The name of Korea's first lunar probe was decided to be 'Danuri'.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (Ministry of Science and ICT) announced today (23rd) that it has selected 'Danuri' as the official name of Korea's first lunar probe (Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, KPLO) through a public name contest.
The name 'Danuri' is a combination of the pure Korean word 'dal' and 'nuri' of 'nuri'.
The Ministry of Science and ICT explained that it contains the hope that everyone can enjoy the moon and hope that the first lunar exploration will be successful.
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The name proposer was Taehyun Ha, a doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
Ha said, "I am researching solutions to global problems such as carbon neutrality, but I have always been interested in space and participated in naming our lunar rover." I hope that it will become an opportunity for further development of science and technology.”
The Danuri lunar rover has completed its last space environment test ahead of launch in August of this year, and finishing work is underway to transfer it to the launch site, Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, Florida, USA.
Danuri will start sailing to the moon on August 3rd at 8:37 am Korean time aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket.
After launch, it will travel from Earth to the moon in cooperation with NASA for about 4.5 months.
In December of this year, it plans to enter a circular orbit 100 km above the moon.
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After that, the moon will be observed with six payloads, including a camera and a magnetic field meter, on the lunar orbit for the next year.
In addition, it is tasked with exploring potential lunar landing sites, conducting scientific research such as the lunar magnetic field and radiation, and verifying space internet technology.
(Photo = provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Yonhap News)