ShadowCam to Join Korea’s First Lunar Exploration Mission

NASA has selected which instrument will be on the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s first lunar exploration mission.

The “ShadowCam” was created by Mark Robinson of ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) and Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and will be on the KPLO to study the terrain, detect any seasonal changes, and look for evidence of ice deposits on the Moon.

The ShadowCam was based off the Reconnaissance Orbiter Narrow Angle Camera, but was programed to be much more sensitive. (For reference, its like taking a digital camera from ISO 100 to ISO 80,000.) Because of this new sensitivity, it can take high-resolution and high signal-to-nose images of the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSRs).

“The telescope and much of the electronics will be identical,” Robinson said in a press release. “The big difference is swapping out the current image sensor for one that is 800 times more sensitive, allowing high resolution imaging within permanently shadowed regions, something the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera cannot accomplish.”

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Courtesy: Astornomy