Framing camera is the scientific instrument carried by Dawn spacecraft. It is designed to acquire detailed optical images for scientific purposes as well as for navigation in the vicinities of Vesta and Ceres. Dawn carries two identical and physically separate cameras for redundancy, each with its own optics, electronics and structure. Only one camera is in use during normal operations, with the other held as a backup. Each camera is equipped with an f/7.9 refractive optical system with a focal length of 150 millimeters and can use a clear filter or seven color filters, provided mainly to help study minerals on the surface of Vesta or Ceres. In addition to detecting the visible light humans see, the cameras register near-infrared energy. The framing cameras are provided and operated by the German Aerospace Agency and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
2007
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