What anomalous scientists discovered on the Moon
The Korean Aerospace Research Institute has been exploring the Moon for a year now using an orbiter flying around it.
The Danuri mission made its major discovery together with two smaller NASA satellites. The Moon does not have a global magnetic field like the Earth, although it once did. However, like Mars, it has some local fields.
Magnetic anomalies on the Moon have so intrigued planetary scientists that NASA is considering a mission to study them exclusively, using two small satellites. One of them – Reiner Gamma Swirl gives extreme detail.
Surprisingly, however, Danuri found that magnetic fields are more widespread on the far side, indicating greater conductivity inside the Moon. Professor Ian Garrick-Bethell, from the University of California, Santa Circle, said this “doesn’t make sense”. Scientists have put forward two theories to explain the anomaly – that the far side of the satellite was hotter before, or that there was more water under the surface on this side.
The latter speculation is of great interest to future missions that will search for valuable resources on the satellite. However, there is no evidence for this theory yet.
Scientists have discovered an anomaly on the far side of the Moon (photo: NASA)
What other discoveries did the Danuri mission make?
The mission is also equipped with a gamma-ray detector, which allowed it to detect the brightest gamma-ray burst of all time on its way to the Moon in October 2022.
The project also involves exploring the depths of craters near the poles of the Moon. This is interesting to astronomers because ice is thought to survive on the bottom. Dunari’s “ShadowCam” is so sensitive that it can photograph these locations using light from the Earth or scattered light from nearby mountains much better than anyone before.
The mission also pioneered the use of cameras that measure polarized light as a way to study the magnetism of the lunar surface.
We also note that the mission was supposed to end in December 2023, but it was extended for another two years. During this time, two lunar eclipses should occur. Partial blackouts do not harm the orbiter, but complete blackouts can drain its battery.