Loading

At Astrotech's Hazardous Processing Facility technicians are loading the Dawn spacecraft with xenon gas for the ion propulsion system.

NASA

NASA
Washington, DC, United States

At Astrotech's Hazardous Processing Facility, technicians are loading the Dawn spacecraft with xenon gas for the ion propulsion system. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn spacecraft uses ion propulsion to get the additional velocity needed to reach Vesta once it leaves the Delta rocket. It also uses ion propulsion to spiral to lower altitudes on Vesta, to leave Vesta and cruise to Ceres and to spiral to a low-altitude orbit at Ceres. Ion propulsion makes efficient use of the onboard fuel by accelerating it to a velocity 10 times that of chemical rockets. Dawn is scheduled to launch July 7aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Details

  • Title: At Astrotech's Hazardous Processing Facility technicians are loading the Dawn spacecraft with xenon gas for the ion propulsion system.
  • Location: Kennedy Space Center, FL
  • Owner: KSC
  • Album: cbabir
  • About Title: To help you find images you’re searching for, previously untitled images have been labelled automatically based on their description

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps