Delta 2-H sends Dawn, at dawn, to the asteroid belt 9/27/07 ~ 7:34:00am Homepage       Launch Photos Dawn launches at dawn: A Delta 2-Heavy, with slightly larger Solid Rocket Boosters than a typical Delta 2, blasts NASA's Dawn mission on a three-billion mike trek to the asteroid belt where it will orbit Ceres and Vesta, the largest asteroids in the solar system (though Ceres was recently reclassified as a dwarf planet). Launch occurred just 21 minutes after sunrise on a gorgeous morning at Cape Canaveral. Dawn in the cleanroom <--- Phoenix Mars Lander                        GPS 2R-17M --->

In this rare, dramatic view from the pad, the Delta 2 is 80 seconds into flight having just ignited its air-lit solid rocket motors: