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Dark Ages Polarimeter Pathfinder

July 16, 2020

From NRAO eNews: The NRAO Central Development Laboratory (CDL) is assisting with the development of the Dark Ages Polarimeter Pathfinder (DAPPER), a lunar-orbiting spacecraft concept designed to measure the spectrum of highly-redshifted hydrogen emitted during Cosmic Dawn, the epoch of initial star formation in the evolution of the Universe. The...

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Fly me to the moon, and far beyond

July 13, 2020

From CU On the Air Podcast: Since the late 1940s, the University of Colorado Boulder has sent important experiments and instruments to every planet in our solar system. In 50+ space missions, NASA spacecraft have launched hundreds of instruments from CU Boulder as well as 20 CU scientists, faculty and...

Screen shot from Telescopes on the Moon video of the FARSIDE project
Telescopes on the Moon

June 22, 2020

From Launch Pad Astronomy: Telescopes on the Moon has been a dream since the 1830's. But apart from two small telescopes on Apollo 16 and Chang'e-3, we haven't sent any telescopes to the Moon yet. But now that NASA is planning to return to the Moon permanently, astronomers are once...

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...

Dr. Jack Burns NASA Advisory Council speaking on video
Why winning the new space race is so important for the USA

May 30, 2020

From the Telegraph: Saturday morning's SpaceX launch will be a momentous occasion for the history of spaceflight. Not necessarily because of the technological achievement, but rather because it marks the start of a whole new space race.This time, global superpowers are not proving to each other the superiority of their...

Intuitive Machines selects landing site for CLPS mission
Intuitive Machines selects landing site for CLPS mission

April 14, 2020

From SpaceNews: Intuitive Machines has identified a landing site for a commercial lunar lander mission next year that will carry payloads from NASA and other customers. The Houston-based company announced April 13 that its IM-1 lander mission, scheduled for launch in October 2021, will touch down near a valley called...

An orbital view of Daedalus, a high-rimmed lunar farside crater that offers extra shielding from Earth’s radio chatter, which can contaminate delicate scientific observations. The crater could someday become a protected lunar site. Credit: NASA
Astronomers Battle Space Explorers for Access to Moon’s Far Side

April 7, 2020

From Scientific American: As countries and private companies race to return to the moon, the need to protect the lunar far side—the hemisphere of Earth’s companion that always faces away from our planet—continues to grow. For decades, scientists have argued that the far side’s unique combination of accessibility and isolation...

As depicted in this illustration, a giant surges of solar particles erupts off of the Sun.
NASA Selects Mission to Study Causes of Giant Solar Particle Storms

March 30, 2020

From NASA: NASA has selected a new mission to study how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms – known as solar particle storms – into planetary space. Not only will such information improve understanding of how our solar system works, but it ultimately can help protect astronauts...

Concept image of the Astrobotic Peregrine robotic lander, which will launch on an United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket, and deliver 11 NASA payloads to the Moon.
First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis

Jan. 23, 2020

From NASA: NASA has finalized the first 16 science experiments and technology demonstrations, ranging from chemistry to communications, to be delivered to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program. Scheduled to fly next year, the payloads will launch aboard the first two lander deliveries of the agency’s Commercial...

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...

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