On November 13, Dawn will enter the asteroid belt to stay as its silent
flight takes it past 1.666 AU from the Sun. Dawn will remain in the belt
for the rest of its mission and well beyond. It will become a permanent
inhabitant of that part of the solar system, the first emissary from Earth
to take up residence in the main asteroid belt. http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
Question: Is the spacecraft at risk in the asteroid belt? Since the Dawn
mission is to fly "through" the asteroid belt, is there any concern it
will be hit and destroyed by micrometeorites?
Answer: More precisely, Dawn flies IN the asteroid belt, so it has a
very similar speed to the material around it. So, the material is a
little less dangerous that you might assume. But, most importantly, the
small meteoroids are far between and the chance of hitting one if you
are the size of Dawn is small (but not totally negligible). We,
therefore, are concerned and will avoid any region where we think there
might be higher than usual danger. Answer provided by Chris Russell,
Principal Investigator for the Dawn mission
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2361
Dawn spacecraft is to reconnoiter Vesta and Ceres, the asteroid belt's
two most massive inhabitants -- the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres.
Enjoy...
Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA
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