On Sunday night and Monday morning the inhabitants of much of the world, including the Americas, will have the opportunity to enjoy an unusual spectacle.
This is an eclipse full moon (when the moon is completely in shadow because the earth comes between it and the Sun) which also coincides with a superluna.
A superluna occurs when the moon is full or new in its closest point to Earth.
The last time this strange positioning of the three heavenly bodies was held in 1982 and the next will not occur until 2033.
But while for astronomy lovers this show -in which the moon turns a reddish color can be just beautiful or exciting for experts NASA it is a small headache.
No light for three hours
Why? Because they fear that lack sunlight energy can leave without one of its most important spacecraft. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO, for its acronym in English), whose mission is to explore our natural satellite
“There are two things that happen during an eclipse: it starts getting cold and no sun to charge the batteries.”, explains to the BBC Noah Petro, a scientist at the US space agency
The total eclipse will last more than an hour and “the ship will run out of direct sunlight for about three hours.”
Similar technologies prior showed difficulties during eclipses, but the LRO was designed specifically with this in mind.
As a mobile
As the probe recharge their batteries with solar energy during the eclipse the NASA will take a series of precautions.
“Preheat the ship and then turn off the instrument to keep it safe.”
“It’s like a phone when I get an alert that tells me that I have one 20 % Battery: I can turn off the wifi or certain applications that are still open in the background, “says Noah
.” We anticipate that everything will happen smoothly during the eclipse and we will recover from smooth. We’ll be ready for it and ready to resolve what happens. “
” We will keep an eye on the battery level and ready to react if something does not go according to plan. We will do everything possible for the probe to go through the time of the eclipse and exit in good shape, “he added the expert.
Meanwhile Dawn Myers, the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA, said in a statement: “It’s always stressful when the eclipse is coming, but follow the same procedures and have not had any problems”
We must also note that the NASA team has successfully dealt with three lunar eclipses in the past 17 months.
Those who stay awake during Sunday night or early Monday will see a moon larger than normal by the proximity effect.
In particular, you will see a 14% larger and 30% brighter than normal full moon.
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