The Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has published the first image taken by the Danuri probe. On it you can see our planet and the Moon.
Danuri was launched in August 2022. It became the first South Korean spacecraft launched into interplanetary space. The target of “Danuri” is the Moon. After entering the selenocentric orbit, it must take photographs of possible landing sites for the next South Korean missions, and develop fault-tolerant network technology. Another purpose of “Danuri” is to shoot eternally shaded lunar craters, at the bottom of which, it is believed, there are ice deposits.
The photo published by KARI was taken on August 26, 2022, using a high-resolution camera LUTI (LUnar Terrain Imager). On that day, the probe was at a distance of 1.24 million kilometers from our planet. The purpose of the shooting was to check the camera’s operability.
Despite the fact that the distance to the Earth was 12 thousand times greater than the working distance of the LUTI footage (it is 100 km), a number of details of the surface of the Earth and the Moon can be seen in the image. So, on our planet, the outlines of Australia and Asia are noticeable, and on the Moon there are several formations on its reverse side, including the Mare Moscoviense, the Mare Orientale and the Jackson crater.
According to the flight plan, “Danuri” will have to enter lunar orbit on December 17. By January 2022, the probe will move into a polar orbit with an altitude of 100 kilometers, after which it will begin its scientific program.
According to https://www.kari.re.kr
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