Photo of the far side of the Moon with the earth in the background

Far Side The Moon’s Use as a New Astronomical Site

April 12, 2022

From Space News Show Daily: Far Side The Moon’s Use as a New Astronomical Site Read page 1 and page 2 of this special digital edition.

Photo of the moon and earth - Image credit NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio by Ernie Wright

Moon group pushes for protection of ultraquiet lunar far side

Feb. 14, 2022

From Space.com: The international scientific community has long been discussing the need to keep the far side of the moon free from human-made radio frequency intrusion. Doing so can make possible observations of the unexplored early epochs of the universe known as the dark ages and cosmic dawn, scientists say...

Illustration of radio telescope on the Moon. Credit NASA/JPL

NASA eyes moon's dark side for astronomy, new telescopes

May 19, 2021

From UPI: NASA scientists, as well as astronomers around the world, plan to install lunar observatories in the next few years to peer into the universe's ancient past -- just after the Big Bang. Science equipment headed to the moon already includes a spectrometer built for launch in early 2022,...

Artist illustration of DAPPER mission and the Moon

Exploring the far side of the Moon and beyond with NESS

April 23, 2021

From Innovation News Network: NASA has created the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), bringing together teams of researchers who are interested in the Moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars, airless bodies in Earth’s neighbourhood. Most of the teams involved in SSERVI are therefore interested in areas such...

Fraser Cain and Jack Burns discussion on YouTube

The Lunar FARSIDE Telescope

March 16, 2021

From Universe Today: Fraser Cain spoke with Dr. Jack Burns, the Principle Investigator for the Lunar FARSIDE telescope about installing a radio telescope on the farside of the Moon that would be capable of observing the first stars and black holes during the Dark Ages and Epoch of Reionization. Watch...

A decades-old idea from lunar scientist Richard Vondrak, who worked at the Apollo Science Operations Center during the Moon landing program, proposed using lunar craters to build radio telescopes like the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Here, an artist’s concept shows how three telescopes could be used separately or combined to create a giant instrument.

The history and future of telescopes on the Moon

June 3, 2020

From Astronomy.com: For radio astronomers, Earth is a noisy place. Many modern electronics leak radio signals, which interfere with the long, faint wavelengths of light studied by radio observatories. And for decades, this invisible light pollution has pushed radio observatories deeper into so-called “radio quiet zones.” This forces radio astronomers...

The Far Side Of The Moon Is The Perfect Place For a Radio Telescope artist illustration

The Far Side Of The Moon Is The Perfect Place For a Radio Telescope

Jan. 21, 2020

We’ve now passed the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, and all eyes are back on the Moon. NASA is planning to return to the Moon by 2024 with its Artemis mission, the Chinese have put the Moon firmly in their plans for space exploration, and even SpaceX thinks...

The Lunar Farside: A Science and Exploration Imperative talk

January 12, 2018 Jack Burns