When europe's first solo mission to the Moon, Smart-1, was launched last week it carried the hopes of planetary scientists eager to unlock more of the secrets of our nearest neighbour in space. But with all due respect to the data it will collect on the lunar surface, Pedro Cordero Perez, head of technology research and development at the European Space Agency (ESA), will be more interested in how the spacecraft's engine performs on its journey than the pictures and information it sends back. Smart-1 is demonstrating electric propulsion in which power from the spacecraft's solar panels drives an ion engine. Within the engine atoms of xenon gas are ionised and accelerate away from the aircraft at high speed, propelling the spacecraft forward.
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