What kind of journey will SMART-1 make?
SMART-1’s journey to the Moon was neither quick nor direct. After launch, SMART-1 went into an elliptical orbit around the Earth. Then the spacecraft fired its ion engine, gradually expanding its elliptical orbit and spiralling out in the direction of the Moon’s orbital plane. Month after month, this brought SMART-1 closer to the Moon, (orbiting between 350 000 and 400 000 kilometres from Earth). As SMART-1 neared the Moon, it began using the gravity of the Moon to nudge it into a position where it could be captured by the Moon’s gravitational field. After being captured by the Moon, SMART-1 started to loop over the north and south poles, in an elliptical orbit whose height ranges from 300 to 10 000 kilometres. During its scientific mission, if the remaining fuel permits, it will use the ion engine to gradually lower its highest altitude.
