The craters at the south pole of the moon have been dark for billions of years, but in recent years scientists have gradually discovered evidence that the back of the moon may contain water. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has provided nearly $1 million in funding to research teams from eight American universities to develop new methods to find and ultimately extract water from these permanently shaded areas.
A joint research team led by the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Arizona received $114,000 in funding for a project that combines laser pointer with femtosecond satellites. The femtosecond satellite is a small disposable satellite developed by a laboratory, about the size of a butter stick.
The Colorado School of Mines is exploring the concept of using lasers to drive lights and lunar exploration machines. "Students are actually building a complete system, which is very rare, especially in the aerospace field," said the assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and the head of the laboratory at the University of Arizona. "Our project is to build stepping stones with the necessary technology to explore and extract water on the surface of the moon."
Moon exploration has always been "expensive." Therefore, researchers need a low-cost, low-risk method to test the feasibility of using green laser pointer signals for power supply and communication in the lunar environment. "The special thing about these femtosecond satellites is that their cost is very low. You can send dozens, hundreds, or even thousands at the price of an ordinary satellite," said Professor Jekan Thanga. "Because the environment on the far side of the moon is so foreign to us, disposable spacecraft are the perfect way to explore these areas."
In this plan, a femtosecond satellite equipped with a laser communication system will land on the surface of the moon, and then use a mechanical ejection device to bounce the laser communication device to different locations on the surface of the moon. The femtosecond satellite will receive the signal from the laser communication system and transmit it back to the ground to prove the effectiveness of laser communication.