- MSIT to discuss science technology cooperation with Thailand (11 Nov)
- Danuri to send video and photos from outer space! (9 Nov)
MSIT to discuss science technology cooperation with Thailand
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, Minister: Lee Jong-Ho) held bilateral meeting with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI, Minister: Anek Laothamatas) of Thailand to discuss the science and technology cooperation.
It was the first meeting after the signing of science technology MoU at Busan in 2019, and was held in the wake of Minister Anek’s visit to Korea. This meeting served as a venue to discuss and share opinions on R&D policies of space technology, tailored medical AI technology, and climate technology.
Specifically, Minister Lee expressed hopes of mutual development in space technology through cooperation, mentioning the practical-level exchanges currently taking place in Thailand space vehicle launch site construction. In addition to the space technology cooperation, Thailand delegate showed interest in the cutting edge medical technologies and climate technologies, asking for the experience transmission from Korea. They hoped for active exchanges among universities and research institutes.
Minister Lee said, “Among Asian countries that are emerging in space technology, Thailand is growing in a fast speed. With the government’s support, Thailand will soon enter the club of major countries, leading the space technology.” He added “We hope that cooperation between Korea and Thailand to be done in more various science technology fields such as medical and climate change, as well as space technology.”
Danuri to send video and photos from outer space!
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, Minister: Lee Jong-Ho), the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI, President: Lee Sang-Ryool), and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI, president: Kim Myung-Joon) announced that Danuri successfully transmitted video and image data from outer space.
The DTNPL, Delay/Disruption Tolerant Network Payload, was loaded to verify data transmission in space, where, unlike on earth, network is delayed or disrupted frequently. ETRI conducted two verification tests of the DTNPL on August 25 and on October 28 together with KARI and NASA JPL, and the data transmission was successful. The result has great meaning in that the test was conducted at a distance more than three times longer than mission purpose.
MSIT and KARI unveiled photos of the earth and the moon’s orbit taken by Danuri. Danuri has been taking photos of the moon’s revolution since September 15 with the high-resolution camera developed by KARI. On September 24, Danuri took 15 photos to vividly capture the moment the moon passes the earth. While the earth-moon photo unveiled on August only showed a brief “moment”, the images presented this time captured the “process” of the moon’s revolution.
The KPLO Gamma Ray Spectrometer (KGRS) successfully observed the explosion of gamma ray, generated by the black hole. The gamma ray explosion was also observed in the U.S. and Europe. It was a substantial observation in a sense that it was the first observed gamma ray explosion related to the beginning of the black hole.
As of November 7, Danuri is located at approximately 1.05 million km away from the earth, and approaching the moon at the speed of 0.54 km/s. Danuri conducted the third Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) on November 2 to reduce errors in the route. After tracing and analysing, KARI confirmed that the TCM was conducted successfully. By December 17, Danuri will travel approximately six million km more to reach the lunar orbit, and slow down to enter the target orbit. From January 2023, Danuri will conduct science technology missions for one year, while orbiting 100km above the surface of the moon.
Director-General Kwon Hyun-Joon of Space and Big Science Policy Division of MSIT said “Danuri is navigating as planned toward the moon.” He asked for attention and support from the public so that Danuri can successfully start the new year at the moon.
The video and images sent from Danuri can be found at official Danuri website (www.kari.re.kr/kplo).
