Though data from orbiters have suggested presence of water ice, the exploration of Bulan craters in the polar regions of moon has not been possible due to the absence of suitable technology to power Bulan 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 Planet’) commissioned by European Ruang 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.
Bulan tidak berputar pada paksinya kerana ia beredar mengelilingi bumi justeru bahagian lain bulan tidak pernah kelihatan dari bumi tetapi kedua-dua belah menerima dua minggu cahaya matahari diikuti dengan dua minggu malam.
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 Bulan orbiters of ESA, ISRO and NASA have shown that these permanently shadowed areas are rich in hydrogen, suggestive of presence of air (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 Bulan 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.
Satu pertimbangan adalah untuk mempunyai rover berkuasa nuklear tetapi ini didapati tidak sesuai untuk penerokaan ais.
Mengambil iktibar daripada laporan penggunaan laser untuk menggerakkan dron untuk memastikan ia tetap tinggi untuk tempoh yang lebih lama, projek itu FILIP (‘Powering rovers by High Intensity Laser Induction on Planet’) was commissioned by European Ruang Agency to design a complete berkuasa laser misi penerokaan.
The PHILIP project is completed now and the ESA is one step closer to powering Bulan rovers with lasers to explore the super cold dark kawah bulan dekat tiang.
ESA kini akan mula membangunkan prototaip untuk meneroka kawah gelap yang akan memberikan bukti untuk pengesahan kehadiran air (ais) yang membawa kepada realisasi impian manusia untuk menghuni satelit ini.
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Sumber:
Agensi Angkasa Eropah 2020. Pembolehan & Sokongan / Kejuruteraan & Teknologi Angkasa. Penjelajah berkuasa laser untuk meneroka bayang-bayang gelap Bulan. Disiarkan pada 14 Mei 2020. Boleh didapati dalam talian di http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Laser-powered_rover_to_explore_Moon_s_dark_shadows Diakses pada 15 Mei 2020.
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