http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —Could this stone be the first meteorite from Mercury ever found? WUSTL's meteorite expert sifts the evidence. http://phys.org/news284360973.html Space & Earth Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:10:09 EST news284360973 (Phys.org) —NASA and international researchers have discovered that Earth's moon has more in common than previously thought with large asteroids roaming our solar system. http://phys.org/news283451358.html Space & Earth Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:29:25 EST news283451358 (Phys.org)—The asteroid Vesta, which exists between Mars and Jupiter, is one of the largest in the solar system—it is also considered to be a protoplanet because it has a core, mantel and crust. Now, a research team made up of members from Switzerland, France and the United States has created 3D computer simulations of the asteroid that appear to explain how it came to be shaped as it is today. As the team describes in their paper published in the journal Nature, it appears Vesta was struck by two massive objects—one approximately 2 billion years ago, and another 1 billion years ago. http://phys.org/news280054346.html Space & Earth Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:30:05 EST news280054346 Models boost the significance of image and measurement data from space missions and help to understand our solar system. A simulation of a double impact that occurred on the proto-planet Vesta one billion years ago allowed scientists to describe precisely the inner structure of the asteroid. A joint research from EPFL, Bern University, France and the United States is on the cover of Nature this week. http://phys.org/news280055917.html Space & Earth Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:19:47 EST news280055917 The cold, dead asteroid Vesta might have had a very active inner life early in the solar system's history, according to an unusual analysis of a Saharan meteorite. http://phys.org/news277964429.html Space & Earth Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:20:36 EST news277964429 (Phys.org)—In a preliminary analysis of images from NASA's Dawn mission, scientists have spotted intriguing gullies that sculpt the walls of geologically young craters on the giant asteroid Vesta. Led by Jennifer Scully, a Dawn team member at the University of California, Los Angeles, these scientists have found narrow channels of two types in images from Dawn's framing camera - some that look like straight chutes and others that carve more sinuous trails and end in lobe-shaped deposits. The mystery, however, is what is creating them? http://phys.org/news274039467.html Space & Earth Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:05:41 EST news274039467 The surface of the giant asteroid Vesta is weathering in a way that appears to be completely different from any other asteroid yet visited, according to new data recorded by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. This new type of space weathering suggests that there's something about Vesta—perhaps its mineral composition or its position in the solar system—that makes its surface environment fundamentally different from other asteroids studied thus far. http://phys.org/news270922145.html Space & Earth Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:09:17 EST news270922145 (Phys.org)—Enormous troughs that reach across the asteroid Vesta may actually be stretch marks that hint of a complexity beyond most asteroids. Scientists have been trying to determine the origin of these unusual troughs since their discovery just last year. Now, a new analysis supports the notion that the troughs are faults that formed when a fellow asteroid smacked into Vesta's south pole. The research reinforces the claim that Vesta has a layered interior, a quality normally reserved for larger bodies, such as planets and large moons. http://phys.org/news267898587.html Space & Earth Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:17:00 EST news267898587 (Phys.org)—The first measurements of the elemental composition of the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta indicate that hydrogen was brought to the body by impactors, research by a team led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Thomas H. Prettyman has shown. http://phys.org/news267380579.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:23:14 EST news267380579 (Phys.org)—NASA's Dawn mission is releasing two parting views of the giant asteroid Vesta, using images that were among the last taken by the spacecraft as it departed its companion for the last year. http://phys.org/news266595245.html Space & Earth Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:14:20 EST news266595245 (Phys.org)—NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on track to become the first probe to orbit and study two distant solar system destinations, to help scientists answer questions about the formation of our solar system. The spacecraft is scheduled to leave the giant asteroid Vesta on Sept. 4 PDT (Sept. 5 EDT) to start its two-and-a-half-year journey to the dwarf planet Ceres. http://phys.org/news265559795.html Space & Earth Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:36:51 EST news265559795 Engineers working on NASA's Dawn spacecraft are assessing the status of a reaction wheel -- part of a system that helps the spacecraft point precisely -- after onboard software powered it off on Aug. 8. Dawn's mission is to study the geology and geochemistry of the giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, the two most massive objects in the main asteroid belt. Dawn is now using its thrusters to point at Earth for communications. The rest of the spacecraft is otherwise healthy. http://phys.org/news264133183.