author: none
Jun 15, 2015
astro Rosetta[ Pluto ] .. New Horizons is four weeks from its Pluto flyby.
Yesterday morning, a small thruster burn for trajectory adjustment .. velocity change: 52cm/sec. Today marks the start of Approach Phase 3 (explanation in my next longer piece), which begins with a search for any new moons or dust rings which might present a hazard at flyby.
[ Philae ] .. Longer comm session last night (“several tens of minutes”).
Philae checks out in excellent condition and getting 3 hours of sunlight a day (not sure if that’s an Earth day or a “comet” day).
[ Dawn ] .. Just for completeness! I’m not going to deluge you with continuing Dawn news.
Dawn is a spacecraft recently placed in orbit around Ceres, the largest object (~950Km diameter) in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. For those who are upset at Pluto’s “demotion” to dwarf planet, be cheered by Ceres’ “promotion” from asteroid to dwarf planet! As Dawn approached Ceres several small, white spots became visible [see photo below]. It is not known what these are .. suggestions include ice, salts, geyser ejecta, and more. Dawn will descend much closer to Ceres’ surface over the coming months so these features will not remain a mystery.