What is Danuri and what will it teach?
Originally known as the Korean Lunar Pathfinder Orbiter, the mission is now named Danuri, a combination of the Korean words meaning “moon” and “enjoy.” This will be South Korea’s first space mission beyond low-Earth orbit.
Its scientific instruments include a magnetometer, a gamma-ray spectrometer and three cameras. NASA installed one of the cameras, the ShadowCam, which is sensitive enough to capture some of the photons bouncing off the terrain into the permanently darkened craters of the moon. This crater, located at the lunar pole, remains cold forever, below minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and contains water ice that has accumulated over centuries.
Ice could provide a frozen 4.5 billion year history of the solar system as well as plenty of resources for visiting future astronauts. Ice can also be mined and melted to provide water and broken down into oxygen and hydrogen, providing breathing air for astronauts and rocket propulsion for travelers looking to launch from the moon to other destinations.
What else has South Korea been doing in space?
South Korea is developing its own missiles. first design, Naro-1, successfully reached orbit on third attempt, in 2013. Since then, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute – NASA’s equivalent in South Korea – has shifted its efforts to the Nuri, a larger three-stage rocket. It Nouri’s second trip In June, he managed to put several satellites into orbit.
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