Its primary objective following the March 2 touchdown inside Mare Crisium crater was to deliver 10 NASA instruments designed to gather lunar subsurface data. But the eastern edge of the moon’s near east side also provided a perfect spot for viewing a solar eclipse from the moon’s point of view.

The only light that reaches the moon during a total lunar eclipse is light from the Earth's atmosphere, which projects onto the moon and gives it its reddish hue, USA TODAY previo