[Danuri Launch] 'World's First' Missions Galore

Why World Scientists Are Focusing on Korea's First Lunar Exploration

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Despite being Korea's first lunar exploration mission, Danuri has attracted global attention to the extent that it was selected as the most notable lunar exploration plan of this year in the international academic journal Nature last May. The reason is that it allows humanity to observe the moon more closely and precisely than ever since the Apollo project, which directly landed on the moon. 'Danuri Launch'

Danuri operates in a circular orbit 100 km above the lunar surface, passing over the lunar polar regions. It orbits the moon 12 times a day while conducting lunar observations and scientific and technological missions, and it will send observation data back to Earth via its antenna. The mission duration is one year.

Danuri's first mission is to find candidate landing sites for Korea's lunar lander exploration planned after 2030. It also has scientific objectives such as measuring the moon's magnetic field and radiation, and verifying space internet technology. To this end, it carries six scientific instruments in total: five payloads developed by domestic research institutes and universities, and NASA's Shadowcam, a camera for permanently shadowed regions.

World's First Mission 1. The wide-field polarization camera (PolCam) developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute conducts precise observations of the lunar surface. It is the world's first time that a polarization camera is used to capture detailed images and create maps of a celestial body other than Earth. The international scientific community expects this to help solve long-standing mysteries, such as the nature of the moon's unique terrain called the 'Fairy castles.' The 'Fairy castles' were discovered in photos of the lunar surface taken from 160 km altitude during the Apollo project. They are small, tall, twisted tower-like peculiar structures resembling twisted doughnuts.

World's First Mission 2. NASA's Shadowcam is also expected to confirm the presence of water on the moon. While some indirect evidence has been found through impact experiments by satellites such as India's Chandrayaan, direct confirmation of water has never been achieved. If water is confirmed, Korea is expected to be recorded as a pioneering nation in lunar development. Shadowcam is similar to the equipment on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) sent by the U.S. in 2008, but its performance is over 200 times better, allowing detailed imaging of permanently shadowed regions where no light reaches, potentially verifying the presence of ice-state water.

World's First Mission 3. The magnetometer developed by the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources is also expected to solve another lunar mystery. The moon's core is a small, cold metallic body, making it impossible to generate a magnetic field through core rotation like Earth. However, strong magnetic fields have been observed in various locations on the lunar surface. Scientists believe that by analyzing Danuri's magnetic field measurement data to understand the overall distribution of the moon's magnetic field, this mystery can be unraveled.

World's First Mission 4. Korea will conduct the world's first space internet pilot service on the moon through the space internet equipment onboard Danuri. In particular, the space internet device developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute plans to conduct an experiment streaming a music video by BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan), attracting the attention of K-pop fans worldwide.