Quote from: kato on 06/06/2015 07:46 pmUKSA claimed this mission to be S2 - i.e. within the Cosmic Vision context for ESA. Anyone know if it's actually being paid from CV, or whether - as is far more likely - it's budgeted as a Mission of Opportunity?Yes, SMILE is the S2 mission in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Programme.http://sci.esa.int/home/51459-missions/
UKSA claimed this mission to be S2 - i.e. within the Cosmic Vision context for ESA. Anyone know if it's actually being paid from CV, or whether - as is far more likely - it's budgeted as a Mission of Opportunity?
The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, Smile, has been given the green light for implementation by ESA’s Science Programme Committee.The announcement clears the way for full development of this new mission to explore the Sun-Earth connection, which will be conducted in collaboration with China.Smile is expected to revolutionise scientists’ understanding of the physical processes taking place during the continuous interaction between particles in the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic shield – the magnetosphere.
Under current plans, the 2200 kg spacecraft will be launched by a European Vega-C rocket or Ariane 6-2 in 2023, and subsequently be placed in a highly inclined elliptical orbit around Earth.
The science payload consists of four instruments: two from Europe and Canada, and two from China.The innovative wide-field Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), provided by the United Kingdom Space Agency and other European institutions, will obtain unique measurements of the regions where the solar wind impacts the magnetosphere. The Canada-led Ultra-Violet Imager (UVI) will study global distribution of the auroras.The two Chinese instruments, the Light Ion Analyser (LIA) and Magnetometer (MAG), will measure the energetic particles in the solar wind and changes in the local magnetic field.ESA is also responsible for the payload module, spacecraft test facilities, launcher, launch campaign, the primary ground station; ESA will share science operations with CAS. A contract for industry to build the payload module will be announced in due course, and all spacecraft assembly and test activities will take place in Europe.The National Space Science Center (NSSC/CAS) in China is responsible for the spacecraft platform, spacecraft testing, and mission and science operations. The platform will be built in Shanghai by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites (IAMC/CAS).
UK Science Minister, Chris Skidmore, has announced that new national space funding worth £7 million will ensure UK scientists play a leading role in a new space weather mission. The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission will study how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere, which can impact on satellites, power grids and communications networks integral to our modern lives.
With NASA not participating, an opportunity came about for Canada to play an important role. This mission also marks the first time Canada has collaborated with Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on a space science project.
According to the CSA “space weather can affect the performance of critical technologies and services both in space and on Earth, resulting in substantial economic impacts. Severe space weather events can disrupt radio communications and satellite navigation signals, damage electrical infrastructure and satellites, and even endanger trans-polar air travel. It is therefore important to try to understand space weather in order to limit its negative effects. Canada is the country with the largest landmass under the aurora borealis, or northern lights, the most visible manifestation of space weather.”
Space scientists from the University of Leicester have delivered a key component for a new mission to study the impact of the solar wind on Earth’s magnetic field.Engineers from the University’s Space Research Centre have completed the structural and thermal model for the UK’s latest X-ray telescope, the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), destined for space aboard the SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) probe when it launches at the end of 2024.The model, which has now been delivered to Airbus in Spain for integration and testing within the prototype satellite system, is not the so-called flight model – but will help engineers understand the extreme requirements for the final design.Specialists will subject the prototype to the significant vibrations, shocks and G-forces experienced during launch of the spacecraft, as well as the extreme temperatures it must operate at in space below -150°C.
The 3 m-long magnetometer boom of our Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) mission is deployed under helium-filled balloons to simulate the weightlessness conditions of space, at @esa’s test centre in The Netherlands.
The structural thermal model (STM) of the payload module (PLM) of the SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission has successfully passed its Delivery Review Board (DRB). The SMILE STM payload is now on its way to Luxembourg from where it will start its journey to Shanghai. On arrival it will be integrated onto the Chinese platform, to complete the qualification of the satellite.<snip>Integration onto the Chinese platform is expected to begin in early April. Once the complete satellite is finished, it will undergo a comprehensive five month long qualification test campaign including thermal, mechanical, EMC, magnetic, deployment and functional tests at system level. Airbus will give remote support.
Teams from Airbus, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS/IAMC) have succeeded in getting the qualification model of the Chinese platform and the electrical-functional model of the European payload module (PLM) of the SMILE (Solar-wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) satellite to communicate with each other seamlessly at the Airbus facility in Madrid-Barajas. This is no mean feat, considering that each element is built in very different and separate environments and that so far the tests that have been performed (thermo-structural modelling) did not involve communication between the two systems.
This test marked the start of the mission critical design review (CDR) held in Shanghai from 26 to 29 June which was declared successful. This moves forward the integration of the flight models of both systems (platform and PLM).