AkaSci 🛰️13h ago

Can't find any info on the status of the TACHELES 6U CubeSat from Germany, deployed by Artemis II. Except that it is in a 156.4 x 70,254.4 km elliptical inclined orbit.

The satellite is designed to test the effect of radiation on electronics for lunar rovers being built by the German company NEUROSPACE.

The name comes from the German Tacheles, "straight talk," which is itself derived from Yiddish תּכלית (takhles, 'purpose, result').

@markmccaughrean @cosmos4u
https://www.neuro-space.de/portfolio-collections/missions/project-title-5
60/n

Show threadAkaSci 🛰️

Earth-set and Earth-rise over the Moon as observed by Artemis II astronauts last night.

This is a simple composite of two images taken about 45 minutes apart by the GoPro camera located on one of the the solar arrays. Earth-set is on the right, Earth-rise 45 minutes later is on the left.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RwfNBtepa4
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11:41amWeb
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️11h ago

Sunset and Sunrise across the Moon as observed by Artemis II astronauts last night.

This is a simple composite of two images taken about 54 minutes apart by the GoPro camera located on one of the the solar arrays. Sunset is on the right, Sunrise ~54 minutes later is on the left.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RwfNBtepa4
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️8h ago

Hi-res Earth-set images captured using the Nikon D5 camera by astronauts aboard the Artemis II Orion spacecraft last night around 22:41 UTC.

EXIF data at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55193180468/ and https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55193178333/
More images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/with/55193462360
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️8h ago

A fascinating image of the Moon's far side during the total solar eclipse, as seen last night by Artemis II astronauts around 01:06:19 UTC.

The glowing halo around the dark lunar disk is due to the zodiacal light, i.e, Sunlight reflected off space dust.

The left side of the moon is dimly lit up by Earth-shine, light reflected off Earth, located off the frame in the distance on the left.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55193054741/
More at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/
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Show threadAkaSci 🛰️2h ago

The solar eclipse imaged by the "mighty" GoPro HERO4 Black camera mounted on one of the solar arrays of the Artemis II Orion spacecraft, taken at 01:10:44 UTC.

Featuring the moon lit by Earthshine on the left, a halo of zodiacal light, planets Saturn and Mars on the lower right and stars posing for the camera.
😎
Go #Artemis. Go #GoPro.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55193566011/
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Show threadDr. Eric J. Fielding, PhD8h ago
@AkaSci What three planets are visible to the lower right of the Moon?
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️7h ago

@EricFielding
Saturn, Mars and Mercury as seen in this simulated view at 01:06:19 UTC April 7.

Neptune, located between Saturn and Mars, is too faint to see.

https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/sc_artemis_2?time=2026-04-07T01:06:19.000+00:00&rate=0

Show threadDaniel Fischer6h ago
@AkaSci This is NOT the corona - all the NASA image captions get it wrong :-( - but the zodiacal light i.e. cold dust unrelated to the Sun other than being illuminated by it. The super-hot atmosphere of the Sun, the (K) corona, shows up only in the image https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e009299 as the helmet streamers on top of the zodiacal light pyramid. Require more image processing - some high spatial frequency boosting - to bring them out more clearly.
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️6h ago
@cosmos4u
They just updated the description of the image with "We see a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk. The science community is investigating whether this effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light, or a combination of the two."
Show threadDaniel Fischer6h ago
@AkaSci Yikes, they have a room full of 40-50 top scientists - and need to "investigate" a most obvious phenomenon ... #facepalm
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️6h ago

@cosmos4u
True.

The Corona goes out about 13 million km from the Sun's surface, as measured by PSP. So, the Corona sphere diameter = ~27 million km.

The moon is blocking a sphere around the Sun with diameter of about 42 million km, given the vantage point of Orion, 10,410 km from the surface of the Moon at that point in time.

So, it is bit of a stretch to attribute the halo to the Corona.

I corrected the post.
Thanks!

Show threadDaniel Fischer5h ago
@AkaSci The caption in https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/07/artemis-ii-flight-day-7-crew-makes-long%e2%80%91distance-call-begins-return/ remains the same ...
Artemis II Flight Day 7: Crew Makes Long‑Distance Call, Begins Return - NASA

After their historic lunar flyby on April 6, the Artemis II crew is awake and preparing for the journey back to Earth. The crew started the day 36,286 miles

NASA
Show threadMarco8h ago
@AkaSci beautiful shots ❤️
Show threadThe Turtle7h ago

@AkaSci yay, regular old 10-year-old DSLRs in spaaaaaaaaaace!

My D7200 feels better now.

Show threadzıəs uɐɟəʇs ✪5h ago
@AkaSci @monkeydom_de Wow! Instant Desktop: