“Earthrise”, but by Danuri!

This is undoubtedly one of the most famous space photos: the earthworm (earth rising), taken during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. And in the decades that followed, several new versions of this fascinating photo were also made. So photographed the Lunar Recovery Orbiter in 2015 for example this land rises. And some more recently Orion also posed one the earthworm fixed. This last photo, however, is already old news now that the South Korean lunar orbiter Danuri has also witnessed it. the earthworm. The jaw-dropping images were released yesterday.

Danuri took this photo on December 28. The orbiter was then about 124 kilometers from the lunar surface. Image: CURRY.

Danuri
As mentioned, the images were taken by Danuri, the very first lunar orbiter made in South Korea. The orbiter was launched in August last year and arrived in lunar orbit in December. An important step; This makes the South Korean space agency – after Russian, American, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and European space agencies – the seventh government space agency to send a probe to the Moon.

Instruments
On board Danuri are six instruments with which he will study the moon more closely. For example, the orbiter is intended to determine which raw materials (such as water, helium-3 and aluminum) can be found where on the moon. Additionally, Danuri must also search for a suitable landing site for a moon lander. Because the orbiter’s successful mission has more taste; Eventually, the South Koreans also want to send a lander and a rover to the Moon.

And so South Korea has big ambitions. They have a fairly recent origin; the South Korean Space Agency was only established in 1989. But significant progress has been made in recent years. For example, South Korea has put several satellites into orbit around the Earth. And with Danuri, the South Korean space agency also went much further into space for the first time.

Starting in February, Danuri will begin active research on the moon. We will undoubtedly hear a lot more about this orbiter (and we hope to see it too!).