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NASA Satellite Snaps First Image of Target Asteroid

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the shake-it-like-a-polaroid-picture dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA today said that its Dawn spacecraft snapped the first image of the giant asteroid Vesta it hopes to rendezvous with in July. The asteroid is 530 kilometers in diameter, and appears as a small, bright pearl against a background of stars. Vesta is known as a protoplanet, because it is a large body that almost formed into a planet. It's the second most massive object in the asteroid belt, NASA says."

6 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. The Official NASA Release by RockClimbingFool · · Score: 5, Informative

    Come on, Network World for a NASA news release? Ridiculous.

    Here is the actual NASA press release.

    1. Re:The Official NASA Release by 1u3hr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of random blogs "reporting" stories they steal from a major outlet and getting credited by Slashdot as the source, scoring a huge number of hits for their plaigiarism, and not infrequently, misrepresenting the story into the bargain..

  2. Error in title by ArcherB · · Score: 2

    The title reads, "NASAsatellite Snaps First Image of Target Asteroid".

    Is this a SATELLITE or a SPACECRAFT? If it's not orbiting anything, it's not really a satellite.

    And, of course, it's missing a space (no pun intended) between NASA and Satellite.

    --
    There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
    1. Re:Error in title by Nyeerrmm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Its currently orbiting the sun, and will be entering orbit around Vesta during its science phase, so it is technically a satellite.

      Still, generally at JPL we use spacecraft (or just s/c) since a satellite could also refer to a natural body.

  3. Chinese not allowed to view by gatkinso · · Score: 2

    Dear Chinese Friends,

    You are prohibited from viewing this image.

    Thank you,

    NASA

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    I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
  4. Marooned? by boristdog · · Score: 2

    I hope the satellite doesn't get Marooned Off Vesta.