On and off, I’ve complained that there isn’t a ton of truly worthy space/lunar science on this crewed mission. That, I believe, is still the truth.
But I am still young-at-heart enough to know a great photo-op, when I see one.
Reportedly, these were taken with the iPhones the crew has onboard. That makes me… smile. Here’s a bit, from NASA — as they head home, to tomorrow’s splashdown:
…[Yesterday] began at 1:56 p.m. EDT as NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, set the record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by any human, surpassing Apollo 13’s distance of 248,655 miles.
During a planned 40-minute loss of signal as Orion passed behind the Moon, the spacecraft and its crew made their closest approach at 7:00 p.m., flying at about 4,067 miles above the surface. Two minutes later, the crew reached the mission’s maximum distance from Earth at 252,756 miles, setting a new record for human spaceflight.
As they flew over the Moon’s far side, the crew photographed and described terrain features including impact craters, ancient lava flows, and surface cracks and ridges formed as the Moon slowly evolved over time. They also noted differences in color, brightness and texture, which provide clues that help scientists understand the composition and history of the lunar surface.
The crew witnessed an “Earthset” — the moment Earth dropped below the lunar horizon — as Orion traveled behind the Moon and an “Earthrise” as the spacecraft emerged from the opposite edge of the Moon….
Onward, resolutely — this doesn’t solve any of the (largely self-inflicted) atrocities underway here on our lil’ blue dot, but we should take a moment to smile about… the fragility — and rare beauty of things we see everyday — but too often let go unnoticed. Out.
नमस्ते
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