On Sept. 3, 2006, a European satellite named SMART-1 crashed into the moon!
This wasn't actually as disastrous as it sounds, because the spacecraft did it on purpose. SMART-1 launched in 2003 and was the first European spacecraft to go to the moon. It was also the first mission of a program called Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology, which was a series of low-cost spacecraft that the European Space Agency launched to test new spaceflight technologies.
SMART-1's primary objective was to do a flight test something called Solar Electric Primary Propulsion, or a solar-powered electric engine. While it orbited the moon for almost two years, it looked for water ice and other chemicals on the lunar surface.
When it slammed into the moon, that was also done for science. Astronomers back on Earth watched the impact with their telescopes, hoping that it would give them some insight into the mechanics of meteor impacts.
This wasn't actually as disastrous as it sounds, because the spacecraft did it on purpose. SMART-1 launched in 2003 and was the first European spacecraft to go to the moon. It was also the first mission of a program called Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology, which was a series of low-cost spacecraft that the European Space Agency launched to test new spaceflight technologies.
SMART-1's primary objective was to do a flight test something called Solar Electric Primary Propulsion, or a solar-powered electric engine. While it orbited the moon for almost two years, it looked for water ice and other chemicals on the lunar surface.
When it slammed into the moon, that was also done for science. Astronomers back on Earth watched the impact with their telescopes, hoping that it would give them some insight into the mechanics of meteor impacts.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03In 2006, a European satellite named SMART-1 crashed into the moon.
00:08This wasn't actually as disastrous as it sounds, because the spacecraft did it on purpose.
00:13SMART-1 launched in 2003 and was the first European spacecraft to go to the moon.
00:17It was also the first mission of a program called Small Missions for Advanced Research and Technology,
00:22which was a series of low-cost spacecraft that the European Space Agency launched to test new spaceflight technologies.
00:28SMART-1's primary objective was to do a flight test of something called solar electric primary propulsion,
00:33or a solar-powered electric engine.
00:36While it orbited the moon for almost two years, it looked for water, ice, and other chemicals on the lunar surface.
00:41When it slammed into the moon, that was also for science.
00:44Astronomers back on Earth watched the impact with their telescopes,
00:47hoping that it would give them some insight into the mechanics of meteor impacts.
00:51And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:54NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology