Visit to an Asteroid
Reported June 2007
COLLEGE PARK, M.D. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Violent collisions once shook the universe sending rocky fragments, or asteroids, out to a region called the asteroid belt. Now, planetary scientists want to visit to get an up close look at two large asteroids.
Lucy MacFadden, Ph.D., a planetary scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, says, "We're launching a spacecraft to orbit two of the most massive asteroids in the main asteroid belt."
The dawn mission is the first time a spacecraft will visit Vesta, a small asteroid that's been reshaped by ancient lava flows, and Ceres, the largest known asteroid, that has evidence of water. After the spacecraft launches in June, it reaches Vesta in four years and then Ceres in another three. But you will have a rare chance to see Vesta this month. If you look south, it will be to the right just above Jupiter. Meanwhile, scientists anticipate what they'll find. "To be honest, we really don't know what we will see, but we know we will see unexpected things," Dr. MacFadden says.
Studying asteroids also helps scientists learn more about the how the solar system formed, and uncover the many mysteries of planets. Dr. MacFadden says, "We will learn something about the early stages of planet formation that we cannot learn here on Earth."
The spacecraft's eight year journey will travel more then 3.2 billion miles, a distant learning experience that is worth the trip.
The American Astronomical Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.
Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:
Lucy McFadden, Ph.D.
Associate Research Scientist
Dept. of Astronomy
University of Maryland, College Park
301-405-2081
mcfadden@astro.umd.edu
For more information about asteroids:
American Astronomical Society
Washington, DC 20009-1231
202-328-2010
http://www.aas.org
aas@aas.org
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