image source, BERHANU GOVERNMENT
Ethiopian-American NASA scientist Berhanu Pulsa is working to solve the problem of finding water on the moon and finding solutions for permanent human habitation there.
Without water there is no life.
This rule applies to humans living on earth or to the entire universe.
NASA’s Artemis-1 mission to send humans to the moon was successfully launched last week. Solving the problem of finding water elsewhere beyond Earth is crucial. Human life on the moon would not have been possible without this precious liquid. Dr Berhanu is leading a team studying how to find water on the moon. Water can be transported from Earth to the Moon. But, this plan is cost effective and not efficient. Water on the moon can also be used as rocket fuel, making the moon a base for space travel. This would reduce the need for large rockets to overcome our planet’s gravity.
‘The Million Dollar Question’
Berhanu and his team are working on developing a lightweight, portable spectrometer to reliably identify where water is present on the Moon.
“It’s the million dollar question,” Berhanu told the BBC from NASA’s office in the US.
Berhanu, who graduated from the University of Virginia 12 years ago, focuses on designing space instruments that can solve a variety of NASA problems.
Among these, the search for water on the moon remains the biggest problem.
image source, NASA/MICHAEL GUINTO
A small laser tool
It has already been confirmed that there is water on the moon. But problems persist with methods that distinguish between water, which is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, and hydroxyl, which contains hydrogen.
What tool?
The laser-powered device Berhanu is designing emits light at a specific frequency for water, allowing it to accurately detect the presence of water.
His team is designing a semiconductor laser called a quantum cascade laser to achieve this frequency.
Achieving this frequency has been a difficult task in the past, according to a NASA news release.
‘Innovative Technology’
Describing this as an innovative technology, Berhanu says scientists will be able to find out where and how much water is present on the moon with this handheld device. This is something no one has done in the past.
This small device can also be operated remotely. Minimizing the size and weight of any object designed to travel to the Moon is considered critical.
image source, Reuters
Based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, Berhanu recently received $2.5 million to continue work on designing such a tool.
It will take another two years to fully design the instrument. But Berhanu is confident that the work can be done and it will be functional. There is nothing to doubt his determination. Berhanu sees that determination as his defining characteristic.
Who is this Berhanu?
Berhanu, 38, grew up in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Later, after completing his higher education, he moved to the United States to study physics and engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University.
He is a confident man.
“When I came to America I didn’t have a sidekick, I was a sidekick. I felt detached from the culture I grew up in and immersed in a new culture. At that time, you have to think first about working hard and succeeding in education,” he said about his early adaptation to America.
image source, Nasa/Michael Giunto
He also admits that while the decision to leave Ethiopia is risky, opportunities to work on cutting-edge technologies and exciting research projects cannot be avoided.
A search that began in childhood
His curiosity about the universe and what is in it started from his own country.
Brought up in Christianity, he asked himself questions about the universe through his introduction to the Bible.
For some, strict adherence to the Vedas may lead to the cessation of other pursuits, but for Berhanu, that is what made him think beyond them.
“I am interested in knowing how many things came to be. Interested in learning more about them. “There is an interest in knowing what the universe looks like and how big it is,” he says.
A desire to ask questions and seek answers helped the Addis Ababawa-raised boy overcome one of the major obstacles to space exploration.
Hard work and finding the right mentors are the tools of his success, he says.
“The first step is to dream, plan for it and travel towards it. Of course there will be challenges. But we should not stop and keep doing the work,” he says.
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