The European-Chinese team will conduct a two-month commissioning campaign for Inspector Smile to switch on and test the spacecraft’s science instruments.
The European-Chinese team is beginning a two-month commissioning campaign for Inspector Smile to switch on and test its science instruments.
The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and INTA tested Smile’s thermal straps in the vacuum chamber at the Montegancedo campus.
The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid certified that Smile’s X-ray instruments will operate at -120 °C.
Smile’s data collection is expected to begin in July after it deploys its arms and confirms its status.
Smile will fire its motor 11 times over the coming weeks to reach a highly elliptical orbit.
The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid aimed to verify that Smile’s detector would operate below -100 °C.
Smile is the first mission able to observe Earth’s protective bubble with X-ray technology.
Smile will reach an orbit 121,000 kilometers above the North Pole and later descend to 5,000 kilometers above the South Pole.
The University of Leicester developed Smile’s SXI Soft X-ray Imager.
The Instituto Universitario de Microgravedad Ignacio Da Riva at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid verified Smile’s DPA Detector Plane Assembly, which houses two CCD sensors.
A Vega-C rocket launched Smile from French Guiana on 19 May.
SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
SMILE will be the first mission to record the aurora borealis continuously for up to 45 consecutive hours.
SMILE will be the first mission since 2008 to observe the aurora borealis globally in ultraviolet light.
The SMILE instrument software is a real-time embedded system that controls all four instruments, manages science data flow, monitors instrument health, and enables automated payload operations.
CGI’s Bristol team developed the application software for SMILE’s instrument payloads.
SMILE launched on a Vega-C rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana on Tuesday 19 May.
SMILE is the first space telescope able to observe Earth’s magnetic field in X-rays.
The UK SMILE team has begun working with the Met Office to assess how SMILE data could improve forecasting capabilities.