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Data may reveal lunar secrets
05/09/2006 08:15 - (SA)
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| In this artist's rendition, the Smart-1 solar-powered satellite is seen nearing the moon. (European Space Agency, AP) |
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DAVID McHUGH
Germany - The Smart-1 spacecraft sent back an unexpectedly rich data haul that could shed light on the moon's origins and evolution before its three-year voyage ended in a planned crash on the lunar surface, European space scientists said on Monday.
The mission's primary purpose was to test a new, efficient propulsion system and better spacecraft automation for future interplanetary missions. But successes in lowering the craft's orbit around the moon meant a closer and better look at surface, they said.
"It was really a great mission for the agency," mission manager Gerhard Schwehm said. "It was a technology demonstrator that grew up and provide lots of beautiful science data."
The Smart-1 mission came to an end on Sunday morning when the craft smashed into a volcanic plain called the Lake of Excellence at 7 200 kilometres per hour.
During its months in lunar orbit, ground controllers managed to shrink the orbit so that the craft went around every five or six hours instead of every 14 hours.
That multiplied the amount of data from its X-ray and infrared spectrometers scanning the surface below.
The X-ray scanner - miniaturised to about the size of a toaster -continued working until two seconds before the impact, said the scientist in charge of the device, Manuel Grande of the University of Wales.
The scanner is the first to be able to detect calcium from orbit - a major advance because it meant the device could measure and map all the main elements that make up the moon: aluminum, magnesium, silicon, calcium and iron.
"What was particularly pleasing was the calcium signal," Grande said. "This is the first time we've been able to take an inventory of all the rock-forming elements of the moon."
US astronauts explored parts of the moon's surface during the Apollo missions, but Smart-1 was able to scan the entire surface.
It flew over the Apollo landing sites so scientists could use the astronauts' findings from three decades ago to verify that the information from Smart-1's instruments was indeed accurate.
Researchers will process the raw data over the next year, and the expanded understanding of the moon's composition, it is hoped, will help test the theory that the moon resulted from a collision between the earth and another astronomical body.
The data will also underpin studies of how the moon's surface evolved, for instance which features came from volcanic activity and which from impacts.
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