NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image of the moon’s surface on October 16, 2022, about 6.5 hours after it flew by Earth for its first of three gravitational assists. The image was taken while Lucy was between Earth and the Moon, about 160,000 miles (260,000 km) from the Moon, so it shows a perspective familiar to Earth-based observers. The image is of an 800 mile (1200 km) wide patch near the center of the last quarter moon. Many familiar craters are visible, including the relatively cool Arzachel crater just left of center. The prominent fault scarp called the Right Wall is visible cutting through the lava plains to the lower left of center.
The image, which is made by combining ten separate 2 millisecond exposures of the same scene to maximize image quality, has been sharpened. Each pixel represents approximately 0.8 miles (1.3 km).
This image was taken with L’LORRI (Lucy LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager), Lucy’s high-resolution grayscale imager. The LORRI was provided and operated by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Mosaic Terminator
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this mosaic of the moon’s surface on October 16, 2022, between 7.5 and 8 hours after it flew by Earth for its first of three gravitational assists. At its closest approach, the flyby took the spacecraft within 224 miles (360 km) of Earth, passing below the altitude of the International Space Station. Lucy was on average about 140,000 miles (230,000 km) from the moon when these images were taken.
The mosaic was taken while Lucy was between Earth and the Moon, so it shows a perspective familiar to Earth-watchers, centered near the last quarter moon terminator. The view includes the rugged and heavily cratered southern highlands near the bottom of the mosaic and the ancient lava-filled impact basin Mare Imbrium near the top. The bright, cool Copernican crater is well visible near the left edge of the mosaic.
This mosaic, made up of 5 separate poses of 1 millisecond, has been accentuated. Note that the image covering the highest part of the moon’s rim was taken at an earlier time, which resulted in a small inconsistency in the images. Each pixel represents approximately 0.7 miles (1.2 km).
Unique setting of Mare Imbrium
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image of the moon’s surface on October 16, 2022, about 8 hours after it flew past Earth for its first of three gravitational assists. The image was taken while Lucy was between Earth and the Moon, so it shows a perspective familiar to Earth-based observers. The image shows a strip of lunar terrain about 600 miles (1,000 km) wide, dominated by the ancient lava-filled impact basin Mare Imbrium. The Apennine Mountains, part of the rim of the Imbrium Basin, which was the landing site for the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, dominate the lower right of the image. Lucy was about 140,000 miles (230,000 km) from the moon when the image was taken.
The image, which is a single exposure of 1 millisecond, has been sharpened. Each pixel represents approximately 0.7 miles (1.1 km).
Spacecraft Lucy captures images of Earth and Moon before gravity assist
Quote: Images: NASA’s Lucy spacecraft provides new views of the moon (October 27, 2022) Retrieved October 27, 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-10-images-nasa-lucy-spacecraft- views.html
This document is subject to copyright. Except for fair use for purposes of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for information only.
#Images #NASAs #Lucy #spacecraft #offers #views #moon