Vesta

The latest findings from NASA's Dawn mission is very interesting.

Dawn observed a pattern of minerals exposed by deep gashes created by space rock impacts, which may support the idea the asteroid once had a subsurface magma ocean. A magma ocean occurs when a body undergoes almost complete melting, leading to layered building blocks that can form planets. Other bodies with magma oceans ended up becoming parts of Earth and other planets.

Another interesting fact is that they think Vesta is responsible for about 6% of all meteorites falling on Earth

The signatures of pyroxene, an iron- and magnesium-rich mineral, in those meteorites match those of rocks on Vesta's surface. These objects account for about 6 percent of all meteorites seen falling on Earth.

It would be interesting to see how Vesta compares with Ceres when Dawn reaches Ceres in 2015.
www.nasa.gov...






I wonder if Vesta is a possible target for the new company, Planetary Resources.

Thanks for this! Vesta is so interesting and is often overlooked, even though it's the brightest asteroid in the sky!

Originally posted by Hellhound604
I wonder if Vesta is a possible target for the new company, Planetary Resources.

Much too big and too far away. PR wants to go for small, near Earth asteroids that they could bring to a high Lunar orbit if I recall correctly.

Vesta has been interesting though, but I can't wait till they get to Ceres.