Osiris-Apex (Genesis

NASA’s Osiris-Apex spacecraft slingshots past Earth

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The full disk of Earth against the black of space. Australia is near the center of the image, a dark brown landmass surrounded by ocean and white clouds. The far eastern edge of Asia peeks over the horizon on the left side.

On Tuesday, September 23 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Apophis Explorer) spacecraft flew within 2,136 miles (3,438 kilometers) of Earth. During the approach and as Osiris-Apex passed Earth, it looked home, capturing images and data of our home planet to help calibrate its science instruments. During … Read more