34 research outputs found
Long-term degradation of optical devices on the moon
Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts placed the first of several retroreflector
arrays on the lunar surface. Their continued usefulness for laser-ranging might
suggest that the lunar environment does not damage optical devices. However,
new laser ranging data reveal that the efficiency of the three Apollo reflector
arrays is now diminished by a factor of ten at all lunar phases and by an
additional factor of ten when the lunar phase is near full moon. These deficits
did not exist in the earliest years of lunar ranging, indicating that the lunar
environment damages optical equipment on the timescale of decades. Dust or
abrasion on the front faces of the corner-cube prisms may be responsible,
reducing their reflectivity and degrading their thermal performance when
exposed to face-on sunlight at full moon. These mechanisms can be tested using
laboratory simulations and must be understood before designing equipment
destined for the moon.Comment: 9 pages; 4 figures; accepted for publication in Icaru