Dawn enters orbit around Ceres
Date as reported
Dawn reached Ceres orbit after its earlier orbital investigation of Vesta. First spacecraft to orbit two different bodies beyond Earth. Some NASA summary pages list March 5; the detailed mission history gives March 6.
Historical significance
First spacecraft to orbit two different bodies beyond Earth.
- Category
- Mission Operations and Milestones
- Type
- Orbit insertion
- Mission
- Dawn
- Programme
- Discovery
- Organization
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Destination
- dwarf planet
- Target body
- Ceres
- Country
- US
Context and qualifications
Some NASA summary pages list March 5; the detailed mission history gives March 6.
Sources and attribution
- NASA — Dawn mission history (opens in a new tab) — Original factual summary; retain attribution to NASA.