Visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) is the scientific instrument carried by Dawn spacecraft to measure the surface mineralogy of both Vesta and Ceres. Each picture the instrument takes records the light intensity at more than 400 wavelength ranges in every pixel, then the observations are compared with laboratory measurements of minerals, thus determining what minerals are on the surfaces of Vesta and Ceres. VIR is provided by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, and operated by the Italian Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
2007
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/pdf/Dawn_Speakers_Kit_150317.pdf">https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/pdf/Dawn_Speakers_Kit_150317.pdf</a>