Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
USA, March 8. - Scientists say it could be easier for us to explore and live on the Moon than we previously thought.
According to a new study, there could be ice just below the lunar surface in more parts of the polar regions than we thought.
The use of that ice and its transformation into water is likely to be critical to our exploration or even the habitability of the Moon, but it is not clear exactly how much there may be.
The likelihood of finding ice is related to the Moon's surface temperature.
But our surface temperature measurements were made during the Apollo missions in the 1970s, which landed near the equator, far from where we intend to land when we return to the Moon. Furthermore, in those parts of the celestial body, the slope of the surface does not affect the temperature much.
Now, researchers have used measurements from ChaSTE, a temperature probe experiment aboard the Vikram lander that in 2023, arrived at the edge of the Moon's south polar region.
They were able to observe both the tilted and flat parts of the surface and found that the parts that were tilted and faced away from the Sun could be cold enough to accumulate ice near the surface. These locations can be found on the Moon, including where NASA's next crewed Artemis missions plan to land on the lunar surface.
NASA has successfully used GPS navigation on the lunar surface for the first time. The demonstration, which also involves the Italian Space Agency, is expected to mark a new era of exploration and discovery on the Moon.
Using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the experiment involved successfully acquiring and tracking Earth-based signals from 362 thousand kilometers away.
On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate everything from smartphones to airplanes, said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate program administrator for NASA's Space Communications and Navigation.
The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) was carried out using Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander, which became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully reach the Moon after landing on its surface this week.
Now, LuGRE is showing us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals on the Moon. It is a very interesting discovery for lunar navigation and we hope to take advantage of this capability for future missions.
GPS operations are planned to continue for the next two weeks in an effort to collect more data and further develop the Moon's first advanced navigation system.
NASA hopes to use this technology for its upcoming Artemis missions, which will attempt to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
In addition to introducing GPS, NASA is working to create a new time standard for the Moon that will be used by astronauts, spacecraft and satellites.
Coordinated Lunar Time aims to address disparities between Earth-based and Moon-based timekeeping, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days.
Different gravitational forces also mean that Earth-based clocks appear to lose 58.7 microseconds per Earth day.
An atomic clock on the Moon will work at a different rate than one on Earth, Kevin Coggins, NASA's top communications and navigation official, said last year.
It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the Moon or Mars, each has its own heartbeat. (Text and Photo: Cubasí)
