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Credit & Copyright: John Kraus
Explanation:
When the
Artemis 1 mission's
Orion spacecraft makes its November 21 powered flyby of the Moon,
denizens of planet Earth will see the Moon in a
waning crescent phase.
The spacecraft will approach to within about 130 kilometers of
the lunar surface on its way to a
distant
retrograde orbit
some 70,000 kilometers beyond the Moon.
But the Moon was at last quarter for the November 16 launch and
near
the horizon
in the dark early hours after midnight.
It's captured here in skies over
Kennedy Space Center along with the SLS rocket engines and solid
rocket boosters lofting the uncrewed
Orion to space.
Ragged fringes appearing along the bright edge of the sunlit lunar nearside
are caused as pressure waves generated by the rocket's passage
change the index of refraction along the
camera's line of sight.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: launch - Moon
Publications with words: launch - Moon
See also: