NASA’s ShadowCam is heading to the Moon with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s (KARI) Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) mission. KPLO, also known as Danuri, was launched at 7:08 p.m. EDT with a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on August 4.
Developed by Arizona State University and Malin Space Science Systems, ShadowCam is one of five instruments on KARI’s KPLO spacecraft.
An ultra-sensitive optical camera, ShadowCam, will collect images of permanently shadowed regions near the Moon’s poles. This will allow ShadowCam to map the reflectance of these areas to look for evidence of ice deposits, observe seasonal changes and measure the terrain inside the craters. The ShadowCam instrument was designed based on earlier imagers, such as those found on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, but is several hundred times more sensitive to light to allow details to be captured in the permanently shadowed areas.
Data collected by ShadowCam and the other KPLO instruments will support future lunar exploration efforts, including Artemis. High-resolution images captured in extremely low-light conditions could help inform landing site selection and exploration planning for future Artemis missions by providing information on terrain and lighting conditions and the distribution and accessibility of resources such as ice of water that are useful for a long time. the duration remains. Data from ShadowCam and unprecedented views of the permanently shadowed regions could also help scientists learn more about how the Moon formed and evolved and about our solar system.
In addition to ShadowCam, NASA also contributes communications and navigation support to KPLO and science support to the KPLO team through nine NASA-funded scientists. The Republic of Korea (ROK) signed the Artemis Accords last year and continues to work with NASA on lunar exploration efforts.
In the ROK, the orbiter is known as “Danuri” after a public naming contest resulted in a name combining the Korean words for “Moon” (dal) and “enjoy” (nuri).
Over the next 4.5 months, KPLO will use a fuel-saving 62-mile (100 km) Korean Ballistic Orbiter lunar polar orbiter, where upon arrival, it will then begin operations on a planned 11-month mission.
NASA Selects ASU’s ‘ShadowCam’ to Fly with Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter More Information: Project Details: www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-sele … inder-lunar-orbiter/ Provided by Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA
Reference: NASA’s ShadowCam launches on the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (2022 August 5) Retrieved August 5, 2022 by
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