NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Captures Images of Korean Satellite Danuri
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been orbiting the Moon since 2009, recently captured intriguing images of the Korean satellite Danuri, initially mistaken for a surfboard-shaped object due to its appearance in rapid flybys.
To be clear, the Danuri orbiter is not a weirdly thin load of pixels—it's a fairly normal-looking orbiter. But the terrific speeds involved mean that it's smeared on the LRO's camera detector.
— Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) April 5, 2024
Here it is in "unsmeared" form, by the LRO team: pic.twitter.com/qrcXH428CP
Launched in August 2022, Danuri has been mapping the lunar surface alongside LRO, focusing particularly on areas such as shadowed polar regions which are beyond LRO's capabilities.
The photographs were taken during a series of close encounters between the two satellites on March 5 and 6, with minimal distances ranging from 4 to 8 kilometers. These encounters required the LRO to adjust its orientation significantly, up to 60 degrees, to capture the high-speed passings effectively. The resulting images show Danuri appearing as a silver streak due to the short exposure time of the camera and the high relative velocities, making precise photography a challenge.
This event marks not the first, but one of several instances where orbiting lunar satellites have captured images of one another, showcasing the increasing traffic and international cooperation in lunar exploration.
The LRO has mapped approximately 98.2% of the Moon's surface to date, missing only the most shadowed polar regions, which Danuri's specialized instruments target.