... Tune into the Asteroid Day press conference . ... Dawn nears start of yearlong stay at giant asteroid Vesta . ... The mission expects to go into orbit around Vesta July 16 and begin gathering science data in early August. ... After traveling nearly 4 years and 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers), Dawn is approximately 96,000 miles (155,000 km) away from Vesta. When Vesta captures Dawn into its orbit July 16, there will be approximately 9,900 miles (16,000 km) between them. ...