Lunar Crater Radio Telescope

A group of US researchers recently received a $500,000 grant to study a new type of radio telescope that might one day be built on the Moon.

The grant was awarded as a second phase project under NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.

The lunar telescope would involve robots hanging a large sheet of wire mesh in a crater on the Moon's far side to create a giant radio telescope that would study the formation of the first stars after the Big Bang. The telescope might also help scientists better understand dark matter.

A 1km aperture Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (Image Credit NASA)

Radio telescopes are a relatively common here on Earth but there are some major advantages of developing one on the Moon.

On the Earth's surface radio waves from the first few million years of the universe (wavelengths 10m and more) are blocked by the ionosphere. There is also a lot of interference from radio systems on our own planet. So a radio telescope located on the far side of the moon would give a unique capability to study important scientific questions.

The NIAC study aims to look at a new apparoch for building such a telescope at a lower cost. It would still be a grand science insturment, but just a bit more achieveable in the astronomy budgets expected in coming 10-15 years (my numbers).

The design they are putting forward would makes use of a lunar crater around 3 kilometers wide (the exact crater can chosen later becasue there are so many of them!). The antenna would be nesteled at the base of the crater, covering a width of about 1 kilometer. Its largest component would be a reflector dish made from thousands of individual panels.

The radio reciever would be suspended above the disk on cables running from mounting points at the sides of the crater. A similar concept, on a much smaller scale was used in the Arecibo radio telescope that recently was decommissioned due to degradation.

Due to the high costs and complexities of transporting humans to the Moon, and sustaining them there, the most cost-effective approach for making the giant lunar telescope would be to use robots. The NIAC study will examine options for autonomous robots as well as remotely operated ones. 

If the remotely operated option is chosen, this could be a great opportunity for the AROSE remote operations centre, an Australian effort to support the space sector by harnessing the country's existing capabilities in remotely operating mining equipment.

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