Spectacular landing caps moon mission

EUROPE’S first probe to the Moon, SMART-1, crashed onto the lunar surface as scheduled at 6.42am Irish time yesterday, ending a successful 16-month mission, the European Space Agency announced.

SMART-1 smashed into the Moon at a speed of two kilometres per second (7,200 kmph) in a plain called the Lake of Excellence on the south-western side of the Moon’s face.

The probe fell in exactly the right place after a “pretty spectacular” drop, said Bernard von Weyhe, spokesman for the ESA, which was able to follow its trajectory by telescope.

Mr von Weyhe said the probe had thrown up significant amounts of material on impact, which will allow scientists to carry out further tests on the crash site.

According to the scientist in charge of the mission, Bernard Foing, the impact will have left a crater measuring three to 10 metres in diameter.

Over the past three years, operating with a full-time staff of just seven and a total budget of just 120 million, the little probe has been patiently testing new technology that one day could help put humans on Mars.

Scientists also believe it will yield a fresh look at the Moon, revealing Earth’s satellite as a place of surprising complexity and promise rather than a lifeless rock with little to offer except grey dust.

“SMART-1 is the vanguard” of future space missions, said the craft’s operations manager, Octavio Camino-Ramos.

SMART-1 had to loop again and again around the Earth to gain extra speed yet also juggle with the Moon’s gravitational tug, all the time using a tiny engine that delivered the same power as someone picking up an A4-sized sheet of paper.

Mr Camino-Ramos said the experience was “an adventure”, and compared it to navigating a small sailboat buffeted by winds and currents. But the tiny thruster performed splendidly, even though it needed 14 months for a trip that took Apollo only three days.

SMART’s x-ray telescope and infrared spectrometer have been carrying out the most detailed map of the Moon’s elements and minerals, said Dr Foing.

SMART-1 has also sought out locations at the lunar poles that are in permanent shade and could be worth exploring if, as some scientists hope, water exists on the Moon or just below its surface.