Building on the successes of its primary mission and its first extended mission, NASA has approved the veteran explorer for a second extended mission. Then Dawn flew to a higher altitude during its first extended mission for new observations. Ceres’ orbit is more elliptical than Earth’s but not as much as some of the other planets. The shape of Ceres’ orbit is between that of Saturn (which is more circular) and Mars (which is more elliptical). Dr. Marc D. Rayman2:30 p.m. PDT October 31, 2017TAGS:DAWN, CERES, EXTENDED MISSION