Rosetta’s First Glimpse of the Moon From 4.3 million km
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2009/ooNAC_ESB3_Moon_First_Look.jpg
On 8 November, Rosetta’s OSIRIS instrument imaged the Moon from 4.3 million km as the satellite sped towards Earth for her final gravity-assist swingby, scheduled for 13 November 2009.
The OSIRIS team at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Lindau, Germany, has just sent us this image of the Moon, acquired on Sunday, 8 November at 4:10 CET.
Rosetta was at a distance of 4.3 million kilometres when the image was taken, flying in towards Earth from the night side. Sure, this is a rather small glimpse – but it’s the first visual proof that she’s on her way home!
