A once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon called supermoon total lunar eclipse will be witnessed by people in the United States this coming September 27. For NASA's moon-orbiting spacecraft, the marvelous event may provide a combination of scientific breakthrough and danger.
The phenomenon which is also called perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, is once in a lifetime event that hasn't happened almost 30 years from now. The rare event will only take place during an eclipse, and only when the moon is nearest to the Earth during its elliptical orbit. When these things happen, the moon will look irregularly large and bright.
It is studied that the similar kind of eclipse first happened back in 1982, and is expected to have its final appearance in the year 2033.
According to NASA, the supermoon total lunar eclipse 2015 will start to dim at around 8:11p.m EDT. Starting at 9:07 pm, shadow will cover around the moon and at 10:11 pm, the total eclipse will last for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Despite of some Incans and Mesopotamians beliefs that say the moon is under attack whenever a lunar eclipse is happening, Noah Petro stated in a release that there's nothing to worry about.
"The only thing that will happen on Earth during an eclipse is that people will wake up the next morning with neck pain because they spent the night looking up," said by the deputy project scientist for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Furthermore, NASA said that their Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) may face some troubles during the supermoon event. As the total lunar eclipse will takes place, Earth's shadow will likely cover the solar-powered probe, which may cause some power troubles.
However, Dawn Meyers of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland explained that they have Standard Operating Procedures for the upcoming event. He said that if the method will be followed accordingly, the supermoon total lunar eclipse 2015 will not give the LRO trouble at all.
In the last 17 months, the LRO have survived three consecutive appearances of lunar eclipse.
