Scientists have proposed an amazing system of mirrors, processed lunar soil and a heat engine to provide energy to vehicles and crew during the lunar night.
This would apparently do away with the need for batteries and nuclear power sources such as those used by the Chinese rover that recently landed on the moon.
The lunar night lasts about 14 days, during which temperatures as low as -150C have been recorded. This makes vehicle movement and equipment functioning on the lunar surface difficult and requires transportation of heavy batteries from Earth or the use of nuclear energy.
Now, an international team has worked up two options for storing energy on the Moon during the day for use at night.
The first system consists of modifying fragments of regolith or lunar soil, incorporating elements like aluminium, for example, such that it becomes a thermal mass.
When the Sun’s rays hit the surface, a system of mirrors reflects the light to heat the thermal mass, which later can transmit heat during the night to rovers and other lunar equipment.
The second system is similar, but incorporates a more sophisticated series of mirrors and a heat engine. The mirrors are Fresnel reflectors, such as those used in some solar energy technologies on Earth, which concentrate solar rays upon a fluid-filled tube.
This heat converts the liquid into a gas, which in turn heats the thermal mass. Afterwards, during the long lunar night, the heat is transferred to what is called a “Stirling engine” to produce electricity.
It is said to be the better of the two ideas.
The scientists have at least another six years to refine their ideas and turn them into workable technologies prior to the next manned lunar mission, which will be 2020 at the earliest.
