Shooting for the Moon

This stunning image from the SpIRIT Loris camera captures Earth, the Moon and a reflection of the satellite itself in a single shot. The image was acquired on August 23rd 2024 while SpIRIT was over the Indian ocean. Our team was aiming at visual verification of the successful deployment command to extend the camera arm out of the spacecraft chassis, which is validated by the nearly unobstructed field of view in photo. But we also got something more beautiful than expected.

Two key objectives of SpRIT’s operations in orbit are to learn how made-in-Australia technology performs in low Earth orbit, and to improve our design for future use to reach deep space. So this image encapsulates our ultimate aim: shooting for the Moon.

Figure 1: SpIRIT/Loris image of Earth, the Moon (bottom right) and SpIRIT satellite reflection off the chassis of the satellite (top streak). The image was acquired from about 500km above the Indian ocean on August 23rd 2024