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ESA says the joint European-Chinese Smile mission is ready for science operations, although stray light is still limiting its X-ray view towards Earth.
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The European-Chinese Smile mission was declared ready to begin science operations on 23 September, ESA says, following months of in-space commissioning. The spacecraft launched on 19 May and reached its target science orbit on 20 June. [1]
Smile is a joint mission by ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to study how Earth responds to charged particles from the Sun. Its four instruments include an ultraviolet aurora imager, a soft X-ray imager, a magnetometer and a light ion analyser. ESA says ultraviolet footage taken on 24 July shows activity in the northern lights caused by a solar-wind disturbance. [1]
The X-ray imager has taken its first test pictures, but it detects too much stray light when pointed towards Earth. Teams are adjusting its settings and software to reduce the problem. [1]
ESA expects stray light to reach a minimum in mid-October, when the camera could take its first good image of the boundary between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field, or of the northern polar cusp. [1]
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