In their historic passage this Monday through the far side of the Moon – when they will also reach the greatest distance ever achieved by humans from Earth -, the four astronauts of Artemis II will be able to observe a solar eclipse for about Fifty three minutes which will not be visible from our planet.
The total solar eclipse, about seven times longer than those seen from Earth, will begin around 8:35 p.m. ET (00:35 GMT April 7), according to NASA.
It will occur about 90 minutes after the Orion spacecraft reaches its maximum distance from Earth.: about 253,000 miles, which is about 4,000 miles farther than the Apollo mission reached in April 1970.
Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman, who are making history with the human return to lunar orbit in more than fifty years, will be able to observe the solar eclipse just as astronauts from the Apollo program did at the time, although not in a flyby like that of Artemis II.
“From the spacecraft’s perspective, the Sun will pass behind the Moon, creating a solar eclipse. From this unique vantage point, the eclipse will last approximately Fifty three minutes, and then you will see the ‘sunrise’, when the Sun reappears on the other side of the Moon,” Kelsey Younger, head of scientific flight operations for Artemis, explained to the press.
In addition, the crew will see Earth set first, when the planet disappears behind the far side of the Moon, and then they will see it reappear on the other side: the so-called “Earthrise” (the dawn of the Earth).
The lunar tasks
The scientist stressed that during the passage through the far side of the Moon, astronauts have approximately one hour to fulfill a dozen scientific objectives based on key questions of lunar and planetary science.
“From this, we developed an observation plan that the crew will follow on Monday,” he added.
“We’ve included prompts to describe features you can see in the solar corona, which can help scientists better understand these processes.especially given the unique perspective the crew will have compared to our ships in orbit and observers on Earth,” Younger explained.
According to the scientist, human eyes are special in that they can detect nuances of color and tones that robotic probe cameras can miss.
As an example, he mentioned the Apollo 17 astronauts, who observed orange regolith on the Moon, which revealed that volcanic activity had occurred more recently than previously thought.
Younger said that NASA hopes the crew will take time during the flyby for their eyes to adjust and can identify those subtle nuances of coloration, “especially in parts of the hidden side that have never been seen by human eyes.”
“We can ask smarter questions thanks to what Apollo left us and the data from the spacecraft in orbit,” he added.
“We look forward to hearing their observations and, of course, seeing the images they will send back to Earth,” he said.
Artemis’s goals
The astronauts will have to spend time this Monday looking out the windows and “look for parts of the Moon that we have virtually never seen before,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said over the weekend.
“Learning as much as possible about Orion is critically important, because Artemis III is a year away. “That is where we are going to test this same ship along with the lunar landing modules,” he added.
All of this, he said, will inform later missions such as Artemis III and, above all, Artemis IV, “which is when we will really put astronauts on the lunar surface again.”
After a ten-day trip, the four Artemis II astronauts, who left last Wednesday from Florida and will not land on the moon on this trip, plan to arrive on the coast of San Diego next Friday, where the Orion capsule will dive into the sea. EFE
Keep reading:
– “A photo inspired me to be an astronaut”: who is Christina Koch, the first woman to travel to the Moon
– Artemis II takes off successfully: NASA returns to lunar orbit after more than 50 years
– Return to the Moon: NASA’s historic Artemis II mission continues live
