S.Korea, NASA to send co-developed solar coronagraph to ISS

Seoul: South Korea’s national space agency on Friday said it plans to send a solar coronagraph jointly developed with the US to the International Space Station (ISS) to study the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, and solar wind.

According to KASA, the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX), a collaboration between the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and the NASA, will be delivered to the ISS onboard Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket Monday (US time) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Yonhap news agency reported.

As part of a bilateral solar research project, the coronagraph will be docked with the express logistics carrier on the ISS to observe the corona for up to 55 minutes per 90-minute Earth orbit.

CODEX is the world’s first coronagraph designed to observe the temperature and velocity of the solar wind in addition to the density, KASA said, noting it will help researchers better understand solar wind and predict space weather.

The solar wind is a constant stream of particles and magnetic fields released from the sun’s outermost atmospheric layer that affects weather in space.

Meanwhile, the KASA has also signed a joint statement with the US NASA for cooperation in various areas involving space and aerospace research.

The agency has partnered with NASA to conduct studies related to the Moon exploration Artemis programme.

According to its officials, KASA’s agreement with NASA aims to conduct research projects for sustainable exploration of the Moon and preparations for Mars exploration, Yonhap reported.

South Korea is the fifth nation to sign such an agreement with NASA, according to the Korean space agency.

Under the agreement, KASA and NASA will collaborate to conduct feasibility studies on lunar landers, space communications, positioning, navigation and timing, tools and applications to support astronauts, and space-based life sciences and medical operations.

The projects also include lunar surface science and autonomous power, robotics, mobility systems, and activities in the cis-lunar space, which refers to the region of space between the Earth and the Moon.

South Korea is one of the 47 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords, a US-led international agreement for lunar exploration.

–IANS