SEATTLE – On Oct. 21, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab participating scientist Debra Buczkowski will lecture about the discoveries of NASA’s first truly interplanetary spaceship, Dawn. Dawn’s mission features extended stays at two extraterrestrial bodies: giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Dawn’s super-efficient ion propulsion system allowed the spacecraft to spend fourteen months in orbit at Vesta before cruising on to Ceres in 2015, where it remains in perpetual orbit.
Buczkowski’s will discuss what has been learned about Vesta and Ceres, and how this helps us understand the formation of bodies in the asteroid belt. The 2 p.m. presentation is free with Museum admission.
For Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org
