Nasa asteroid mission rescheduled
Monday, 09 Jul 2007 17:11
Dawn was scheduled to launch in July
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Nasa has rescheduled its Dawn spacecraft mission, which was due to launch in July, to a later date in September.
Dawn is set to explore two large asteroids as part of a wider programme to explain the formations of the solar system.
However, its July launch date has been put back to September because of a lack of launch opportunities and possible scheduling problems with another Nasa mission.
The Phoenix Mars Lander mission is set for early August and it was feared that operations concerning Dawn may impact upon preparations for Phoenix.
In a statement Nasa said: "The decision was made … to move the launch to September after careful review by Nasa's science mission directorate officials, working with Dawn mission managers, the Dawn principal investigator, and with the concurrence of the Nasa administrator.
"Primary reasons for the move were a combination of highly limited launch opportunities for Dawn in July and the potential impact to launch preparations for the upcoming Phoenix Mars Lander mission, set for early August.
"A September launch for Dawn maintains all of the science mission goals a July launch would have provided."
Dawn will investigate the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, located in the heart of the asteroid belt, when it is launched later this year.