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Dawn Takes First Pictures of Vesta From Orbit

Posted by Unknown on from the sightings-of-minbari-cruisers-unconfirmed dept.

thebchuckster writes with a photo gallery in International Business Times. From the article "NASA's Dawn, locked in orbit around Vesta, has sent back the first ever close-up image of the asteroid 'So far, the images received to date reveal a complex surface that seems to have preserved some of the earliest events in Vesta's history, as well as logging the onslaught that Vesta has suffered in the intervening eons,' said Dawn principal investigator Christopher Russell."

54 comments

  1. Mr Blurrycam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If these are the first ever CLOSE UP images why were they taken by Mr Blurrycam? Can't we send a 5D MarkII up there or something?

    1. Re:Mr Blurrycam by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

      Seriously. I expected at least a 6MP (25 preferrably, but I'm willing to go small), tack sharp photo, and all I saw was something from the Apollo era.

      And I'd prefer a D3x, thankyouverymuch.

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    2. Re:Mr Blurrycam by icebike · · Score: 1

      Not the best pics yet, but then Dawn is positioned about 9,000 miles away from Vesta in its orbit.

      What is interesting is the steepness of some of the crater walls. You don't see that on bigger bodies such as the moon as the angle of repose is so much different. But with Vesta's small size and light gravity you can stack sand up pretty steeply.

      Some of the craters look almost perfectly conical with sides that approach 45 degrees. Vesta's surface gravity is 0.022g, compared to the Moon's 0.165g, which suggests why craters of the sizes seen can be that steep.
       

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    3. Re:Mr Blurrycam by 1u3hr · · Score: 1

      Seriously. I expected at least a 6MP (25 preferrably, but I'm willing to go small), tack sharp photo... And I'd prefer a D3x, thankyouverymuch.

      How "tack sharp" would your D3X be of a rock 9,000 miles away?

    4. Re:Mr Blurrycam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well you can attack those cameras to some pretty high powered telescopes.. So.. sharp?

  2. Actual pictures? by Baloroth · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not just "an artist rendering of what Vesta might look like", complete with red background nebula and alien laser installations? Congrats, Slashdot. Even the anaglyph picture in the 4th link is kinda cool, in a seriously retro way. Of course, the linked page has white text in gray boxes in a black background, complemented with color pictures of a gray rock in a way that seems deliberately designed to make my eyes bleed... but I can get over it. Can't believe we finally got an article on space with actual, real pictures. Yay!

    The photos reveal a heavily-cratered gray surface.

    Well, I no one ever said real photos would be terribly interesting to the non-scientist. For those who are interested, however, here is NASA's complete archive of Dawn photography.

    --
    "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
  3. Penal colony! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They should turn Vesta into a Penal Colony, and the first convict should be Rupert Murdoch...

  4. Now the important question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now the important question: can this take a picture of Wiener's wiener?

    1. Re:Now the important question: by homey+of+my+owney · · Score: 1
      I don't know for sure, but we can probably ask "Dawn". It seems it has become sentient.

      From TFA: "We can't wait for Dawn to peel back the layers of time and reveal the early history of our solar system," said Dawn.

    2. Re:Now the important question: by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      Har har. Nice truncation on the sentence there.

      --
      Program Intellivision!
  5. Re:first post by jojoba_oil · · Score: 0

    yay!

    Did you really have nothing to say about this story? Nothing at all?

    Come on, at least make a joke about the similarity of name "Vesta" to "Vista", and then continue about how the hardware requirements of it can only be described as "proto-planetary". If you're going to waste everyone's time, make it worthwhile.

  6. After careful analysis by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 4, Funny

    Scientists have concluded that it looks like a big rock.

  7. Interesting pic by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Looks like a big lizard head to me...

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    1. Re:Interesting pic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like a hardened dill dough.

  8. How come? by brim4brim · · Score: 1

    I had to click so much to get to the full size pictures :( I don't mind so much but it isn't exactly a good gallery design there NASA...

  9. Oblig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's no moon!

  10. Re:first post by stevegee58 · · Score: 2

    If I had thought about it that long I wouldn't have been first post though.

  11. Someone help me out. by rindeee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm a complete idiot with this sort of thing, but why did they orbit so far away (9k miles)? It surely can't have that great of a gravitational pull, can it? Why not get as close as is prudent (or is 9k miles the prudence limit)? It seems like the closer the better for studying the thing.

