I wonder why they decided on that timing? If it were better illuminated by the sun, couldn't they get some better photography?

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ranger207 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

They want to fly by at lunar sunrise as the shadows help see depth better. Also, they have very sensitive cameras (up to 3,280,000 ISO!); the Earth photo the other day was taken at night, so you can see how they'll be able to get detail even in the dark parts

	▲	smilespray 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		640 ISO ought to be enough for anyone.

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brabel 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My guess is that this mission is not about imaging the far side of the Moon at all as that has been done already.

	▲	davidw 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fair, but these images are going to get a lot of public attention, so making them good ones would be worthwhile.

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NooneAtAll3 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

current 2nd stage is underpowered, so it has to be compensated by 1st stage right from the start

and since launchpad is in the north hemisphere, Moon has to be at the south part of its orbit