Ion engines propel craft on pioneering asteroid trip

By Richard Brill

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 17, 2012

~~<p>A unique spacecraft has been in orbit for the past year around Vesta, a small rock about 330 miles in diameter and the second-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt.</p>
<p>The Dawn mission is a breakthrough, being the first time ion engines have been used to send a spacecraft into orbit around a distant object in the solar system. If all goes as planned, it will also be the first time a spacecraft has gone to a body, orbited it, then left to orbit another.</p>
~~

A unique spacecraft has been in orbit for the past year around Vesta, a small rock about 330 miles in diameter and the second-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt.

The Dawn mission is a breakthrough, being the first time ion engines have been used to send a spacecraft into orbit around a distant object in the solar system. If all goes as planned, it will also be the first time a spacecraft has gone to a body, orbited it, then left to orbit another. Login for more...