Dawn mission to constrain interior structure and thermal evolution of protoplanet Vesta

Details Dawn mission to constrain interior structure and thermal evolution of protoplanet Vesta Dawn mission to constrain interior structure and thermal evolution of protoplanet Vesta

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmdi43a1937r&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #DI43A-1937

Mathematics

Logic

[1027] Geochemistry / Composition Of The Planets, [5430] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Interiors, [5480] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Volcanism, [6040] Planetary Sciences: Comets And Small Bodies / Origin And Evolution

Scientific paper

The Dawn spacecraft will reach Vesta in mid-2011 and begin a comprehensive geological and geophysical characterization to investigate the geologic history, interior structure, and evolution of this minor planet in the Main Asteroid Belt. Analysis of the suite of basaltic achondrite howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites, linked spectrally to Vesta, indicate that Vesta underwent igneous differentiation and has a metallic core. As such, Vesta represents a diminutive end-member of the differentiated terrestrial planets. Recent work by Weiss et al. (Science, 322, 2008) on the angrite (basaltic achondrite) meteorites suggests that planetesimal differentiation and short-lived planetesimal dynamos were likely common in the early solar system. Thus, Vesta may be representative of a class of objects that differentiated early, and were later incorporated into the terrestrial planets or shattered by impacts. The geochemical and geophysical data that Dawn will obtain at Vesta aims to test whether Vesta’s crust and mantle formed by the fractional crystallization of a magma ocean or by serial magmatism. To characterize the magmatic processes that shaped Vesta’s surface and interior, Dawn will map the morphology, surface age, and surface mineralogical composition of Vesta using its Framing Cameras and Visible-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, and map elemental composition using its Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND). Radio science will determine the gravity field to constrain the crustal structure, the core radius/core and mantle density tradeoff, and the compensation state of the south polar crater to estimate roughly its age. The large south polar crater on Vesta is the likely source of many HED meteorites, and existing spectral data suggest it may be floored by olivine-rich material, either mantle rocks or cumulates of the lower crust. The degree to which the material excavated from the south polar crater (Vestoids and HEDs meteorites) is representative of the entire crust and mantle of Vesta can be addressed with Dawn data.

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