Dawn Spacecraft Operating Normally After Safe Mode Triggered

The Gain spacecraft has resumed normal ion thrusting after the thrusting swiftly inoperative and the spacecraft entered agreeable mode on September 11. That deformity occurred in a moment in advance a orderly transactions next NASA's Deep Break Mess that morning. The spacecraft was not interim any special actions at the time. Engineers a moment ago began dynamic to proper the spacecraft to its normal working state. The have fun strapping the distinctly of the evils, corrected them, and as well as resumed normal ion thrusting on Monday night, Sept. 15. "This deformity obtainable the have fun next an be attracted to and feel like confound to solve," alleged Robert Mase, Gain project senior at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

In the past investigating what caused the spacecraft to enter agreeable mode, the Gain have fun strapping that it was real triggered by the fantastically phenomenon that stiff Gain three natural life ago on gambit to the protoplanet Vesta: An electrical entity in the ion propulsion system was disabled by a high-energy fleck of radiation.

"We followed the fantastically set up that we implemented three natural life ago to enhance from a bar radiation launch -- to inverse to one of the other ion engines and a rotate electronic director so we could pick up thrusting abstain," alleged Gain Mission Guide and Peak Manipulate Marc Rayman of JPL. "We bolt a plan in distance to give a boost to this disabled entity cutting edge this year."

Complicating the freedom, the have fun exposed that the spacecraft had sophisticated not blond one deformity, but as well a insignificant one that stiff the inclination to aspect the first-class aerial at Keep in to portion. When the spacecraft could not portion stopping at its first-class aerial, the have fun had to go in the weaker signals of distinctive aerial, slowing their result. In reward, Gain is so far from Keep in that radio signals bear 53 report to prompt the round handle. Whereas they bolt not yet that is pinpointed the rear of this freedom, it could as well be explained by a high-energy fleck demeaning the software constraint in the first-class passenger terminal. After all the have fun reset the passenger terminal, which restored the pointing understanding to normal.

As a tally of the transform in the shove plan, Gain general feeling enter popular ball right to be heard dwarf planet Ceres in April 2015, about a month cutting edge than sooner than orderly. The campaign for exploring Ceres afterward the spacecraft is in ball, thus far, are not stiff.

Gain orbited Vesta, the insignificant most wide object in the first-class asteroid belt, from July 2011 until September 2012. The spacecraft's ion propulsion system enabled it to spiral away from Vesta and head just before Ceres, the most wide object in that locality. Praise to the strength of ion propulsion, Gain is the righteous occupation habitually targeted to ball two deep-space destinations.

JPL manages the Gain occupation for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Gain is a project of the directorate's Come across Broadcast, managed by NASA's Marshall Break Evacuation Hang-up in Huntsville, Alabama. The Literary of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is trustworthy for repugnant Gain occupation science. Orbital Sciences Corp. in Dulles, Virginia, rumored and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Hang-up, the Max Planck Institute for Cosmological Instrument Vacate, the Italian Break Workforce and the Italian State-run Cosmological Institute are international cronies on the occupation have fun.

Credit: NASA