Though data from orbiters have suggested presence of water ice, the exploration of lunar craters in the polar regions of moon has not been possible due to the absence of suitable technology to power lunar rovers in the perpetually dark, super cold areas having a temperature of –240°C. The project PHILIP (‘Powering rovers by High Intensity Laser Induction on Planetas’) commissioned by European Space Agency is ready to develop prototypes that would provide laser power to these rovers in an effort to explore evidence of existence of water in these craters.
Moon não gira em torno de seu eixo enquanto gira em torno da terra, portanto, o outro lado da lua nunca é visível da terra, mas ambos os lados recebem duas semanas de luz do sol, seguidas por duas semanas de noite.
However, there are sunken areas in craters situated in the polar regions of moon that never receive sun-light because low angle of sunlight that leave the deep interiors of the craters in shadow forever. This perpetual darkness in the polar craters make them super cold in the range of –240°C corresponding roughly to about 30 Kelvin i.e. 30 degrees above absolute zero. The data received from the lunar orbiters of ESA, ISRO e NASA have shown that these permanently shadowed areas are rich in hydrogen, suggestive of presence of água (ice) in these craters. This information is of interest for science as well as a local source of ‘water and oxygen’ for future moon human habitation. Therefore, there is a need of a rover that could go down to such craters, drill and bring sample for testing to confirm presence of ice there. Given lunar rovers are usually solar powered, this has not been achieved so far because it has not been possible to ensure power supply to rovers while it explores some of these dark craters.
Uma consideração era ter rovers movidos a energia nuclear, mas isso foi considerado inadequado para a exploração de gelo.
Pegando a deixa dos relatos de uso de laser para energizar drones e mantê-los no ar por mais tempo, o projeto PHILIP (‘Powering rovers by High Intensity Laser Induction on Planetas’) was commissioned by European Space Agency to design a complete movido a laser missão de exploração.
The PHILIP project is completed now and the ESA is one step closer to powering lunar rovers with lasers to explore the super cold dark crateras lunares perto dos pólos.
A ESA iria agora começar a desenvolver protótipos para explorar as crateras escuras que forneceriam evidências para a confirmação da presença de água (gelo) levando à realização do sonho humano de habitar este satélite.
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Fontes:
The European Space Agency 2020. Enabling & Support / Space Engineering & Technology. Rover movido a laser para explorar as sombras escuras da lua. Postado em 14 de maio de 2020. Disponível online em http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Laser-powered_rover_to_explore_Moon_s_dark_shadows Acessado em 15 de maio de 2020.
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