South Korea’s lunar orbiter captures unreal views of Earth

From his position in low lunar orbit, South Korea’s first mission to the Moon saw a unique view of Earth rising from behind the cratered surface of our natural satellite

The Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO)also known as Danuri, transmitted beautiful black and white images of Earth captured by its high-resolution camera. The two images were taken on December 24 and 28 and released by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute on Monday.

The images show a solemn Earth in the distance, while the dusty surface of the Moon appears in the foreground. From our perspective on Earth, we often see the Moon rising above the surface of our planet. But images taken by Danuri from lunar orbit offer a counterintuitive view of our home planet shining behind the Moon’s surface.

Danuri captured the first picture when it was 77 miles (124 kilometers) above the lunar surface and the second when it was about 213 miles (344 kilometers) above its surface.

Danuri launched on August 5 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, marking South Korea’s first deep-space rocket. space mission On December 17, the spacecraft completed its first moon landing orbital insertion maneuver i entered lunar orbit.

The 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) probe is equipped with four locally built science instruments, as well as a NASA camera to capture views of the lunar surface. From its low orbit, Danuri will explore the moon’s shadow regions, which could contain icy water.

With the launch of Danuri, South Korea hopes to advance its lunar exploration, as the orbiter is designed to scout potential landing sites for future missions to the Moon. South Korea wants it too launch a lander and a rover, plus another orbiter, for the second phase of the mission.

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