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Aug 2012 03:20:05 EST news264133183 (Phys.org) -- After successfully completing nearly five months scrutinizing the giant asteroid Vesta at its lowest orbit altitude, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will begin its final major science data-gathering phase at Vesta on June 15, at an average altitude of 420 miles (680 kilometers) above the surface. http://phys.org/news258968572.html Space & Earth Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:00:01 EST news258968572 (Phys.org) -- A new video from NASA's Dawn mission reveals the dappled, variegated surface of the giant asteroid Vesta. The animation drapes high-resolution false color images over a 3-D model of the Vesta terrain constructed from Dawn's observations. This visualization enables a detailed view of the variation in the material properties of Vesta in the context of its topography. http://phys.org/news258277123.html Space & Earth Thu, 07 Jun 2012 08:42:29 EST news258277123 (Phys.org) -- Findings from NASA's Dawn spacecraft reveal new details about the giant asteroid Vesta, including its varied surface composition, sharp temperature changes and clues to its internal structure. The findings were presented today at the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, Austria and will help scientists better understand the early solar system and processes that dominated its formation. http://phys.org/news254644071.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:28:18 EST news254644071 (Phys.org) -- NASA's Dawn mission has received official confirmation that 40 extra days have been added to its exploration of the giant asteroid Vesta, the second most massive object in the main asteroid belt. The mission extension allows Dawn to continue its scientific observations at Vesta until Aug. 26, while still arriving at the dwarf planet Ceres at the same originally scheduled target date in February 2015. http://phys.org/news254039555.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:10:01 EST news254039555 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed unexpected details on the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta. New images and data highlight the diversity of Vesta's surface and reveal unusual geologic features, some of which were never previously seen on asteroids. http://phys.org/news251574741.html Space & Earth Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:53:01 EST news251574741 The giant Asteroid Vesta literally floats in space in a new high resolution 3-D image of the battered bodies Eastern Hemisphere taken by NASA’s Dawn Asteroid Orbiter. http://phys.org/news247745515.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:30:01 EST news247745515 (PhysOrg.com) -- Though generally thought to be quite dry, roughly half of the giant asteroid Vesta is expected to be so cold and to receive so little sunlight that water ice could have survived there for billions of years, according to the first published models of Vesta's average global temperatures and illumination by the sun. http://phys.org/news246723829.html Space & Earth Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:25:09 EST news246723829 When NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around giant asteroid Vesta in July, scientists fully expected the probe to reveal some surprising sights. But no one expected a 13-mile high mountain, two and a half times higher than Mount Everest, to be one of them. http://phys.org/news244711847.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:33:51 EST news244711847 (PhysOrg.com) -- 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. http://phys.org/news243697222.html Space & Earth Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:40:51 EST news243697222 NASA's Dawn spacecraft spent the last four years voyaging to asteroid Vesta – and may have found a planet. http://phys.org/news242900536.html Space & Earth Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:00:01 EST news242900536 (PhysOrg.com) -- This image, taken December 6, 2011, combines two separate views of the giant asteroid Vesta obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. http://phys.org/news242653028.html Space & Earth Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:30:01 EST news242653028 Glide over the giant asteroid Vesta with NASA's Dawn spacecraft in a new 3-D video.  Dawn has been orbiting Vesta since July 15, obtaining high-resolution images of its bumpy, cratered surface and making other scientific measurements. http://phys.org/news242036784.html Space & Earth Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:27:08 EST news242036784 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists with NASA's Dawn mission are sharing with other scientists and the public their early information about the southern hemisphere of the giant asteroid Vesta. The findings were presented today at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Minn. http://phys.org/news237701016.html Space & Earth Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:03:46 EST news237701016 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a mountain three times as high as Mt. Everest, amidst the topography in the south polar region of the giant asteroid Vesta. http://phys.org/news237525502.html Space & Earth Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:19:00 EST news237525502 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has completed a gentle spiral into its new science orbit for an even closer view of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn began sending science data on Sept. 29 from this new orbit, known as the high altitude mapping orbit (HAMO). http://phys.org/news236850506.html Space & Earth Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:48:41 EST news236850506 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new video from NASA's Dawn spacecraft takes us on a flyover journey above the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta. http://phys.org/news235382669.html Space & Earth Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:10:01 EST news235382669 (AP) -- Scientists are busy poring over images of the massive asteroid Vesta, the first time it has been photographed up close. http://phys.org/news231414073.html Space & Earth Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:30:04 EST news231414073 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned the first close-up image after beginning its orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta. On Friday, July 15, Dawn became the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. http://phys.org/news230263875.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:11:45 EST news230263875