| .....The
SMART-1 (Small Missions for Advanced
Research in Technology 1) is a lunar
orbiter designed to test spacecraft
technologies for future missions. The
primary technology being tested is a
solar-powered ion drive. It will also
carry an experimental deep-space
telecommunications system and an
instrument payload to monitor the ion
drive and study the Moon. The primary
scientific objectives of the mission are
to return data on the geology,
morphology, topography, mineralogy,
geochemistry, and exospheric environment
of the Moon in order to answer questions
about planetary formation accretional
processes, origin of the Earth-Moon
system, the lunar near/far side
dichotomy, long-term volcanic and
tectonic activity, thermal and dynamical
processes involved in lunar evolution,
and external processes on the surface. .....SMART-1 is a
box-shaped spacecraft with two large
solar panel wings extending from opposite
sides.
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