LOS ANGELES - A Soviet Union lunar rover discovered last month on the moon's surface might still prove useful nearly four decades after scientists lost track of it, with physicists announcing that the rover's reflector still can shine bright.
"It's been silent for almost 40 years, and nobody knew if it was even viable anymore," said Tom Murphy, a physicist at the University of California, San Diego. Murphy led the team that identified the location of the reflector.
Soviet scientists lost contact with the Lunokhod 1 rover on Sept. 14, 1971, 10 months after its landing. U.S. scientists initially scoured the lunar surface via telescope in an effort to find the rover's reflector, a small device from which much information could be gleaned. They'd hoped to take advantage of the data it could provide but soon gave up their search.
The reflector contains a series of glass prisms. If physicists direct a laser beam at the reflector, the prisms bounce the light back. Based on how and when the light returns -- and how many other reflectors are available to provide data -- physicists can learn about the structure and movement of the moon.
There are four functioning reflectors on the moon already. Three were flown up by the U.S. Apollo 11, 14 and 15 missions from 1969 to 1971. The fourth was left on the moon by Lunokhod 2, the second rover sent up by the Soviets.
Data from one reflector, Murphy said, can show the basic distance to that point on the lunar surface. Data from three reflectors can tell researchers where the center of the moon lies. And adding a fourth reflector's data to the mix helps researchers assess the impact of gravitational forces on the moon.
Having a fifth reflector in place should put a finer point on the distortion data, including what makes up the moon's fluid core.
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