SMART-1 impact flash and debris: crash scene investigation
Timing, location, detection of a flash and of ejected material,
and a firework generated by the lunar impact of ESA's SMART-1,
are the latest results gathered thanks to the ground observation
campaign of this historical event. "The successful capture of
the SMART-1 impact from Earth raised a substantial interest in
the amateur and professional astronomical community. They
started to reanalyse the available data, to repeat observations
of the impact site and to share the results worldwide as a
family", says Pascale Ehrenfreund, coordinator of the SMART-1
impact ground observation campaign. Where did SMART-1 impact the
Moon? "From the various observations and models, we try to
reconstruct the 'movie' of what happened to the spacecraft and
to the Moon surface," says ESA SMART-1 Project scientist Bernard
Foing. "For this lunar 'Crash Scene Investigation', we need all
possible Earth witnesses and observational facts." The actual
SMART-1 impact took place o