Danuri, South Korea’s first lunar mission, should be launched this Thursday (4), at 20:08, Brasília time. The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) spacecraft is expected to orbit the Moon for a year, carrying a series of South Korean experiments and a US-built instrument.
KPLO is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, into a 300 kilometer Earth orbit, followed by a translunar injection burn and a lunar transfer phase.
The South Korean orbiter consists of a main body measuring 1.82 meters wide, 2.14 meters long and 2.29 meters high, and six payloads.
The mission will study the surface of the Moon and help plan future missions to the lunar poles.
According to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (Kira), KPLO’s key details involve developing the probe’s body and payloads, building a deep space ground station, research and international collaboration with to NASA.
The goals are to develop lunar exploration technologies, demonstrate a “space internet” and conduct scientific investigations of the lunar environment, topography and resources, as well as identify potential landing sites for future missions.
Collaboration
In March 2021, NASA selected nine scientists to join the KPLO science team to help improve mission output.
NASA and South Korea are also set to test an interplanetary internet at Danuri, which can be resistant to communications disruptions.
In addition, NASA is expected to provide technical assistance on mission design, deep-space communications, and navigation technologies.
On May 24, South Korea signed the Artemis mission agreements, which NASA calls “a practical set of principles to guide cooperation among nations participating in the US space agency’s 21st century lunar exploration plans.” ”.
In this way, scientific data can be easily shared between the two countries and there will be opportunities for the two countries to continue cooperating on future missions.
Spaceship and subsystems
The spacecraft, which weighs 550 kilograms, has a cubic shape with two solar-paneled wings and an antenna mounted on a spear.
According to NASA, communications are via S-band (telemetry and command) and X-band (payload data downlink).
Power is provided through solar panels and rechargeable batteries. KPLO is equipped with five scientific instruments.
The experiments are a Lunar Terrain Imager (Luti), a wide-angle polarimetric camera (PolCam), a magnetometer (KMAG), a gamma-ray spectrometer (KGRS) and a high-sensitivity camera developed by NASA (ShadowCam). The total mass of the scientific payload is about 40 kilograms.
New exploration phase
The Danuri mission comprises the first phase of South Korea’s lunar exploration program. In the second phase, scientists plan to launch another lunar orbiter, a lander and a rover.
In March 2021, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that the robotic lunar module will be launched on a locally developed rocket before 2030.
According to the Kira Institute, lunar exploration will enhance Korea’s space technologies. In a survey, the institute found that 72% of Koreans were interested in lunar exploration and agreed with it.
“It is estimated that lunar exploration will create around KRW 3.8 trillion (more than R$1.5 billion) of tangible/intangible economic value, which will be 5 times more valuable than the resources invested,” they wrote.
Source: CNN Brasil
