article_snippet.sent: As the spacecraft gets closer to the dwarf planet and moves around the spacecraft, more and more of the surface is coming into view.
article_snippet.sent: Dawn continues to get closer to the closest dwarf planet to the sun and on 23 April the closest dwarf planet to the sun will descend to a circular orbit 8,400 miles (13,500km) above the surface.
article_snippet.sent: the closest dwarf planet to the sun will then begin the closest dwarf planet to the sun first mapping phase of the closest dwarf planet to the sun in this so-called science orbit, travelling from pole to pole to image the entire surface.
article_snippet.sent: Dawn is continuing to get closer to the closest dwarf planet to the sun (position in the solar system shown left), and on 23 April it will descend to a circular orbit 8,400 miles (13,500km) above the surface - its first science orbit.
article_snippet.sent: Dawn became the first spacecraft to orbit a dwarf planet on 6 March, having left the giant asteroid Vesta in 2012.