Morishigejoe: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION GALILEO December...

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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

PHOTO CAPTION GALILEO
December 22, 1992 P-41508
TOP GLL/EM2 3

Eight days after its encounter with the Earth, the Galileo
spacecraft was able to look back and capture this remarkable view
of the Moon in orbit about the Earth, taken from a distance of
about 6.2 million kilometers (3.9 million miles), on December 16.
The picture was constructed from images taken through the violet,
red, and 1.0-micron infrared filters. The Moon is in the
foreground, moving from left to right. The brightly-colored
Earth contrasts strongly with the Moon, which reflects only about
one-third as much sunlight as Earth. Contrast and color have
been computer-enhanced for both objects to improve visibility.

Antarctica is visible through clouds (bottom). The Moon's
far side is seen; the shadowy indentation in the dawn terminator
is the south-Pole/Aitken Basin, one of the largest and oldest
lunar impact features, extensively studied from Galileo during
the first Earth flyby in December 1990.

The Galileo project, whose primary mission is the
exploration of the Jupiter system in 1995-97, is managed for
NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications by the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.

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File:Gal earth moon.jpg - Revision history

Morishigejoe: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION GALILEO December...