Encyclopedia > Smart 1

  Article Content

Smart 1

Smart 1 is a satellite that relies on solar power to put it into orbit around the Earth's moon.

Smart 1 weighs about 815 pounds and costs $108 million, the craft is part of a European strategy to build spaceships[?] smaller and more cheaply than the United States' space agency, NASA.

Smart 1's solar powered engines is said to have more endurance than traditional chemical based satellites.

It will take Smart-1 three months after its launch from Kourou, French Guiana, to maneuver into orbit with the moon, and several more weeks to move into a tight lunar orbit.

Once there, the satellite will use infrared light to search for water. The mission will also use X-rays to map the chemical composition of the entire lunar surface.

Smart 1 goes into space in July 2003.

External Links

http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Kings Park, New York

... size is 3.32. In the town the population is spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who are ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 42.5 ms