A NASA team led by Ethiopian-American scientist Dr Berhanu Bulcha wants to find out where water is on the moon and how it got there.
Finding water on the Moon could be easier with a Goddard technology that uses an effect called quantum tunnelling to generate a tiny high-powered terahertz laser, filling a gap in existing laser technology. Locating water and other resources is a NASA priority crucial to exploring Earth’s natural satellite and other objects in the solar system and beyond. Dr. Berhanu Bulcha said a type of instrument called a heterodyne spectrometer could zoom in on particular frequencies to definitively identify and locate water sources on the Moon.
Using innovative technology supported by Goddard’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD) funding, Dr. Bulcha and his team integrated the laser on a waveguide with a thin optical antenna to tighten the beam. The integrated laser and waveguide unit reduces this dissipation by 50% in a package smaller than a quarter. He hopes to continue the work to make a flight-ready laser for NASA’s Artemis program. Where there is water, there are chances of finding life.
Source: NASA
(Photo: Dr. Berhanu Bulcha shows off his terahertz laser technology in his lab at NASA’s GoddardSpace Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD USA)
Photo Credit: NASA/Michael Giunto