    1. Re:Someone help me out. by AdmiralAl · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's simply because they don't know the exact mass of Vesta, and therefore don't know exactly the gravitational pull of Vesta. After they are better able to determine the mass (and gravity) of Vesta, they will begin to move Dawn into a closer orbit based upon the gravitational pull.

    2. Re:Someone help me out. by Jarnin · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, it's supposed to get a lot closer before it takes off for Ceres.

    3. Re:Someone help me out. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/06nov_loworbit/

      The problem is that unless the object is extremely uniform, maintaining the obit at a low altitude will require a lot of fuel to make adjustments. On the Moon, for instance, a typical orbit looks more like a wavering line if you try to keep it along the equator. Obviously the farther out you go the less of a problem this becomes.Though in the Moon's case, to far out and the Earth starts to affect the object.

      P.S. best place to build a rebel outpost ;)

    4. Re:Someone help me out. by rune.w · · Score: 1

      I'm a complete idiot with this sort of thing, but why did they orbit so far away (9k miles)? It surely can't have that great of a gravitational pull, can it? Why not get as close as is prudent (or is 9k miles the prudence limit)? It seems like the closer the better for studying the thing.

      As someone far more knowledgeable than me has pointed out elsewhere, they did this because astronomers are not sure about the exact mass of the asteroid and therefore want to play it safe until they have more data, at which point they plan to lower the orbit.

      Link

  12. From the article... by kcwebmonkey · · Score: 1

    "Another purpose of Dawn's orbit around Vesta is to gather information for the eventual visit of astronauts by an asteroid by 2025"...

    I had no clue that asteroids were interested in visiting astronauts!

    1. Re:From the article... by stevegee58 · · Score: 1

      Chinese astronauts maybe.

    2. Re:From the article... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I had no clue that asteroids were interested in visiting astronauts!

      Alas, the feeling's not mutual, for astronauts are deathly afraid of visiting asteroids. Actually, people generally are, especially if said asteroid is larger than a certain size. But astronauts are very vary of any asteroids or meteroids, no matter how small.

      I suppose the asteroids want to explore why astronauts have this phobia.

  13. Vesta Project Abandoned... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...In favour of Wendows 7.

    1. Re:Vesta Project Abandoned... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So you ran software names after this rock? Even Potato was a batter OS.

  14. whats next? by lemur3 · · Score: 1

    ok we're in a standard orbit...isn't this the point where we send down the away team?

  15. Huge Improvement And More To Come by Iskender · · Score: 4, Informative

    You people need some patience and perspective. Here's one of the previous state of the art pictures: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Vesta-HST-Color.jpg . And apart from the huge improvement already evident there's the fact that Dawn is supposed to be in orbit for a year. Expecting maximum performance at this point is misguided.

    1. Re:Huge Improvement And More To Come by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

      I expect the equipment to be as accurate on day one as it is on day 366. If it's a blow up of a very small area of the sensor, heavily processed to get a usable image, then say so in the write up. Don't tell me I spent $X millon for something off of $70 ebay pinhole spycam.

      (FWIW, I worked for NASA in an area that did earth and remote sensing payloads for nearly a decade - I'm not blind to the limitations of optics and distance - but still I expect either (a) better results or (b) an explanation of why the first results look like crap).

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  16. Amazing... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Am I the only person who is amazed by this stuff? Dawn is shot into space at 25,000 miles per hour, cruises by Mars for a gravity-assist flyby eventually (and nearly 4 years later) winding up in orbit of an asteroid that's only 330 miles in diameter whereupon it takes some pictures and sends them back....

    I can't even huck a frisbee and have it wind up where I want it to be...

    1. Re:Amazing... by nofx_3 · · Score: 1

      I too am amazed, the technology is spectacular. Too bad the general public will mostly never even hear about this mission.

      --
      Visualize Whirled Peas
    2. Re:Amazing... by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Unlike other endeavours that are featured here, this is rocket science. And it shouldn't come as a surprise that rocket science is as challenging today as it was 40 years ago.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    3. Re:Amazing... by Bram+Stolk · · Score: 1

      >I can't even huck a frisbee and have it wind up where I want it to be...

