Planet Earth over Moon's Compton Crater | NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Image Description: The Earth straddling the limb of the Moon, as seen from above Compton crater. The large tan area in the upper right is the Sahara desert, and just beyond is Saudia Arabia. The Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America are visible to the left.
This image was taken when NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was 134 km above the farside crater Compton (51.8°N, 124.1°E). Capturing an image of the Earth and Moon with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) is a complicated task. First the spacecraft must be rolled to the side (in this case 67°), then the spacecraft slews with the direction of travel to maximize the width of the lunar horizon in the NAC image. All this takes place while LRO is traveling over 1600 meters per second (faster than 3580 mph) relative to the lunar surface below the spacecraft. The Earth is much brighter (higher reflectance) than the Moon, especially from this angle; the Earth was captured near noon while the limb of the Moon was just appearing from the shadows of night, so the Moon was relatively dim.
Compton is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the east of the Mare Humboldtianum, and southwest of the walled plain Schwarzschild. To the southeast of Compton is the heavily eroded crater Swann.
From the Earth, the daily Moonrise and Moonset are always inspiring moments. However, lunar astronauts will see something very different: viewed from the lunar surface, the Earth never rises or sets. Since the Moon is tidally locked, the Earth is always in the same spot above the horizon, varying only a small amount with the slight wobble of the Moon. The Earth may not move across the "sky", but the view is not static. Future astronauts will see the continents rotate in and out of view and the ever changing pattern of clouds will always catch one's eye. Well at least on the nearside, but what about the farside? The Earth is never visible from the surface of the farside. Imagine a sky with no Earth or Moon—what will farside explorers think with no Earth overhead?
LRO has made a 3-D map of the Moon's surface at 100-meter resolution and 98.2% coverage (excluding polar areas in deep shadow), including 0.5-meter resolution images of Apollo landing sites.
LRO has been studying the Moon from up close since 2009, making it the longest-lived lunar orbiting mission ever. The orbiter has mapped the Moon’s surface and measured its temperature, composition, and radiation environment in unprecedented detail. Data from LRO enables NASA, and our international and commercial partners, to select locations on the lunar surface where spacecraft and astronauts can safely land. The orbiter is also helping NASA identify areas near the Moon’s South Pole with crucial resources like water and extended sunlight that provides power for equipment and supports exploration activities.
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lro/
Image Data: WAC E1199291151C (Earth only), NAC M1199291564LR (Earth and Moon); sequence start time 12 October 2015 12:18:17.384 UTC
Text Credit: Mark Robinson
Release Date: Dec. 18, 2015
#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #Geology #Geoscience #ComptonCrater #FarSide #LRO #LunarOrbiter #LROC #NAC #WAC #SpaceRobotics #SpaceTechnology #NASAGoddard #GSFC #ASU #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education
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