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Veronica McGregor 818-354-9452
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
NEWS RELEASE: 2007-075 July 7, 2007
NASA Mission to Asteroid Belt Rescheduled for September Launch
WASHINGTON - The launch of NASA's Dawn spacecraft, a mission that will
explore the two largest objects in the asteroid belt in an effort to
answer questions about the formation of our solar system, has been
rescheduled to September.
The decision was made today to move the launch to September after
careful review by NASA's Science Mission Directorate officials,
working with Dawn mission managers, the Dawn principal investigator,
and with the concurrence of the NASA Administrator.
Primary reasons for the move were a combination of highly limited
launch opportunities for Dawn in July and the potential impact to
launch preparations for the upcoming Phoenix Mars Lander mission, set
for early August. A September launch for Dawn maintains all of the
science mission goals a July launch would have provided.
NASA will hold a news briefing at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time (11:30 a.m.
Eastern Time) on Monday, July 9, to preview the launch of the Phoenix
Mars Lander. Prior to the Phoenix presentations, media will have the
opportunity to learn in more detail about the rescheduled Dawn launch.
The briefing will originate from the NASA Headquarters auditorium, 300
E St., S.W., Washington. It will air live on NASA Television and be
streamed online at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .
The Phoenix mission, scheduled for liftoff in early August from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., will examine whether the icy soil
on Mars could have been a habitable environment for microbial life.
For more information about the Phoenix mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix
For more information about Dawn, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/dawn
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