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For those that don't know, LRO is the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It's a NASA spacecraft that's been orbiting the moon since
June of 2009. Taking take high resolution pictures of the surface,
measuring the precise topography of the lunar surface, thermo physicall
properties of the surface, the radiation environment, the abundance of hydrogen
on the surface; basically creating a high-resolution 3D archive
the properties of the surface of the moon.
An eclipse
is a unique event that happens few times every year. It's
when the Earth the moon and the sun are in precise alignment. So during a lunar eclipse
Earth passes between the moon and the sun and the Earth's shadow is cast upon the surface
of the moon. So it looks like the moon disappears into darkness for
a brief period of time. They're special because they only happen a few times every year
and you have to be in a very special location on the surface of the earth to be able to see it,
so not everybody gets to see an eclipse when they happen.
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So on April 15, there's going to be a lunar eclipse, it's going to happen very
early in the morning and it's going to be a total lunar eclipse, so the moon will pass
completely into the shadow of the earth. And as it does that
the moon will appear a certain hue of red which is the projection
of all of the sunsets on the earth projected onto the surface of the moon. It's going to be
quite spectacular and very beautiful. What we see in this animation is a re-creation of
LRO orbiting the moon during the upcoming eclipse. When the moon passes
into the Earth's umbra, or the Earth's shadow that's when it is completely
blocked from the sun, and we see the effective Earth's sunsets being projected onto
lunar surface that's why it turns a hue of red. When the moon comes out of the
Earth's umbra it begins to look, as we've always seen it, this beautiful,
bright, grey orb in the sky.
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So the eclipse is going to effect LRO in one very important way. LRO's
batteries are charged by solar energy, and so during the eclipse the moon and the
LRO spacecraft are going to be in darkness for a very long period of time, so the battery won't get
recharged. So we're going to be turning off all of the instruments on LRO so we don't
drain the battery. We'll be monitoring real-time. how the battery
is doing during the eclipse but we won't be making any scientific observations during
this eclipse. When the spacecraft comes out of the eclipse the battery will slowly
charge back up again and then we can turn the instruments back on.
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The best way to prepare for this eclipse is to first find out when it's going
to be happening in your local area, and then find an area that is
free of obstructions; tall trees, buildings, in an open field that has
a clear view of the sky. Bring a chair, something warm to keep you
comfy during the night hours and prepare yourself for
a beautiful show.
(beeping)