 Europe's first mission to the moon is due to crash-land in a cloud of dust and rock Sunday, ending a three-year voyage that gathered data about the lunar surface and tested a new engine intended to propel future spacecraft to Mercury and other planets. The European Space Agency's SMART-1 should hit its target on a volcanic plain called the Lake of Excellence at 1:41 a.m. EDT, skimming low as it makes its final approach at 4,475 mph. Observatories on earth will try to capture images of the impact and the resulting debris cloud, and European space officials hope their study of the debris will provide information about the minerals present at the impact site. Even before the mission ends, however, ESA is already celebrating the main goal a successful test of the ion engine they hope to use for future interplanetary missions, such as the BepiColombo joint mission to Mercury with Japan's space agency slated for launch in 2013. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 08:25:00 08-30-06
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Editor - 08:19:00 08-30-06
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Editor - 08:14:00 08-30-06
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Editor - 08:05:00 08-30-06
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Editor - 08:01:00 08-30-06
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| Gaza airstrikes, clashes leave 6 dead |
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Editor - 07:59:00 08-30-06
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