NASA captures mysterious images of object orbiting the Moon. Was it UFO?

If media reports are to be believed, NASA photographed a sliver of a mysterious, surfboard-shaped object orbiting the Moon on March 5 and March 6. The US space agency has also 'several images', captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). These pictures show a thin horizontal line of an object resembling the board of Marvel’s Silver Surfer character. But the curious object is not a UFO.

No UFO image

According to 'New York Post', these were the images of the Danuri lunar orbiter sent by its Korean counterpart, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The photographs were taken when two zipped past each other in parallel but opposite directions between March 5 and 6.

Image of Danuri

NASA has said that the image of Danuri, which has been orbiting the moon since December 2022, is distorted. NASA said further, "Although LRO’s camera exposure time was very short, only 0.338 milliseconds, Danuri still appears smeared to 10 times its size in the opposite direction of travel because of the relative high travel velocities between the two spacecraft."


The US space agency also said that the first image was 'oriented' to capture Danuri 'from three miles, or five kilometers, above it'. It added that the third photograph was also 'reorientated' to catch a glimpse of the Korean spacecraft at five miles below and a duplicate of the image was 'stretched' and pixels containing the Danuri 'unsmeared' so it's clearer to see the spacecraft.

Distorted image

Danuri has been orbiting the moon since December 2022, its image got distorted because of the extremely fast relative velocities between it and the LRO, about 7,200 miles per hour. Consequently, the photograph was taken that smears the Korean spacecraft to 10 times its size in the opposite direction of travel, with the LRO’s camera’s short exposure time.

The Danuri is South Korea’s first spacecraft on the moon, while the LRO has been circling the Earth’s natural satellite for 15 years.

FAQs:

Are these the image of a UFO?
The image of the curious object orbiting the Moon is not a UFO. These were the images of the Danuri lunar orbiter sent by its Korean counterpart, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

What are Danuri and LRO?
The Danuri is South Korea's first spacecraft on the moon, while the LRO has been circling the Earth’s natural satellite for 15 years.