SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

Palomar · 2004-09-24 13:52:45

http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … 4.html]ESA - Moon

*I'm reluctant to start this thread, as I'm not European (figuring one of our Euromembers might want "first dibs" on starting a thread devoted to it; but since it's been this long...). I searched the entire board and exclusively in this folder; there has been no thread established for SMART-1, according to Search results. I believe this mission has been mentioned a couple of times in various threads.

Includes link to another article at the bottom.

Anyway -- it's 4 months from the Moon. Thought we might as well establish a thread for incoming data.

Good luck!

--Cindy :up:

SpaceNut · 2004-09-24 14:27:36

Yup, it has been on a very slow ride with its ION engines but has been a good proving ground for the technology and durability.

djellison · 2004-09-24 15:09:41

I'm european, I'm paying my taxes, and I cant think a better way for them to be spent than Smart 1. A total bargin price and an excelleny use of spare payload capacity tied in with technology

Hopefully - a usefull precursor to the LRO (if/when it happens) - and certainly a stepping stone toward finding out what's REALLY 'down there' ( he said - pointing at the southern basin )

Doug

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-09-24 15:14:53

Little by little it goes with very little thrust
, but it will have done a whole lot after a while, testing new designs and help us move forward with new engines. It's a nice new way to send stuff to space, plus we must now think about long term missions because sending stuff up takes time so having a fuel that will last the distance is good also

I recall a nice story by the ESA webpage, Smart one was looking back at Earth and it took a photo of the middle East. Pity there's so much trouble there now, but it looks so wonderful from outer space

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/SEM … QWD_0.html

here's the link
Smart-one was a very good idea

Rxke · 2004-09-24 17:29:29

Heehee Cindy, can't help to go offtopic, but knowing your sun-interest...

following months, Google for PROBA 2.

It's European, but mainly built by a very small company in the very small country I live in...(Verhaert industries) A follow up on the successful fridge-sized proba... And...

It's going to study the sun in a kickass-way!

Strange, been in the news here, but not much to find on the 'net...

Palomar · 2004-10-18 11:38:43

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 102004]The long and looping road

*Update. Near-continuous firing of its ion thruster last week, setting up for lunar gravity capture on Nov. 13. After capture will decrease its orbit via more thruster manuevers 'til Jan. 15; it'll get as close as 300 km from Luna at that time. Next 6 months it'll make a "comprehensive survey of chemical elements on the lunar surface."

This probe has had an interesting "trip" so far, as loopiness goes. :laugh: Good luck, ESA.

--Cindy

P.S.: During its journey thus far it's racked up 80 million km. Wow.

Palomar · 2004-10-29 05:28:24

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 345]Update on SMART-1

*Everything proceeding well. On October 25 performed a firing of its electric propulsion engine; was a correction maneuver.

"From now on the spacecraft will proceed unpowered in its journey towards the Moon - where it will arrive on 15 November. In the meantime, SMART-1 will perform another two revolutions around the Earth."

Hmmmm...that's a bit surprising.

"The electric propulsion firing will be resumed only in lunar orbit on 15 November (which is also perilune) at 05:28 UTC for a 4.5 days long burn, to reduce the lunar orbit."

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-10-29 10:21:59

Yup they are trying for a lunar gravity capture of Smart 1, this is also a first since other were done by atmospheric drag and since the moon has none it is a little tougher to do.

John Creighton · 2004-10-30 11:42:20

"AMIE will be seeing if there are the right morphological conditions for water to be held there," Racca said.
The resulting maps will be important for another reason. Spudis and his colleague Ben Busse have found an area at the south pole that may just be in permanent sunlight. "The place would be valuable real estate. We’d want to go there because it would be great for solar power ... and close to water. It’s possible that it’s kind of like an oasis."

From:
http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … 4.html]ESA Moon

Interesting

remcook · 2004-11-06 05:22:31

Europe will reach the moon in 10 days

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM0M31A90E_in … dex_0.html

Palomar · 2004-11-10 18:52:55

*Update from space.com's "Astronotes" (updated column format, must copy and paste):

November 10
Spacecraft to Orbit Moon Next Week
Early next week the SMART-1 spacecraft will reach the Moon, more or less...
On the night of Nov. 15-16, it will reach the first of its closest approaches to the Moon after the 13-month journey. Then the spacecraft will spend a few months adjusting its orbit around the Moon.
Scientific operations are slated to begin in January. SMART-1 will map the Moon in unprecedented detail in an effort to pin down how Earth's only natural satellite was created.
More about SMART-1's path and mission is here (*1). Or explore a gallery of images and illustrations depicting the journey.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/s … .html](*1) link

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-11-11 06:37:59

Update on progress:
SMART-1 from Earth-bound to Moon-bound

Showing how Smart 1 will be lunar captured into orbit

The spacecraft is currently proceeding unpowered and is planned to enter lunar orbit on 15 November, reaching the first perilune at 17:48 UTC.

Palomar · 2004-11-11 13:27:41

Update on progress:
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … 83]SMART-1 from Earth-bound to Moon-bound

*Yep, I just now read this article at spaceref.com.

