APRIL 23, 2015

Dawn Mission Status Report

NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered into its first science orbit on Thursday, April 23, as scheduled. Following a delay in communicating a command sequence, the spacecraft briefly entered into safe mode and awaited further instructions, which were sent by mission controllers. As of early Friday, April 24, the spacecraft returned to normal operating mode and the mission team continues to prepare for science data collection.

Image: This artist's concept shows NASA's Dawn spacecraft heading toward the dwarf planet Ceres.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech