30 July

2003: On 30 July 2003, ESA's SMART-1 was lowered onto the cone-shaped adapter that would serve as its interface with the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The photo above shows the adapter's four springs, which would be compressed under the weight of SMART-1.

SMART-1 was launched on 27 September 2003 by Ariane 5 flight 162. After launch, these springs provided the separation 'push' for SMART-1 when the satellite was released from Ariane 5.