When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. For decades, scientists thought that Vesta was a protoplanet rather than an asteroid. NASA's Dawn ...

For years, astronomers treated Vesta as more than just an asteroid. With its rocky surface, distinct layers, and volcanic history, it seemed to be a miniature version of Earth—something between a rock ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. – For decades, scientists believed Vesta, one of the largest objects in our solar system’s asteroid belt, wasn’t just an asteroid. They concluded that Vesta has a crust, mantle and ...

The Dawn spacecraft's recent visit to the giant "proto-planet" Vesta verified that it is the source of many hydrogen-rich asteroids that fell to Earth. Using an instrument designed and operated for ...

Scientists working for the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute will play a lead role in the next phase of NASA's Dawn mission. Mission researchers will begin to bombard the surface of the giant ...

Vesta, one of the two largest bodies in our solar system's asteroid belt, has long been thought to be more than just another asteroid. Scientists had concluded that it sported some fundamental ...

(AP) One asteroid down, one to go. After spending a year gazing at Vesta, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft was set to cruise toward the most massive space rock in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter a ...