NASA's Dawn spacecraft to study asteroids

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 29 (UPI) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft, successfully launched this week from Cape Canaveral, Fla., has begun its 3-billion-mile odyssey through space.

"Dawn will travel back in time by probing deep into the asteroid belt," principal investigator Christopher Russell of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a release. "This is a moment the space science community has been waiting for since interplanetary spaceflight became possible."

Dawn will explore two asteroid belt residents -- Vesta in 2011 and the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015.

"These two icons of the asteroid belt have been witness to much of our solar system's history," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.

The spacecraft's science instrument suite will measure elemental and mineral composition, shape, surface topography and tectonic history -- and will also seek water-bearing minerals.

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