NASA launches Dawn probe on solar system discovery

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US space agency NASA on Thursday launched the space probe Dawn on its eight-year mission to unlock the secrets of the solar system by studying the two largest asteroids orbiting the sun.

The unmanned spacecraft successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and began its 1.7 billion mile (three billion kilometer) journey to Ceres and Vesta in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Dawn's long-haul to Vesta is expected to take four years, as NASA anticipates its arrival in orbit around Vesta in October 2011.

The probe will proceed to Ceres in May 2012 and then begin orbiting Ceres in February 2015 -- traveling a total distance of 3.1 billion miles (5.1 billion kilometers).

The deep-space explorer, measuring 1.64...