Four PSI researchers attended a recent Dawn Science Team meeting in Berlin, Germany. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is headed toward a March 2015 rendezvous to orbit and study the dwarf planet Ceres after investigating the giant asteroid Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012.
The 50 scientists attending the meeting discussed research plans for when Dawn reaches Ceres.
Pictured above in Berlin, from left, are PSI’s Tom Prettyman, Jian-Yang Li, Mark Sykes and Bill Feldman.
Prettyman discussed Dawn’s GRaND (Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector) instrument. Li covered plans for detecting an atmosphere on Ceres. Sykes discussed what researchers expect to see when Dawn closely investigates Ceres. And Feldman discussed the evolution of an ocean beneath the surface of Ceres.