Dawn orbiting Vesta

[billvon 3,120]

The spacecraft Dawn has just entered orbit around the asteroid Vesta, and is starting to send back images. It will be there for about a year, after which it will depart and travel to Ceres to make measurements there.

The Dawn mission is one of the first to use ion engines to drive the spacecraft. Ion engines are powered electrically, from solar energy collected by the spacecraft, and have extremely high exhaust velocities. This means they can generate a lot of speed change with very little propellant usage. These engines have been a game changer for space exploration; you can now design probes that will be under power for years instead of for a total of 20 minutes (during launch, orbital insertion etc.)

Their downside is that they are low thrust. It took 4 years for Dawn to reach Vesta, and will take about three years to reach Ceres - and the engines will be running most of that time. On the plus side, these engines have only been used on a handful of spacecraft so far, and they will almost surely increase in thrust and efficiency as time goes on.

[ChrisL 2]

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The spacecraft Dawn has just entered orbit around the asteroid Vesta, and is starting to send back images. It will be there for about a year, after which it will depart and travel to Ceres to make measurements there.

The Dawn mission is one of the first to use ion engines to drive the spacecraft. Ion engines are powered electrically, from solar energy collected by the spacecraft, and have extremely high exhaust velocities. This means they can generate a lot of speed change with very little propellant usage. These engines have been a game changer for space exploration; you can now design probes that will be under power for years instead of for a total of 20 minutes (during launch, orbital insertion etc.)

Their downside is that they are low thrust. It took 4 years for Dawn to reach Vesta, and will take about three years to reach Ceres - and the engines will be running most of that time. On the plus side, these engines have only been used on a handful of spacecraft so far, and they will almost surely increase in thrust and efficiency as time goes on.

This is very cool stuff.
I've seen a couple of the images that have come in. Its really amazing.

__

My mighty steed

[JohnMitchell 16]

Thanks for the update. We've got some amazing exploration going on up there.

[Tink1717 2]

I loved the NASA guy who described ion engines as "acceleration with patience."

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
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AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[Squeak 17]

don’t the ion engines allow the craft to accelerate to speeds never before seen? (over a very long time frame)

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
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[ZigZagMarquis 9]

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don’t the ion engines allow the craft to accelerate to speeds never before seen? (over a very long time frame)

Yes, I think an ion powered craft can reach ludicrous speed if given enough time and solar energy.