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NASA probe for asteroids studing has broken. / July 2, 2010 /

The probe for the study of asteroids Dawn, created under the auspices of the American Space Agency (NASA), has failed. On break wrote portal Space.com.

In the apparatus had broken one of the parts (flywheel) needed to stabilize the probe in space. The flywheel is out of order on June 17 — sensors probe recorded it «posited» fluctuations in the normal rotating flywheel was stopped. In the apparatus there are three similar parts, and one of them may temporarily perform the functions of faulty flywheel.

Currently, specialists try to find the cause of breakage. Engineers almost sure that the flywheel stops working, not because of downloading new software, which was made recently. Specialists note that the output of the flywheel system should not interfere with the probe to complete its task.

Office of Dawn, was launched in 2007, should explore dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid 4 Vesta, which are located in the main asteroid belt (cluster of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter). In early June, Dawn set the absolute record among the spacecraft to recruit speed.

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