A PLAN to send a space probe to two massive asteroids is set to collide with NASA’s bean counters. At best, budget overruns will see the launch of the Dawn probe slip from June 2006 to early 2007. The probe could be axed completely.
Ceres and Vesta – which are 950 and 550 kilometres across respectively – are among the few survivors of the first generation of protoplanets, and so will provide unique insight into the origins of the solar system.
The pair are intriguingly different. While Vesta melted and became volcanic, Ceres remained an aggregate of primordial material, possibly including water.…
