December 21, 2011 PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has
sent back the first images of the giant asteroid Vesta from its
low-altitude mapping orbit. The images, obtained by the framing
camera, show the stippled and lumpy surface in detail never seen
before, piquing the curiosity of scientists who are studying
Vesta for clues about the solar system's early history. At this
detailed resolution, the surface shows abundant small craters,
and textures such as small grooves and lineaments that are
reminiscent of the structures seen in low-resolution data from
the higher-altitude orbits. Also, this fine scale highlights
small outcrops of bright and dark material. A gallery of images
can be found online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/multimedia/gallery-
index.html . The images were returned to Earth on Dec. 13. Dawn
scientists plan to acquire data in the low-altitude mapping
orbit for at least 10 weeks. The primary science objectives in
this orbit are to learn about the elemental composition of Vest