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The Quest to Build a Telescope on the Moon

Carla J Johns — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 17:49:28 +0000

The Quest to Build a Telescope on the Moon Carla J Johns Tue, 09/24/2024 - 11:49

Matthew Hutson

From The New Yorker Magazine: A few months ago, I flew to Houston to visit a small startup called Lunar Resources, which aspires to build the largest telescope in the solar system—not on Earth but on the far side of the moon. Houston is nicknamed Space City; on the ride from the airport, I passed the ballpark where the Astros play, and, outside a McDonald’s on East NASA Parkway, I saw a giant sculpture of an astronaut holding French fries. I found Lunar Resources in a boxy building where the company leases square footage from the aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin. Read more…

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Broadcast 4217 Hotel Mars with Dr. Jack Burns

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 18:15:43 +0000

Broadcast 4217 Hotel Mars with Dr. Jack Burns Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/19/2024 - 12:15

From The Space Show with host, Dr. David M. Livingston: Listen to the broadcast from June 19, 2024 with Dr. Jack Burns

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Private Odysseus moon lander reveals which Earth 'technosignatures' aliens might see News

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 21:18:48 +0000

Private Odysseus moon lander reveals which Earth 'technosignatures' aliens might see News Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/12/2024 - 15:18

Sharmila Kuthunur

From Space.com: Human technology like cell phones and broadcast towers constantly radiate radio waves into space, and astronomers estimate this tell-tale signature of humanity has swept across 75 nearby star systems, signaling to any watchful alien civilization that Earth hosts a technologically advanced species. And, while scientists have listened to the incessant radio chatter from our planet for a long time, in late February, they heard it from the moon for the first time.

A small radio telescope onboard the Odysseus spacecraft, the first commercial vehicle that successfully landed on the moon on Feb. 22, recorded radio waves beamed from Earth for 1.5 hours. The experiment, named ROLSES, made its observations from Odysseus' landing spot near the Malapert A crater, which sits roughly 185 miles (297 kilometers) away from the moon's south pole.

Astrophysicist Jack Burns of the �鶹ӰԺ, who is the co-investigator of ROLSES, described the moment as the "dawn of radio astronomy from the moon." By studying Earth as an exoplanet, astronomers hope to search for similar fingerprints coming from planets around other stars, which would be a potential sign of intelligent life. Read more…

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Earth’s radio waves recorded from the Moon for the first time

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 15:56:54 +0000

Earth’s radio waves recorded from the Moon for the first time Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/10/2024 - 09:56

Andrei Ionescu

From Earth.com: On February 22, a significant milestone in space exploration was achieved when the lunar lander Odysseus, developed by Intuitive Machines, successfully touched down near the Moon’s South Pole. This event is hailed as the “dawn of radio astronomy from the Moon” by Jack Burns, an astrophysicist at the �鶹ӰԺ.

The lander, which had to overcome various technical difficulties, deployed four antennas to record radio waves around the lunar surface, marking a major achievement in the field.

Burns, a co-investigator on the Radio wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photo Electron Sheath (ROLSES) experiment aboard Odysseus, will provide updates on the data collected and discuss future plans for radio astronomy from the Moon at the 244th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Madison, Wisconsin.
“It was heroic for Intuitive Machines to land under these conditions, and to deploy our antennas, take some data and get that data back to Earth,” said Burns. Read more...

Also, watch the press conference from June 10, 2024 during the AAS meeting in Madison, WI with a report on the CLPS IM-1 mission from February and the initial results from the ROLSES-1 radio telescope.

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Far Side of the Moon is Getting a Telescope Array?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 19:35:12 +0000

Far Side of the Moon is Getting a Telescope Array? Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/10/2024 - 13:35

From the James McConnell Show: Join us to discuss Dr. Jack Burns' 50+ year career working as an Astrophysicist and Professor. We discuss his journey to put a radio telescope on the moon and future plans for an array of telescopes on the lunar far side! Watch the video.

