By Park Hye Ri
Photos = Ministry of Science and ICT
Video = Official YouTube account of Korea Aerospace Research Institute

The nation's first lunar orbiter Danuri captured the back side of the moon for the first time in Korea's space development history.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and Korea Aerospace Research Institute on April 12 unveiled high-resolution photos and videos of the moon's far side taken from Danuri, which was launched into space on Aug. 5 last year.

A spacecraft is needed to observe the dark side of the moon as it cannot be seen from Earth. The U.S. and Russia took photos of it during their lunar missions but this is the first time for a Korean probe to take pictures of it.

Using the high-resolution camera Lunar Terrain Imager installed on it, Danuri on March 22 snapped images of the Tsiolkovskiy crater and the valley Vallis Schrodinger and crater Szilard M on March 24.

Tsiolkovskiy crater

Tsiolkovskiy is a large impact crater with a diameter of 180 km and named after the Russian (Soviet) physicist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. The video vividly captured the 3,200 m-high peak of the crater, which was formed by either volcanic activity or collision of meteors.

Vallis Schrodinger and Szilard M were captured on the day Danuri completed its 1,000th lunar orbit.

Vallis Schrodinger valley

Szilard M crater

Located near the moon's south pole, Vallis Schrodinger is a valley 320 km long and 8-10 km wide around a big crater. It was formed after several groups of meteors collided, thus earning the designation crater chain.

Szilard M has a diameter of 23 km and the shape of its rim has been changed by external impact.

The ministry and the Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute also unveiled photos of the Wichmann crater taken by an optical field polarization camera, another device installed on Danuri. This camera can identify the types of particles on the lunar surface by using changing light reflection traits that vary depending on the topographical characteristics of the lunar surface.

Videos taken by Danuri's high-resolution cameras will be released to public after editing, the ministry said. The observational data sent from the orbiter's optical field polarization camera will be used in the world's first full-face polarimetric lunar map slated for release in January next year.

From April 12, the ministry on its homepage (www.kari.re.kr/kplo) will provide the data Danuri observed on the moon and a real-time service to check the orbiter's location.

hrhr@korea.kr