Arrival! SMART-1 Moon Probe Reaches Target
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman - Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Aerospace Engineering Engineering Mechanics |
| Learning Resource Type: | Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: | WWW |
| Author(s): |
Leonard David
Organization: Space.com |
| Description: | News article of November 16, 2004. "Europe's SMART-1 robotic probe has arrived after taking a long and spiraling road to reach its destination, the Moon. Launched by an Ariane 5 booster in late September 2003, the European Space Agency's Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology (SMART-1) has been captured by lunar gravity. Now in a wide swinging orbit around the Moon, the spacecraft will begin adjusting its orbit over the next several weeks. SMART-1 is slated to begin its scientific study of the lunar surface in January of next year. Among its tasks, SMART-1 will look for signs of water in the form of ice on the Moon. That ice is thought to be tucked away within permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles. Those areas are free from the warming rays of the Sun. A solar-powered electric engine using xenon as a fuel nudged SMART-1 on its 13-month sojourn to the Moon. The long cruise to the Moon involved a spiraling orbit around the Earth -- a trail that eventually brought the spacecraft to its lunar capture point." |
| Rating: | No Rating |
| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | Arianne-5, lunar exploration, SMART-1, Ariane 5 |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | November 2004 |
| Platform/Format: | WWW |
| Cost: | Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/smart-1_orbit_041116.html |
| Metadata: | IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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