Taking this longer route, known as a ballistic lunar transfer, uses a gravity assist by the sun to make the journey more fuel-efficient. It will first fly toward the sun before looping back toward its destination, arriving in lunar orbit in mid-December. The spacecraft is now on a very circuitous route to the moon. EDT on August 4, with the rocket’s booster landing successfully on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” just a few minutes after liftoff. Formerly called the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), the mission, managed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), is now named Danuri, a play on the Korean words for “moon” and “enjoy.” Its primary goal is to test South Korea’s lunar spacecraft technology before it makes a bid to land on the surface, tentatively in 2030 if all goes well.ĭanuri launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:08 p.m. Last night, the country launched its first-ever lunar mission - in fact, its first-ever mission beyond low Earth orbit.
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