Optical Power Beaming in the Lunar Environment

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Naqbi, Mohamed, Loranger, Sebastien, Kurt, Gunes Karabulut
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Naqbi, Mohamed
Loranger, Sebastien
Kurt, Gunes Karabulut
author_facet Naqbi, Mohamed
Loranger, Sebastien
Kurt, Gunes Karabulut
contents The increasing focus on lunar exploration requires innovative power solutions to support scientific research, mining, and habitation in the Moon's extreme environment. Optical power beaming (OPB) has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional systems. However, the impact of lofted lunar dust (LLD) on optical transmissions remains poorly understood. This research addresses that gap by evaluating LLD-induced attenuation and optimizing OPB design for efficient power delivery over long distances. A combined theoretical and simulation-based approach is employed, utilizing the T-matrix method to model LLD attenuation and Gaussian beam theory to optimize transmission and receiver parameters. The results indicate that LLD significantly attenuates ground-to-ground optical power transmission in illuminated regions, thus making OPB more suitable in darker areas, such as permanently shadowed regions or during the lunar night. Furthermore, we demonstrate that OPB can operate over long distances on the Moon while maintaining reasonable aperture sizes through appropriate optical design optimizations. These findings highlight the potential of OPB as a reliable power solution for sustainable lunar exploration and habitation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_14083
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optical Power Beaming in the Lunar Environment
Naqbi, Mohamed
Loranger, Sebastien
Kurt, Gunes Karabulut
Optics
Space Physics
The increasing focus on lunar exploration requires innovative power solutions to support scientific research, mining, and habitation in the Moon's extreme environment. Optical power beaming (OPB) has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional systems. However, the impact of lofted lunar dust (LLD) on optical transmissions remains poorly understood. This research addresses that gap by evaluating LLD-induced attenuation and optimizing OPB design for efficient power delivery over long distances. A combined theoretical and simulation-based approach is employed, utilizing the T-matrix method to model LLD attenuation and Gaussian beam theory to optimize transmission and receiver parameters. The results indicate that LLD significantly attenuates ground-to-ground optical power transmission in illuminated regions, thus making OPB more suitable in darker areas, such as permanently shadowed regions or during the lunar night. Furthermore, we demonstrate that OPB can operate over long distances on the Moon while maintaining reasonable aperture sizes through appropriate optical design optimizations. These findings highlight the potential of OPB as a reliable power solution for sustainable lunar exploration and habitation.
title Optical Power Beaming in the Lunar Environment
topic Optics
Space Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.14083