Contact: Bernard Foing
bernard.foing@esa.int
31-071-565-5647
European Space Agency

SMART-1 Star Tracker Image from 165 Kilometers Altitude

Caption: This image of the lunar surface was taken on Aug. 23 at 12:42 CEST (10:42 UT), by the star tracker (attitude camera) on board ESA's SMART-1, from a distance of 165 kilometers above the Moon surface. SMART-1 was travelling at a speed of 1.93 kilometres per second. The two craters visible on the image are "satellite" craters to the Neumayer crater. Satellite craters are identified by the name of their parent crater and an additional letter. On the star tracker image the crater with the sharp rim is called Neumayer M (located at a latitude of 71.6° South, and a longitude of 78.5° East) and the one with the smooth rim is called Neumayer N (at a latitude of 70.4° South, and a longitude of 78.7° East). The image is slightly smeared as the spacecraft is moving at high speed and at low altitude. This image was taken as a test, which means the spacecraft pointing was not optimised for taking images with the star tracker.

Credit: ESA

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