His first lunar spacecraft, named Danuri, was carried into space on time at 7:08 p.m. eastern time from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. About 10 minutes later, the spacecraft was in Earth orbit, preparing for the final engine firings that would begin its journey to the Moon. When it reaches lunar orbit, it will join spacecraft from NASA, India and China currently exploring Earth’s companion. Danuri’s science payload will study the moon’s magnetic field, measure amounts of elements and molecules such as uranium, water and helium-3, and photograph the dark craters at the poles where the sun never shines.
What is Danuri and what will it study?
Originally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, the mission is now named Danuri, a portmanteau of the Korean words for “moon” and “enjoyment.” It will be South Korea’s first space mission to go beyond low Earth orbit. Its scientific instruments include a magnetometer, a gamma-ray spectrometer and three cameras. NASA provided one of the cameras, ShadowCam, which is sensitive enough to pick up the few photons that bounce off the ground in the moon’s dark, permanently shadowed craters. These craters, located at the moon’s poles, remain forever cold, below minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and contain water ice that has accumulated over the centuries. The ice could provide a frozen 4.5 billion year history of the solar system and a wealth of resources for future visiting astronauts. Such ice can also be extracted and melted to provide water and break down into oxygen and hydrogen, which would provide breathing air for astronauts and rocket propellants for travelers who want to launch themselves from the moon to other destinations.
What else has South Korea done in space?
South Korea is developing its own missiles. Its first design, Naro-1, successfully reached orbit on its third attempt in 2013. Since then, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute — the South Korean equivalent of NASA — has shifted its efforts to Nuri, a larger three stage rocket. The second Nuri flight in June successfully placed several satellites into orbit.
How many countries have sent missions to the moon?
The United States and the Soviet Union sent several robotic spacecraft to the moon starting in the 1960s. NASA’s Apollo program sent astronauts there from 1968 to 1972. Then the world almost completely lost interest in the moon for three decades , but a flurry of activity has returned. In recent years, China has sent multiple successful robotic spacecraft, including three that have landed. NASA has sent several orbiters there and has enlisted commercial companies to send payloads to the lunar surface in the coming years. Japan and the European Space Agency have launched missions to the moon, and India sent two orbiters to the moon, although a lander accompanying the second orbiter crashed on its way down to the surface in 2019. Another mission in 2019, Beresheet, an aircraft built by an Israeli non-profit organization, SpaceIL, also crashed while trying to land on the moon.
Why will it take Danuri so long to reach the moon?
The spacecraft follows a long, energy-efficient path to the moon. It first heads toward the sun, then turns back to be captured in lunar orbit in mid-December. This “ballistic trajectory” takes longer, but does not require a large engine firing to slow the spacecraft down when it reaches the moon. Danuri will then adjust its orbit to an altitude of 62 miles above the Moon’s surface. The main science mission is scheduled to last one year.
