UT faculty and graduate students are aiding NASA with their Dawn mission to research asteroids.

The Dawn mission launched Thursday, Sept. 27 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and it will be studying two asteroids, according to the NASA website.

Dr. Hap McSween, University of Tennessee professor in Earth and Planetary Science, says Dawn's mission will be to orbit and study the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. It is believed that both are similar to the types of asteroids that formed the Earth and other planets. However, these asteroids are different from each other.

"One appears to have a rocky composition and is probably covered with lavas, whereas the other contains a lot of ice and may have an outer coating of clays," said McSween.

McSween helped to design and plan this mission for NASA. He is interested in the geological history of the asteroids, as well as recognizing the kinds of rocks that make up their mantle and crust.

Dawn will not reach Vesta until 2010 or 2011, according to McSween and Mayne. The mission will take eight years.