Updated: 03:36 PM EDT
Countdown for Europe's First Moon Mission
By Laurent Marot, Reuters
KOUROU, French Guiana (Sept. 26) - Europe's first mission to the Moon was due to blast off on Saturday aboard a European Ariane rocket, space officials said.
The Ariane-5 rocket carrying the SMART-1 Moon exploration probe and two commercial satellites was set to blast off from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch center at Kourou, in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America, between 8:02 p.m. and 8:21 p.m.
Described by ESA as an important instrument "to unravelling some of the secrets of our neighboring world," SMART-1 will begin a 15-month journey to reach lunar orbit and search for signs of water and ice and provide data on the still uncertain origin of the Moon.
The 370 kg (815 lb) probe is also intended to demonstrate innovative technologies such as solar-electric propulsion that will be needed for future deep-space missions.
"Thirty-five years after Apollo and the Russian missions, there remains much we don't know about the Moon," David Southwood, ESA's Director of Scientific Programs, told a news conference in Kourou.
Countdown for Europe's First Moon Mission
By Laurent Marot, Reuters
KOUROU, French Guiana (Sept. 26) - Europe's first mission to the Moon was due to blast off on Saturday aboard a European Ariane rocket, space officials said.
The Ariane-5 rocket carrying the SMART-1 Moon exploration probe and two commercial satellites was set to blast off from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch center at Kourou, in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America, between 8:02 p.m. and 8:21 p.m.
Described by ESA as an important instrument "to unravelling some of the secrets of our neighboring world," SMART-1 will begin a 15-month journey to reach lunar orbit and search for signs of water and ice and provide data on the still uncertain origin of the Moon.
The 370 kg (815 lb) probe is also intended to demonstrate innovative technologies such as solar-electric propulsion that will be needed for future deep-space missions.
"Thirty-five years after Apollo and the Russian missions, there remains much we don't know about the Moon," David Southwood, ESA's Director of Scientific Programs, told a news conference in Kourou.