Vesta unter der Lupe
Neue Aufnahmen des Asteroiden Vesta sollen den Wissenschaftlern des DLR mehr Erkenntnisse liefern. Die ersten Bilder sind schon da, weitere sollen folgen: dann noch genauer und detailreicher.
Aufnahmen von Vesta vom Südpol (rechts unten) bis hin zu etwa 30 Grad Nord. Foto: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Von Anja Wagenblast
ROSTOCK / BERLIN In 184 Millionen Kilometer Entfernung schwebt der Asteroid Vesta durch das Weltall. Wissenschaftler des Deutschen Zetrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) in Berlin wollen nun Daten über den Gesteinsbrocken sammeln, der einen Durchmesser von etwa 520 Kilometern hat. Unterstützt werden sie dabei von der amerikanischen Weltraumbehörde NASA. Deren Raumsonde Dawn befindet sich derzeit etwa 5200 Kilometer über der Oberfläche von Vesta und liefert immer genauere Bilder des Asteroiden.
Ziel ist es, mit Vesta zum ersten Mal einen Asteroiden über einen längeren Zeitraum aus der Nähe zu erforschen. Letztendlich soll die Oberfläche des Protoplaneten kartografiert werden, um damit ein dreidimensionales Geländemodell zu berechnen. So wollen die DLR-Forscher die Entstehung und die Entwicklung von Vesta nachvollziehen und mehr über die Geburtsstunde der Planeten erfahren. Denn der Asteroid bietet eine Art Momentaufnahme der ältesten geologischen Prozesse des Sonnensystems.
Der Himmelskörper, der am 29. März 1807 von dem Deutschen Heinrich Olbers entdeckt wurde, hat nach seiner Entstehung vor etwa 4,5 Milliarden Jahren eine Phase der Aufschmelzung und Abkühlung durchlaufen, danach aber seine Gestalt und seinen Aufbau nur noch wenig verändert. Zu dieser Zeit verhinderte die starke Anziehungskraft des Planeten Jupiters, dass in der Region des heutigen Asteroidengürtels, in der sich auch Vesta befindet, weitere Planeten entstehen konnten: Die einzelnen Fragmente, die bei der Entstehung von Planeten miteinander verschmelzen, brachen hier immer wieder auseinander. Das Ergebnis war der Asteroidengürtel mit seinen nie vollendeten Himmelskörpern.
Die Raumsonde Dawn der NASA rückt immer näher an Vesta heran, um noch genauere Bilder liefern zu können. Am 11. August 2011 wird sie nur noch etwa 2700 Kilometer entfernt sein. »Dann beginnt die Tiefenanalyse des Asteroiden: Mit diesen Aufnahmen werden wir 3D-Modelle von Vesta erstellen, um so die raue, gebirgige Oberfläche von Vesta besser verstehen zu können«, erklärt Prof. Dr. Ralf Jaumann vom DLR-Institut für Planetenforschung. Ein Jahr später wird sich die Raumsonde dem Asteroiden wohl sogar auf rund 200 Kilometer nähern.
Mosaik der Äquatorregion Vestas (30 Grad Nord bis 30 Grad Süd). Es setzt sich aus Aufnahmen zusammen, die durch den panchromatischen Filter am 24. Juli 2011 während der so genannten Rotation Characterization Sequenz (RC3) aufgenommen wurden. Foto: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA.
Auch bisher gibt es schon diverse Aufnahmen der Oberfläche von Vesta. So war zum Beispiel das amerikanische Weltraumteleskop Hubble schon unterwegs, um den Wissenschaftlern einen Eindruck des unregelmäßig geformten Protoplaneten zu verschaffen. Zu sehen war bereits eine große, kreisrunde Einsenkung von etwa 460 Kilometern Durchmesser am Südpol des großen Asteroiden. Im Zentrum dessen befindet sich ein gewaltiges Gebirge. Entstanden ist dieser Krater vermutlich durch eine Kollision mit einem anderen Asteroiden. Manche der dabei entstandenen Bruchstücke haben den Asteroidengürtel verlassen und kreisen heute um die Sonne. Einige dieser Brocken haben als Meteoriten mit ganz charakteristischer Zusammensetzung ihren Weg auch bis zur Oberfläche der Erde gefunden.
Um nun noch mehr über den Asteroiden herauszufinden, der zu den größeren seiner Art gehört, war Dawn vier Jahre unterwegs. Mit an Bord ist neben dem deutschen Kamerasystem (Framing Camera) auch noch ein abbildendes Spektrometer der italienischen Raumfahrtagentur Agencia Spaziale Italia (ASI) und ein vom Los Alamos National Laboratory gebauter Gammastrahlen- und Neutronendetektor.
Die Mission wird vom Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) der NASA geleitet. JPL ist eine Abteilung des California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Die University of California in Los Angeles ist für den wissenschaftlichen Teil der Mission verantwortlich. Das Kamerasystem an Bord der Raumsonde wurde unter Leitung des Max-Planck-Instituts für Sonnensystemforschung in Katlenburg-Lindau in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institut für Planetenforschung des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) in Berlin und dem Institut für Datentechnik und Kommunikationsnetze in Braunschweig entwickelt und gebaut. Das Kamera-Projekt wird finanziell von der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, dem DLR und NASA/JPL unterstützt.
Weltraum Geschichte packen mich an und ich habe großesw Interesse darüber zu lesen.
Herzlichen Gruß
Manfred Kluth
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