A SMART Bridge To The Future Exploration Of The Moon

MOON DAILY

ESA's SMART-1 moon mission has become a bridge to the future of lunar science and exploration.

by Staff Writers
Paris, France (ESA) Mar 11, 2007
"SMART-1 data are helping to choose future landing sites for robotic and possible manned missions, and its instruments are upgraded and being flown again on the next generation of lunar satellites," says Bernard Foing, ESA SMART-1 Project scientist. "Even its spectacular impact campaign is helping NASA to plan their own moon crash."

SMART-1's mission lasted from launch on 27 September 2003, to its controlled impact on the Moon on 3 September 2006. During that time, the mission's innovative approach to technology and science created new solutions to old problems that are now being carried forward to the next generation of lunar missions, in line with the recommendations of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).

The miniature camera, AMIE, weighed just 2 kilograms yet the images it returned are being used to choose possible landing sites for future missions. The choice of landing sites depends upon criteria such as the scientific importance of the area, the ease of landing and operation and, if it is to become a human base, the availability of lunar resources. SMART-1 has imaged Apollo and Luna landing sites, and potential possible landing sites for humans at the lunar poles.

To follow up the technological breakthroughs of SMART-1, ESA is providing three instruments for the Indian Moon mission Chandrayaan-1. Two are direct descendents from SMART-1: the infrared spectrometer, SIR2, and the X-ray spectrometer, C1XS. The third (SARA) is a precursor to an instrument that will fly on ESA's Bepi-Colombo mission to Mercury.

ESA and European scientists are also collaborating with the Japanese, who are currently preparing the large lunar spacecraft, Selene, which will launch this year carrying two subsatellites and 300 kilograms of sophisticated instruments.

During SMART-1's mission, ESA provided the Chinese with details of the spacecraft's position and transmission frequencies, so that the Chinese could test their tracking stations and ground operations by following it. This was part of their preparation for Chang'E 1, an orbiter due to be launched in October 2007.

SMART-1 experts are collaborating with NASA to prepare for Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that will provide new imaging, radar and other key measurements needed for future exploration of the Moon. LRO is due to be launched at the end of 2008.

ESA is sharing the experience of SMART-1's impact campaign to help prepare the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which will be launched with LRO. The LCROSS shepherd spacecraft will watch the spent upper-stage of its rocket crash into a dark lunar crater, hopefully releasing water vapour and thus proving that ice exists on the lunar surface.

"Having flown SMART-1, we have now established collaborations with other countries that will help to take us into the future of lunar exploration," says Foing.

Bernard Foing explained SMART-1's legacy to the Symposium: "Why the Moon?" at the International Space University at Strasbourg, France, on 22 February 2007.

Email This Article

MOON DAILY

First Chinese Lunar Probe Assembled And Ready For Launch

Beijing (XNA) Mar 08, 2007
China has finished assembling its first lunar satellite probe after three years of research and development, Luan Enjie, chief commander of the country's lunar exploration program, told Xinhua Tuesday. "The carrier rocket, a Long March 3-A, which will be used to push the orbiter, Chang'e I, into the outer space, is currently under testing," Luan said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body.

SPACE TRAVEL JAXA Hosts Kyoto Workshop For Global Space Exploration Strategy NASA Budget Tucked Away For Now But Hard Decisions Only Deferred Astronaut Fired A Month After Kidnap Attempt Astrophysicist Hawking To Try Out Weightlessness	MARSDAILY Early Mars Had Underground Water System Rosetta Delivers Phobos Transit Animation And Sees Mars In Stereo SpaceDev's Starsys Division Awarded Contract For NASA Mars Science Explorer Mission Sensor Being Developed To Check For Life On Mars
NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program	EXO WORLDS The Discovery Of Eris Absence Of Water In Distant Exo Planet Atmosphere Surprises Astronomers Modeling Other Earths Hubble Probes Layer-Cake Structure Of Extra Solar Gas Giant Atmosphere
NANO TECH One-Nanometer Resolution Is Goal for Optical Imaging Photonics Frozen Lightning Offers New Type Of Nanoelectronic Switch Nanotech Promises Big Things For Poor But Will The Promises Hold Up Fluid Dynamics Works On Nanoscale In Real World	SPACE MEDICINE Individual Differences In A Clock Gene Predict Decline Of Performance During Sleep Deprivation India Poised For Big Growth In Telemedicine Whole Body Regeneration From A Blood Vessel How Long Does It Take To Rebuild Bone Lost During Space Flight
LAUNCH PAD United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches First USAF Atlas 5 Ariane 5 Mission Is A "Go" Russia May Open New Space Launch Site Hyundai To Build First South Korea Launch Pad	ROCKET SCIENCE Italy Tests Prototype Of Unmanned Space Shuttle Castore X PRIZE Foundation Raises $2.7 Million At Gala Hosted At Google NASA Completes Orion Spacecraft Review When Washed In Sunlight Asteroids Hit The Spin Cycle

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement