South Korea's Lunar Orbiter 'Danuri' Releases Astonishing Photos of Moon, Earth; Spacecraft Continues Search For Potential Landing Sites

(Photo : Unsplash / Nicolas Thomas )

Roughly a month after it started its lunar orbit, the KPLO (Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter) has now sent back astonishing images of the earth and moon.

Danuri's Breathtaking Snaps of the Earth and Moon

The images were released by the KARI (Korean Aerospace Research Institute). According to Live Science, the shots reveal various landscapes of the moon, including a time-lapse shot of the moon's processing over the earth over several hours.

Phys notes that the shots of the craft were snapped from December 24 to January 1. They reveal the earth and the moon's surface and were taken from a distance of less than 120 kilometers from the moon. KARI notes in a statement that such footage will be utilized in choosing possible moon landing sites.

New images of the Moon and Earth taken by South Korean spacecraft Danuri (KPLO) on Dec. 24 & Dec. 28. (KARI) https://t.co/rOC0N9EYHX pic.twitter.com/OkdZY1lGUS
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) January 3, 2023

ALSO READ: SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches South Korea's First Direct Mission to Moon From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

South Korea's Danuri

According to Phys, the KPLO, also dubbed Danuri, is a mix of the Korean terms "dal" (moon) and "nuri (enjoy). This is reportedly the first exploratory space mission of South Korea in which the craft exited earth orbit. It is a collaboration that is managed by both KARI and NASA. The lunar orbiter was deployed from Cape Canaveral in Florida, mounted to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, on August 4, 2022.

Halfway through December, the craft entered the moon's orbit and started gauging the lunar surface in order to look for possible landing sites for further missions to the moon. The findings of the craft could help NASA in plotting out the next phases of the current Artemis program, which is working toward sending humans back to the surface of the moon and building a station there.

Danuri circles over the moon every two hours. Phys also notes that the orbiter will start its scientific voyage in the coming month. Such endeavors include mapping out and studying the moon's surface and gauging the strength of magnetism and gamma rays. It will also try out novel space internet technology by sending footage to earth.

ShadowCam

According to CNN, the probe has six different instruments onboard. This includes the ShadowCam that was funded by NASA and built by Arizona State University. The ShadowCam's main aim is to capture snaps of permanently shadowed areas close to the lunar poles that could help specialists find ice, map out the area, and look out for changes in seasons.

Compared to the cameras mounted on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of NASA, the ShadowCam is "several hundred times more sensitive," as noted by CNN. This allows the device to capture incredible detail in conditions of extreme low light.

The instrument was recently used by the probe to look into the Shackleton crater, which is one of the moon's permanently shadowed areas.

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