NASA’s ShadowCam has been flying around the moon for nearly six months, tethered to a Korean lunar orbiter. excessiveThe sensitive camera takes beautifully detailed pictures of the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon. an offer A rare glimpse of Possible landing sites for the next crew Artemis missions to the moon.
Some parts of the Moon have been shrouded in darkness for more than two billion years, and have never seen sunlight. These areas are of great interest to scientists who are skeptical about it Ice water may be hidden in pockets across the north and south pole regions of the moon. That’s why NASA plans to land Artemis astronauts in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, with the hope that they can take advantage of lunar resources to establish a sustainable presence there.
As you might have guessed, the moon’s dark craters are hard to see. But fortunately, NASA’s highly sensitive ShadowCam optical camera, which was launched in December 2022 aboard the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, was able to obtain unprecedented views of the hidden lunar terrain. space agency recently released Five pictures of the north and south pole regions of the moon, that captures the enchanting beauty of its rough surface.
ShadowCam is able to work in very low light as the camera is more sensitive to light than other imaging tools. The image above is one of the first ever taken by ShadowCam, and shows the shadowed wall and floor of Shackleton Crater near the moon’s south pole. at the top of the above The image is a slight crack in the surface (shown by a white arrow) that appears The track of a rock rolled down the crater wall, according to NASA.
the photo above It was taken just after the new moon, when our view of the satellite from Earth appears as a thin crescent moon in the night sky. During a new moon, light from Earth illuminates the night side of the Moon, a phenomenon known as geoluminescence.
This faint glow is what helped ShadowCam capture the above image of a small crater in the Moon’s equatorial region as part of a sensitivity test of the instrument. “It reveals the interior of Bruce crater and the bright streams formed by soil sliding down the crater walls,” NASA wrote.
Another crater took center stage in the image above, revealing its bumpy surface in closer detail. ShadowCam captured this view of Marvin crater while drawing on sunlight reflected from nearby mountains and crater walls, showing the crater rim about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from the moon’s south pole.
ShadowCam took another image of Marvin Crater, named after planetary geologist Ursula Marvin, from a wider angle to reveal more of the region around the crater. the endThe exposed region on the left is where parts of the lunar surface are exposed to direct sunlight, while the permanently shadowed region of the crater itself appears on the right.
Another beautiful shot of the moon’s shadowed surface shows the central peak of Aristarchus Crater. Picture shown above Captured using Earth’s Brightness, results He explained that the Earth was 35 degrees above the horizon at that time NASA.
ShadowCam’s transmission of images doesn’t just reveal the hidden allure of the moon’s hidden regions –It will also help NASA prepare for the astronauts’ next trips to the lunar surface, where they hope To retrieve that precious water ice.
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