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ESA's SMART-1 Mission Ready to Fly

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

European Space Agency -- After the completion of all mechanical and electrical verifications, ESA's SMART-1 passed its flight readiness review successfully on Tuesday, 8 July 2003.

SMART-1, Europe's first mission to the moon, will be sent to the ESA launch site at Kourou in French Guiana at the beginning of next week. The last electrical checks and fuelling will take place here before the spacecraft is mated with its Ariane 5 launcher.

SMART-1 will be a co-passenger together with two other satellites on board this launcher. The launch is currently scheduled for 28 August 2003 (Kourou time).

SMART-1 will be the first ESA mission to test solar-electric propulsion as a main propulsion system. It will also test advanced miniaturisation technology which will pave the way for future planetary missions.

Giuseppe Racca, ESA's SMART-1 Project Manager, said: "Everything has gone as expected. We're proud of the work done and we are looking forward to sending SMART-1 to the Moon."

What’s special about this mission?

Over thirty years after the last Apollo mission visited the Moon in 1972, there is still much that we don't know about our nearest satellite. For instance, how was it created? What role did it play in the formation and evolution of Earth? SMART-1 may help to answer these questions.

The main purpose of the SMART-1 mission is to flight-test the new Solar Electric Propulsion technology – a kind of solar-powered thruster that is ten times more efficient than the usual chemical systems employed when travelling in space. If all goes well, such a system could be providing the propulsion system for future ESA missions into deep space, such as BepiColombo.

But in the process, the mission will be providing some fascinating science. For instance, SMART-1 will be mapping the lunar surface chemical composition more accurately than ever before. Apollo spacecraft carried hand-held cameras to photograph the lunar surface.

SMART-1 will be leading the way in the latest imaging techniques. Images taken from many different angles and X-ray and infrared detection work will allow scientists to draw up new three-dimensional models of the Moon’s surface.

SMART-1 will be looking at the darker parts of the Moon’s south pole for the first time. It will be mapping the Peak of Eternal Light, an eerie mountaintop that is permanently bathed in sunlight, while all around are dark craters never touched by the Sun. These craters are believed to harbour water ice in the lunar soil.

SMART-1 will also help scientists to confirm if ice is present at the lunar poles, where the temperature never rises above –170 °C. Any water on the lunar surface would be very helpful in the creation of permanent bases on the Moon.

The Spacecraft

As scientists demand more from space missions travelling to other worlds and beyond, traditional rocket technologies are beginning to show shortcomings. In response to this need, ESA are developing a new type of engine, known as solar-electric propulsion, or an ‘ion’ engine, which could mark a whole new era of space exploration.

Solar-electric propulsion does not burn fuel as chemical rockets do; instead the technique converts sunlight into electricity via solar panels and uses it to electrically charge heavy gas atoms, which accelerate away from the spacecraft at high speed. This drives the spacecraft forwards.

In a chemical rocket, the burning fuel creates gases which are expelled relatively slowly compared to ion thrusters. However, in an ion engine, the gas is ejected at high velocity, which makes it much more efficient and thus require less fuel.

Ion engines are truly important because their high efficiency makes previously impossible missions achievable. Since they do not need to carry so much fuel, ion engines release room for more scientific instruments. As technology continues to get smaller, the size of instruments decreases and the overall size and mass of the spacecraft decreases, further increasing efficiency.

Further away from the Sun, where the light is weaker, a new power source, such as a nuclear reactor, would be needed. This type of engine could take spacecraft to the Kuiper belt and even farther away.

The Kuiper belt extends beyond the planet Pluto and is a dream destination for many scientists because it contains comets that have been undisturbed since the formation of the Solar System. Beyond Pluto is a mysterious realm of magnetic fields and rarefied gases known as interstellar space.

Solar-electric propulsion would make such a mission possible because an ion engine can run almost constantly, so that eventually it outperforms any chemical rocket on such long flights.

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On the Net:

SMART-1 Mission

European Space Agency

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