India made history with its Chandrayaan-3 moon landing last month. South Korea's Danuri Moon orbiter recently shared a snap of the landing site.
Danuri Moon Releases Snap of Chandrayaan-3's Moon Landing Site
The landing site of India's Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission is shown in a picture captured by South Korea's Danuri Moon orbiter, according to the country's science ministry.
On Aug. 27, four days after Chandrayaan-3 became India's first successful Moon landing and the first-ever touchdown at the natural satellite's south pole, the lunar orbiter's side gig as a space paparazzi saw it and took a snap of the location. The photo was taken at a distance of roughly 100 kilometers.
Danuri's job includes pictures of probable lunar landing locations; therefore, taking photos of the Moon's south pole was mission-critical.
It was announced by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Science and ICT that more images of Danuri's work, including potential lunar landing sites, five different types of element maps, the Moon's radioactive environment, and more would be made public in December. The lunar orbiter will have been used for two years by the end of December 2024, when it is expected to retire.
Russia was also working on its moon mission at about the same time as India. The Russian probe Luna 25 blasted off on Aug. 10. It traveled a more direct path and reached lunar orbit on Aug. 16. Its operators wanted to bring it to the surface at the landing spot on Aug. 21, at around dawn.
However, on Aug. 19 at 2:57 p.m., Russian time, the nation lost contact with the robotic spacecraft. Luna 25 reportedly collided with the moon's surface, ending Russia's lunar expedition.
Japan Follows India, Russia's Moon Mission
Following the two lunar missions from Russia and India, with the latter the only one savoring success, Japan sets its eye on making the same achievement. On Sept. 6, Japan launched two huge missions: a cutting-edge lunar lander and a potent X-ray space telescope.
If everything goes according to plan, SLIM ("Smart Lander for Investigating Moon") will make Japan's first-ever soft lunar landing. A precise touchdown will pave the way for even more ambitious successes.
The tiny SLIM spacecraft is only 7.9 feet (2.4 meters) tall, 8.8 feet (2.7 meters) long, and 5.6 feet (1.7 meters) wide. It weighs around 1,540 pounds (700 kilograms) at liftoff, and nearly 70% is propellant.
SLIM will make a moon landing at approximately three to four months after traveling a long, looping, and fuel-efficient journey. After another month of monitoring the area, it will attempt to settle in the 1,000-foot-wide (300-meter) Shioli Crater, a near-side impact basin on the moon at 13 degrees south latitude.
The probe, which intends to land within 330 feet (100 m) of a particular point inside Shioli Crater, makes a more precise landing attempt than earlier lunar landers. The goal is to demonstrate pinpoint-landing technologies that enable further in-depth exploration of the moon and other astronomical worlds.
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