NASA Engineer Develops Laser That Can Find Water on the Moon

Finding natural resources like water outside of Earth is a top priority for the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration.NASA). Therefore, recently, engineer Berhanu Bulcha has developed a small laser that can help identify and locate water sources. Moon.

The scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center is developing an instrument called heterodyne spectrometerIn partnership with Longwave Photonics company in NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The spectrometer has the ability to detect wavelengths of light to reveal its chemical composition and was developed to look for very specific frequencies as it is heterodyne. For example, work objects containing hydrogen, such as water, emit photons in the terahertz frequency range.

According to the engineer, currently no laser technology can produce terahertz waves as they tend to lose energy as they approach this frequency. The scientist and his team are developing quantum stepped lasers that produce terahertz energy.

water on the moon

One of the problems in quantum technology is the laser beam that propagates rapidly over short distances. However, the researchers were able to reduce this emission by 50%, and the goal is to further improve performance until we send the laser into space – the delivery will be accomplished through NASA’s Artemis program.

“If it’s water, where did it come from? Is it due to the formation of the Moon or did it come later with comet impacts? How much water is there? We need to answer these questions because water is critical to survival and can be used to produce fuel for future exploration,” Bulcha said in a NASA statement.