Danuri Successfully Completes First Entry Maneuver... Becomes 'Lunar Orbiter'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] South Korea's first lunar probe, Danuri, has successfully been captured by the Moon's gravity, taking the first smooth step toward entering its mission orbit 100 km above the lunar surface.

On the 18th, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) announced that the analysis of Danuri's first orbital insertion maneuver, conducted around 2:45 a.m. on the 17th, confirmed its successful execution.

This first insertion maneuver was the most critical operation to ensure that Danuri was stably captured by the Moon's gravity and did not overshoot the Moon. The key objective was to reduce its speed from about 8,000 km/h to approximately 7,500 km/h to be captured by the lunar gravity.

After the first insertion maneuver, KARI analyzed orbital data for about two days and confirmed that the targeted speed reduction and elliptical orbit insertion were successfully achieved, ensuring Danuri's stable capture by the Moon's gravity.

KARI researchers stated, "Danuri has become a true 'Lunar Orbiter' orbiting the Moon after being captured by the lunar gravity." KARI plans to proceed with four additional insertion maneuvers (2nd to 5th) as scheduled. The final success of settling into the mission orbit (a circular orbit 100 km above the Moon) will be confirmed on December 29 after about one day of data analysis following the last insertion maneuver (5th, scheduled for December 28).

Danuri was launched in early August from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9. It is South Korea's first independently developed lunar orbiter. It will carry out its mission for about one year in a 100 km lunar orbit. Equipped with a high-performance camera, wide-field polarization camera, magnetometer, gamma-ray detector, and space internet equipment, it will conduct detailed observations of the lunar surface. It also carries the ShadowCam, developed by NASA for imaging permanently shadowed regions, to scout potential sites for humanity's second lunar landing mission planned after 2025.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.