SMART-1 Final Days |SMART-1 artist's impression. After sixteen
months orbiting the Moon, ESA's lunar mission is preparing for
the end of its scientific exploration. On 19 June, SMART-1
mission controllers initiated a 17-day series of manoeuvres
aimed at positioning the spacecraft to enhance science data
return as the mission winds down. SMART-1, Europe's successful
first Moon mission, is scheduled to end on 3 September 2006,
impacting on the Moon's surface in a disposal plan similar to
that of many earlier lunar missions and almost three years to
the day after its 2003 launch. The recently started manoeuvre
campaign aims to avoid having the spacecraft intersect with the
Moon at a disadvantageous time from the scientific point of
view, as it would have naturally about 17 August if left alone.
Instead, this 'extension' to mission operations will provide new
opportunities for low-altitude scientific observations and give
optimum science returns during and after the spacecraft's
controlled impact on the Moon. In