NASA’s Lucy objective, which released on October 16, 2021, for the very first reconnaissance of the Trojans, a population of primitive asteroids orbiting in tandem withJupiter In this artist’s idea (not to scale), the Lucy spacecraft is zipping Eurybates, among the 6 varied and clinically essential Trojans to be studied. Credit: Southwest Research Institute
< period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. It's vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity."</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{" attribute="">NASA’s Lucy spacecraft observed the total lunar eclipse on May 15-16, 2022, from a unique vantage point, 64 million miles (100 million km) from the Earth, nearly 70% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Using its high-resolution panchromatic camera, L’LORRI, Lucy was able to watch as the Earth cast its shadow on the Moon. At this distance, the Earth and Moon appeared only 0.2 degrees apart to Lucy, having the same separation as a car’s tail-lights as viewed from a quarter-mile (400 m) away.
Credit: NASA/Goddard/ APL/SwRI
In this timelapse video, the Earth is seen in the left (its rotation plainly noticeable) while the Moon (on the right, lightened up sixfold to increase its exposure) vanishes from deem it enters the Earth’s shadow. The video covers a duration of practically 3 hours, from 9: 40 p.m. EDT (6: 40 p.m. PDT) on May 15 to 12: 30 a.m. EDT on May 16 (9: 30 p.m. PDT on May 15). The observations ended prior to the Moon emerged from the shadow.
The Lucy spacecraft released in October2021 It is presently taking a trip back towards Earth for a gravity help on October 16, 2022, to assist move it on its journey to the Trojan asteroids.
