Lucy spacecraft snaps stunning image of Earth during flyby

By Georgina Torbet Published October 30, 2022

Earlier this month, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft whipped by Earth as it performed a flyby on its way to the Trojan asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter. While it was passing by, it snapped images of both the Earth and the moon as seen from space. NASA recently shared these images with the public.

Lucy is visiting the asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter to learn about the formation of the solar system, but it’s a long journey to reach there. The spacecraft was launched in October 2021, and it is taking a complex path around the solar system to reach the asteroids over the course of 12 years. As part of this journey, Lucy swung back around Earth to get a gravity boost to help carry it on its way.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image (which has been cropped) of the Earth on Oct 15, 2022, as a part of an instrument calibration sequence at a distance of 380,000 miles (620,000 km). The upper left of the image includes a view of Hadar, Ethiopia, home to the 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor fossil for which the spacecraft was named. — NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image (which has been cropped) of the Earth on Oct 15, 2022. NASA/Goddard/SwRI

As Lucy passed Earth on October 15, it took this image of our planet with its black and white Terminal Tracking Camera (T2CAM) system. This is a pair of cameras which is designed to track the asteroids it will eventually be studying, but the pair were also able to capture a beautiful image of Earth. Taking images of known targets such as the Earth or of the view out into space is useful for calibrating the instruments, and Lucy even managed to capture a lunar eclipse from space earlier in the year as well.

On October 13, 2022, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image of the Earth and the Moon from a distance of 890,000 miles (1.4 million km). The image was taken as part of an instrument calibration sequence as the spacecraft approached Earth for its first of three Earth gravity assists. These Earth flybys provide Lucy with the speed required to reach the Trojan asteroids — small bodies that orbit the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter. On its 12 year journey, Lucy will fly by a record breaking number of asteroids and survey their diversity, looking for clues to better understand the formation of the solar system. — On October 13, 2022, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image of the Earth and the Moon from a distance of 890,000 miles (1.4 million km). NASA/Goddard/SwRI

A second image taken with the same camera system on October 13 shows both the Earth and the moon as seen from nearly 900,000 miles away.

Recommended Videos

Lucy has now performed its first Earth flyby and headed back out into the solar system, but two further Earth flybys are scheduled for December 2024 and December 2030. Lucy is set to perform a flyby of its first asteroid target, asteroid Donaldjohanson (named after paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson who discovered the Lucy Australopithecus fossil), in April 2025.

Georgina Torbet

Former Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Topics

Tech News

Space

Getting to Mars may require a pit stop in orbit, and NASA just tested the nozzle to make that happen

A gas pump nozzle for spacecraft sounds simple. It is not, and that's what makes this test worth paying attention to.

Architecture, Building, Factory

Getting a spacecraft to Mars or beyond requires an enormous amount of fuel, most of which has to be hauled from Earth, adding to the overall cost and weight of the spacecraft. NASA has been working on a different approach, one that could be more efficient and effective.

It wants to refuel a spacecraft in orbit before heading out for the mission. What’s even more interesting is that the space agency just finished testing a component that could make that possible: a cryocoupler.

Space

Elon Musk’ Starlink could soon offer mobile services as a US carrier

Showcase of T-Mobile Starlink service on an iPhone.

Elon Musk’s Starlink has already changed how millions of people access the internet, especially in places where traditional broadband struggles to reach. Now, the satellite internet service could be preparing for an even bigger leap — becoming your mobile carrier.

According to a Financial Times report, SpaceX has told investors it’s considering launching a retail Starlink mobile service in the US. Instead of simply partnering with wireless carriers, the company could begin selling mobile plans directly to consumers, putting it in direct competition with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.

Space

Lightsails have hit another speed bump on the road to interstellar travel

The coolest interstellar travel idea may get betrayed by the light pushing it

LightSail in Earth orbit

Laser-powered lightsails are one of the coolest answers to spaceflight. It might not be as sci-fi-sounding as a warp drive, but now, its practicality has also come under question. Using lightsails, a spacecraft could unfurl an ultra-thin reflective sail and let a powerful laser push it toward another star, without relying on fuel.

The tech was simple and elegant--except it's also more complicated than it sounds. A new preprint from researchers Chao Shen and Jiaze Li of the Harbin Institute of Technology suggests that relativistic lightsails may run into a hidden propulsion problem once they start moving extremely fast.