ESA, CAS release first images from SMILE; officially begin science operations
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Following its launch in May and a multi-month commissioning period, the joint European Space Agency and Chinese Academy of Sciences Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission has officially begun scientific operations. The spacecraft, which will investigate Earth’s magnetosphere in soft X-rays and ultraviolet light, arrived in its highly elliptical orbit on June 20 and has spent the last several months deploying instruments and ensuring electrical systems are functioning properly.
Teams recently released the first ultraviolet observations from SMILE, highlighting a stunning view of a full ring of auroras near Earth’s north pole.
“The SMILE mission is a testament to the trust built between our teams, their dedication to excellence, and their determination to find solutions, whatever the challenge. SMILE is now approved to begin science operations. This is a very important milestone – a true pleasure to announce – and I am sure our excellent collaboration will deliver ground-breaking data to scientists around the world,” said European Space Agency (ESA) Director of Science Professor Carole Mundell.
Smile launches atop Vega C on May 19. (Credit: ESA/CNES/Avio/Optique Video du CSG–P. PIRON)
SMILE launched atop a Vega-C rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on May 19 at 03:52 UTC. Over the next month, SMILE conducted 11 apogee-raising maneuvers and one perigee-raising maneuver, putting the spacecraft into an orbit optimized for its instruments by June 20.
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This orbit is inclined by 73 degrees, and has an apogee altitude of 120,920 km and a perigee altitude of 5,027 km. While orbiting, SMILE will spend about nine months of the year at high altitudes, enabling continuous observations of Earth’s poles and magnetic field.
SMILE features four instruments: the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), the UV Imager (UVI), the Light Ion Analyzer (LIA), and the Magnetometer (MAG). Besides ensuring that the spacecraft had survived launch and that its electrical and communication systems were functioning, a major component of SMILE’s commissioning period was testing these instruments.
The four instruments will work together to observe Earth’s magnetosphere, allowing scientists to better understand how solar storms, geomagnetic storms, and other forms of space weather work, as well as how solar activity interacts with Earth’s magnetic field. When charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, massive auroras form around Earth’s north and south poles.
SMILE’s UVI instrument’s first observation of Earth’s polar aurorae. (Credit: ESA/CAS/SMILE/UVI)
The spacecraft’s first UVI observations captured stunning auroras, and ESA recently released the resulting images to announce the start of SMILE’s science operations. The UVI, the first camera since 2008 to capture a full ring of auroras around the North Pole in ultraviolet light, made the observation on July 24, just two weeks after it was brought online for commissioning. Now that scientific observations have begun, the UVI will begin observing Earth’s auroras for 45 hours at a time, offering the longest continuous observations of auroras from space in history.
In the same time frame, SMILE’s SXI instrument was brought online and collected soft X-ray observations of Cassiopeia A and a supernova remnant within the Large Magellanic Cloud. While these images confirmed that the instrument is operating as expected, SMILE team members have noted that the SXI detects too much stray light when pointed at Earth. Given SMILE’s purpose as an Earth observation mission, the team is adjusting instrument settings and sending new software to SMILE to address the issue.
ESA designed the instrument with versatility and remote operation capabilities in mind, and the agency is working with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) SMILE team to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
One of the SXI instrument’s first images, showing Cassiopeia A. (Credit: ESA)
Fortunately, SMILE’s current orbit has the spacecraft pointing farther away from Earth, and as the northern hemisphere moves into winter, less light will be emitted by Earth’s north pole, reducing the stray-light issue on the SXI. This reduced light will reach a minimum in mid-October, when SMILE will use the SXI to capture its first “good” observation of the magnetopause, the point where the solar wind meets Earth’s magnetic field, and the northern polar cusp, a hole within the magnetosphere over the north pole. At the northern polar cusp, charged particles from the solar wind extend toward Earth’s surface.
With science observations now underway, SMILE’s primary mission has begun. This primary mission is expected to last three years, with the potential for mission extensions assuming the spacecraft remains in good health.
(Lead image: Image from SMILE’s UVI instrument showing a full ring of aurora over Earth’s north pole. Credit: ESA/CAS/SMILE/UVI)
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