Moon eclipse NASA's satellite threat

The real superhuman event that will take place next Sunday will likely threaten one of NASA's important exploration tools.

The real moon can affect the LRO probe

According to The Independent, when the Earth obscures the Sun, causing the Moon to sink into darkness on September 27, we will just be able to admire the magnificent total eclipse, just witnessing the phenomenon of super moon, called blood moon. But this is also a difficult time for the Moon Exploration Satellite (LRO) of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA). Temperature and light will drop significantly, which can cause it to stop working.

Not all spacecraft can overcome the temperature drop and lack of light when the eclipse occurs. NASA's Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Environment (LADEE) probe, which was designed to perform a 100-day mission in a non-lunar cycle, was nearly disabled during the eclipse in April. / 2014.

LRO simulation.(Photo: NASA).

In contrast, the LRO can withstand hours of low temperatures and lack of light. The LRO has passed three eclipses safely in the past 1.5 years. On September 28, when we were contemplating the blood moon, the LRO would switch to a special mode, it would disconnect and go into a state of "hibernation" to survive the cold and dark flight.

"We have a solution and it works," said Dawn Myers, a science planner at NASA's Goddard Aeronautics Center. "It's always tense when the lunar eclipse comes near, but we always follow the default process and haven't encountered any trouble."

The LRO will start again the next morning and the team of scientists will observe and follow up within the next 24 hours to make sure it works well.

"Hibernation" is the key to helping satellites overcome eclipse. It is also a great time to test some of the LRO's new abilities that help clarify the secrets of the Moon. Diviner, the device on the LRO, is a radiometer, which can measure reflected energy from the surface of the Moon and infrared emissions that help determine the surface temperature.

"Our electrical engineer observed previous eclipses and evaluated the feasibility of turning on this device to work during the eclipse , " Myers said. "He told us that if the voltage drops below a certain level, we have to turn off the device, but that hasn't happened yet."

Keeping Diviner active when the lunar eclipse takes place will provide useful information.

"The cooling of the lunar surface during lunar eclipses helps us know how the other high points on the Moon cool down compared to a normal moon night , " Noah Petro, another scientist of NASA said. "From there we can study the particle size at the surface".

The LRO departs on June 18, 2009 to carry out a two-year mission. Up to now, it has operated to the 6th year and is expected to continue operating until October 2016.

Video of NASA about the phenomenon of blood moon and super moon: