South Korea is on its way to the moon.
The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) took off today (August 4) on top of a SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket that kicks off South Korea’s first-ever deep space mission and sets the stage for more ambitious lunar efforts down the road.
KPLO, also known as Dhanuri, “will be the first step to secure and verify [South Korea’s] space exploration capability,” officials from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which manages the mission, it said in a statement (opens in new tab).
Connected: Every Mission to the Moon (Reference)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the South Korean spacecraft Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri, blasts off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on August 4, 2022. (Image: SpaceX)
This first step will lead to a robotic lunar landing by 2030 if all goes according to plan – a milestone that will be huge for South Korea. “Exploring the moon will improve Korea’s space technology, increase Korea’s value and boost pride [in] Korean[s],” CARRIE’s message said.
Falcon 9 lifted off from the pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 19:08 EDT (2308 GMT). The two stages of the rocket separated 2.5 minutes after launch and went their separate ways. The first stage descended for a precise landing of the SpaceX “Just read the instructions” unmanned craft nine minutes after liftoff. It was the sixth touchdown so far for the veteran booster, SpaceX said in a mission description (opens in new tab).
The second stage continued to carry KPLO into the sky, 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, circuitous and very economical route The moon, finally slipping into lunar orbit in mid-December. This orbit will be circular and only 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon’s gray dirt.
KPLO’s lunar landing will come about a month after that on NASA’s tiny CAPSTONE Probewhich launches in late June and takes a similar circular path to Earth’s nearest neighbor.
A variety of scientific work
KPLO’s $180 million mission is primarily to demonstrate technologies needed to reach and explore the moon, but Danuri (a combination of two Korean words meaning “moon” and “enjoy”) will also do significant science work from its orbital perch.
The 1,495-pound (678-kilogram) spacecraft carries six science instruments, five of them homemade and one called ShadowCam, provided by NASA. This equipment will collect a variety of data during a mission designed to last at least a year.
For example, Danuri has a magnetometer whose measurements can help scientists to better understand the moon’s residual magnetic field — specifically the mysterious spots where this field is anomalously strong.
Danuri’s images will also help mission planners find good locations for South Korea’s future moon landing mission, KARI officials said. And ShadowCam — which is based on, but much more sensitive than, the LROC camera system on board NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter — will search for water ice in permanently shadowed lunar craters.
These craters are believed to contain many water icebut the true extent and availability of this key resource is not well understood.
Help for Artemis
NASA’s involvement in KPLO extends beyond ShadowCam; The US space agency also selected nine researchers to participate in the mission.
“It is fantastic that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s lunar mission has NASA as a partner in space exploration – we are excited to see the new knowledge and capabilities that will arise from the KPLO mission as well as future KARI-NASA joint activities,” Manager of the KPLO project Sang-Ryool Lee said in a statement last year (opens in new tab), shortly after the names of the nine participating scientists were announced.
And the KARI-NASA collaboration could prove extensive. of NASA Artemis program is working to establish a permanent, 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 designed to facilitate responsible lunar exploration. South Korea signed the agreements in May 2021, becoming the 10th nation to do so. Eleven other countries then followed suit.
Mike Wall is the author of “There (opens in new tab)’ (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
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