As part of its mission to gather data on Earth’s natural satellites, South Korea’s uncrewed spacecraft Danuri has sent back its first images of the Moon’s far side.
This image, captured by Danuri, shows the Vallis Schrodinger crater on the far side of the Moon on March 24. (Source: The Korea Times)
On April 12, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea announced that Danuri is orbiting the Moon at an altitude of approximately 100 km.
The spacecraft captured images of the Tsiolkovskiy crater on March 22 and the Vallis Schrodinger and Szilard M craters on March 24 using its high-resolution camera.
These are the first images of the Moon’s far side taken by this South Korean space research vehicle.
Additionally, Danuri has sent back other images taken with a wide-angle polarimetric camera (PolCam) to assist in researching the surface composition of the Moon and its volcanic deposits by measuring the level of polarization.
Danuri entered lunar orbit on December 27 of last year, after a 145-day journey from Earth, and commenced operations on February 4, about a month after completing its testing phase.
The spacecraft is tasked with measuring lunar topography, magnetic field strength, gamma rays, and other surface characteristics using six different instruments through the end of this year.
Danuri will also identify potential landing sites for future South Korean lunar exploration missions.
