Space

Korean moon probe grabs spectacular images

Posted by
Dave Adalian
and
January 13, 2023
Korean moon probe: Black and white photo of distant view of half-Earth over dark gray lunar surface.
The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) captured this image of Earth sitting over the darkened limb of the moon. The KPLO’s mission is to investigate the makeup of the lunar surface and image permanently shadowed areas at the moon’s poles. These regions in permanent shadow are thought to contain water ice. And so they might be useful for future human moon explorers. Image via Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

Korean moon probe Danuri, or ‘moon enjoy’

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has released a set of black-and-white images of the Earth and moon that rival the work of legendary nature photographer Ansel Adams. The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter – also known as KPLO or Danuri (moon enjoy) – captured the soon-to-be-iconic pictures during an approach to the moon, and later as it orbited 100 km (62 miles) above the lunar surface.

South Korea launched Danuri on August 5, 2022, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster. The probe entered lunar orbit on December 26, 2022. This month (January 2023), it’s due to begin studying the moon for a mission that should last at least a year.

According to KARI’s highly-detailed mission summary, the probe’s set of six instruments and cameras will study the makeup of the moon, as well as provide high-definition imagery of permanently shadowed areas near the moon’s poles.

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Black and white photo of full Earth beyond dim, gray cratered surface in the foreground.
A fully illuminated Earth rises over a permanently shadowed region of the moon in this new image from the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO or Danuri). Image via KARI.
15 full Earths with small, dark gray circle at different positions near and in front of it.
KPLO, aka Danuri, captured the moon transiting, or moving in front of, Earth’s disk over a 3-hour period. Image via KARI.
Wide black and white image with small moon to one side and small Earth on the other side.
Danuri captured the Earth and moon as seen from deep space. Image via KARI.

Earth and moon in stunning black-and-white

The set of eight images from Danuri includes two shots of Earth seen over the darkened lunar limb, a study of the moon transiting the Earth as seen from deep space, two portraits of the illuminated far side of the moon, another two portraits of Earth in full illumination, and a deep-space portrait of Earth and its natural satellite.

Black and white full Earth showing many bright clouds over East Asia.
Here’s the 1st of Danuri’s 2 images of the fully illuminated disk of the Earth as seen from the moon. Danuri’s mission is to investigate the makeup of the lunar surface and image permanently shadowed areas at the lunar poles. The information it gathers will guide future human lunar exploration. Image via KARI.
Black and white full Earth showing many bright clouds over East Asia.
The 2nd of Danuri’s 2 images showing the fully illuminated disk of Earth as seen from the moon. Image via KARI.

The mission is just starting in January 2023. Let’s see what else it brings!

Bottom line: A lunar probe captured iconic black-and-white images of Earth and the moon.

Posted 
January 13, 2023
 in 
Space

Dave Adalian

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About the Author:
Award-winning reporter and editor Dave Adalian's fascination with the cosmos began during a long-ago summer school trip. That fieldtrip never ended, and still Dave pursues adventures under the night sky. Dave grew up in California's Tulare County - where the San Joaquin Valley meets the Sierra Nevada - a wilderness larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined. He studied English, American literature and mass communications at the College of the Sequoias and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has worked as a reporter and editor for a variety news publications on- and offline during a career spanning more than 30 years.

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