Smart 1

Smart 1 is a satellite that relies on solar power to put it into orbit around the Earth's moon.

Smart 1 weighs about 815 pounds and costs $108 million, the craft is part of a European strategy to build spaceships[?] smaller and more cheaply than the United States' space agency, NASA.

Smart 1's solar powered engines is said to have more endurance than traditional chemical based satellites.

It will take Smart-1 three months after its launch from Kourou, French Guiana, to maneuver into orbit with the moon, and several more weeks to move into a tight lunar orbit.

Once there, the satellite will use infrared light to search for water. The mission will also use X-rays to map the chemical composition of the entire lunar surface.

Smart 1 goes into space in July 2003.

External Links

http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.html