We are a very small thing in a very large place. FARVIEW-1 sent us proof.
The most-shared image in MSC history was transmitted yesterday via SOLARCOM from FARVIEW-1, KeedMartin's deep-space probe, approximately four hours after completing its Mun gravity assist maneuver. The image — captured by the CLEARVIEW-1 camera system, a derivative of the Kerbin First Daily's station telescope — shows Kerbin filling one-third of the frame, the Mun visible in the lower left, and the surrounding void of solar space in its entirety.
The image has been called, variously, 'the most important photograph ever taken,' 'deeply unsettling,' and, by KerbTab, 'the most romantic thing that has ever happened.' It was transmitted at 14:32 station time and had been shared 4.2 million times by the following morning.
A second image — the Mun's near-side surface captured during the gravity assist flyby — was also released. Orbital Mechanics Quarterly has described the CLEARVIEW-1 system's Mun resolution as 'comparable to purpose-built planetary probes,' an assessment that KeedMartin has not responded to, presumably because it speaks for itself.
FARVIEW-1 launched on a KeedMartin FSOM plus KOEING SLS2 stack. The FSOM — KeedMartin's Final Stage Orbital Maneuver Engine, a unit that attaches between payload and the SLS2 third stage — provided the high-impulse burn for trans-Mun injection and solar orbit insertion. The xenon ion engine now handles all subsequent maneuvering. The probe is repositioning its solar orbit for primary observation targets.
The Herald notes that FARVIEW-1's first solar orbit deep-field image, transmitted after solar insertion, contains what appears to be an anomalous point source in the upper-right frame. NASA has not responded to our request for comment. We have submitted a second request.