Fri, Oct 03, 2003
That's Good News, Since It's in Orbit Right Now
The European Space
Agency wanted us to know that there's been progress since liftoff
last weekend. SMART-1's revolutionary propulsion system was
successfully fired at 12:25 UT on 30 September, 2003, while in
orbit around the Earth.
Engineers at ESOC, the European Space Agency's control centre in
Darmstadt, Germany, sent a command to begin the firing test, which
lasted for one hour. This was similar to a trial performed on Earth
before SMART-1 was launched.
Several months ago, the ion engine, or Solar Electric Primary
Propulsion (SEPP) system, had been placed in a vacuum chamber on
the ground and its functions and operation were measured. Now in
space and in a true vacuum, the ion engine actually worked better
than in the test than on the ground, and has nudged SMART-1 a
little closer to the Moon.
This is the first time that Europe has put an electric primary
propulsion system in space; and it's also the first European use of
this particular type of ion engine, called a 'Hall-effect'
thruster.
The SEPP consists of a single ion engine fuelled by xenon gas
and powered by solar energy. The ion engine will accelerate SMART-1
very gradually to cause the spacecraft to travel in a series of
spiralling orbits -- each revolution slightly further away from the
Earth -- towards the Moon. Once captured by the Moon's gravity,
SMART-1 will move into ever-closer orbits of the Moon. The little
SMART-1 will cover well over sixty million miles to get to the
moon, even though the distance as the crow flies [bad choice of
words, that!] is just about a quarter-million miles; but it will be
done with less fuel than anyone could have imagined a generation
ago.
As part of one of the overall mission objectives to test this
new SEPP technology, the data will now be analyzed to see how much
acceleration was achieved and how smoothly the spacecraft
travelled. If the ion engine is performing to expectations, ESA
engineers will regularly power up the SEPP to send SMART-1 on its
way.
More News
Aero Linx: Transport Canada We are a federal institution, leading the Transport Canada portfolio and working with our partners. Transport Canada is responsible for transportation p>[...]
Gross Navigation Error (GNE) A lateral deviation from a cleared track, normally in excess of 25 Nautical Miles (NM). More stringent standards (for example, 10NM in some parts of th>[...]
From AirVenture 2017 (YouTube Edition): Flight-Proven Booster On Display At AirVenture… EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is known primarily as a celebration of experimental and amateu>[...]
Aircraft Parachute System (CAPS) Was Deployed About 293 Ft Above Ground Level, Which Was Too Low To Allow For Full Deployment Of The Parachute System Analysis: The day before the a>[...]
Also: 48th Annual Air Race Classic, Hot Air Balloon Fire, FAA v Banning 100LL, Complete Remote Pilot The news Piper PA-18 Super Cub owners have been waiting for has finally arrived>[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.29.25)
See All