NEW DELHI: Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) not too long ago captured intriguing photos of a surfboard-shaped object close to the moon, which turned out to be South Korea’s lunar orbiter, Danuri. This encounter between the 2 spacecraft occurred as they orbited the moon in practically parallel paths, in response to Nasa officers. The occasion passed off over March 5 and 6, and because of the excessive velocity distinction between the LRO and Danuri — roughly 7,200 mph (11,500 km/h) — Danuri appeared elongated within the photos, resembling a surfboard, a Stay Science report mentioned.
The distinctive photographic alternative was seized by the LRO operations staff at Nasa’s Goddard House Flight Middle in Maryland.Regardless of the problem posed by the LRO’s digital camera, which has a really quick publicity time of about 0.338 milliseconds, the staff managed to seize photos of Danuri. This marks a big achievement as Danuri is the primary Korean spacecraft to enter lunar orbit, having finished so in December 2022.
The stretching impact within the photos, brought on by the velocity distinction, made Danuri look “smeared to 10 instances its dimension,” in response to Nasa. Nevertheless, Danuri is definitely a box-shaped spacecraft outfitted with photo voltaic panels on both sides, not resembling a surfboard in actuality.
Paul Byrne, an affiliate professor of planetary science at Washington College in St Louis, shared a number of the photos on social media, clarifying that Danuri’s look as a “weirdly skinny load of pixels” was a results of the excessive speeds concerned and the digital camera’s specs. This incident has sparked comparisons to the Silver Surfer, a fictional character within the Marvel Universe, because of the object’s surfboard-like look within the photographs.
What’s the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s mission?
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a Nasa mission devoted to the exploration and research of the moon. Launched on June 18, 2009, the LRO’s major mission is to map the lunar floor in excessive element, gather very important information on the moon’s radiation surroundings, temperature, and assets, and collect proof to assist future human exploration. Particularly, the targets of the LRO mission embody:
Making a complete lunar topographic map: Using its high-resolution cameras, LRO has been tasked with creating detailed maps of the moon’s floor to establish protected touchdown websites for future missions, uncover assets, and research the moon’s terrain and surroundings in nice element.
Finding out the moon’s radiation surroundings: The LRO measures the categories and quantities of ionizing radiation on the lunar floor to know the potential dangers to human explorers and digital gear.
Figuring out potential lunar assets: One of many key features of LRO’s mission is to seek for water ice and different lunar assets that might be utilized by future astronauts for all times assist and gas.
Investigating the moon’s skinny environment: The LRO explores the composition and conduct of the moon’s exosphere, a really skinny environment, to know its dynamics and the way it interacts with the lunar floor and photo voltaic radiation.
Understanding the moon’s thermal surroundings: The spacecraft measures the moon’s temperature at numerous instances of the day to know the thermal conduct of various lunar surfaces, which is essential for the design of future lunar habitats and gear.
The distinctive photographic alternative was seized by the LRO operations staff at Nasa’s Goddard House Flight Middle in Maryland.Regardless of the problem posed by the LRO’s digital camera, which has a really quick publicity time of about 0.338 milliseconds, the staff managed to seize photos of Danuri. This marks a big achievement as Danuri is the primary Korean spacecraft to enter lunar orbit, having finished so in December 2022.
The stretching impact within the photos, brought on by the velocity distinction, made Danuri look “smeared to 10 instances its dimension,” in response to Nasa. Nevertheless, Danuri is definitely a box-shaped spacecraft outfitted with photo voltaic panels on both sides, not resembling a surfboard in actuality.
Paul Byrne, an affiliate professor of planetary science at Washington College in St Louis, shared a number of the photos on social media, clarifying that Danuri’s look as a “weirdly skinny load of pixels” was a results of the excessive speeds concerned and the digital camera’s specs. This incident has sparked comparisons to the Silver Surfer, a fictional character within the Marvel Universe, because of the object’s surfboard-like look within the photographs.
What’s the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s mission?
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a Nasa mission devoted to the exploration and research of the moon. Launched on June 18, 2009, the LRO’s major mission is to map the lunar floor in excessive element, gather very important information on the moon’s radiation surroundings, temperature, and assets, and collect proof to assist future human exploration. Particularly, the targets of the LRO mission embody:
Making a complete lunar topographic map: Using its high-resolution cameras, LRO has been tasked with creating detailed maps of the moon’s floor to establish protected touchdown websites for future missions, uncover assets, and research the moon’s terrain and surroundings in nice element.
Finding out the moon’s radiation surroundings: The LRO measures the categories and quantities of ionizing radiation on the lunar floor to know the potential dangers to human explorers and digital gear.
Figuring out potential lunar assets: One of many key features of LRO’s mission is to seek for water ice and different lunar assets that might be utilized by future astronauts for all times assist and gas.
Investigating the moon’s skinny environment: The LRO explores the composition and conduct of the moon’s exosphere, a really skinny environment, to know its dynamics and the way it interacts with the lunar floor and photo voltaic radiation.
Understanding the moon’s thermal surroundings: The spacecraft measures the moon’s temperature at numerous instances of the day to know the thermal conduct of various lunar surfaces, which is essential for the design of future lunar habitats and gear.
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