Four months after its launch into space, South Korea’s first lunar probe has reached its target orbit. The “Korea Pathfinder” test space probe is in its intended lunar orbit ahead of schedule, the Science Ministry said Wednesday.
You started orbiting the moon on Tuesday. From there, it collects data from the moon’s surface for research purposes. The orbiter, also known as “Danuri”, had previously performed three instead of the planned five so-called pivoting maneuvers. The spacecraft’s speed is reduced in order to be safely absorbed by the Moon’s gravity and enter Earth’s orbit.
Orbiter to explore landing sites
The project is part of South Korea’s plans for its own space exploration. A “Falcon 9” rocket from Elon Musk’s private aerospace company SpaceX launched in August with the probe on board from Florida’s Cape Canaveral cosmodrome (pictured above). One of the orbiter’s tasks is to explore possible landing sites on the moon.
South Korea is one of the signatory states of the “Artemis” space cooperation program of the US space agency NASA. The plan is to send people to destinations like the moon and Mars with a fully reusable takeoff and landing system.
Source: Krone
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