This is going to be an awesome mission! Ceres and Vesta are little planets, Vesta is certainly differentiated, originally spherical with some big chunks knocked off from collison, exposing both a basaltic crust and a perioditic mantle. Ceres has hydrous phases on its surface, either hydrated minerals or perhap even ices. They will certainly not look anything like the asteroids we have seen so far - Gaspera, Ida, Mathilde, Eros or amazing little Itokawa. I wonder if they will turn out to have tiny moons?<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em> Arthur Clarke</p> </div>