NASA's Ceres Mission Brings Out The Kid In All Of Us
KPIX 5 Morning Weather Anchor Roberta Gonzales answers the questions you never get to ask on-air.
Q: Roberta, did you always know you wanted to be on TV?
A: True story. When I was in the Fourth Grade I decided I wanted to be an Astronaut. Fast forward to a couple of years later, on my 11th birthday, my parents bought me a tape recorder equipped with a microphone. From that point on, I interviewed everybody and anybody all the time! A Reporter was born and my dreams of traveling to Space were placed on hold. However, with my head in the clouds, I still look to the sky not just for Weather, but for to everything Space.
That's why today's News from NASA has me as excited as a kid in a candy store! After a little over 7 years, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has become the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet! The planet has a name, it's called "Ceres" and I still can't wrap my mind around the fact, this dwarf planet was discovered back in 1801! Ceres was originally labeled a planet, then downsized to an asteroid, before scientists settled on referring to it as a "dwarf planet".
Here in California, Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena picked up a signal from the spacecraft Dawn indicating it had entered orbit as planned. Marc Rayman, Dawn Chief Engineer says, "after a journey of 3.1 billion miles and 7.5 years, Dawn calls Ceres, home."
It is believed the spacecraft Dawn was approximately 38,000 miles from Ceres when it was sucked in by the dwarf planet's gravity before 5am this morning.
The announcement crossed our news wires and I have been giddy with excitement ever since!
Dawn is the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet! It also has the sole distinction of being the only spacecraft to orbit Vesta, which is a giant asteroid. Both Ceres and Vesta are the two biggest residents of our solar systems main asteroid belt. This belt is located between Mars and Jupiter.
The spacecraft Dawn has sent back some very cool photos of Ceres. To me, the dwarf planet resembles a golf ball! It is littered with craters and its surface appears to consist of dimples.
Here's a look at some of the photos beamed back to us from the spacecraft dawn. Meanwhile, just curious, do you think YOU could ever go on a space mission? Locked up in a spacecraft with no burritos or pleasant walks with your dog? I would love to hear your thoughts!
For future blog topics or pictures to share, please email me at: Gonzales@kpix.cbs.com
Have a fabulous Friday!
