▲ Danuri captures the area before and after the collision of the SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage rocket
South Korea's lunar orbiter Danuri has successfully captured images of the lunar surface both before and after the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crashed into the Moon on the 5th.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) announced that Danuri captured the events surrounding the collision, which occurred near the Einstein crater on the lunar surface at 3:34 PM on the 5th, Korea Standard Time.
Footage provided by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) shows black shading forming on the lunar surface following the impact, along with radial traces visible at the collision site.
KASA also stated that topographical changes and traces of ejecta diffusion were confirmed near the impact site.
Considering the direction and other factors, KARI estimated that the upper stage of the rocket collided while moving from the southeast to the northwest of the Moon.
It was previously analyzed that the collision would involve the rocket upper stage, weighing approximately 4.9 tons, striking the Moon at a velocity of 2.43 kilometers per second to form a small impact crater 20 to 30 meters in diameter.
This observation was carried out across a total of eight sessions, including one observation at 3:01 PM, about 30 minutes before the impact, followed by seven subsequent captures after the collision.
The photography session concluded at 7:00 AM in June.
Following the rocket upper stage's impact on the lunar surface, Danuri passed over the collision site through orbit control and photographed the surface using its High-resolution Terrain Imaging Camera (LUTI).
The distance from Danuri to the impact site is approximately 340 to 350 kilometers.
KASA compared this observation to a scenario of flying at 1.5 kilometers per second at an altitude of 150 kilometers above Seoul while photographing a collision taking place in Busan.
In addition, the wide-angle polarimetric camera equipped on Danuri simultaneously photographed the same region, observing changes in the surface polarization characteristics.
This observation is noted as a major case of observing a pre-predicted artificial object colliding with the Moon from lunar orbit.
While previous artificial impacts on the Moon were limited to confirming surface changes long after the event, Danuri secured images both before and immediately after the impact, providing data to analyze the changes caused by the collision.
KASA announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) also plans to observe the collision area in the future, and Danuri's observation data will be used to formulate the LRO imaging plan.
LRO's observation performance is known to be about six times better than that of Danuri.
The observation data will undergo scientific analysis by related research institutions to yield more detailed results, such as the exact size and shape of the impact crater, the distribution of ejecta, and changes in surface reflection and polarization characteristics.
KASA expressed expectations that this analysis will contribute to studying the physical properties of the lunar surface using artificial impactors and calibrating the interpretation of natural meteorite impacts.
(Photo courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Yonhap News)
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