Re: able to take photos of a 20 mile object whilst flying past at ~8 miles/sec...Does anyone know how NASA manages to pilot spacecraft with this level of precision?
I cannot speak for this probe, but other probes have made the probe itself or camera boom move slightly to compensate for the target moving relative to the probe. It's kind of like moving your head back and forth to follow a tennis match if your eyes alone have difficulty tracking.
The object looks like BB-8. We'll get even better pics in the coming weeks.
I cannot speak for this probe, but other probes have made the probe itself or camera boom move slightly to compensate for the target moving relative to the probe. It's kind of like moving your head back and forth to follow a tennis match if your eyes alone have difficulty tracking.
The object looks like BB-8. We'll get even better pics in the coming weeks.