South Korea wants to go to the moon.
South Korea's first-ever deep-space mission kicked off today with the launch of the Korea Pathfinder lunar Orbiter.
The Korea Aeronautical Research Institute (KARI), which is managing the mission, said in a statement that KPLO will be the first step for ensuring and verification of South Korea's capability of space exploration.
There are every missions to the moon.
If everything goes according to plan, this will be the first step towards a robotic moon landing by the year 2030. The KARI statement said that lunar exploration will enhance the space technologies of Korea.
At 7:08 p.m., the Falcon 9 rocketed off a pad at the Space Force Station in Florida. The sun rises and sets at 2308GMT. 2.5 minutes after launch, the rocket's two stages separated. Nine minutes after liftoff, the first stage landed on the "Just Read the Instructions". It was the sixth touchdown for the veteran booster.
After liftoff, the second stage continued to carry KPLO into the sky, and then deployed it into a lunar transfer mission. The moon's gray dirt will be just 60 miles above the surface of the planet.
The arrival of KPLO will come about a month after the launch of NASA's CAPSTONE probe, which is on a path to Earth's nearest neighbor.
The KPLO mission is focused on demonstrating technologies needed to reach and explore the moon, but Danuri will also do meaningful science work from its perch.
Five of the science instruments are home grown and one is provided by NASA. During a mission, this gear will gather a lot of data.
Danuri has a magnetometer that can help scientists understand the moon's remnant magnetic field.
KARI officials said that Danuri imagery will help mission planners find good spots for the lunar landing mission. Water ice will be found in permanently shadowed lunar craters, thanks to ShadowCam, which is more sensitive than LROC.
The extent and accessibility of water ice in those craters is not well understood.
Nine researchers were selected by the American space agency to take part in the mission.
The KPLO project manager is excited to see the new knowledge and opportunities that will arise from the KPLO mission as well as from future KARI-NASA activities.
The collaboration between KARI and NASA could be extensive. NASA's Artemis program is working to establish a permanent, sustainable human presence on and around the moon by the year 2030.
The Artemis Accords are a set of principles designed to encourage responsible exploration of the moon. The 10th nation to sign the accords was South Korea. Other countries have followed.
A book about the search for alien life was written by Mike Wall. You can follow him on the social networking site. We encourage you to follow us on social media:
All Rights Reserved © 2024