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NASA may build giant telescopes on the moon in your lifetime. Check out the blueprints.

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 18:01:39 +0000

NASA may build giant telescopes on the moon in your lifetime. Check out the blueprints. Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/29/2024 - 11:01

Morgan McFall-Johnsen

From Business Insider: Gazing at the moon, you may see a face or a round of cheese, but some astronomers see the ideal spot for their next giant telescope.

They're already drafting blueprints and making proposals — some with cash from an interested NASA.

One moonshot plan would build a giant radio dish spanning an entire crater on the far side of the moon.

Another involves a giant triangle of lasers to detect ripples in space-time and trace them to distant collisions of black holes and massive dead stars. Read more...

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Private Lunar Lander: “The Dawn of Radio Astronomy from the Moon Has Begun!”

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:44:41 +0000

Private Lunar Lander: “The Dawn of Radio Astronomy from the Moon Has Begun!” Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/28/2024 - 14:44

Leonard David

From Leonard David's Inside Outer Space: “We can clearly say that the dawn of radio astronomy from the Moon has begun!” That’s the word from Jack Burns, a University of Colorado/�鶹ӰԺ astrophysicist. He is a co-investigator on the ROLSES instrument now on the Moon courtesy of the Intuitive Machines lunar lander, Odysseus.

ROLSES stands for Radio wave Observation at the Lunar Surface of the photo-Electron Sheath, designed to study the dynamic radio energy environment near the lunar surface. ROLSES is a NASA-supported payload under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative.

The good news is that there was successful deployment of antennas for ROLSES and turning a spectrometer on to take good low radio frequency radio data. Read more...

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Lunar science is entering a new active phase, with commercial launches of landers that will study solar wind and peer into the universe’s dark ages

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 21:06:57 +0000

Lunar science is entering a new active phase, with commercial launches of landers that will study solar wind and peer into the universe’s dark ages Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/05/2024 - 14:06

Jack Burns

From The Conversation: For the first time since 1972, NASA is putting science experiments on the Moon in 2024. And thanks to new technologies and public-private partnerships, these projects will open up new realms of scientific possibility. As parts of several projects launching this year, teams of scientists, including myself, will conduct radio astronomy from the south pole and the far side of the Moon.

NASA’s commercial lunar payload services program, or CLPS, will use uncrewed landers to conduct NASA’s first science experiments from the Moon in over 50 years. The CLPS program differs from past space programs. Rather than NASA building the landers and operating the program, commercial companies will do so in a public-private partnership. NASA identified about a dozen companies to serve as vendors for landers that will go to the Moon.

NASA buys space on these landers for science payloads to fly to the Moon, and the companies design, build and insure the landers, as well as contract with rocket companies for the launches. Unlike in the past, NASA is one of the customers and not the sole driver. Read more...

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AAS 243 - Plenary Lecture Radio Astrophysics and Cosmology from the Moon

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:11:23 +0000

AAS 243 - Plenary Lecture Radio Astrophysics and Cosmology from the Moon Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/11/2024 - 12:11

From the American Astronomical Society Plenary Lecture series: Watch a talk by Dr. Jack Burns about Radio Astrophysics and Cosmology from the Moon from January 2024.

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Private Peregrine moon lander failure won't stop NASA's ambitious commercial lunar program

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 15:44:42 +0000

Private Peregrine moon lander failure won't stop NASA's ambitious commercial lunar program Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/10/2024 - 08:44

Monisha Ravisetti

From Space.com: NEW ORLEANS — It was only two days ago when Peregrine, the inaugural private lander contracted under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, brilliantly blasted toward space aboard the first private flight of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket.

Mere hours into the journey, Peregrine started to fail.

Astrobotic, the company behind the spacecraft, continues to provide updates on how Peregrine seems to be faring post-anomaly; the struggling craft even provided a photo for scientists to analyze while figuring out what to do. Honestly, things aren't looking great for the lander, and Astobotic has confirmed it won't be making a soft touchdown on the lunar surface. Read more...

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