NASA's Lucy spacecraft heads to Jupiter, captures riveting images of the Earth | See pics

NASA’s space probe Lucy approached closer to Earth earlier this month and captured riveting images of the planet and the moon before heading back to deep space. Images taken by the cameras of the spacecraft were shared by the US government space agency. The first snapshot, which was taken on October 13, displays the Earth and the moon from afar in a single frame. According to a statement by NASA, the two celestial bodies were 1.4 million kilometers away from Lucy when that image was taken.

Sharing the picture on Twitter, NASA’s Planetary Science division wrote: “Lucy also snapped this family portrait of Earth and the Moon (far left, to enlarge) from a distance of 890,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers), taken as part of an instrument calibration sequence to prepare for Lucy's upcoming asteroid explorations. More images to come!”

The second image, which was captured on October 15, displays a zoomed-in version of the Earth. It was taken by the spacecraft which was roughly 620,000 kilometers away from the Earth. According to NASA, the upper left side of the images features Hadar, Ethiopia, which is the “home to the 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor fossil for which the spacecraft was named.”

Internet users react to images taken by NASA's Lucy

Reacting to the cosmic images, one user wrote on Twitter: "I am so proud to call that big beautiful rock home! Earth is the best home in the universe, so far." Another user added: "Amazing shot, amazing resolution!!!" One user pondered how the planet's color in the images resembles the darkness of one's life. "Wow, it looks as grey as it feels," the user wrote. 

The pictures were taken in order to help the spacecraft calibrate its Terminal Tracking Camera (T2CAM) system, which allows it to navigate asteroids and other space objects. NASA’s Lucy will be maneuvering past Earth thrice, to use the planet's gravitational force to increase its speed, thus helping it initiate its twelve-years-long journey to Jupiter’s asteroids.