The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla
SMART-1 Final Images
Sep. 3, 2006 | 13:09 PDT | 20:09 UTC
by Jennifer Vaughn
ESA has released seven of the images received from SMART-1's final hours. I've put a few here, and the rest can be seen at ESA's SMART-1 site.
The Moon's HorizonSMART-1's AMIE camera captured this oblique view of the lunar surface on September 2, 2006 during the last few orbits prior to Moon impact. Credit: ESA / SPACE-X (Space Exploration Institute) |
Cratered TerrainDuring its last few orbits, SMART-1 closely examined the terrain that would become its permanent home. This oblique view of the cratered surface was taken on September 2, 2006. Credit: ESA/SPACE-X (Space Exploration Institute) |
Double CraterAlso taken on September 2, 2006, the AMIE camera got this close-up view of a double crater. Credit: ESA / SPACE-X (Space Exploration Institute) |
A worldwide network of observatories was watching as the spacecraft impacted the Moon. So far, ESA has released just one triptych image from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.
Lunar Impact as Seen from EarthThe 3.6-meter optical/infrared Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) in Hawaii captured this impressive sequence of SMART-1 impact images showing before, during, and after the impact. The impact flash -- which lasted only about 1 millisecond -- may have been caused by the thermal emission from the impact itself or by the release of spacecraft volatiles, such as the small amount of hydrazine fuel remaining on board. Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation
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There's also a neat animation of the images at the CFHT site. You need to let it run for 30 seconds or so, then the impact flash occurs in the upper right of the image.
It's not clear yet if other ground based images exist of the impact. I'm sure we'll be learning more over the next days and weeks.
ESA's SMART-1 Site
More on SMART-1
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