Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF)
IRF's participation in the
ESA SMART-1 mission to the moon
Smart-1 en route for the moon (Graphic: ESA)
High resolution version (1.4 MB)
IRF participates in ESA's mission to the moon with contributions to two instruments on the Swedish-built spacecraft SMART-1. After its long, spiralling flight from earth, the spacecraft reached the lunar capture point and went into orbit around the moon on 16 November 2004.
The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) has contributed to two of the instruments on board the European Space Agency's electrically propelled spacecraft SMART-1, built for ESA by the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). IRF's Space Plasma Physics programme in Uppsala is CoI (Co-Investigator) on the Finnish Meteorological Institute's instrument SPEDE (Spacecraft Potential, Electron and Dust Experiment), and the Solar System Physics and Space Technology programme at IRF in Kiruna contributes to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's instrument D-CIXS (Demonstration of a Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer).
The D-CIXS instrument (photo: RAL)
| Launch: | 28 September 2003 from Kourou, French Guiana |
| Destination: | Polar orbit round the moon |
| IRF involvement: |
IRF in Uppsala: CoI (Co-Investigator) on FMI's instrument SPEDE IRF in Kiruna: contributors to RAL's instrument D-CIXS |
| Contact for scientific information: | Prof. Mats André, IRF Uppsala, tel. +46-18-471 5913 <mats.andre*irfu.se> Dr Mats Holmström, IRF Kiruna, tel. +46-980-79186 <mats.holmstrom*irf.se> |
| Web pages: | ESA's SMART-1 page |
Press releases:
ESA - press release 2004-11-16 (also in Swedish/på svenska)
[Solar System Physics and Space Technology programme] [Space Plasma Physics programme]
Updated by <Webmaster*irf.se>
Last update was 2004-11-17