The Day Earth Smiled – NASA
On July 19, 2013, the Cassini space vessel of NASA had a rare opportunity to imagine Saturn and, far in the background, the earth. This image extends over approximately 404,880 miles (651,591 kilometers).
With the powerful and potentially harmful rays of the sun eclipsed by Saturn herself, Cassini’s embedded cameras were able to take advantage of this unique vision geometry. They acquired a panoramic mosaic of the Saturn system which allows scientists to see details in the rings and throughout the system when they are backlit by the sun. This mosaic is special because it marks the third time that our native planet has been imagined from the external solar system; The second time, he was imagined by Cassini since the orbit of Saturn; And the first time that the inhabitants of the earth have been informed in advance that their photo would be taken at such a great distance.
Before the end of the mission in 2017, Cassini already had a powerful influence on future exploration. The lessons learned during Cassini’s mission are applied in the Europa Clipper mission of NASA. The mission uses a conception of orbital tour derived from the way Cassini explored Saturn. Launched in 2024, Europa Clipper will reach Jupiter in April 2030 and will do dozens of the planet’s ice moon flies to determine if there are places below the surface that could support life.
Learn more about this unique image.
Image credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / SSI
