You’ve never seen the moon like this before. The Korean probe has sent back photos in stunning detail to scientists

• Mankind is going to the moon again
• NASA is investigating it with a new probe

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), also known as Danuri, reached lunar orbit in mid-December last year. In recent weeks, it has started sending the first photos to scientists on Earth. And as expected – they are incredible. They capture the moon as humanity has never seen it before.

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Korea’s Danuri probe

The Danuri probe launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in early August last year and arrived in lunar orbit four months later, in mid-December. It has been sending data to Earth ever since.

The latest images were shared on Twitter by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). They were all taken from low lunar orbit and have one thing in common – they are absolutely breathtaking.

The first photo shows the Tsiolkovsky crater. The second image shows Schrödinger Valley, another iconic spot on the lunar surface. The third and fourth photos then show the craters Wichmann and Szilard M.

Danuri, nothing more than a mission on the moon!

📷Picture Description
clockwise from top left
1. Tsiolkovsky crater video taken with a high-resolution camera
2. Schrödinger Valley video taken with a high-resolution camera
3. Polarization image of Wichmann Crater taken with a polarization camera
4. Szilard M Crater video taken with a high-resolution camera pic.twitter.com/We5rj8zab6

— Korea Aerospace Research Institute (@kari2030) April 12, 2023

Mankind goes to the moon

This is not the first time that the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) probe has drawn attention to itself. She recently sent to scientists a series of photographs, which were created in total darkness. The satellite carries the ShadowCam on board, which was designed to examine the permanently shadowed regions at the lunar poles for any signs of water ice deposits.

Sunlight never reaches the permanently shadowed areas of the lunar landscape, so the camera was designed to be more than 2,000 times more sensitive than previous instruments – it can see even in total darkness.

Exploration of the surface of the Moon and its regions is part of the Artemis program of the American NASA. We have already completed the Artemis I mission, which took place at the end of 2022. It was successful and its goal was to launch the Orion module using the SLS rocket, which was subsequently guided into the so-called distant orbit of the Moon, from which it then returned to Earth.

Preview photo source: NASA, source: BGR