Though data from orbiters have suggested presence of water ice, the exploration of maan craters in the polar regions of moon has not been possible due to the absence of suitable technology to power maan 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 Planets’) commissioned by European ruimte 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.
maan draai nie om sy as soos dit om die aarde wentel nie, dus is die ander kant van die maan nooit van die aarde af sigbaar nie, maar beide kante ontvang twee weke sonlig gevolg deur twee weke se nag.
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 maan orbiters of ESA, ISRO en NASA have shown that these permanently shadowed areas are rich in hydrogen, suggestive of presence of water (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 maan 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.
Een oorweging was om kernaangedrewe rovers te hê, maar dit is gevind dat dit nie geskik is vir ysverkenning nie.
Met 'n aanduiding van die verslae van die gebruik van laser om hommeltuie aan te dryf om hulle vir 'n langer duur omhoog te hou, het die projek PHILIP (‘Powering rovers by High Intensity Laser Induction on Planets’) was commissioned by European ruimte Agency to design a complete laser-aangedrewe verkenningsmissie.
The PHILIP project is completed now and the ESA is one step closer to powering maan rovers with lasers to explore the super cold dark maankraters naby die pale.
ESA would now begin to develop prototypes for exploring the dark craters that would provide evidence for confirmation of the presence of water (ice) leading to realisation of human dream to inhabit this satellite.
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Bronne:
Die Europese Ruimte-agentskap 2020. Bemagtiging en ondersteuning / Ruimte-ingenieurswese en -tegnologie. Laser-aangedrewe rover om Maan se donker skaduwees te verken. Geplaas 14 Mei 2020. Aanlyn beskikbaar by http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Laser-powered_rover_to_explore_Moon_s_dark_shadows Toegang op 15 Mei 2020.
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