Tentative launch date for SpaceX's Falcon 9: May 8 or later

Looks like the first Falcon 9 flight may happen as soon as May 8th.

Also, in completely unrelated news Dawn is getting closer and closer to reaching the point where it will be closer to Vesta than Mars. After passing by Mars over a year ago and moving at a very leisurely pace since then (due to the ion engine it uses instead of a standard chemical thruster) it's now 0.3193 AU away from Mars, and 0.597 AU from Vesta. Arrival at Vesta isn't for another year and three months, so we're going to have to keep busy with other news while we wait.