SMART-1. (ESA)

Smart 1 or SMART-1 is a European Space Agency satellite that orbits around Earth's moon, Luna. "SMART" stands for Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1179x1476, 324 KB)SMART-1 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1179x1476, 324 KB)SMART-1 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member states. ... A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... In physics, an orbit is the path that an object makes, around another object, whilst under the influence of a source of centripetal force, such as gravity. ... Earth (often referred to as The Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth in order of size. ... Bulk composition of the moons mantle and crust estimated, weight percent Oxygen 42. ... The term Luna can refer to the Earths Moon. ...

Spacecraft Design

SMART-1 is about one metre (approximately 3 feet) across, and lightweight as probes go. Its launch mass was 367 kg or 815 pounds, of which 287 kg was non-propellant. metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre (in the U.S., chiefly meter) is a measure of length, approximately equal to 3. ... The international prototype, made of platinum-iridium, which is kept at the BIPM under conditions specified by the 1st CGPM in 1889. ... The pound is the name of a number of units of mass, all in the range of 300 to 600 grams. ...

It is powered by a solar-powered Hall effect thruster using xenon propellant, of which there was 60 litres at launch (this amounts to 80 kg). The thrusters use an electrostatic field to ionize the xenon and accelerate the ions to a high velocity. This ion engine setup achieves a specific impulse of 16.1 kN·s/kg (1640 seconds), more than three times the maximum for chemical rockets. Therefore 1 kg of propellant (1/350 to 1/300 of the total mass of the spacecraft) produces a delta-v of about 45 m/s. 2 kW Laboratory Hall Thruster in operation at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory A Hall effect thruster is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field in a plasma discharge with a radial magnetic field. ... General Name, Symbol, Number xenon, Xe, 54 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 5, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 131. ... The litre or liter (see spelling differences) is a unit of volume. ... In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an electric charge that exerts a force on charged objects in its vicinity. ... // An ion is an atom or a group of atoms (a chemical substance), or subatomic particle, with a net electric charge. ... An ion engine test An ion thruster is a type of spacecraft propulsion that uses beams of ions for propulsion. ... The specific impulse (commonly abbreviated Isp) of a propulsion system is the impulse (change in momentum) per unit of propellant. ... General In general physics delta-v is simply the change in velocity. ...

The solar arrays make 1190 W available for powering the thruster, giving a nominal thrust of 68 mN, hence an acceleration of 0.2 mm/s² or 0.7 m/s per hour. As for all ion-engine powered craft, orbital maneuvers are not carried out in short bursts but very gradually. The particular trajectory taken by SMART-1 to the Moon requires thrusting for about one third to one half of every orbit. When spiralling away from the Earth thrusting is done on the perigee part of the orbit. The total delta-v expected over the thrusting lifetime of 5,000 hours is about 4 km/s, corresponding to a total impulse of 1.5 MN·s. An orbital maneuver is a change from one orbit to another, accomplished by applying thrust. ...

As part of the European Space Agency's strategy to build very inexpensive and relatively small spaceships, the total cost of SMART-1 was a relatively small 110 million euros (about 126 million U.S. dollars). Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2nd of March, 2004. ... The euro (symbol: €; banking code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union and single currency for over 300 million Europeans in the following twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain; collectively also known as the Eurozone. ... This article is about general United States currency. ...

Mission

As a part of "Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology", SMART-1 will test new spacecraft technologies. The primary objective of SMART-1 is to test the solar-powered ion thruster. It will also be testing the miniaturized scientific instruments, which are thought to be more efficient. If successful, these technologies will be used on future ESA missions.

A secondary objective is to learn more information about the Moon, such as how it was created. SMART-1 will map the lunar surface by way of X-ray and infrared imaging, taking images from several different angles so that the Moon's surface can be mapped in three dimensions. It will also determine the Moon's chemical composition using X-ray spectroscopy. A specific goal is to use infrared light to search for frozen water at the Moon's south pole, where some areas of the surface are never exposed to direct sunlight. It is also mapping the Moon's Peaks of Eternal Light (PELs), eerie mountaintops which are permanently bathed in sunlight and surrounded by craters shaded in eternal darkness. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ... Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines (fraunhofer lines) Spectroscopy is the study of spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on frequency. ... Water (from the Old English waeter; c. ... Peak of Eternal Light (PEL) describes a point on a body within the solar system which is eternally bathed in sunlight. ...

