New UK Technology Will Make First Global X-Ray Map Of The Moon

Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils
Oxon, U.K.

For more information please contact:

Jacky Hutchinson, CCLRC Press Officer
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Tel. +44 (0)1235 446482
Fax +44 (0)1235 446665

Prof Manuel Grande
Space Science and Technology Department
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
e-mail:
Tel. +44 1235 446501
Fax +44 1235 446509

Dr Sarah Dunkin
Space Science and Technology Department
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
e-mail:
Tel. +44 1235 446861
Fax +44 1235 445848

Tuesday, 12 August 2003

New UK technology will make the first global X-ray map of the Moon

Novel technology designed and built in the UK will be launched into space at the
end of August and will determine what the Moon is made of.

The compact D-CIXS instrument, a box the size of a small toaster crammed with
brand new technology, will make the first ever global X-ray map of the Moon's
surface. When the Sun shines on the Moon, its surface fluoresces and D-CIXS will
measure the resulting X-rays and will determine its composition, and the
abundance of many of the elements found on its surface. This in turn will
provide scientists with more clues to help them determine the origin of our Moon.

The D-CIXS instrument is a compact X-ray spectrometer, built by an international
team led by Principal Investigator Professor Manuel Grande from the CCLRC
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. New technology for the D-CIXS instrument
includes novel X-ray detectors which don't require special cooling and have a
higher tolerance to damaging radiation, and microfabricated collimators with
walls no thicker than a human hair.

David Leadbeater from the British National Space Centre -- a co-funder of the
project -- said "This exciting mission will significantly improve our knowledge
of the Moon and may provide an important input to debate on our Solar System as
a whole. It is also what is known as a 'demonstration mission'.

"The results obtained will enable new technology to be fine-tuned for use in
future, bigger-budget projects, leading to cheaper, faster and better missions.
This is central to the future of European involvement in space".

Dr Sarah Dunkin is the project scientist for the D-CIXS instrument. "It's been
really great to work on a project that will find out what the Moon's made of.
We're all very familiar with the Moon, but it's amazing just how little we
really know about it. D-CIXS will provide information about the rocks found on
the Moon, and will help scientists determine its origin", she said.

D-CIXS will fly on the SMART-1 satellite, the first European mission to the
Moon, which will test new technology for future space missions. It was co-funded
by the British National Space Centre (BNSC), the European Space Agency (ESA) and
the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), and cost £1.5 million.

Notes for editors

BACKGROUND

D-CIXS is the first UK-led instrument to go to the Moon and it will produce the
Moon's first ever global X-ray map. It will fly on the SMART-1 satellite which
is due to be launched on an Ariane-5 rocket around midnight on Thursday 28
August (ie VERY early on Friday morning!). [NOTE: The launch has been postponed.
New launch date pending. - A.Y.] It was co-funded by PPARC (Particle Physics
and Astronomy Research Council), BNSC (British National Space Centre) and ESA
(European Space Agency). It cost about £1.5 million and took four years to
design and build.

Professor Manuel Grande from the Space Science and Technology Department of the
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire is the Principal
Investigator for D-CIXS.

The X-ray coverage of the Moon by the Apollo 15 (in 1971) and 16 (1972) missions
was limited to measurements within 25 degrees of the equator, and so the data
covered only about 10% of the Moon's surface. The D-CIXS will map the whole
surface of the Moon at a resolution of around 50 km in 20 days.

D-CIXS is an extremely compact demonstration instrument, which will test two new
technologies for future space missions. D-CIXS weighs 4.5 kilograms and is the
size of a small toaster.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Swept-charge devices are based on traditional CCD (charged-couple devices)
technology, but don't require special cooling, and have a higher tolerance to
damaging radiation. This is especially important given SMART's long journey to
the Moon, and because its spiralling orbit from Earth takes it across the
radiation belts several times. For extra safety the instrument is also fitted
with a protective door which can be closed in the heart of the radiation belts.
Each of the 24 detectors has a 10 x 10 mm sensitive area with an energy
resolution approximately 200 eV; they operate without the need for special cooling.

The Advanced Microstructure Collimators were designed and built at RAL. These
minute structures ensure that only X-rays from a single, well-defined direction
reach the detectors. These microfabricated collimators form a grid-like pattern
with holes 168 microns wide (double the width of an average human hair) and
walls only 30 microns thick. The collimators, with their associated filters,
also reject solar wind particles and radiated heat from the Moon surface.

An X-ray Solar Monitor (XSM) is included in the instrument. XSM (which was
provided by a team from the University of Helsinki in Finland) will support
D-CIXS by providing measurements of solar X-ray emission for calibration.

THE SCIENCE

D-CIXS will primarily detect magnesium, aluminium and silicon in the rocks on
the Moon's surface and, because the production of X-rays from the Moon's surface
is dependent on solar X-ray illumination, it could detect other elements, such
as iron and titanium, if the Sun is very active. It will establish the relative
abundances of the different elements on the surface of the Moon. In particular,
the ratio of magnesium and iron will give clues to the origins of the Moon-Earth
system and how the Moon was formed. Because there are deep craters on the Moon,
D-CIXS will detect the elements in these craters, giving us an insight into the
internal composition of the Moon.

D-CIXS will take advantage of the extended journey time to the Moon (SMART-1 is
testing a new propulsion technology which means the journey will take 16 months)
and will observe a number of exciting astronomical X-ray sources for long
periods of time. It will also investigate any passing comets and help resolve
conflicting theories on why comets emit X-rays.

THE COLLABORATORS

The UK-led team includes members from:

* CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK
* University of Helsinki, Finland
* CESR, France
* OMP, France
* Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
* University of Sheffield, UK
* Queen Mary and Westfield College, UK
* University College London, UK
* Natural History Museum, London, UK
* Max Planck Institut fur Aeronomie, Lindau, Germany
* Lab for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, USA
* Manchester University, UK
* Armagh Observatory, UK
* ISAS, Japan
* UPC, Spain
* GSFC, USA
* Metorex, Finland
* LANL, USA