spacetoday.net: Dawn launch delayed until September

Posted: Sun, Jul 8, 2007, 9:16 AM ET (1316 GMT)
Dawn spacecraft illustration (UCLA/W. Hartman)

In the third launch delay in just over 24 hours, NASA announced late Saturday that the launch of the Dawn mission had been postponed until September. The launch had been delayed during the day Friday to Monday, and then later that day to July 15. Saturday's decision to delay the launch until September was based on the limited number of launch opportunities for the mission remaining in July and the need to focus on the August launch of the Phoenix mission to Mars, which has a short launch window. No specific launch date in September was announced, although that launch window extends into October. When launched, Dawn will visit two of the largest asteroids in the main belt, Ceres and Vesta, on a mission that will last through 2015.