Long-term degradation of optical devices on the moon

TL;DR

Long-term lunar environment exposure degrades optical devices like Apollo retroreflectors over decades, reducing their efficiency due to dust or abrasion, which impacts future lunar optical equipment design.

Contribution

This study reveals that lunar environmental factors cause significant degradation of optical devices over decades, highlighting the need for improved durability in lunar equipment.

Findings

Reflector efficiency decreased by a factor of ten over decades.

Degradation is more severe near full moon due to thermal effects.

Dust or abrasion likely causes reflectivity loss.

Abstract

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.