"Clearly Sunken Mark"... 'Danuri' Captures the Far Side of the Moon

'1000 Orbits' Danuri, Korea's First Observation of the Moon's Far Side
Ministry of Science and ICT-KARI, Various Images Released

High-resolution videos of the far side of the moon, captured by Danuri, South Korea's first lunar exploration orbiter, have been released.

Schr?dinger Valley on the far side of the moon photographed by Danuri (video width 50km). [Photo by Korea Aerospace Research Institute] [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 12th, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) unveiled videos of the far side of the moon taken by Danuri on the 22nd and 24th of last month, featuring the Tsiolkovsky crater area, the Schr?dinger valley area, and the Sillard M crater area. This marks a significant milestone as these are the first images ever captured by South Korea of the moon's far side. Particularly, the photos taken on the 24th hold special significance as they were captured on the day Danuri completed its 1,000th orbit around the moon.

Sillard M Crater photographed by Danuri (video width 55km).
[Photo by Korea Aerospace Research Institute] [Image source=Yonhap News]

All videos were taken by the high-resolution camera (LUTI) onboard Danuri, clearly revealing detailed features such as craters on the lunar surface and towering peaks within the craters. These high-resolution videos will serve as important data for understanding the composition of the lunar surface and the formation processes of peaks within craters in the future.

Wichmann crater photographed by the wide-field polarization camera onboard Danuri at a wavelength of 320nm without a polarization filter. [Photo by Korea Aerospace Research Institute]

Additionally, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute released footage taken by the wide-field polarization camera on the same day. This camera was developed to analyze the size and composition of lunar surface soil particles by utilizing the way light reflects differently depending on particle size and composition, producing polarization images of the lunar surface. The footage shows distinct brightness variations depending on the wavelength and type of polarization filter used. This confirms that sufficient capability has been secured for future research on the distribution of particles and composition on the lunar surface.

Data of magnetic field observations in lunar orbit by Danuri's magnetometer before and after entering the Earth's magnetic field influence zone. Image source=Provided by KAERI.

Meanwhile, the magnetometer (developed by Kyung Hee University) and gamma-ray spectrometer (developed by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources) are also successfully acquiring observational data. The magnetometer data will be used for studying the moon’s structure and anomalous magnetic regions, as well as providing space environment data for future lunar exploration. The gamma-ray spectrometer data will be utilized for research on gamma rays, X-rays, and neutron environments on the lunar surface.

KARI plans to publicly release lunar scientific research results based on Danuri’s observational data starting January next year. The high-resolution camera footage will be corrected and then gradually made available to the public from that time. The world’s first full lunar polarization map created from the wide-field polarization camera data, magnetic field analysis data from the magnetometer, and lunar surface gamma-ray spectrum data from the gamma-ray spectrometer will also be released around the same period.

Gamma-ray measurement data observed by Danuri's gamma-ray spectrometer. Image source provided by Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

KARI stated, "We will continuously release observational data such as videos captured during Danuri’s normal mission through the Danuri website, and from April 12, we will provide a service to check Danuri’s real-time position in lunar orbit. Each institution that developed the onboard instruments will also disclose detailed lunar scientific research results through their own press releases in the future."

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