ESA's SMART-1 mission launched to the moon: Technology and science goals

SMART-1 is a technology demonstration mission for deep space solar electrical propulsion and Technologies for the Future. SMART-1 will be Europe's first lunar mission and will contribute to developing an international program of lunar exploration. The spacecraft has been launched on 27 September 2003, as an auxiliary passenger to GTO on Ariane 5, to reach the Moon after 15 month's cruise, with a lunar capture due on 17 November 2004 (one year exactly after the very memorable International Lunar Conference in Hawaii). SMART-1 carries seven experiments, including three remote sensing instruments that will be used during the mission's 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.