For decades, exploration of the moon was exclusively the concern of just two nations – the United States and the Soviet Union. After the last manned Apollo mission in 1972, the USA and, a little later, the Soviet Union lost interest in the moon. Between 1973 and 1976, an American mission and three Soviet moon flights with unmanned probes were successful. Then the moon did not receive a visit from earth again until 1990 - a Japanese probe reached a lunar orbit at that time.
For some years now, all space nations - the number of which has increased significantly since the time of Apollo - have been increasingly turning to the moon. This year, 2022, the number of rocket launches aimed at the moon is greater than ever before: there are eight missions – three American, two Japanese and one each from India, Russia and South Korea.
The Korean moon probe "Danuri" was launched in the first week of August at the Cape Canaveral cosmodrome with a "Falcon 9" rocket from the private space company SpaceX by Elon Musk on its journey to the Earth's satellite. It is Korea's first lunar engagement. The name of the probe was only determined in May 2022 in a nationwide competition. "Danuri" is composed of the Korean words "dal" (moon) and "nuri" (enjoy). The probe also has a second, international name: "Korea Pathfinder".
The 678-kilogram lunar probe should reach its orbit around the moon on December 16, 2022. A journey time of more than four months from the earth to the moon is comparatively long, but "Danuri" does not take the shortest route, but rather a fuel-efficient one. The probe first flies to the so-called Lagrange point L1, where the gravitational forces of the earth and the moon cancel each other out.
From there, the spaceship can optimally use the gravity of the moon. To swing into a first orbit, "Danuri" will ignite its engine. Further maneuvers will put the Korean probe into a circular orbit 100 kilometers above the moon. From there, "Danuri" will explore the moon for at least a year. After this period, the mission may be extended and the orbit lowered to an altitude of 70 kilometers.
There are six measuring instruments on board "Danuri", five of which were contributed by the Korean space agency Kari. One instrument comes from NASA. The measuring systems are powered by two solar panels attached to the probe.
The Korean probe is intended to explore other suitable landing sites for future manned missions. Here "Danuri" supports the two NASA probes "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter" and "Capstone", which will only reach the moon a month before "Danuri". As part of the new "Artemis" program, the USA wants to put people back on the moon in a few years. Korea is one of ten countries participating in Artemis. Korea signed the corresponding contract in 2021.
But Korea is not just about cooperation in NASA's "Artemis" program. The country also has its own lunar vision and would like to develop a lunar lander and rover. In June 2022, Korea had successfully launched its own satellite for the first time - with a self-built launch vehicle.
Certainly there is no single reason for the awakened or renewed interest in the moon in many countries. As in the first race to the moon - which the USA won with Apollo - this time it is certainly about prestige and honor. In addition, successful moon landings are still a major challenge and a technological showcase.
Commitment to and on the moon does not directly help to deal with earthly problems. But ambitious programs motivate researchers and help to develop new, innovative and even more powerful technologies. They could then also be useful on earth as space spin-offs and enable competitive advantages.
Some also consider the moon to be attractive from an economic point of view, because it could be worth mining certain substances there - such as helium-3 - and transporting them to Earth. Others, however, calculate that this will not be worthwhile in the foreseeable future. In addition to all these arguments for setting off for the moon with manned and unmanned space probes, there is of course one central point, at least for researchers: scientific curiosity. There is still much to be explored and discovered on Earth's satellite.
