2006: Probe crashes into Moon's surface
Europe's lunar satellite, the Smart 1 probe, has ended its mission by crashing onto the Moon's surface in a controlled collision.
It was a spectacular end for the robotic probe, which has spent the last 16 months testing innovative and miniaturised space technologies.
Smart 1 has also produced detailed maps of the Moon's chemical make-up, to help refine theories about its birth.
At 0542 GMT (0642 BST), the probe thumped into a volcanic plain.
With an impact speed of about 7,200km/h (4,500mph), even at a glancing blow of just one degree to the surface, the probe met a sufficiently violent end for telescopes to observe the event from Earth.
Smart 1 was returning pictures as it plunged towards the Moon's Lake of Excellence. Controllers and scientists at the European Space Agency's (Esa) operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, clapped and cheered after the spacecraft smacked into the surface.
"As planned, Smart 1 has landed," said Professor Bernard Foing, the mission's project scientist from Esa.
The Canada France Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, captured an infrared picture of a bright flash as Smart 1 hit its target.
"I was really surprised as the flash was very impressive. I was betting on not seeing much," said Gerhard Schwehm, mission manager for Smart 1.
The hope now is that the impact will have kicked up a big enough plume of fresh lunar "soil" for scientists to study its composition using ground telescopes.
The impact was expected to leave a 3m by 10m (10ft by 30ft) crater on the Moon, spreading debris over 80 sq km (30 sq miles).
"We know a lot about the Moon, but there are things we need to know more precisely if we are to embark on ambitious projects like those the US has planned," Dr Schwehm told the BBC News website.
A fleet of spacecraft - both orbiters and landers - are now expected to visit the Moon in the next few years.
This train of robotic explorers will culminate in US astronauts returning to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions, probably in 2020.
Smart 1 was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket in September 2003 as a technology demonstrator.
It became Europe's first space science mission to use an ion engine instead of chemical combustion to reach its destination.
The system drew power through the probe's solar wings and then used this energy to propel the spacecraft forward by expelling charged particles of xenon. It was highly efficient, covering 100 million km in a series of looping orbits and using just 60 litres of "fuel".
Professor Manuel Grande has been principal investigator on one of Smart's miniaturised instruments: the compact X-ray spectrometer known as D-CIXS.
It has made mineral maps of the Moon's composition, looking at the distribution of calcium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon and iron.
Knowing the absolute abundances of these elements will help to refine theories for the Moon's formation. These describe the satellite emerging from the debris thrown out from a mighty collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body billions of years ago.
"It will take a long time for to work through the detail; the devil is in the detail with the X-ray instruments," said the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, researcher.
"But when we finally put the picture together what we will get is maps of what the Moon is made of."
On Saturday, mission controllers had to raise Smart 1's orbit by 600m (2,000ft) to avoid hitting a crater rim on final approach. Had the orbit not been raised, the craft would have crashed one orbit too soon - making the impact difficult or impossible to observe.
"Smart 1 will now rest in peace on the Moon," said Professor Foing.
"We are now collaborating with the international community, preparing the way for the future exploration of the Moon - the next fleet of orbiters, landers; leading to robotic villages and human bases."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5309656.stm
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1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
Britain and France are at war with Germany following the invasion of Poland two days ago.
At 1115 BST the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced the British deadline for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland had expired.
He said the British ambassador to Berlin had handed a final note to the German government this morning saying unless it announced plans to withdraw from Poland by 1100, a state of war would exist between the two countries.
Mr Chamberlain continued: "I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and consequently this country is at war with Germany."
Similarly the French issued an ultimatum, which was presented in Berlin at 1230, saying France would be at war unless a 1700 deadline for the troops' withdrawal was adhered to.
I heard this voice saying we were now at war with Germany and at that moment the air raid sirens went
People's War memories »
King George has called upon "my people at home and my peoples across the seas".
He continued: "I ask them to stand calm, firm and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield. But we can only do the right as we see the right and reverently commit our cause to God."
A War Cabinet of nine members has been set up with two new ministers, including Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty, the post he held at the outbreak of World War I. Lord Hankey becomes Minister without Portfolio.
Anthony Eden will take over as Dominions Secretary with special access to the War Cabinet. Mr Eden resigned from the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs last year because he disagreed with the policy of appeasement.
The National Service (Armed Forces) Act has been passed making all men between 18 and 41 liable for conscription. The armed forces have already been mobilized for war and in July the first Territorial Army conscripts were called up.
Latest reports from Poland say the Germans have bombed a number of towns and cities, some with little or no strategic importance. About 1,500 are reported to have been killed or injured in the attacks on Friday and Saturday.
In his broadcast to the nation, Mr Chamberlain spoke of his sadness that "the long struggle to win peace" had failed.
He continued: "I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful."
Yesterday there was anger in the House of Commons over the Government's apparent delay in taking action against Germany.
Acting Labour Leader Arthur Greenwood had accused the Prime Minister of vacillating when "Britain and all that Britain stands for are in peril".
Today's declaration of war was received with rousing cheers. As Mr Chamberlain informed the House Britain could not take part in a five-power conference proposed by Italy while Poland was being invaded.
It has also been received with great enthusiasm in the Polish capital, Warsaw, where crowds took to the streets outside the British and French embassies cheering and singing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/newsid_3493000/3493279.stm