Smart

ESA's SMART-1 was to test miniaturization technology while exploring the Moon from orbit. It was to be the first space probe ESA ever sent to the Moon and was to also be the first of ESA's missions to test advanced technology needed for future scientific planetary missions. It would use ion propulsion to maneuver from a geosynchronous transfer orbit to an elliptical lunar orbit over a sixteen month period.

SMART-1 was to test solar electric propulsion and other deep-space technologies, while performing scientific observations of the Moon. Among other investigations, it was to investigate the origin of the Moon and search for ice in the craters at the Moon's south pole. SMART was the abbreviation for Small Missions for Advanced Research and Technology.

Highlights:

• Spacecraft Prime contractor: Swedish Space Corporation, Solna, Sweden
• Launcher: Ariane-5 (SMART-1 was a secondary payload)
• Launch mass: 366.5 kilograms
• Dimensions: 1 cubic meter
• Instruments
  • EPDP - To monitor the working of the propulsion system and its effects on the spacecraft - G. Noci, Laben Proel, Italy
  • SPEDE - To also monitor the effect of the propulsion system and to investigate the electrical environment of the Earth-Moon space - W. Schmidt, FMI, Finland - -
  • KaTE - To test more efficient communication techniques with Earth - D. Heuer, Astrium GmbH, Germany
  • RSWAS - Was to use the KaTE and AMIE instruments to investigate the way the Moon wobbles - L. Iess, University of Rome, Italy
  • OBAN - Software to allow the spaceprobe to guide itself to the Moon - F. Ankersen, ESA
  • AMIE - To test a miniaturized camera and take color images of the Moon surface - J. Josset, CSEM, Switzerland
  • SIR - To search for ice and make a mineralogical mapping of the Moon - U. Keller, Max Planck Institute fuer Aeronomie, Germany
  • D-CIXS - To investigate the composition of the Moon - M. Grande, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, United Kingdom
  • XSM - To calibrate the D-CIXS data and study solar X-ray emission - J. Huovenin, University of Helsinki Observatory, Finland

• Orbit: 16-month transfer orbit from Earth to the Moon. The final operational science orbit was a polar elliptical orbit, ranging from 300 kilometers to 10 000 kilometers above the Moon.
• Mission Operations Centre (MOC) - ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
• Science and Technology Operations Coordination (STOC) - ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
• Foreseen operational duration: 2-2.5 years
• Costs: 100 million euros at 2001 economic conditions (including launch, operations and part of the payload)

• 2003 September 30 - SMART-1, Ion Engine Turn On, Successful -
  

• 2004 November 15 - SMART-1, Moon Orbit Insertion, Successful -
  

• 2005 August 1 - SMART-1, End of Primary Mission -
  

• 2006 August 1 - SMART-1, End of Extended Mission -