Korea’s first lunar orbiter “Danuri” began entering lunar orbit at dawn today (17), the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (Kangwooyeon) announced.
According to Korean media such as Yonhap News, Danuri performed the first lunar mission orbit maneuver to enter lunar mission orbit around 2:45 am.
The entry maneuver is the process of reducing speed so that Danuri can be captured stably by lunar gravity and orbit.
Danuri will conduct its second maneuver on the 21st and stabilize in lunar orbit through a total of five mission orbital maneuvers by the 28th.
Previously, Hangwooyeon launched Danuri to the United States on August 5 using the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Danuri’s entry into lunar orbit occurs 135 days after launch.
US Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg commented on his Twitter at the time: “This is a historic moment for Korea and a great example of the growing US-Korean partnership that extends into space.”
VOA news
