Happy Earth Day from our nearest neighbor, the Moon!
USGS Astrogeology studies all the planets in our solar system, and that includes ours too! These photos show a few of the different ways we research Earth features and processes.
The now-famous "Earth Set" photo from Artemis II as taken from the Moon shows a new perspective of our home: a crescent-shaped planet from the lunar horizon. We may forget that Earth is a planet within our Solar System, but it's a teacher and a guide into the universe.
In the field of Terrestrial Analogs, we compare features on Earth to those on other planetary bodies to learn more about how they formed. We also use Earth as a training ground, like with the Artemis astronauts descending into Meteor Crater for training - where else would they learn about features they may encounter on other planets and moons?
We don't just use Earth as a model for the rest of the Solar System - we can learn so much about Earth from the Moon, other planets, and asteroids. The building blocks of our planet can be found in asteroids, and our Moon is made of the same stuff - we can learn more about Earth by looking to the skies!
📸1: Earth Set" photo from Artemis II showing a crescent Earth setting over the lunar limb, image credit: NASA
📸2: Dark blue lakes on Saturn's moon, Titan, (top) from Cassini compared to The Great Lakes (bottom)
📸3: Artemis astronauts hiking below the rim of Meteor Crater during astronaut training with USGS Astrogeology, image credit: NASA
📸4: Image mosaic of the Near-Earth Asteroid, Eros. Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL
#EveryDayIsEarthDay #EarthDay
ALT Dark blue lakes on Saturn's moon, Titan, (top) from Cassini compared to The Great Lakes (bottom)
ALT Artemis astronauts hiking below the rim of Meteor Crater during astronaut training
ALT Image mosaic of the Near-Earth Asteroid, Eros