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Week 49 / 2008: Taking Measurements in Outer Space

On November 14, Finland and India celebrated the successful deployment of a probe to the Moon. The Indian probe Chandrayaan 1 successfully entered an orbit of 100 km above the surface of the Moon.

The event was met with a round of applause at the University of Helsinki because the probe was carrying the instrument XSM, which successfully became operational. XSM was built by the high energy astrophysics research group of the observatory of the University of Helsinki, in cooperation with Oxford Instruments Analytical Oy.

“We are following the incoming data with excitement and pride. The Finnish team was asked to participate in the project because people around the world know we are good at this,” said Juhani Huovelin, a lecturer at the Department of Astronomy of the University of Helsinki.

The first version of the radiation detector is onboard the Moon probe SMART-1, which entered into an orbit around the Moon two years ago. In addition, our researchers are currently participating in the preparation of the BepiColombo probe, which the European Space Agency will send to Mercury.

The Indian probe weighs about as much as a car, while the XSM instrument weighs a few hundred grams. The sensitive instrument has been installed as a part of an X-ray spectrometer developed in Britain, and its function is to measure radiation emitted by the Sun's corona.

“The X-ray radiation impacting on the Moon’s surface will allow us to determine the concentrations of chemical elements on the Moon's surface, for example,” Huovelin says.

The device operates on the same principle as X-ray analysers used to search for ore. However, in outer space, the devices are subjected to extreme conditions. There are extreme variations in temperature, for example, and strong particle radiation.

The conquest of space is not something that is accomplished overnight. The results from the Mercury probe are expected in the 2020s, and no one can guess when human colonies might be established in outer space. For the time being, it is safer to send unmanned probes. The main motivation behind the ventures of the nations leading the way in the colonisation of space is to be the first nation to plant its flag on the surface of another planet.

Text: Kai Maksimainen
Photo: NASA
Translation: AAC Noodi
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