Head to the Moon. Our satellite has once again become a priority for space programs, this time with the idea of setting up permanent bases there in the coming years.
franceinfo: This project is not without asking many technical questions, which the living can answer?
Olivier Émond: If man intends to settle permanently in space, one of the number one questions is to find enough energy there to run a whole panoply of machines: the production of electricity is therefore a key point. The most available energy being that of the sun, solar panels are generally used, we see them on satellites, on the international space station, on probes.
If we imagine installing them on the Moon, obviously, to maximize their performance, they would have to be able to follow the direction of the Sun, as already exists on Earth with what are called trackers. All this means a lot of equipment to transport from Earth, which is very expensive, it also means in this very hostile environment, with in particular a lot of abrasive dust, very robust systems to limit breakdowns, spare parts being rare.
And there comes a well-known plant from our fields!
A plant that knows how to follow the Sun, without motor, without wires, simply because it has engraved in its DNA, as it evolves, an ability to maximize its exposure to light during the day, before returning to its starting position at night: here is the sunflower!
It is he who inspires researchers in materials science, such as Antoine le Duigou from the University of Bretagne Sud, who with his laboratory is working to develop a material that could imitate this movement of the sunflower stem, without the need for additional energy. external energy. And, icing on the cake, which could be made with a local lunar resource, a rock called regolith.
These specialists therefore imagine a material composed in particular of regolith fibers deforming more or less under the effect of the sun, and thus imparting a movement. An adaptive material for frugal robotics, which interests the European space agency. It should conduct trials in the coming months.