Earlier this month, NASA's Lucy spacecraft whipped by Earth as it performed a flyby. While it was passing by, it snapped images of both the Earth and the moon.
Earlier this month, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft whipped by Earth as it performed a flyby on its way to the Trojan asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter. While it was passing by, it snapped images of both the Earth and the moon as seen from space. NASA recently shared these images with the public.
Lucy is visiting the asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter to learn about the formation of the solar system, but it’s a long journey to reach there. The spacecraft was launched in October 2021, and it is taking a complex path around the solar system to reach the asteroids over the course of 12 years. As part of this journey, Lucy swung back around Earth to get a gravity boost to help carry it on its way.
As Lucy passed Earth on October 15, it took this image of our planet with its black and white Terminal Tracking Camera system. This is a pair of cameras which is designed to track the asteroids it will eventually be studying, but the pair were also able to capture a beautiful image of Earth.
A second image taken with the same camera system on October 13 shows both the Earth and the moon as seen from nearly 900,000 miles away. Lucy has now performed its first Earth flyby and headed back out into the solar system, but two further Earth flybys are scheduled for December 2024 and December 2030. Lucy is set to perform a flyby of its first asteroid target, asteroid Donaldjohanson , in April 2025.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ahead of Gravity Assist, NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Captures Images of Earth and MoonNASA’s Lucy made a close fly-by of planet Earth on October 16, as part of a gravity assist maneuver. Shortly before its closest approach, the spacecraft captured images of the Earth and Moon. On October 15, 2022, at a distance of 380,000 miles (620,000 km), NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this im
Read more »
Tiny newfound 'Unicorn' is closest known black hole to Earth'The Unicorn' lies a mere 1,500 light-years from us and is just three times more massive than the sun.
Read more »
Earth, the Marauder | HackerNoonDespite the fact that for centuries the Secret of Life had been the possession of children of men, the Earth was dying. - astoundingstories sciencefiction
Read more »
Monstrous asteroid to speed by Earth next weekRM4 2022, an asteroid with an estimated diameter of more than 2,400 feet, is expected to swing by Earth on Nov. 1, speeding at around 52,000 miles per hour.
Read more »
Perseverance rover to drop off samples for return to Earth | Digital TrendsThe NASA Perseverance rover is paving the way for future missions which intend to bring samples back from Mars to Earth for the first time.
Read more »