A revolutionary new type of solar powered engine will be at the centre of Europe's first ever mission to the Moon, project leaders have announced. They said the ion engines turn "science fiction into science fact" and will transform space travel by propelling craft at higher speeds over greater distances. Once in orbit around the Earth's nearest neighbour the unmanned probe, called Smart 1 explorer, will use British technology to map the entire surface of the Moon for the first time. It is hoped the mission will help form a better understanding of how the Moon was born and provide more information about its dark side. On Monday morning the team behind the European Space Agency (Esa) probe said it would be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket, at 12.04 BST on 4 September from Kourou in French Guiana. But hours later they announced that the date was being put back to help other teams using the rocket to launch their own satellites. The ion engines have been used just once before, on a NASA mission called Deep Space 1, and the ESA mission will provide an opportunity for further tests of the technology.
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