South Korea is on its way to the moon.
The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) took off today (August 4) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launching South Korea’s first-ever deep-space mission and setting the stage for more ambitious lunar efforts down the road.
KPLO, also known as Danuri, “will be the first step to ensure and verify [South Korea’s] space exploration capability,” officials from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which manages the mission, said in a press release (opens in a new tab).
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This first step will lead to a robotic moon landing by 2030, if all goes according to plan – a step that will be huge for South Korea. “Lunar exploration will improve Korea’s space technologies, increase Korea’s value and boost pride [in] Korean[s]“, added the KARI statement.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from a pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 7:08 p.m. EDT (2308 GMT). The two stages of the rocket separated 2.5 minutes after launch and separated. The first step was for a precise landing on the SpaceX “Just Read the Instructions” drone nine minutes after takeoff. It was the sixth touchdown so far for the veteran booster, SpaceX said in a job description (opens in a new tab).
The second stage continued to carry KPLO through the skies, eventually deploying the spacecraft into a ballistic lunar transfer orbit as planned 40 minutes after liftoff. But KPLO still has a long way to go; it will take a long loop ride and very fuel efficient to the moon, finally sliding into lunar orbit in mid-December. This orbit will be circular and only 100 kilometers above the moon’s gray land.
KPLO’s lunar arrival will come about a month after that of tiny NASA CAPSTONE probewhich launched at the end of June and takes an equally circuitous path to Earth’s closest neighbor.
Various scientific works
The $180 million KPLO mission is primarily about demonstrating the technologies needed to reach and explore the moon, but Danuri (a portmanteau of two Korean words that mean ‘moon’ and ‘enjoy’) will also perform meaningful science work from its perch. orbital.
The 1,495-pound (678-kilogram) spacecraft carries six science instruments, five of which are locally made and one, called ShadowCam, provided by NASA. This craft will collect a variety of data during a mission designed to last at least a year.
For example, Danuri sports a magnetometer, the measurements of which could help scientists better understand the residual magnetic field of the moon — in particular, the mysterious spots where this field is abnormally strong.
Danuri’s images will also help mission planners scout good locations for South Korea’s future lunar landing mission, KARI officials said. And ShadowCam – which is based on, but much more sensitive than, NASA’s onboard LROC camera system Lunar reconnaissance orbiter – will chase away water ice in permanently shadowed lunar craters.
These craters are believed to hold many frozen waterbut the true extent and accessibility of this key resource is not well understood.
Help Artemis
NASA’s involvement in KPLO extends beyond ShadowCam; the US space agency has also selected nine researchers to participate in the mission.
“It is fantastic that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute Lunar Mission has NASA as a partner in space exploration – we are excited to see the new knowledge and opportunities that will arise from the KPLO mission as well as future joint KARI-NASA activities. “, KPLO project manager, Sang-Ryool Lee, said in a statement last year (opens in a new tab)shortly after the names of the nine participating scientists were announced.
And the KARI-NASA collaboration could end up being extensive. from NASA Artemis program is working to establish a permanent and sustainable human presence on and around the moon by 2030 and is therefore eager for data on the availability of lunar resources – data that ShadowCam and other Danuri instruments could provide.
South Korea is also a signatory to the Artemis Accords, a set of principles aimed at facilitating responsible exploration of the moon. South Korea signed the Agreements in May 2021, becoming the 10th nation to do so. Eleven other countries have since followed suit.
Mike Wall is the author of “The low (opens in a new tab)(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) Or on Facebook (opens in a new tab).