'Danuri' all set for Korea's first moon exploration

Just half a century after US astronaut Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, South Korea is gearing up to become the seventh nation in the world to carry out a lunar probe mission, with its first lunar orbiter set for an Aug. 2 launch.

The country's first lunar mission, which has been named "Danuri" through a nationwide naming contest, has completed the final stages of space tests, including durability checkups against extreme temperatures and electromagnetic waves at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Korean Herald reports. It is waiting to be transported to its launch site in the US - the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in early July.

A combination of the two Korean words "dal" and "nuri," meaning "moon" and "enjoy," respectively, Danuri was unveiled to reporters on Friday at the KARI headquarters in Daejeon, six years after the development of the country's first lunar orbiter began in 2016.

"With over 60,000 people (participating in the naming contest), we have a meaningful name in Danuri. We have come this far 15 years after the first mention of a lunar probe," said Lee Sang-ryool, president of KARI.

"Danuri will be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon rocket on Aug. 3, Korea time. It will enter the moon's orbit on Dec. 16 and begin to carry out various scientific missions and tests from 2023."

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter's (KPLO) dry mass is 418 kilograms and about 2 meters in length, height and width when all parts are folded. The KARI said Danuri's light weight has a competitive edge over other countries' lunar orbiters, such as Japan's Selene weighing at 1,984 kg and US' Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at 1,018 kg.

According to KARI, Danuri contains six payloads -- a magnetometer, shadow camera, gamma ray spectrometer, wide-angle polarimetric camera, delay-tolerant-network experiment and lunar terrain imager.