South Korea's first lunar probe reveals the permanently shadowed region of moon
(NASA/KARI/Arizona State University https://bit.ly/3IJeQrM)
The Danuri lunar probe has captured the most detailed image to date of the interior of the lunar crater of eternal night.
The ShadowCam camera mounted on the spaceship observed part of the wall and floor of Shackleton crater, located at the south pole of the moon.
Scientists believe that the crater is capable of containing deposits of water ice.
The ShadowCam was developed by NASA for the Danuri probe, South Korea's first lunar lander.
This is a telescopic camera of the Ritchey-Chrétien system with a main mirror diameter of 195 millimeters, equipped with a passive cooling system and a light shield.
The camera is capable of capturing images with a resolution of 1.7 meters per pixel and is more than 200 times more sensitive than the narrow-angle camera of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Such characteristics of the instrument will allow it to obtain the most detailed images to date of the craters of eternal night, which are located near the poles of the moon.
Their interiors are never illuminated by the Sun, making craters cold traps capable of keeping water ice and other volatiles frozen for long periods of time.
The data that ShadowCam will receive will help scientists estimate the distribution and volume of water ice in polar craters.
This information is essential for future manned missions to the Moon.
At the end of December 2022, Danuri entered a working circular polar orbit around the Moon, about 100 kilometers high
Then, on January 9, 2023, NASA presented the first ShadowCam image.
It was hit by part of the Shackleton crater, with a diameter of 21 kilometers, located at the south pole of the moon.
The image is 2040 meters wide and shows the sheer side wall of the crater, the bottom covered with craters, and the track from a five-meter boulder that rolled to the bottom.
Sources:
- KARI: http://shadowcam.sese.asu.edu/images/1284
- The Korea Times: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2023/01/133_343480.html
- Steemit: https://steemit.com/hive-109160/@sarahjay1/south-korea-s-first-lunar-probe-takes-beautiful-pictures-of-earth-rising-from-the-moon-video
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