The Anders Earthrise crater, featured in the famous image, has helped the European Space Agency's JUICE spacecraft improve its tools for searching for extraterrestrial life. (Image credit: Earthrise image: NASA, annotation added by ESA; RIME radargram: ESA/Juice/RIME)
The lunar crater featured in one of the most famous photographs in history has played an important role in the search for alien life in our solar system.
Situated on the far side of the Moon and measuring almost 40 kilometres (25 miles) wide, the crater formerly known as Pasteur T is arguably the most visited lunar crater in history. Millions of people have gazed upon it since it featured prominently in the famous Earthrise photograph taken by American astronaut William Anders on 24 December 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission. The majestic photograph, in which a dimly lit Earth rises majestically above the lunar horizon, has become so iconic that the crater was renamed Anders Earthrise in 2018.
Now, nearly 60 years after Anders' flyby put its namesake crater on the map, another spacecraft has observed it from orbit—this time with the goal of studying extraterrestrial science.
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Sourse: www.livescience.com
