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| An artist's illustration showing Earth in space. |
We often look up at the night sky, wondering about the mysteries of the cosmos. But sometimes, the most breathtaking views come from looking back at us. In a recent celestial maneuver, a NASA spacecraft on a critical mission to intercept a notorious asteroid has turned its cameras homeward, capturing spectacular images of our planet and the Moon that serve as both art and vital engineering checkpoints.
The spacecraft, named OSIRIS-APEX, is on an epic journey to rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis. This target is the subject of intense scientific interest because of an exceptionally close approach it will make to Earth on April 13, 2029. On that day, Apophis will pass within a mere 32,000 kilometers of our planet—closer than some of our highest-flying satellites—an event that astronomers say is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity to study a large asteroid up close.
To reach its destination, OSIRIS-APEX needed a speed boost, and it used the Earth itself to get one. On a recent pass, the probe performed a "gravity assist" maneuver, slingshotting around our planet to gain velocity and adjust its trajectory toward Apophis.
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| Image taken approximately nine hours after OSIRIS-APEX's closest flyby of Earth. |
As the agency detailed in a recent mission update, this close approach was the perfect opportunity to test the spacecraft's eyes. During its flyby, the probe’s MapCam camera, one of its key scientific instruments, snapped a stunning image of Earth from a distance of about 228,000 kilometers (141,000 miles). The photo reveals our world as a brilliant blue marble against the void of space, with cloud swirls and landmasses faintly visible.
The photographic session didn’t stop there. As the spacecraft continued on its path away from Earth, its StowCam camera captured an even more profound image: a serene, long-distance shot of the Earth and the Moon together, from a vantage point of 595,000 kilometers (370,000 miles). This evocative image frames our home planet and its natural satellite as two lonely orbs in the vast darkness, highlighting the incredible distances involved in interplanetary travel.
While these images are undoubtedly beautiful, they represent much more than just a pretty picture for NASA’s engineers. The successful activation and clear imaging confirm that the spacecraft’s camera systems survived the rigors of launch and its long journey through space so far, and are functioning perfectly.
This is crucial news for the mission ahead. Once OSIRIS-APEX arrives at Apophis, it will spend a full 18 months meticulously mapping the asteroid’s surface and studying its composition. The mission will culminate in a daring close approach, bringing the probe within an astonishing five meters of the asteroid's surface. At that point, the spacecraft will fire its thrusters to stir up rocks and dust, allowing it to analyze the freshly exposed material underneath.
These recent snapshots of home are a powerful reminder that the same technology allowing us to explore distant, ancient rocks in space also gives us a unique perspective on our own fragile world. For the OSIRIS-APEX team, it’s a successful checkmark on the to-do list. For the rest of us, it’s a moment of cosmic reflection, courtesy of a robotic explorer on a historic journey.
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| Image taken by StowCam showing Earth on the right and the Moon on the left. |