NASA's Dawn spacecraft became the first space probe to orbit a Main Belt asteroid last night as it slipped under the gravitational influence of the large, bright asteroid, Vesta.
Exactly when Dawn entered orbit is unclear as Vesta's mass, which determines the strength of its gravitational field, is not precisely known. That will be nailed down soon. Also to be determined is why Vesta is so bright.
After studying Vesta, Dawn is scheduled to move on to the even larger asteroid, Ceres-- which in fact is currently classified as a dwarf planet.
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