A photo capturing the true scale of the distance between the Earth and the Moon has blown people’s minds.
A viral Reddit post has reminded us once again just how tiny and ultimately insignificant our lives are. And if you’re prone to existentialism, maybe take a deep breath before scrolling any further…
We know, of course, that space is vast – but a particular photo captured by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft really puts it into perspective.
On September 8 2016, the US space agency launched the spacecraft from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
And a little more than a year later, on September 25 2017, it captured an eerie photo which is has people astonished.
The spacecraft’s NavCam 1 – one of three cameras that comprised its ‘Touch-and-Go’ camera system – snapped the photo 804,000 miles (1,297,000 kilometers) from Earth and 735,000 miles (1,185,000 kilometers) from the Moon.
OSIRIS-REx captured this image not just to impress us, but as a way to test its cameras and navigation systems on its way to the asteroid Bennu.
Yep, this spacecraft had bigger plans – like scooping up a piece of an asteroid and sending it back to Earth – which it did, successfully, in 2023.
Anyway, along the way, it gave us this mind-boggling photo, showing the Earth and the Moon some 249,000 miles (401,200 kilometers) apart.
And while you might think you could visualize that distance, in reality, it’s probably a lot further away than you were expecting.
One social media user re-posted the photo to Reddit’s four million-strong SpacePorn community, where it’s racked up 8,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments.
“The actual Earth-Moon distance seen by OSIRIS-REx probe,” they wrote.
“That is insanely cool,” one Redditor commented, as a second pondered: “How small Earth is compared to everything else in space… truly makes you wonder how insignificant it all is but how miraculous it all is too.”
A third agreed: “This made me feel so insignificant in the best way possible.”
A fourth added: “I already knew my irrational fear of the moon crashing into the Earth was well… irrational, but now I just feel ridiculous.”
Others shared their amazement that the rest of the solar system could fit into the distance.
And they’re right – NASA explained that the seven other planets of the solar system – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – could ‘just about’ bridge the gap.
The more you know!
Source: unilad.com