"<\/a>The trajectory of Dawn as it goes past Ceres and then loops back.<\/em><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The European Space Agency’s\u00a0Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM)<\/a>\u00a0will visit a pair of asteroids for scientific exploration and also to investigate issues regarding the defense of earth from asteroid impacts:\u00a0ESA\u2019s planetary defence test set for 2020 – ESA<\/a><\/p>\n

ESA\u2019s Asteroid Impact Mission, or AIM. Intended to demonstrate technologies for future deep-space missions, AIM will also be the Agency\u2019s very first investigation of planetary defence techniques.<\/em><\/p>\n

Launched in October 2020, AIM will travel to a binary asteroid system \u2013 the paired Didymos asteroids, which will come a comparatively close 11 million km to Earth in 2022. The 800 m-diameter main body is orbited by a 170 m moon, informally called \u2018Didymoon\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

This smaller body is AIM\u2019s focus: the spacecraft will perform high-resolution visual, thermal and radar mapping of the moon to build detailed maps of its surface and interior structure.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Two years after AIM reaches Didymos, NASA’s\u00a0DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft will collide into the smaller\u00a0of the two asteroids\u00a0while AIM observes the amount of deflection of the asteroid and the effects of the collision on the surface structure of the asteroid. This joint mission is called the\u00a0Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) study<\/a>:<\/p>\n