| |
CX2ACB > SAT 24.08.03 00:32l 64 Lines 3060 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-236.02
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: ESA uses SMART Propulsion
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<ON0BEL<CX2ACB
Sent: 030823/2207Z @:CX2ACB.MVD.URY.SA #:13742 [Montevideo] $:ANS-236.02
From: CX2ACB@CX2ACB.MVD.URY.SA
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 236.02 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. August 24, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-236.02
Europe's first probe to the Moon, SMART-1, is about to begin a unique
journey that will take it into orbit around our closest neighbour,
powered only by an ion engine which Europe will be testing for the
first time as main spacecraft propulsion.
The European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft was delivered to Kourou,
French Guiana, on July 15 and is currently being prepared for launch
atop an Ariane 5 during the night from August 28 to 29. The launch
window will open at 20:04 local time (01:04 on August 29 morning CEST)
and will remain open for 26 minutes.
SMART-1's ion engine will be used to accelerate the probe and raise its
orbit until it reaches the vicinity of the Moon, some 350,000 to
400,000 km from Earth. Then, following gravity assists from a series of
lunar swingbys in late September, late October and late November 2004,
SMART-1 will be 'captured' by the Moon's gravity in December 2004 and
will begin using its engine to slow down and reduce the altitude of its
lunar orbit.
As ESA's first Small Mission for Advanced Research in Technology, it is
primarily designed to demonstrate innovative and key technologies for
future deep space science missions. However, once it has arrived at its
destination, it will also perform an unprecedented scientific study of
the Moon. SMART-1 is a very small spacecraft (measuring just one cubic
metre). Its solar arrays, spanning 14 metres, will deliver 1.9 kW of
power, about 75% of which will be used for the probe's 'solar electric'
propulsion system.
In its role as technological demonstrator, SMART-1's primary goal is to
test this new solar electric propulsion system. This is a form of
continuous low-thrust engine that uses electricity derived from solar
panels to produce a beam of charged particles that pushes the
spacecraft forward. Such engines are commonly called ion engines, and
engineers consider them essential for future, long-range space
missions. SMART-1 will also test miniaturised spacecraft equipment and
instruments, a navigation system that, in the future, will allow
spacecraft to autonomously navigate through the solar system, and in
addition to a new short-wavelength communication system, a space
communication technique by means of which SMART-1 will try to establish
a link with the Earth using a laser beam.
Once it enters into a near-polar orbit around the Moon in January 2005,
SMART-1 will also become a science platform for lunar observation.
SMART-1 will search for signs of water-ice in craters near the Moon's
poles, provide data to shed light on the still uncertain origin of the
Moon, and reconstruct its evolution by mapping its topography and the
surface distribution of minerals and key chemical elements.
SMART-1 will be the second ESA-led planetary mission to be launched in
2003 after Mars Express in June.
[ANS thanks European Space Agency for the above information.]
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
