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posted by Fnord666 on Friday November 02 2018, @02:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the that's-two dept.

NASA's Dawn Mission to Asteroid Belt Comes to End

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter.

Dawn missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA's Deep Space Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 1. After the flight team eliminated other possible causes for the missed communications, mission managers concluded that the spacecraft finally ran out of hydrazine, the fuel that enables the spacecraft to control its pointing. Dawn can no longer keep its antennae trained on Earth to communicate with mission control or turn its solar panels to the Sun to recharge.

The Dawn spacecraft launched 11 years ago to visit the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt. Currently, it's in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres, where it will remain for decades.

Ceres, Vesta, and Dawn.

Also at Ars Technica, The Verge, and Science News.

Previously: NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Nears the End of its Mission
NASA Retires the Kepler Space Telescope after It Runs Out of Hydrazine

Related:


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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by takyon on Friday November 02 2018, @10:25PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday November 02 2018, @10:25PM (#757108) Journal

    I guess I deserve that mod. 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday November 02 2018, @10:37PM

    by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Friday November 02 2018, @10:37PM (#757112)

    One of the most 'literal' flamebait posts ever!

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