Flight

SMART-1 was launched September 27, 2003 together with Insat 3E and eBird 1, by an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. After 42 minutes it was released into a geostationary transfer orbit of 7035 × 42 223 km. From there it used its SEPP to gradually spiral out during thirteen months. September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 95 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Indian space program be merged into this article or section. ... Eutelsat S.A. is a French corporation which operates 24 telecommunications satellites in geosynchronous orbit. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta probe on 2 March 2004. ... The Guiana space centre (French: Centre Spatial Guyanais) is a French/European spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. ... A geostationary orbit (GSO) is a circular orbit directly above the Earths equator (0º latitude). ...

You can see the orbit up to October 26, 2004 here, when the orbit was 179 718 × 305 214 km. On that date, after the 289th engine pulse, the SEPP had accumulated a total on-time of nearly 3648 hours out of a total flight time of 8000 hours, hence a little less than half of its total mission. It consumed about 58.8 kg of xenon and produced a delta-v of 2737 m/s (46.5 m/s per kg xenon, 0.75 m/s per hour on-time). It was powered on again on November 15 for a planned burn of 4.5 days to enter fully into lunar orbit. It took until February 2005 using the electric thruster to decelerate into the final orbit 300-3000 km above the Moon's surface. October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... General Name, Symbol, Number xenon, Xe, 54 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 5, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 131. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ...

After its last perigee on November 2 [1], on November 11, 2004 it passed through the L₁ Lagrangian Point and into the area dominated by the Moon's gravitational influence, and at 1748 UT on November 15 passed the first periselene of its lunar orbit. The osculating orbit on that date was 6704 × 53 208 km [2], with an orbital period of 129 hours, although the actual orbit was accomplished in only 89 hours. This illustrates the significant impact that the engine burns have on the orbit and marks the meaning of the osculating orbit, which is the orbit that would be travelled by the spacecraft if at that instant all perturbations, including thrust, would cease. In Astronomy, and in particular in Astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space is the gravitational Keplerian orbit about a central body which best approximates the (more complex) motion of the object at a given instant in time. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 95 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A contour plot of the effective potential of a two-body system (the Sun and Earth here), showing the 5 Lagrange points. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... Universal Time (UT) is a timescale based on the rotation of the Earth. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... In Astronomy, and in particular in Astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space is the gravitational Keplerian orbit about a central body which best approximates the (more complex) motion of the object at a given instant in time. ...

ESA announced on February 15, 2005, the endorsement of a proposal to extend the mission of SMART-1 by one year until August 2006, which is the currently predicted date of its impact on the surface of the Moon. [3] In Astronomy, and in particular in Astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space is the gravitational Keplerian orbit about a central body which best approximates the (more complex) motion of the object at a given instant in time. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 4 is the 338th day (339th on leap years) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Important events and discoveries

Earth seen from SMART-1

Area near Lunar north pole, January 19, 2005

• June 17, 2004: SMART-1 took a test image of Earth with the camera that will be used for Moon closeup pictures. It shows parts of Europe and Africa. It was taken on May 21 with the AMIE camera, a compact imaging device with a weight of 450 grams.
• November 2, 2004: Last perigee of earth orbit.
• November 15, 2004: First perilune of lunar orbit.
• January 15, 2005: Calcium detected in Mare Crisium.
• January 26, 2005: First close up pictures of the lunar surface sent back.
• February 27, 2005: Reached final orbit around the Moon with an orbital period of about 5 hours.
• April 15, 2005: The search for PELs begins.
• June 8, 2005: ESA announces that calcium was detected on the Moon.

Download high resolution version (458x762, 64 KB)Smart-1 picture of parts of Europe and Africa (Credit: ESA/Space-X/SMART-1 AMIE team) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (458x762, 64 KB)Smart-1 picture of parts of Europe and Africa (Credit: ESA/Space-X/SMART-1 AMIE team) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Area near lunar north pole, image taken on 19 Jan 2005 © ESA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Area near lunar north pole, image taken on 19 Jan 2005 © ESA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). ... The gram or gramme, symbol g, is a unit of mass. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mare Crisium Studios is also the name of a company formed to develop the game Stars! Supernova Genesis. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• SMART-1 official website
• ESA SMART-1 scientific website