Smart 1, the first lunar probe operated by the European
Space Agency, was launched on September
27th, 2003. Using ion thrusters, Smart 1 spent over a
year moving from Earth orbit into lunar orbit. It entered lunar orbit on November 13th, 2004 and
spent several moths regularizing its orbit. Scientific operations began in
February 2005 and are now ongoing.
The Future of Lunar Exploration
Lunar exploration is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. Along
with the Europeans, the Japanese, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Americans
are all planning missions to the Moon. President George W. Bush announced a new
effort to send human explorers beyond low Earth orbit, starting with a return
to the Moon. If all goes as planned, astronauts will return to the Moon some
time in the next decade, this time to stay.
Why the Moon?
Many people ask, because of its perceived cost, why explore
the Moon? Many scientists believe that the Moon contains many of the secrets of
the early solar system and that a geological and geophysical study of that
world would yield many of those secrets. Other scientists believe that the far
side of the Moon, shielded from the Earth, would be a perfect place for a radio
and an optical observatory to explore the universe.
The official rationale for returning to the Moon in the
current Vision for Space Exploration, proposed by President Bush, is that it
would serve as a dress rehearsal for expeditions to Mars. Technologies and
techniques that would be used to explore the Red Planet could be tested out on
the Moon, just three days journey away from Earth.
One of the more compelling reasons for returning to the Moon
is that it may be a source of limitless energy. Over billions of years, solar
winds have deposited an isotope called Helium 3 on the lunar surface. The
reason that Helium 3 is important is that, when fusion reactors become
commercially practicable, it can be used as fuel with little or no radioactive
byproducts.