Hi, All,
Catching the flash from SMART-1 crash was
not easy. And, if you have the image of long planning,
preparation, and testing to do so, prepare to modify
that thought somewhat.
The CFHT got the job done. But it's clear that
space exploration related observation is a kind of
orphan:
"Concerning the ground-based observations, he
[Koschny] said he felt that many observers were not
really prepared to observe the Moon. They didn't have
adequate pre-crash practice sessions, he said, because
many astronomers could not obtain enough observing time.
Observing time at major facilities is a precious commodity
and can be oversubscribed with a variety of astronomical
research agendas. 'We should allocate more time to
telescopes for observing objects in the Solar System!'"
Just as when the List had a thread about the reasons
why meteoritic scientists can't get their hands on much
of the material they need to study, the need (and competition)
for the resources to do science that obviously needs to be
done is clearly far greater than what is available.
To babble about the fate of societies that do not invest
in their own future, here on the List, would probably be,
as the idom has it, preaching to the choir...
Well, maybe I'll go watch the movie 2001 again, fly to
the space wheel on Pan-Am, take the shuttle to the Moon,
take a crawler tour out to Tranquility Monument, then the
monorail down to the SMART crater, and wonder in what
year the year 2001 will finally arrive.
Happy Laborless Day!
Sterling K. Webb
------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060904_smart-1_results.html
Moon Crash Stirs Up Ideas For The Future
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 04 September 2006
01:52 pm ET
In a flash it was over.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) SMART-1
spacecraft punched into the Moon's barren surface
early Sunday morning. It made an on-purpose plunge
and is believed to have slammed into a hillside within
the Lake of Excellence, a volcanic plain.
It was a destructive ending to a nearly three-year
mission of testing space technology and examining
Earth's celestial neighbor. The craft's demise is providing
valuable insight into future lunar research.
The exact impact time of SMART-1 was recorded at
1:42:22 a.m. ET on Sept. 3, when ESA's New Norcia
ground station in Australia abruptly lost radio contact
with the probe.
A global network of professional and amateur ground
observers focused their respective instruments on the
SMART-1's predicted impact zone. So far, at the top
of the hit list is the observation by the Canada-France-
Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) from atop Mauna Kea
situated on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Scientists at CFHT recorded an impact burst, possibly
caused by thermal emission from the roughly 4,500 miles
per hour (2 kilometers per second) crash of the spacecraft
itself, or maybe the detonation of leftover hydrazine fuel
onboard SMART-1.
Dash for the flash
The impacting spacecraft was caught by WIRCam -
a wide-field infrared camera at the CFHT that represents
one of the largest astronomical mosaic of infrared
detectors ever built.
But readying the WIRCam to track the Moon, as well
as handle SMART-1 duties, was no small effort. A bit
of luck was needed, too. It was a literal dash for the
flash, explained Christian Veillet, Executive Director
of the CFHT.
"We moved to WIRCam only on Friday evening,
not for SMART-1, but because it is part of our operations,"
Veillet explained. Time was spent that night to check the
camera, the pointing, the filter to be used, he said.
"We had never looked at the Moon with WIRCam,"
Veillet told SPACE.com. "Our brand new field infrared
mosaic looks more into deep space than to nearby bodies."
Veillet said he and his team had no choice but to use
the narrowest filter they had for the camera. Also, they
had to use exposure times meant more for observing
brown dwarfs or remote galaxies, not for up close and
personal Moon watching.
Most of Saturday, Veillet said, was busily spent writing
scripts to allow the production of decent images in near
real time.
"Then came the evening [of the impact]. Weather was
superb, everything worked well and we were lucky enough
to capture a flash. Actually, I did not think we would see it,"
Veillet said. He was anticipating that kicked-up dust might
be visible after the impact itself.
Right hemisphere at the right time
Due to the camera's operating mode, there was a
30-percent chance of simply missing the event by not
looking at the right time.
"The impact happened six seconds after the start of an
exposure and four seconds before its end. We saw the flash
as soon as the image was processed," Veillet added. The
flash looked extremely bright ... much brighter than had been
anticipated, he said.
"Finding the right area on the Moon was difficult due to
the low contrast of the Earthshine area," Veillet continued.
"It helped me to have looked at the Moon before ... as I
spent more than 10 years of my life in charge of the French
lunar laser ranging station ... and also coordinating the
international network of lunar laser ranging stations before
coming to CFHT in 1996. It was like coming back in time
by 15 years!"
In post-impact mode, Veillet said work is underway at
CFHT to carry out more serious processing of the imagery
to locate the impact site and check if dust was visible after
the impact.
As for future lunar missions ending with an impact, Veillet
advised: "The main thing is to make sure that somebody
can observe it from Earth. The SMART-1 team prepared
the final orbits to make sure [that] would indeed happen.
We were lucky to be in the right hemisphere at the right time.
It will be very interesting to have others look at the SMART-1
impact site in the coming days with visible or infrared cameras
and check if something is visible or not at the point of impact."
Sleep-starved
"It was a great experience," explained a sleep-starved
Detlef Koschny, ESA planetary scientist and coordinator
of the amateur campaign to watch for SMART-1's smashing
finale on the Moon. He was stationed at the European Space
Agency's Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.
"We had some last-minute issues to sort out with the data
downlink ... the spacecraft went into a safe mode on Friday,
just two days before [impact], but we recovered in record time.
I was very excited about this spectacular end of mission,"
he told SPACE.com.
SMART-1's impact on the Moon not only tossed up lunar
dust, but also gave rise to a few ideas for the future.
"There are still uncertainties in the precise shape of the
Moon," Koschny noted. While he said that fact is a bit
surprising, what's needed now is a laser altimeter orbiting
the Moon to help size up the orb to a greater degree.
Koschny was pleased to see the HFCT imagery of the
impact. Concerning the ground-based observations, he said
he felt that many observers were not really prepared to
observe the Moon. They didn't have adequate pre-crash
practice sessions, he said, because many astronomers
could not obtain enough observing time.
Observing time at major facilities is a precious commodity
and can be oversubscribed with a variety of astronomical
research agendas.
"We should allocate more time to telescopes for observing
objects in the Solar System!" Koschny advised.
Olympic exploration
"We're looking forward to collecting the worldwide
reports from this impact," said Bernard Foing, ESA's
SMART-1 Project Scientist.
The call is out to the community to search for the
ejecta blankets of lunar surface material stirred up from
the crash, Foing said, "and for future lunar orbiters to
search for the SMART-1 crater."
Foing said he was fortunate to follow SMART-1
from conception, development, launch, voyage,
lunar capture, its science phase, and end of mission.
"It was in its destiny to end on the Moon ... and it
was emotional to share this with observers and the public,"
Foing said. "I look forward to the future where we can
pass the SMART-1 flame to the next nations in the
Olympic exploration of the Moon."
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