Overview
- A peer-reviewed paper led by researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology lays out a laser-based power grid that uses solar arrays on sunlit ridges to send energy to rover-mounted receivers in permanently shadowed craters.
- The team tested their optimization with NASA Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter data from the Shackleton crater area and reported that moving transmitters about 330 feet raised effective coverage by more than 35 percent.
- Modeling results increased the area of effective laser power from about 18 percent to over 24 percent and improved regional connectivity from under 40 percent to almost 100 percent in the study’s scenarios.
- Simulations show the network could still supply usable power for rover operations over distances of roughly three miles, but the concept remains at the modeling and simulation stage with no hardware demonstration.
- If developed, the system could reduce the need for heavy batteries or long power cables, ease access to ice-bearing dark craters for science and resource use, and require further work on beam pointing, dust control, and thermal management.