NASA Actually Canceled The Dawn Mission In 2006

NASA's Dawn Mission to Asteroid Belt Comes to End

"NASA's Dawn spacecraft has gone silent, ending a historic mission that studied time capsules from the solar system's earliest chapter. Dawn missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA's Deep Space Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and Thursday, Nov. 1. After the flight team eliminated other possible causes for the missed communications, mission managers concluded that the spacecraft finally ran out of hydrazine, the fuel that enables the spacecraft to control its pointing. Dawn can no longer keep its antennae trained on Earth to communicate with mission control or turn its solar panels to the Sun to recharge."

Dawn Mission Cancelled, earlier post (2006)

"Upon returning to her office from this morning's hearing, Mary Cleave cancelled the Discovery "Dawn" mission. Curiously, with several hours during the hearing to do so, she did not bother to mention to the House Science Committee that she was about to do this."

- Congress Hears About Dawn Mission Cancellation, earlier post (2006)
- Letter from PSI Director Sykes to House Science Committee Chair Boehlert Regarding Cancellation of NASA's Dawn, earlier post (2006)
- Cancellation of Dawn Mission on Hold Pending Review By NASA Administrator , earlier post (2006)
- NASA Reinstates the Dawn Mission, earlier post (2006)

from NASA Watch https://ift.tt/2QcsPYX
via IFTTT