Orion and the Ocean of Storms
Explanation:
A camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured
this
view on December 5
as Orion approached its return powered
flyby of the Moon.
Below one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth,
terrain along the
western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum.
Prominent on the lunar nearside
Oceanus
Procellarum,
the Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the
Moon's lava-flooded maria.
The lunar terminator, shadow line between lunar night and day,
runs along the left of the frame.
The 41 kilometer diameter
crater Marius
is top center, with ray
crater Kepler
peeking in at the edge, just right of the solar array wing.
Kepler's bright rays extend to the north and west, reaching the
dark-floored Marius.
Of course the
Orion spacecraft is now headed toward a
December
11 splashdown in
planet
Earth's
water-flooded Pacific Ocean.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
