Spacecraft takes a photo:
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft operated by the University of Arizona captures an image of both the Earth and the moon as the space probe heads away from our planet on its journey to a distant asteroid.
It wasn’t a simple task, but a spacecraft operated by the University of Arizona pulled off the order flawlessly.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured an image of both the Earth and moon as the spacecraft headed away from the planet on its journey to a distant asteroid.
The photo shows the Earth and moon 249,000 miles apart on Monday.
Earlier this week, the UA released another image, showing a striking photo the Earth with clouds swirling above the Pacific Ocean. The new photo was taken a few days after that one.
Taking images of the Earth and moon now allowed for tests of the cameras ahead of the spacecraft’s arrival at a distant asteroid named Bennu next fall.
“This is a great preview of what we’ll get when we get to the asteroid,” said UA Professor Dante Lauretta, the mission’s principal investigator. The university is leading the $1 billion NASA mission.
The SUV-size spacecraft launched Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and is scheduled to collect a sample from the asteroid using a robotic arm. If all goes as planned, the sample will return to earth in 2023.
It’s no easy job to take photos from space. Commands are programmed months in advance and then tested and re-tested to ensure the technology works, said Bashar Rizk, the instrument scientists for the OSIRIS-REx camera suite.
He described the moments of waiting for the photos to download as “nerveracking.”
He has to constantly remind himself that, “you’re trying to do something very, very hard.”