English

NASA plans to use lasers to measure the impact of exhaust gases on the lunar surface during landing, in order to plan lunar landings more effectively

538
2023-10-31 11:08:22
See translation

Recently, NASA's official website showed that a research team at the University of Central Florida has tested an instrument called Ejecta STORM, which aims to measure the size and velocity of surface particles generated by exhaust gases from rocket powered landers on the moon or Mars.

According to NASA, when a spacecraft lands on the moon or Mars, rocket exhaust plumes can produce efflorescent ejecta (abrasive dust and rapidly moving large particles) that may damage the lander and surrounding structures. Understanding how the exhaust of rocket engines affects the ejectors will help task designers model soil erosion rate, particle size distribution, and velocity related to plume surface interactions, thereby more effectively planning lunar landings.

To meet this demand, researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a laser instrument called Ejecta STORM (Sheet Tracking, Opacity, and Regolith Material). The four tethered flights allowed researchers to test the integration of the system with the lander and simulate the operation under flight conditions of the lunar lander plume effect. These tests are based on data collected during flight activities conducted using Xiaodac in 2020.

Researchers hope that this technology can provide information for model development and reduce the risk of future lunar landings, ultimately improving the design of planetary science missions based on rovers, manned lunar and other celestial missions, and on-site resource utilization missions.

Source: Sohu

Related Recommendations
  • Jenoptik announces record high preliminary performance for 2024

    Recently, Jenoptik, a German company, released its preliminary performance for 2024, delivering a record high in both revenue and profit, but also revealing hidden concerns amidst industry cyclical fluctuations. Against the backdrop of weak demand in the semiconductor equipment market and increasing global economic uncertainty, this company with laser and optical technology as its core is attempti...

    02-14
    See translation
  • The output power of high power femtosecond laser breaking through the key bottleneck of average power can reach the order of 100 watts

    High energy, high average power femtosecond laser due to the attosecond high order harmonic generation, precision processing and manufacturing, biomedical and national defense and other fields of extensive application needs, is the forefront of ultrafast super laser technology research in the past decade.Especially fiber laser due to stable and reliable operation characteristics, compact structure...

    2023-09-04
    See translation
  • Novanta launches multi axis laser scanning head for microprocessing applications

    Novanta Corporation ("Novanta") announced the launch of the new generation of multi axis scanning head, the Precession Elephant III.This next-generation multi axis scanning head for microfabrication provides a simple upgrade path for existing and new customers to meet the growing market demand with faster and more accurate performance.The Precision Elephant III (PE III) utilizes proprietary optica...

    2024-07-18
    See translation
  • Two photon absorption quantum mechanism breaks through the resolution and efficiency limits of optical nanoprinting

    Recently, a research team from the School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering at Jinan University has elucidated for the first time the time-dependent quantum mechanism of two-photon absorption and proposed a two-photon absorption (fpTPA) optical nanoprinting technology based on few photon irradiation, successfully breaking through the bottleneck of traditional two-photon printing technology...

    03-06
    See translation
  • Research has found that inorganic perovskite materials are easy to prepare and process, making them suitable for manufacturing lasers

    According to research from Busan National University, inorganic perovskite materials are easy to prepare and process, making them suitable for manufacturing lasers.The perovskite of interest is CsPbBr3, which must form "nanosheets" within the specific structure invented by the Busan team to obtain sufficient laser gain.It is not that the laser has been achieved, as the research project aims to cha...

    2024-01-04
    See translation