May 14, 2012
Somewhere between the hydrogen and the starlight, between the gravity and the grace, the universe conspired to bring you into being.
Virtual Flight Over Asteroid Vesta
Birthday · May 14, 2012
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published May 14, 2012 · Video still. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What would it be like to fly over the asteroid Vesta? Animators from the German Aerospace Center recently took actual images and height data from NASA's Dawn mission currently visiting Vesta to generate such a virtual movie. The above video begins with a sequence above Divalia Fossa, an unusual pair of troughs running parallel over heavily cratered terrain. Next, the virtual spaceship explores Vesta's 60-km Marcia Crater, showing numerous vivid details. Last, Dawn images were digitally recast with exaggerated height to better reveal Vesta's 5-km high mountain Aricia Tholus. Currently, Dawn is rising away from Vesta after being close enough to obtain the most detailed surface images and gravity measurements of the Solar System's second largest asteroid. In August, Dawn is scheduled to blast away from Vesta and head toward Ceres, the Solar System's largest asteroid. Help Evaluate APOD: Do the pictures (or videos) on APOD make you more interested in reading the text?