The science goals of ESA's SMART-1 mission to the Moon

SMART-1 will be Europe's first lunar mission and represents an important st ep forwards in developing an international program of lunar exploration. Th e spacecraft will be ready for launch in late 2002, and is designed to test new technologies for use on future ESA cornerstone missions. In this respe ct, SMART-1 will also play a vital role in developing cutting edge technolo gies that could be a major part of the future of lunar and planetary scienc e. SMART-1 will carry three remote sensing instruments that will be used du ring the mission's nominal six months in lunar orbit. These instruments wil l return data that will be relevant to a broad range of lunar studies, from bulk crustal composition and theories of lunar origin/evolution to the sea rch for cold traps at the lunar poles and the mapping of potential lunar re sources. With a perilune near the lunar south pole, the South Pole-Aitken B asin (SPA) is a prime target for studies using the SMART-1 suite of instrum ents.