S. Korean lunar orbiter sends photos of Earth, moon

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unmanned space vehicle Danuri has sent videos of Earth and the moon after reaching the moon last month, the state space research center said Tuesday.

The orbiter performed three rounds of lunar orbit insertion (LOI) maneuvers from Dec. 17 to lower its speed and commit itself to the gravity of the moon before entering the selenocentric orbit on Dec. 27.

The first video was taken on Dec. 24 some 344 kilometers above the satellite of Earth, when Danuri was carrying out its second round of LOI, and the second footage was taken four days later while rotating the moon, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

After traveling for 145 days from Earth, Danuri is now orbiting the moon at a speed of 1.62 kilometers per second in a regular two-hour cycle.

The lunar orbiter will transform its system to the main operation mode this month to carry out its mission on the moon.

The space vehicle will measure the terrain, magnetic strengths, gamma rays and other traits of the lunar surface using six onboard instruments during its yearlong mission starting in February. The orbiter will also identify potential landing sites for future lunar missions.

brk@yna.co.kr
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