The NASA ship captured the moment the Korean ship flew in the opposite direction at a relative speed of about 11,500 km/h

NASA released a series of images capturing the moment the Korean spacecraft Danuri flew across the Moon's surface at high speed. The image was taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) as the two spacecraft moved in nearly parallel but opposite orbits on March 5-6.

In the photo, Danuri looks like a blurred line cutting across the Moon's surface. These photos were taken with a narrow-angle camera when the LRO ship approached Danuri close enough.

Because the relative speed between the two spacecraft is very high, about 11,500 km/h, even though the camera's exposure time is very short, the image of Danuri is still blurred 10 times its real size in the opposite direction. The LRO operations team at Goddard Space Flight Center had to finely time the camera to turn in the right direction at the right time.

LRO was launched by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 2009 with an orbit at an altitude of about 50 km above the lunar surface, to study the lunar surface and answer basic questions about its origin. the evolution of this celestial body along with the Earth.

Meanwhile, Danuri was launched from the US in August 2022 on a SpaceX rocket to fly around the Moon with an orbital period of about two hours to test the technologies needed to reach and explore the Moon. Its mission is to measure magnetic forces on the lunar surface, evaluate resources and map the terrain to help select future landing sites.

Lesley Montoya

Update 10 April 2024