On the night of March 13-14, a total lunar eclipse will occur, turning the moon into a striking “blood moon” as it falls into Earth’s shadow. This event raises an interesting question: how do lunar spacecraft, which rely on solar power, survive when they’re hidden from the sun?
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), in orbit since 2009, will need to prepare for this darkness. According to Noah Petro, the project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, LRO will turn off its science instruments and other non-essential systems during the eclipse.
The challenge lies in keeping LRO’s battery alive. The spacecraft charges its battery with solar panels while on the sunlit side of the moon and depends on this stored energy during the long nights. However, by 2018, its battery efficiency had dropped to 70% from overcharging. During this eclipse, LRO might experience nearly six hours of darkness, but Petro believes the battery can handle it.
Before the eclipse, the team will fully charge the battery. To avoid excessive power drain, all scientific instruments will be powered down. Inside, temperatures can plunge to around 23 degrees Fahrenheit (about -5 degrees Celsius), but certain areas, like the wide-angle camera, could get even colder, down to -22 F (-30 C). To counter this, the team will pre-warm the spacecraft to ensure everything stays within a safe temperature range.
In previous lunar eclipses, LRO could keep one instrument, called Diviner, operational. This radiometer measures thermal emissions from the moon’s surface, helping scientists understand temperature changes throughout a lunar day. Data from past eclipses has provided insights into the lunar surface and variations in temperature around craters.
For example, during the total lunar eclipse in 2014, Diviner observed the Kepler crater and noted a “cold spot” nearby, revealing that some regions cool more quickly than others due to complex layering. This discovery grants scientists a clearer picture of the moon’s surface features and composition.
Additionally, another lunar mission, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, recently landed on the moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. It arrived at Mare Crisium on March 2 and is equipped with 10 NASA experiments to explore the moon’s surface. Like LRO, Blue Ghost is solar-powered and is designed to function only during the daytime, which lasts about two weeks.
Blue Ghost’s landing was timed perfectly to witness sunrise, but it faces its first lunar night shortly after landing. The lander must navigate a lunar sunset on March 16. However, two days before, it will also experience the total lunar eclipse.
The eclipse will last about 6 hours, but the darkest part will only last around 65 minutes. During this time, the Blue Ghost team is confident that the lander can survive on its battery power. In a fascinating twist, they plan to capture high-resolution images of the eclipse, as Blue Ghost will be in the shadow of the Earth—a unique opportunity to see a total solar eclipse from the moon’s surface.
So as you gaze at the moon on March 13-14, think about the brave spacecraft facing the darkness, relying on careful planning and temperature control to make it through the eclipse.
Check out this related article: Discovering Liquid Water Beneath Mars: A Major Breakthrough in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Source link