Dawn Program

NASA’s Dawn mission explored asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt, to investigate the conditions and processes that shaped the early solar system. Launched on September 27, 2007, Dawn became the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies; the Discovery Program mission was managed by JPL for NASA and ended in 2018.

Identity

Aliases: DawnDawn MissionDawn Discovery Mission
Domains: spaceflight
Name: Dawn Program
Status: completed
Types: explorationscienceoperations

Details

Description: NASA’s Dawn mission explored asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt, to investigate the conditions and processes that shaped the early solar system. Launched on September 27, 2007, Dawn became the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies; the Discovery Program mission was managed by JPL for NASA and ended in 2018.
End Date: 2018
Leads
Parent Program
Participants
Start Date: 2007

Assets & Meta

Creation Time: August 13, 2026 at 12:13:19 UTC
Updated Time: August 13, 2026 at 12:13:19 UTC

Other

Official Urls: https://www.nasa.gov/history/15-years-ago-dawn-begins-voyage-to-asteroid-vesta-and-dwarf-planet-ceres/https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/dawn/