Since being tugged into orbit around asteroid Vesta last July, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has pulled back the curtain on the object's surface characteristics, internal structure and wild temperature swings, revealing Vesta to be a complex world much like a miniature planet. Artist's concept of the Dawn spacecraft at Vesta. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Dawn's mission at Vesta has been extended 40 days until Aug. 26. The extension will allow the spacecraft to spend more time in a low-altitude mapping orbit 130 miles from Vesta for additional studies of the asteroid's composition and gravity field, according to NASA. The spacecraft will also be stationed in a high-altitude mapping orbit for longer than...
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