Very exciting NASA mission! I went to webpage for more info: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/vesta_fiesta_resources.asp
There will be "Vesta Fiesta" celebration parties happening Aug 5-7 all around the country. Resources are available to host your own local event, so we're considering adding this to our astronomy outreach event at a outdoor symphony concert this Friday. Who wouldn't be fascinated by a mission like this? We'll be presenting info on the Kepler's search for xo planets within the summer triangle too... and citizen scientist projects like Zooniverse that gets the general public involved in an important role of the scientific team.

a big rock

the public has lost faith in NASA. Vesta IS just a rock. Now NASA wants a manned mission to one of these asteroids. Who're they going to send?...geologists to chip away at these 4-billion-year-old rocks? Physicians to see how it would affect one's health to live on a rock? Surely NASA wouldn't waste a true astronaut's time on such a ridiculous mission. The Vesta Fiesta looks like a gathering of nincompoops to me.