Andrea E. Marini

SMART-1 mission to the moon: Technology and science goals

Abstract SMART-1 is a technology demonstration mission for deep space solar electrical propulsion and Technologies for the Future. SMART-1 will be Europes first lunar mission and will contribute to developing an international program of lunar exploration. The spacecraft has been readied in April 2003 for a launch in summer 2003, as an auxiliary passenger to GTO on Ariane 5, to reach the Moon after 15 months cruise. SMART-1 will carry six experiments, including three remote sensing instruments that will be used during the missions nominal six months in lunar orbit. These instruments will contribute to key planetary scientific questions, related to theories of lunar origin and evolution, the global and local crustal composition, the search for cold traps at the lunar poles and the mapping of potential lunar resources.

SMART-1 technology preparation for future planetary missions

Abstract SMART-1 is the first ESA Small Mission for Advanced Research in Technology, with the prime objective of demonstrating the use of Solar Electric Primary Propulsion in a planetary mission. Further to this, SMART-1 will test novel spacecraft technologies and will host six instruments carrying out nine technology and science experiments, all aimed at preparing future ESA Cornerstones, including the ESA Mercury Cornerstone (now named BepiColombo) and other future planetary missions under study, as well as solar and fundamental physics missions.

SMART-1 after lunar capture: First results and perspectives

SMART-1 is a technology demonstration mission for deep space solar electrical propulsion and technologies for the future. SMART-1 is Europe’s first lunar mission and will contribute to developing an international program of lunar exploration. The spacecraft was launched on 27th September 2003, as an auxiliary passenger to GTO on Ariane 5, to reach the Moon after a 15-month cruise, with lunar capture on 15th November 2004, just a week before the International Lunar Conference in Udaipur. SMART-1 carries seven experiments, including three remote sensing instruments used during the mission’s nominal six months and one year extension in lunar science orbit. These instruments will contribute to key planetary scientific questions, related to theories of lunar origin and evolution, the global and local crustal composition, the search for cold traps at the lunar poles and the mapping of potential lunar resources

SEOSAT/INGENIO: a Spanish high-spatial-resolution optical mission

SEOSAT/Ingenio (Spanish Earth Observation SATellite) is a high-spatial-resolution optical mission developed, together with PAZ (a synthetic aperture radar satellite), under the Spanish Earth Observation National Program for Satellites (PNOTS).

Correlation of Ingenio/Seosat radiometric model with the results of the radiometric campaigns

Ingenio/SEOSAT is a multi-spectral high-resolution optical satellite for Earth remote sensing, designed to provide imagery to different Spanish civil, institutional and governmental users, and potentially to other European users in the frame of GMES and GEOSS.

Finite element model assisted shimming of Ingenio/Seosat primary mirrors

Ingenio/SEOSAT is a multi-spectral high-resolution optical satellite for Earth remote sensing, designed to provide imagery to different Spanish civil, institutional and governmental users, and potentially to other European users in the frame of GMES and GEOSS. In this communication is presented the developed shimming procedure for the light-weighted primary mirror (M1) of the Ingenio/SEOSAT telescope, together with obtained results. The shimming operation has been devised to accurately cancel the residual deformation on the mirror surface caused by its integration on the telescope structure. This deformation is generally small but not necessarily negligible; even if all elements are integrated using proper isostatic mounts.