South Korea's first moon mission is now in low lunar orbit and has sent home stunning images of our planet from its location.

The photos taken by the Danuri moon mission, otherwise known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), have been shared Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) on its official Twitter account.

Danuri is history-making for South Korea as it is the country's first successfully launched moon mission. The lunar orbit's official science mission is meant to last about a year. 

South Korea's Danuri Sends Stunning Photos of Earth From Lunar Orbit

According to a report by Space, the photos taken by Danuri show "the crater and textured lunar surface in the foreground with the distant Earth behind." The photos were taken on two separate days, December 24 and 28, using the Danuri's Lunar Terrain Imager (LUTI). This instrument is one of five that Danuri has that was developed by KARI itself. 

Per the Space report, these photos taken by the Danuri will be used to determine potential sites for a robotic South Korean lunar landing mission. The Asian nation is targeting to launch its robotic lunar landing mission around 2032.

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Danuri Moon Mission

The $180 million Danuri moon mission is KARI's "first exploratory space mission outside of Earth's orbit," according to a separate report by Space. It launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on August 4, 2022, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

It arrived in lunar orbit on December 26, "entering its planned orbit with an average altitude of 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface, per the Space report." This milestone has allowed South Korea to join the ranks of countries that have successfully launched moon missions. These countries include the United States, Japan, and China.

Danuri is a joint project of KARI and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The former is in charge of overseeing the manufacture as well as the opeations of the lunar orbiter.

Danuri has a total of six payloads. Five of the payloads were developed by KARI, while the sixth one was developed by NASA. NASA's instrument is known as the ShadowCam, "was designed to scope out permanently shadowed regions at the lunar poles for hints of water-ice deposits, potentially providing valuable data for future missions in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon in 2025 or 2026."

As of press time, the lunar orbiter is undergoing commissioning. Once this has been completed, it can officially start its science mission. Danuri will orbit the Moon for about the year to collect measurements of its surface. As previously mentioned, it is also meant to scout for potential landing sites for future moon missions.

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