Arianespace signed a launch contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the deployment of the SMILE (Solar-wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission, a joint ESA-Science and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) initiative that aims to better understand our solar system. SMILE will observe Earth’s magnetic environment, the magnetosphere, on a global scale, and its interaction with the solar wind. To maximize its scientific contribution, SMILE requires a launch close to the peak of solar activity during the Sun’s 11-year cycle.
With today’s signature ceremony, ESA secures the launch of Smile on a Vega-C from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, currently expected for late 2025.
Nov 13, 2024 #ESA #Smile #DocumentarySmile is the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, a brand-new space mission currently in the making. It will study space weather and the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s environment.Unique about Smile is that it will take the first X-ray images and videos of the solar wind slamming into Earth’s protective magnetic bubble, and its complementary ultraviolet images will provide the longest-ever continuous look at the northern lights.In this first of several short videos, David Agnolon (Smile Project Manager) and Philippe Escoubet (Smile Project Scientist) talk about the why and the how of Smile. You’ll see scenes of the building and testing of the spacecraft’s payload module by Airbus in Madrid, including the installation of one of the European instruments, the Soft X-ray Imager from the University of Leicester.Smile is a 50–50 collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). ESA provides the payload module of the spacecraft, which carries three of the four science instruments, and the Vega-C rocket which will launch Smile to space. CAS provides the platform module hosting the fourth science instrument, as well as the service and propulsion modules.Credit: ESA/Lightcurve FilmsAcknowledgements: Direction, main camera, sound, editing, post-production by Lightcurve Films. Original music by William Zeitler. Artwork shown in the video is by Eryka Isaak and CAS.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1053587 [Aug 5]QuoteThe Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint collaborative science mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that will study how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic environment. It is due for launch from September 2025 on an ESA Vega-C rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint collaborative science mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that will study how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic environment. It is due for launch from September 2025 on an ESA Vega-C rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
Smile's other half arrives | Let’s Smile (action snippet)12/12/2024 On 9 December 2024, the Smile Platform arrived safely at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and was subsequently transported to ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. It came a long way, having travelled all the way from Shanghai, China. This marks an important step in the Smile mission, as the spacecraft's two halves are now in the same location, ready to be joined together. Launching in around a year from now, Smile will study space weather and the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s environment. The Platform, built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), includes the propulsion and service modules responsible for powering, steering and controlling the spacecraft. The European half of the spacecraft – the so-called Payload Module – was built by Airbus in Madrid and is already at ESTEC. It hosts three of the four science instruments of the mission, commands all four of them and downlinks all the data back to Earth. The Platform didn't travel alone. It was accompanied by a team of Smile engineers and managers from CAS. They will closely work together with their European counterparts from ESA and Airbus during the coming ten months to assemble the Smile spacecraft and fully test it at ESA's ESTEC Test Centre. After that, Smile will be shipped to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Its launch is planned for late 2025.
Cutting-edge telescope built at Space Park Leicester makes final departure to join SMILE mission05/08/2024[...]The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint collaborative science mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that will study how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic environment. It is due for launch from September 2025 on an ESA Vega-C rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.[...]
Launch is scheduled for September 2025:QuoteCutting-edge telescope built at Space Park Leicester makes final departure to join SMILE mission05/08/2024[...]The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint collaborative science mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that will study how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic environment. It is due for launch from September 2025 on an ESA Vega-C rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.[...]
✅Airbus just delivered the Payload Module of the SMILE spacecraft to @esa. SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission aims to revolutionise the understanding of space weather.ℹ️ Space weather, caused by interactions between particles in the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic shield, poses significant challenges in an increasingly technology-driven society. These interactions, such as auroras or geomagnetic storms, can disrupt power grids, corrode pipes and affect high-frequency communications and satellite navigation like GPS or Galileo.