Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter Danuri Sending Awesome Earthrise Images Home While Preparing for Science Operations
From a 100-km circular polar orbit around the Moon, Danuri has an excellent vantage of Earth rising over the lunarscape which KARI team is observing with Lunar Terrain Imager (LUTI), 1 of 6 science payloads to be used for 1-year nominal science mission commencing February; KMAG (KPLO Magnetometer), Wide-Angle Polarimetric Camera (PolCam), KPLO Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (KGRS), Disruption Tolerant Network Experiment Payload (DTNPL) also developed by KARI; ShadowCam built by ASU for NASA, based on Narrow Angle Camera components of LROC on LRO with 200x sensitivity
International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) to speak on the resumption of astrophysical investigation from the surface of Moon during Division A (Fundamental Astronomy) talk at 14:40 KST, just hours after Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter Danuri set to launch at 8:08 KST; IM-1 carrying ILO-X to Moon NET Jan 2023 along with co-payload Radio Wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES); Future AFTM includes ILO-1 (NET 2024), LuSEE (2025), DAPPER, FARSIDE, Lunar Crater Radio Telescope
National Space Agencies NASA, CNSA, Roscosmos, ISRO, JAXA and many commercial groups are targeting South Pole of Moon for near-term surface landings both robotic and human; Standing 4,990 meters, Malapert Mountain is clear site choice for line of sight to Earth, Shackleton, southern sky; NASA CLPS providers (Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, Masten, Firefly), SpaceX, Blue Origin, ispace and/or major space faring agencies may facilitate ILOA flagship mission to ‘Point E’ on Malapert Mountain NET 2023
Gravitational-Wave Lunar Observatory for Cosmology (GLOC) is latest concept for conducting fundamental astrophysical research on Moon; Vanderbilt and Harvard astrophysicists K. Jani and A. Loeb contend conditions on Moon surface preferable to terrestrial and space for laser interferometry, propose <5 Hz instrument to validate general relativity / Lambda cold dark matter, observe type 1a supernovae; GLOC joins Artemis era radio astronomy from the Moon projects Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages & Exoplanets (University of Colorado / JPL), FarView (Lunar Resources Inc) Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (NIAC); Optical astronomy underway includes Q1 2022 ILO-X (International Lunar Observatory) and Ultimately Large Telescope (University of Texas) study
Lunar Landing Sites Under Consideration At Global Space Exploration Conference 2021 In St Petersburg, Russia Include 5-km Peak Malapert Mountain (86°S, 0°); Possessing Numerous Attributes Conducive To Scientific Observation, Communication, IRSU, Habitation; Containing Areas Of Near (90%+) Continuous Illumination And Shadowed Cold-Traps Possibly Harboring Water Ice; Earth Line-Of-Sight From Peak Rarely Interrupted; Shielded Far Side Flank Appropriate For Radio Astronomy; As USA President Biden And Russia President Putin Meet Today In Geneva, And China-Russia International Research Station Is Presented, Malapert Could Be Focus Of Cooperation Between Space Powers
Priorities And Advantageous Conditions For Science During NASA Human Landing Officially Planned For 2024 Include Moon As Stable / Quiet Platform For Farside Long Wavelength Radio Observation, With Special Attention On 21-cm “Dark Ages” Spectrum From Dawn Of Universe; Position Just Outside Earth Magnetosphere Conducive To Heliophysical Investigations On Electrodynamic Interactions With Surrounding Plasma Fields; Low Seismicity Ideal For Interferometer-Based Study Of Relatively / Gravitational Waves And Calibration; 60 Earth-Radii Distance 4x Shorter Than L1 Point Used For Long-Term Climate Observation; Lunar Cataclysm Hypothesis May Be Validated Via South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return If Dated 4.1Ga / Younger