      That is because once thrown, you have lost all control over the frisbee.
      The spacecraft, however, can be steered continuously.

      Accuracy over a distance becomes quite irrelevant once you can navigate and steer.

      What would be impressive in this case, is of course that the steering was probably done autonomously, as the communication lag would hamper steering from earth.

          Bram

      --
      Bram Stolk http://stolk.org/tlctc/
    4. Re:Amazing... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      Actually there is no communication with Earth while the engines are running as the main antenna is fix-mounted and can only be pointed by pointing the spacecraft. Essentially they told Dawn "Ok, you can see Vesta. You know what its estimated mass is. Put yourself in about a 9.900 mile orbit and call back when you are done."

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    5. Re:Amazing... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I can't see that. I'm sure the NASA boffins just need to send the commands an hour or so ahead of time. It's not like they have to make moment-to-moment adjustments.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    6. Re:Amazing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't see that. I'm sure the NASA boffins just need to send the commands an hour or so ahead of time. It's not like they have to make moment-to-moment adjustments.

      Because the algorithm to make moment-to-moment adjustments is on board the device, and in continuous operation. Like cruise-control on a car - you adjust the speed every time the speed limit changes, but apart from that that the algorithm handles the speed tracking.

  17. Re:first post by jojoba_oil · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The next post came 4 minutes later. Even if we assume that you posted at xx:26:59, and they posted at xx:30:00, that still gave you 3 full minutes to be the first poster.

    Would it really take you longer than 3 minutes to post something that displayed a little more intelligence than that of a potted plant?

  18. Gosh! It looks so... by wcrowe · · Score: 1

    ...asteroidy!

    --
    Proverbs 21:19
  19. Looks like... by slapout · · Score: 1

    Looks like a small moon

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
    1. Re:Looks like... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      >Looks like a small moon

      That's no moon....

  20. Re:first post by turgid · · Score: 1

    I thought Vesta was a brand of curry.

    --
    Stick Men
  21. The money quote. . . by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    I'm rather more worried about the line immediately preceding it. . .

    "We can't wait for Dawn to peel back the layers of time and reveal the early history of our solar system," said Dawn [em. added].

    OMG it's become sentient and refers to itself in the third person. This cannot be good.

    Seriously though, who wrote that text? I would think the IB Times would have some editors to catch blatant errors like that.

  22. space probes are great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For a few hundred million, you can send a space probe with several sophisticated instruments to survey the heck out of an entire planet, asteroid, etc. Have the scientists spend several more years analyzing the data, and come up with more questions to probe. Build another space probe. If the probe breaks, build another one.

    The manned space program should die! If there was no Apollo moon project, all that money could have been put into government bonds and the interest could have more than financed the small space probes over the last few decades. I'd rather have several more decades of space probes.

    1. Re:space probes are great by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      The government pays the interest on government bonds, so investing government money in government bonds would be a remarkably pointless exercise.

  23. Where was Tony Orlando? by sconeu · · Score: 1

    n/t

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Where was Tony Orlando? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too old, dude. Too old. But perfectly in character with your 5-digit /. id.

  24. I see a face in the hillock! by decora · · Score: 1

    It's proof of alien intelligence! It's a government conspiracy to uhm...

    err...

    trick us into thinking that there was ... no..

    look, I'm just saying.

  25. oblig Louis CK by decora · · Score: 4, Funny

    "I was on an airplane and there was high-speed Internet on the airplane. That's the newest thing that I know exists. And I'm sitting on the plane and they go, open up your laptop, you can go on the Internet.

    "And it's fast, and I'm watching YouTube clips. It's amaz--I'm on an airplane! And then it breaks down. And they apologize, the Internet's not working. And the guy next to me goes, 'This is b___s___.' I mean, how quickly does the world owe him something that he knew existed only 10 seconds ago?""

  26. u mad ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    sounds like someone is pissed they didn't get f1rst ps0t ! :3

    keep trying !

    1. Re:u mad ? by stevegee58 · · Score: 1

      Thas right, they mad and they be hatin'. And they be scorin' me at -1.

  27. OMG - It's a sad face by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't let Richard C. Hoagland see this!

  28. Pirate Bay flag observed on last pass by strangluv2 · · Score: 1

    latest OS posted, Asteroid.