Dawn Stories
Mystery Solved: Bright Areas on Ceres Come From Salty Water Below
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft gave scientists extraordinary close-up views of the dwarf planet Ceres, which lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. By the time the mission ended in October 2018, the orbiter had dipped to less than…
NASA’s Dawn Mission Honored by Space Foundation
The Space Foundation presented NASA’s Dawn mission with the 2019 John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration at the opening ceremony of the foundation’s 35th Space Symposium on April 8, 2019. Dawn is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion…
Cosmic Detective Work: Why We Care About Space Rocks
The entire history of human existence is a tiny blip in our solar system’s 4.5-billion-year history. No one was around to see planets forming and undergoing dramatic changes before settling in their present configuration. In order to understand what came…
10+ Great Shots from the Dawn Mission
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter. Here are some great shots from its extended mission in the main asteroid belt.
Side by Side: Earth vs. Dwarf Planet Ceres
When you see these prominent features of Ceres, you might recognize some of their Earthly cousins.
NASA Dawn Reveals Recent Changes in Ceres’ Surface
Observations of Ceres have detected recent variations in its surface, revealing that the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system is a dynamic body that continues to evolve and change.
Dawn Mission Honored by RNASA Foundation
Members of NASA's Dawn mission were honored with awards from the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation at a banquet in Houston on April 28, 2017.
NASA Discovers “Lonely Mountain” on Ceres Likely a Salty-Mud Cryovolcano
An isolated mountain near the equator of the dwarf planet Ceres resembles a volcanic dome, according to new observations from NASA’s Dawn mission. Like the “Lonely Mountain” Erebor in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology, Ahuna Mons on Ceres was once occupied by…
What’s Inside Ceres? New Findings from Gravity Data
This artist’s concept shows a diagram of how the inside of Ceres could be structured, based on data about the dwarf planet’s gravity field from NASA’s Dawn mission. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA In the tens of thousands of photos returned by NASA’s…
Dawn in Excellent Shape One Month After Ceres Arrival
Since its capture by the gravity of dwarf planet Ceres on March 6, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has performed flawlessly, continuing to thrust with its ion engine as planned.