South Korea’s first moon mission is now totally operational and unveiling new views of the Earth and moon from lunar orbit.
The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), often known as Danuri, arrived in low lunar orbit in mid-December and delivered a primary batch of stunning photographs in January.
The spacecraft has been quietly persevering with its science work since then. The Korea Aerospace Analysis Institute (KARI) launched a brand new set of Danuri photographs via Twitter on Sunday (opens in new tab) (Feb. 12), displaying detailed views of Vallis Rheita, taken on Jan. 5, Mare Imbrium (Jan. 10), Oceanus Procellarum (Jan. 13) and a sequence of photographs displaying the phases of Earth, as seen from lunar orbit.
Associated: South Korea’s moon mission snaps stunning Earth pics after successful lunar arrival
Danuri launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early August final yr, ultimately attaining its meant orbit on Dec. 27. The probe started its full operational phase on Feb. 4, based on an replace that KARI posted on Facebook.
The spacecraft can be carrying the NASA-funded ShadowCam instrument, which is designed to look into craters on the moon whose flooring don’t obtain direct daylight.
ShadowCam is derived from cameras aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter however is 200 instances extra light-sensitive, permitting it to choose up mild mirrored off crater partitions and peaks to offer unprecedented views into completely shadowed areas, or PSRs.
ShadowCam has snapped a sequence of photographs of Shackleton Crater on the lunar south pole, revealing an in depth view of the completely shadowed wall and flooring of the crater. The exams are designed to calibrate and check the digital camera’s performance as a part of an operational checkout interval that can conclude earlier than the tip of February, based on NASA.
Excessive-resolution photographs collected by ShadowCam might present clues about lunar evolution, water trapped as ice in shadowed areas, and even help website choice for crewed Artemis missions, based on NASA.
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