Look, It's The Moon

Even though I am a confirmed moon-hater — and seriously, FUCK YOU, MOON! I hope someone sticks a giant space spear inside you and splits you into tiny stupid moon pieces — I have to admit that these images taken by Chinese rocket Chang’E 2 are kind of cool. Not cool enough to make me HATE THE FUCKING MOON any less, but still, worth passing on. This one shows the “second luanr orbit trim maneuver, an event witnessed by an engineering camera. Before the maneuver starts, the spacecraft executes a sequence of controlled turns, causing the Moon to swing through the field of view. The firing of the engine begins just after the terminator passes out of view (from the camera’s point of view). As the spacecraft drops completely into the lunar shadow, the camera’s automatic exposure setting adjusts brighter, making part of the spacecraft visible in light emitted from the glowing thruster.” There are four others here. Grumble. Eat my ass, moon. [Via]