How NASA’s Dawn Asteroid Mission Works [Infographic]

Recently NASA’s Dawn spacecraft achieved orbit around Vesta on July 17. The first photos of the giant asteroid were taken then.

The following infographic explains the whole mission of the Dawn spacecraft. After a full year orbiting and studying Vesta, the spacecraft will move on to the dwarf planet Ceres, which it is scheduled to reach in February 2015. It is hoped that by studying the two largest members of the asteroid belt we will know much more about the origin of the belt as well as the whole of the solar system.

Source: SPACE.com