APOD: Artemis 1: Flight Day 13 (2022 Dec 01)

[APOD Robot]

Artemis 1: Flight Day 13

Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28) of the Artemis 1 mission the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth. In fact, over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit also put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the uncrewed spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see Orion depart its distant retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head toward a second powered fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home world is expected on December 11.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[Sa Ji Tario]

I estimate that the angle of sunlight that falls on Artemis does not agree with that of the Moon and the Earth seem different angles

[RocketRon]

Why not ?
If the Sun is off to the right, and maybe slightly behind, then all the shadows and lighting angles are consistent.

[Ann]

Isn't the Moon strangely bright compared with the Earth?

Sure, the albedo of the Earth is visibly a lot higher, but I though that the albedo difference between the Earth and the Moon was much bigger than what the picture suggests.

Ann

[JohnD]

And all captained by Shaun the Sheep!

But of course, Shaun, for all his uniform and zero-gravity training, cannot pilot the sheep - sorry, ship. Which brings to mind the original design of the Mercury capsules, that had no windows and nothing for the 'pilot' to do, being wholly ground controlled. Famously, and in the "Right Stuff" the astronaut team objected to being "spam in the can" and demanded some autonomy. This was proved to be the Right Thing, by many orbital incidents from Mercury 9 to Apollo 13, when the occupants saved the day, and themselves, but the original concept is alive today, in the Blue Origin, sub-orbital capsule.

Is Orion really a spaceship or a space sheep, a commuter craft without a pilot that will ship colonists to the Moon?
John

[Evenstar]

Nice picture! Are camera(s) fixed or adjustable on each solar panel or...? So the Moon's "brightness" is correct because it is a dirt ball compared to Earth's white reflective cloud cover or Orion's white paint?

[Sa Ji Tario]

Why not ?
If the Sun is off to the right, and maybe slightly behind, then all the shadows and lighting angles are consistent.

The projected shadow of the probe (base where NASA says) on the lower part seems more zenithal than the lateral ones of the other bodies

[orin stepanek]

Beautiful!
I enjoyed this; https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive Could have watched it as long as it was on!

[tmcdanel]

I estimate that the angle of sunlight that falls on Artemis does not agree with that of the Moon and the Earth seem different angles

Aaah, Sa Ji Tario, is on to them. This was all staged in a studio in San Diego and NASA is trying to fool us again! But Sa Ji Tario figured it out right away because you got the shadows wrong. The hoax didn't last long this time. With all your careful planning, you didn't think about the shadows, did you old devious NASA rapscallions? just wanting more of our tax money are you?

Come to think of it, heck maybe it's just CGI now? That's really going to take all the fun out of creating elaborate conspiracy exposures.

[johnnydeep]

Artemis 1: Flight Day 13

Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28) of the Artemis 1 mission the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth. In fact, over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit also put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the uncrewed spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see Orion depart its distant retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head toward a second powered fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home world is expected on December 11.

The Earth and Moon don't appear to be about the same apparent size to me.

Also, in the short video showing an "eclipse of the moon and earth" I have no idea what I'm looking at! Is the earth eclipsing the moon, the moon eclipsing the earth, or are both being eclipsed by ... something else? I supposed it must be the earth eclipsing the moon, but then what's that bright area on the limb?

[Chris Peterson]

Artemis 1: Flight Day 13

Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28) of the Artemis 1 mission the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth. In fact, over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit also put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the uncrewed spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see Orion depart its distant retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head toward a second powered fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home world is expected on December 11.

The Earth and Moon don't appear to be about the same apparent size to me.

Quite. Indeed, the apparent size of the Moon is about 1.7 times larger than that of the Earth. Which, as it happens, is exactly what you'd expect given the two distances described in the caption.

[Igwasborn]

Zooming on earth in the image shows it in an odd appearance I have never seen before.

[Ann]

Artemis 1: Flight Day 13

Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28) of the Artemis 1 mission the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth. In fact, over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit also put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the uncrewed spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see Orion depart its distant retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head toward a second powered fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home world is expected on December 11.

The Earth and Moon don't appear to be about the same apparent size to me.

Also, in the short video showing an "eclipse of the moon and earth" I have no idea what I'm looking at! Is the earth eclipsing the moon, the moon eclipsing the earth, or are both being eclipsed by ... something else? I supposed it must be the earth eclipsing the moon, but then what's that bright area on the limb?

Click to view full size image

Click to view full size image

The Earth? Because it is the Moon eclipsing the Earth?

Admittedly, for that to be the Moon eclipsing the Earth, the image must be "squashed" so that the Moon looks elliptical instead of round.

Ann

[johnnydeep]

Zooming on earth in the image shows it in an odd appearance I have never seen before.

Do you mean this appearance?

I'd say those cloud formations - assuming that's what we are predominantly seeing - do look pretty strange, but I presume that is due mainly to the low resolution and blurriness.

[leofish1]

I know there is no "up" in space, but the photo is oriented with Earth's south pole at the top. All the white at the top is Antarctica which is nearing its summer solstice.

[johnnydeep]

Artemis 1: Flight Day 13

Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28) of the Artemis 1 mission the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth. In fact, over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit also put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large natural satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the uncrewed spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see Orion depart its distant retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head toward a second powered fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home world is expected on December 11.

The Earth and Moon don't appear to be about the same apparent size to me.

Also, in the short video showing an "eclipse of the moon and earth" I have no idea what I'm looking at! Is the earth eclipsing the moon, the moon eclipsing the earth, or are both being eclipsed by ... something else? I supposed it must be the earth eclipsing the moon, but then what's that bright area on the limb?

Click to view full size image

Click to view full size image

The Earth? Because it is the Moon eclipsing the Earth?

Admittedly, for that to be the Moon eclipsing the Earth, the image must be "squashed" so that the Moon looks elliptical instead of round.

Ann

So the earth is behind the moon and its limb is peaking out from behind it, and the moon appears larger than the earth from Artemis' vantage point just like in the APOD:

I suppose that must be it. What threw me was that I thought the short video was showing the eclipse actually progressing as the shadowed part was becoming larger. But I think that's an optical illusion and there is no visible change happening.

[RocketRon]

Zooming on earth in the image shows it in an odd appearance I have never seen before.

Perhaps we haven't seen good ole Earth from ~400,000 km out too often before ?