The Blue Ghost lander just witnessed a lunar eclipse — from the moon
The privately-owned lander turned its cameras toward Earth as our planet cast its shadow over the moon. It’s not the first spacecraft to do so.
This wasn’t the first time a spacecraft watched an eclipse from the moon
From the ground of the moon, the Firefly lander captured this leer at a lunar eclipse — or from its perspective, a solar eclipse — on March 14 at 1:30 am EDT. A hoop of sunshine encircling Earth is visible in the reflection in the solar panel (bottom).
Firefly Aerospace
The privately-owned Blue Ghost moon lander, constructed by Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace, has captured a uncommon glimpse of a lunar eclipse from the moon’s ground.
The lander, which touched down March 2 in a volcanic easy on the moon’s nearside, has spent its time deploying devices and collecting data. On the night of March 13, as Earth’s shadow lined the moon in a complete lunar eclipse, Blue Ghost turned its cameras aid towards Earth.
The first portray from the eclipse, captured around 1:30 a.m. EDT, is incorrect — the solar appears to shine brightly in the inky dim lunar sky. But a reflection in the lander’s solar panels finds an otherwise hidden ingredient: a glowing ring encircling our planet, with factual a intention of daylight sneaking by. Because the spacecraft warms up from its stint in complete darkness, Firefly expects to download more photos from the eclipse.
Since landing, the spacecraft has build eight of its 10 science devices to work. These encompass a tool that makes exhaust of a blast of pressurized nitrogen gas to amass and kind lunar soil; a mud protect demonstration, the usage of electrical forces to steal lunar dirt from glass surfaces, which can abet abet future spacecraft neat of famously sticky moondust; yet another experiment to measure the stickiness of that mud; a drill to measure warmth circulation from the moon’s interior; and an experiment to take a look at a invent of lunar GPS.
Cameras on the lander’s underside also took a video of the lander’s engine plumes interacting with the lunar ground, which can provide insights for making future landings smoother and cleaner.
Right here is no longer the first time a spacecraft has observed an eclipse from the lunar neighborhood. In 2009, the Eastern Aerospace Exploration Company’s Kaguya orbiter saw a penumbral eclipse, whereby the Earth mostly blocked the solar. And NASA’s Surveyor 3 moon lander saw an eclipse manner aid in 1967.
Affiliate news editor Christopher Crockett contributed to this yarn.
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