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 Planetene’) 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 roterer ikke om sin akse når den roterer rundt jorden, derfor er den andre siden av månen aldri synlig fra jorden, men begge sider får to uker med sollys etterfulgt av to uker med natt.
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 og NASA have shown that these permanently shadowed areas are rich in hydrogen, suggestive of presence of Vann (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.
En vurdering var å ha atomdrevne rovere, men dette ble funnet å være uegnet for isutforskning.
Prosjektet tar utgangspunkt i rapportene om bruk av laser for å drive droner for å holde dem oppe i lengre tid. PHILIP (‘Powering rovers by High Intensity Laser Induction on Planetene’) was commissioned by European Space Agency to design a complete laserdrevet leteoppdrag.
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 månekratere i nærheten av stolpene.
ESA vil nå begynne å utvikle prototyper for å utforske de mørke kratrene som vil gi bevis for bekreftelse av tilstedeværelsen av vann (is) som fører til realisering av menneskets drøm om å bebo denne satellitten.
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kilder:
The European Space Agency 2020. Enabling & Support / Space Engineering & Technology. Laserdrevet rover for å utforske Moons mørke skygger. Lagt ut 14. mai 2020. Tilgjengelig på nett på http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Laser-powered_rover_to_explore_Moon_s_dark_shadows Åpnet 15. mai 2020.
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