[Interview] NASA Deputy Director Confident "Danuri Launch Will Succeed"

Interview with Local Korean Joint Press Team
"Korean Technical Team is Excellent, No Problem on the Way to the Moon"

John Guidi, Deputy Administrator of NASA

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA = Joint Press Corps] NASA expressed great expectations for Korea's first lunar probe, Danuri. John Guidi, Deputy Director of NASA's Space Exploration Systems Division, praised the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) engineers who worked together on the Danuri launch preparation during a local interview with the Korean press on the morning of the 3rd (local time) and also gave a positive outlook on Danuri's success.

Below is a Q&A.

- What does NASA expect from this Danuri mission?

▲ Danuri carries several payloads developed by NASA, including the ShadowCam. Through these instruments, we will identify candidate landing sites at the lunar poles. Currently, there is not enough information to make that decision, but the Danuri mission will help us find the answer.

- Danuri's flight trajectory is very rare. Moreover, this is Korea's first space exploration attempt. Do you think this flight will succeed?

▲ It will definitely succeed. We have spent years preparing for this mission. Especially, the Korean team that designed this BLT trajectory is very smart and has experience from our past lunar exploration missions. Experts from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Johnson Space Center reviewed this trajectory together. Therefore, we believe there will be no problems, and the flight will be very successful.

- Danuri will fly to the moon for 4.5 months after launch. What kind of cooperation will take place during this process?

▲ Because we have thoroughly prepared over several years, there should be no problems during the months-long flight. The Korean teams are highly trained and have conducted multiple simulations. The Korean team has continuously discussed and reviewed various scenarios with NASA Johnson Space Center mission operations personnel. At present, we believe there is nothing to do except closely monitoring Danuri's lunar orbit insertion.

- You have worked with Korea for a long time. What do you think of the Korean partners?

▲ Korean partners are amazing. They are very academic and technical. They understand well the difficulties of flying to the moon. They just lacked experience until now. That is why NASA brought in our past experience and lessons learned. We also had missions that did not go well in the past. We shared those with the Korean team. Therefore, we are very hopeful about this mission.

- NASA continues major space challenges such as Artemis. Are there areas where cooperation with Korea is needed?

▲ I think there are many areas for cooperation with Korea. I hope Korea will demonstrate the capabilities it showed while developing Danuri again. We will return to the moon, and this time, not just for a short visit but to stay longer. Therefore, establishing a communication network around the moon is necessary. If Korea builds a navigation network like KPS around the moon, it will greatly help future lunar missions. Many countries currently want to cooperate, and NASA also hopes to collaborate with many nations. This network system will be available to everyone, and we hope it will be so.

- Why do you hope to go to the moon?

▲ The moon is a very interesting place. In the 1960s, it was a national challenge, but now economic and scientific opportunities are growing. It is a challenge to extend our existence beyond Earth into the solar system, so we will return to the moon. Ultimately, we hope to go to Mars. Of course, it is very far, but we have to start somewhere. That place is the moon.

- Why did NASA decide to cooperate with Korea this time?

▲ A few years ago, Korea expressed a desire to cooperate, and now we are working together on the Danuri mission. It has been a very excellent partnership. When Korea proposed it, we had no mission going to the moon. We had a lunar orbiter, but it was aging and could not acquire the images we wanted. This cooperation was a perfect partnership.

- Korea plans to send a lunar lander in 2031. If you were to recommend a lunar landing mission, what area would you suggest?

▲ The lunar poles are permanently shadowed and very interesting. Because sunlight never reaches there, frozen materials accumulated over billions of years exist. Water and solar particles are likely stored there. If a base is built on the moon, fuel usable there could be obtained. If Korea builds a lander, I suggest exploring the lunar poles.

- Do you think there is enough water at the poles for humanity?

▲ We do not know yet. Currently, it appears there is water at the poles. It may be frozen or in other forms. In the future, it will be possible to extract those.

- Please advise on what strategy Korea needs for deep space exploration.

▲ Space travel and exploration are very challenging. Systems we design may operate somewhat differently once in space. What I can suggest is practice, practice, and more practice. Systems must be checked on the ground and well understood before going to space. Except for remote operation, once in space, you cannot fix them. You must thoroughly understand the spacecraft you built yourself.

- What does the development of the Space Launch System (SLS) mean for the US and NASA? What is the success rate?

▲ NASA has spent considerable time preparing to return to space. The SLS has faced many technical and budgetary challenges. But SLS is important to us. We went to the moon in the 1960s, but that was a short journey. The SLS system is designed to carry everything needed for a mission repeatedly. We plan to spend more time on the moon. We hope to cooperate with many partners on the lunar surface. It will not be a simple trip but a permanent activity. The success probability is 100%.

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