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<b>SMART-1 Arrives At The Moon</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />It's been a long trip, but Europe's first Moon mission is finally nearing its goal. SMART-1, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) way back on 27 September 2003, will go into orbit around the Moon on 15 November. <br /><br />In January, the craft will begin the first comprehensive X-ray survey of the Moon's surface, giving scientists clues about its composition and age. This geological map will help scientists to establish exactly how the Moon formed.<br /><br />The size of a domestic washing machine, SMART-1 uses an innovative propulsion system that wafts the craft along on a breath of gas. It carries solar panels that convert the Sun's light into electricity, which is used to strip electrons away from atoms of xenon. This generates charged ions that are accelerated through a magnetic field and ejected from the rear of the spacecraft, producing a gentle thrust equivalent to the weight of two pennies resting on the palm of your hand. <br /><br />"This is the first time ever that a probe has used ion propulsion to escape from the Earth," says Bernard Foing, who heads the SMART-1 team at ESA's Space Science Department in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.<br />Conventional spacecraft engines rely on chemical reactions to generate gas, which pushes the craft forwards as it squeezes out of the engine, in the same way as a deflating party balloon will fly across a room. But in space, mass is money. Whereas chemical engines must carry two fuel substances to react together (often hydrogen and oxygen), SMART-1's ion drive carries only xenon, making it lighter and cheaper.<br /><br />The success of SMART-1, which stands for Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology, in reaching the Moon has proved that future spacecraft could use the same engines to get to Mercury and Mars, says Foing.<br /><br />Moon map<br /><br />SMART-1 still has ple