Dr. Berhanu Bulcha, NASA Engineer, develops a Tiny, High-Powered laser to find water on the Moon. Dr. Berhanu Bulcha is a Goddard engineer at NASA. Goddard engineers design and build spacecraft while the scientists and technicians develop and support those missions. The newly discovered High-Powered Laser’s heterodyne spectrometers detect light spectra or wavelengths to reveal the chemical properties of matter touched by light. Finding water and other resources is NASA’s priority in the exploration of the universe. It was recently discovered that the Moon contains a trace amount of water. The previous limitations have slowed the development of the research. The laser can zoom in on particular frequencies to identify and locate water sources on the Moon. The new finding opens up possibilities for exploration of the Moon and other objects beyond the solar system
Goddard technology uses a quantum tunneling effect to create a high-powered terahertz laser, filling a gap in existing laser technology. The new instrument heterodyne spectrometer can fit into a 1U CubeSat, roughly the size of a teapot, along with the spectrometer hardware, processor, and power supply, because of its small size and low power consumption. It could also power a handheld device for future exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA’s new solution is based on this discovery. NASA has now prototyped the laser because of its size, which is small enough to be carried on space missions.
Dr. Berhanu Bulcha stated that other missions have discovered traces of hydration on the moon, with the confusing outcome of whether it is hydroxyl or water. This laser allows us to open a new window to study this frequency spectrum. It helps to answer the questions of where, when, how it came to be, and the amount there is. These questions must be answered, and the answers are critical to the advancement of space science research. Water is essential for the survival of space exploration since scientists are working toward using water to create fuel for future exploration.