Very interesting bit about the "no-man's land" and what could transpire...

On 11 November at 10:30 UTC, close to the 331st apogee, SMART-1 will be in the middle of a "weak stability boundary". In this region the spacecraft is neither in an Earth-bound orbit, nor a Moon-bound orbit: it is in no man's land.
This region is dynamically unstable. A small perturbation from an external force would be sufficient to destabilise the orbit and send the spacecraft into a chaotic trajectory resulting in a lunar impact, Earth impact or a heliocentric orbit.

--Cindy :-\

Rxke · 2004-11-11 14:18:12

drawback of relying on 'puny' ion thrusters.... hope it pans out ok, would be quite a disillusin after getting this far...
Still, it's an experimental, technology-demontrator craft, so losing it won't be the end of ESA etc... They alredy got some good data.

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-11-12 03:52:46

??? friggin' solar winds and flares might blast the puny ESA ion-drive into no mans land

still I think the craft has done great, although it has weak power it has clocked up a lot of miles and it has compared to a quick brun rocket almost infinite thrust and fuel...it also helps push forward newer designs and new ideas for craft

Rxke · 2004-11-12 12:12:59

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/natu … 93.stm]BBC

Has a nice overview of what's in store, if all goes well...

Looks like this lil' tin-can might prove quite valuable for the New Initiative...

""We will look at types of future landing activities for robotic and human bases," said Dr Foing.

"Smart-1 can be used as a precursor for long-term exploration of the planets.""

go little bugger, go!

Palomar · 2004-11-14 23:45:07

"AMIE will be seeing if there are the right morphological conditions for water to be held there," Racca said.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunar-04 … Additional info about AMIE

*Will have to read the link (BBC) Rik provided us tomorrow morning. Looks interesting.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-11-15 08:48:58

Great Ion thruster diagram Rxke. Also caught the creation theory of the moon picture.

Rxke · 2004-11-15 13:52:13

Too much praise! I didn't write the stuff, BBC did!

It's a very nice article, though, quite wide-ranging, with a nice look into the future...

Palomar · 2004-11-15 16:07:00

Great Ion thruster diagram

*I've gone back over the articles posted in the thread, hoping to find the answer to my question...(maybe my eyes are going kaput again):

How long might an ion thruster like this last/perform?

--Cindy

remcook · 2004-11-15 16:18:16

The qualified lifetime of the thruster is 7000 hours at maximum power, corresponding to a total impulse of 2 x 106 Ns.

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ...id=1539

Palomar · 2004-11-16 07:03:04

*Thank you, remcook.

http://www.spacedaily.com/2004/04111607 … html]Lunar orbit achieved...

...thank goodness it's safely past that "no-man's land."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-11-19 11:58:37

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology … l]Remember the T.I.E. fighter from Star Wars?

*Interesting bit of "trivia" in the article (:edit: And a 1947 story by Jack Williamson). I didn't know it was an acronym (and I did try to read Star Wars in novel form back in the late 1970s -- we weren't allowed to go to theaters; let's just say the movie is *much* better than the novel). Lots of rehashed info about SMART-1 from before but also includes a very nice image (:edit: Aw, darn it -- is the same as in remcook's post but is larger in this article; I remembered that article he posted after creating this one. Oh well; sorry! Can't remember everything. ) and a bit of additional info I don't remember reading previously.

--Cindy

John Creighton · 2004-11-19 12:11:24

Oh this is kind of cool.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … 7]Electric Spacecraft Propulsion

Anyway the article you posted Cindy said electric propulsion uses a magnetic field to accelerate the ions and I thought that current electric propulsion used eclectic systems. Maybe several methods have been tried. I am not sure which method smart 1 uses.

ERRORIST · 2004-11-19 13:18:57

Hey,
This article mentions you have to use concrete for the building materials. Imagine that. Vast amounts of H2 can be produced in this manner. Imagine that.

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#1 2004-09-24 13:52:45

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#2 2004-09-24 14:27:36

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#3 2004-09-24 15:09:41

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#4 2004-09-24 15:14:53

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#5 2004-09-24 17:29:29

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#6 2004-10-18 11:38:43

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#7 2004-10-29 05:28:24

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#8 2004-10-29 10:21:59

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#9 2004-10-30 11:42:20

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#10 2004-11-06 05:22:31

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#11 2004-11-10 18:52:55

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#12 2004-11-11 06:37:59

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#13 2004-11-11 13:27:41

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#14 2004-11-11 14:18:12

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#15 2004-11-12 03:52:46

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#16 2004-11-12 12:12:59

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#17 2004-11-14 23:45:07

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#18 2004-11-15 08:48:58

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#19 2004-11-15 13:52:13

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#20 2004-11-15 16:07:00

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#21 2004-11-15 16:18:16

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#22 2004-11-16 07:03:04

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#23 2004-11-19 11:58:37

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#24 2004-11-19 12:11:24

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

#25 2004-11-19 13:18:57

Re: SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter

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