“The mission toward humanity’s first trip to the lunar South Pole is making good progress. We are learning as much as possible about the moon’s shady regions that will provide scientific discoveries for further space adventures.”
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the 2nd, the international manned lunar exploration project ‘Artemis Mission’ is continuing its cruise, following the success of Artemis 1 last year and recently completing the selection of the 2nd crew member.
In particular, NASA directly mentioned Korea’s lunar probe ‘Danuri’ for the cruise of the Artemis mission. Thanks to Danuri, observations of the lunar surface, which will be visited by manned lunar landers in the future, are proceeding smoothly.
It has been less than a week since the ROK-US space cooperation was stipulated and strengthened during President Yoon Seok-yeol’s recent visit to the United States, and with NASA’s official comment coming out, it is expected that Korea will be able to play a more important role in future international lunar exploration missions based on the ROK-US space alliance. is growing
◆200 times the performance of existing moon cameras… Danuri ShadowCam searches for manned landing sites in the polar region of the moon with weak sunlight
NASA is using ‘Shadow Cam’ equipment to observe the poles of the moon with the goal of manned lunar landing. The poles of the moon do not receive direct sunlight, so they are permanent shadow areas. The Artemis 3 mission, which will be conducted in 2025, aims to land astronauts composed of women and people of color on the south pole of the moon.
In this regard, NASA explained, “Shadow Cam is orbiting the moon along with five Korean equipment mounted on the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s ‘Danuri’, which was launched in August last year.”
In fact, Danuri is loaded with six payloads, including a shadow cam, a high-resolution camera, a wide-field polarization camera, a magnetic field meter, a gamma ray spectrometer, and space internet.
ShadowCam is much more sensitive to light than conventional lunar observation cameras, so it is advantageous for exploring the polar regions of the moon where sunlight is dim. The shooting performance of the Shadow Cam in a dark environment is 200 times higher than that of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbital Camera (LROC). This is thanks to the use of sunlight reflected from Earth and sunlight reflected from mountains on the lunar surface high enough to reflect direct sunlight.
In fact, looking at the shadow cam photos of Danuri released by NASA, it succeeded in capturing the shadow area of the moon that does not receive direct sunlight brightly and clearly. A typical example is the overall view of Shackleton Crater near the lunar south pole, as well as the traces of rocks that rolled down the crater wall.
In addition, the Danuri ShadowCam captured the inside of Bruce Crater and the stratum formed by the soil that flowed down the inner wall, as well as the edge of Marvin Crater about 26 km from the South Pole of the Moon.
However, the light sensitivity is so strong that the sunlit area outside the shaded area looks completely white because the light is so strong. About this, NASA explained, “If the Artemis crew walked on the lunar surface in direct sunlight, it would not be captured by ShadowCam, but if they walked during the lunar night, they could be filmed using Earth’s light.”
Direct mention of NASA’s Danuri mission, will there be an impact on Korea-US space cooperation… Korea’s role in ‘building a lunar base’ also attracts attention
NASA’s emphasis on the Danuri mission achievements seems to have had a significant impact on the recent ‘Joint Statement between the Ministry of Science and ICT and NASA for Space Exploration and Space Science Cooperation’ between the Korean government and NASA.
Korea-US space cooperation, which had been at the level of verbal discussions, was codified and formalized through a joint statement. According to this joint statement, the two countries will jointly carry out scientific and technological research on the moon, including ▲deep space communication and navigation ▲gateway ▲exploration activities such as robot and mobility development for lunar activities ▲concept research in space science such as space medicine Afterwards, they decided to pursue joint projects through specific agreements.
As the South Korean government’s main mission in the international manned lunar exploration project, the search for the lunar landing site, is proceeding smoothly and the space alliance has become more solid, expectations are high that it will be able to play a key role in the manned lunar landing and lunar base construction that will be realized within the next few years. Coming out.
If NASA succeeds in all of the Artemis missions by 2025, it plans to launch the space station ‘Luna Gateway’ over the moon and promote a plan for humans to reside on the moon by establishing a lunar surface base on the ground.
The Korean government has also announced that it will establish a mid- to long-term space economy roadmap, such as landing on the moon and mining resources in 2032 and landing on Mars in 2045, and will focus on research and development of technologies for the settlement of outer space and deep space exploration.
As the moon base ‘Gateway’ is officially mentioned in the joint statement of Korea-US space cooperation, attention is focusing on whether Korea will be able to play a leading role in the construction of a lunar base in the future following the search for a manned lunar landing site.
“Since Danuri entered lunar orbit in December of last year, ShadowCam has been periodically capturing images of the north and south poles of the moon,” NASA said. It is to send a high-resolution image of
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.