NASA spacecraft becomes first to orbit dwarf planet

A NASA spacecraft just became the first manmade object to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet, the space agency announced on Friday. The Dawn spacecraft will likely provide new images showing the mysterious reflective spots, which look like lights in infrared imagery, that have scientists scratching their heads.

See also: Strange lights on dwarf planet Ceres have scientists perplexed

NASA's Dawn spacecraft alerted mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California just after 8:30 a.m. ET "that Dawn was healthy and thrusting with its ion engine" — a sign that orbit was achieved when the planet's gravity "captured" the spacecraft. Read more...

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