This NASA concept aims to provide solar energy to the shaded regions of the Moon

Maxar Technologies is developing a system that directs incoming sunlight onto so-called solar modules in the dark, thus powering much-needed solar energy to a number of applications. This was announced by the American satellite company that works with the NASA space agency, known this week.

The system already has a name with “Light Bender” and, according to the developers, should be built by robots operating autonomously in the lunar environment. Receiving solar modules can be connected to robots, communication systems, or scientific instruments that require electricity.

Experts talk about an ingenious idea, where areas or places, such as impact craters, that would never receive sunlight could be powered in this form. gizmodo He writes that these very dark regions of the lunar surface, including regions at the lunar south pole that are hidden from sunlight, contain “valuable resources such as reservoirs of ice water.”

Exploration and work in the shadow regions of the Moon is an important part of NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. The space agency selected “Light Bender” through a tender to develop technologies related to the space agency’s goals from the Moon to Mars.

A concept is already under development and is expected to be demonstrated on the ground in 2025. The system consists of a 20-meter-high mast or telescopic mast with two ten-meter reflectors – one at the bottom and one at the top. The bottom reflector is designed to capture sunlight and reflect it to the secondary mirror, which then transmits the light to the receiver.

Sean Dougherty, Senior Architect at Maxar Technologies explains, “Part of what we do is conceptually simple: we reflect sunlight onto a solar panel in the dark. The point where it gets complicated is doing it without human intervention.”

That’s why the company wants to use robots to independently assemble the reflectors and put them on the moon. “The Light Bender reflectors will be the largest independently assembled in space,” Dougherty predicts. “The ten-meter mirrors would span almost the width of a tennis court and we are investigating how to build them independently. It’s not an easy task but we have the experience to do it,” the expert said.

Incidentally, Maxar Technologies previously built robotic parts for NASA, the robotic arms of the space agency’s Mars rover. The Rovers Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance, as well as the Phoenix and Insight landers are all equipped with the company’s arm.