Category Archives: Radio Astronomy

Friday / 15 November 2024

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Firefly Aerospace Aims for Moon Far Side

Firefly Aerospace, Texas, latest fundraising of US$175M, much from RPM Ventures, raises valuation to US$2B; majority owner is AE Industrial Partners; will launch via SpaceX Falcon 9 for first of 2 commercial Moon landings under NASA CLPS awards, delivering 10 instruments / experiments including LuSEE-Night, also Australian seismic SPIDER; after transport on 2,700 kg-payload-capacity Firefly Elytra Dark Transfer Vehicle in lunar orbit, lander Blue Ghost carries 150 kg to lunar surface, provides data / power / thermal resources for operations from Moon far side for 10+ days

Credits: Firefly Aerospace, Fleet Space, SpaceX, Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Oct 2023

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Astronomy from the Moon is Increasing Focus of International Moon Missions

Unique vantage of lunar surface is attracting multitude of astronomy initiatives: ILO-X Galaxy imaging precursor instrument suite launching on Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander NET Nov 15; AstronetX Lunar-based Camera (L-CAM), led by Tabetha Boyajian of LSU, may launch on ispace Mission 2 NET 2024; Dipole antenna LuSEE-Lite heading to Schrödinger Basin aboard Draper / ispace APEX 1.0 lander NET 2025, while 4-monopole antenna LuSEE-Night expected to launch to Moon far side in late 2025 / early 2026 on Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lander; CNSA Chang’e-8 to conduct soft-x-ray (<3 KeV) observation NET 2028

Credits:

Friday / 13 Oct 2023

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China Bolstering Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Network With 2 New Telescopes for Cislunar / Deep Space Tracking

The 5th and 6th radio telescopes of the China VLBI Network are under construction following groundbreaking at sites in Changbai Mountains (near North Korea border) 11 Oct and in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China in September; Shigatse station to feature 40-m radio telescope operating at 4,100-m; When linked to Nanshan 25m Radio Telescope (Ürümqi), Tianma 65-m Telescope (Shanghai), Beijing 50-m antenna (Miyun) and Yunnan Astronomical Observatory 40-meter radio telescope (Kunming), network will extend to 3800 km and allow observation of multiple spacecraft with 18% increased resolution

Pictured: SHAO Director Shen Zhiqiang; Credits: SHAO, NAOC, CAS, CNSA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 29 Sep – 2 Oct 2023

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USA Enterprises Eager to Lead Return to Moon Surface, Make History with First Commercial Landings

Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, Firefly, Draper, and ispace USA are working towards first United States Moon landings in over 50 years, with IM and Astrobotic aiming for launches before EOY; NASA financing IM-1 approximately US$116M and Peregrine Mission 1 $79.5; IM-1 carrying LN-1 navigation instrument, NDL Doppler lidar, SCALPSS plume cameras, and Laser Retroreflector Array produced by GSFC for NASA; Commercial customers include Columbia Sportswear, Embry–Riddle, Lunaprise, Jeff Koons, Lonestar Data Holdings; NASA / UC-Boulder and independent International Lunar Observatory Association to send Astronomy from the Moon precursors ROLSES and ILO-X

Pictured: Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton; Credits: IM, Astrobotic, Linkedin

Tuesday / 19 Sep 2023

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NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Issues New Award to Firefly Aerospace for Astronomy from the Moon Follow-on

The second Firefly lunar mission launching NET 2026 to receive additional US$18M for frequency calibration of LuSEE-Night payload, with $112M already allotted for CLPS CS-3 task order for Moon far side delivery; LuSEE-Night is a collaboration between Space Science Laboratory and DOE (Brookhaven / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories), led by PI Stuart Bale of UC Berkeley, which aims to place a 4-monopole rotating antenna array to probe cosmological ‘Dark Ages’ signals between 0.1-50 MHz; Instrument calibration to utilize Elytra Dark transfer stage / lunar orbital platform, which will deliver ESA Lunar Pathfinder relay satellite being built by SSTL

Credits: Firefly, UC Berkeley

Tuesday / 10 Jan 2022

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Radio Astronomy from the Moon Initiatives Progressing via NASA NIAC, Preliminary Missions Scheduled Through 2025

CLPS Science 3 delivery to Moon farside to be 9th in program NET 2025 by TBD lander provider; CS-3 payload LuSEE-Night to observe radio frequencies <50MHz, 21-cm big bang signals via spectroscopy; Also launching NET 2025 is CLPS PRISM-12 with LuSEE-Lite precursor on Draper Series 2 lander; IM-1 mission to carry Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES) NET March; Mega structure radio observatory concept LCRT receiving support via NIAC, FARSIDE may partner with Blue Origin, Farview working with Lunar Resources; Open Lunar study with SGAC suggests ‘single international radio observatory’ be planned to preserve lunar radio-quiet

Pictured: FARSIDE PI Jack Burns, ROLSES PI Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy, LCRT PI Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, LuSEE PI Stuart Bale; Credits: NASA, UC Boulder, UC Berkeley, Vladimir Vustyanky / JPL

Friday / 14 January 2022

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Intuitive Machines and Partners Build Commercial Communications Network Ahead of 3 Moon Missions

Lunar Telemetry and Tracking Network (LTN) commercial cislunar communications system first tested with Goonhilly Earth Station (UK) GHY-6 deep space antenna / ESA INTEGRAL gamma ray space observatory, now validated with Live Sky test utilizing Morehead State University 21-m Space Tracking Antenna / NASA LRO feeding data to Houston-based Nova Control; CSIRO Parkes 64-m Radio Telescope (Australia) is largest receiver in LTN; Network communications hardware and software provided by Clear-Com of Alameda CA; IM-1 / IM-2 launching 2022, IM-3 in 2023

Credits: Intuitive Machines, NASA, MSU

Friday / 30 July 2021

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Plans for Observatories on Moon Gaining Traction in USA Academia and Industry

Gravitational-Wave Lunar Observatory for Cosmology (GLOC) is latest concept for conducting fundamental astrophysical research on Moon; Vanderbilt and Harvard astrophysicists K. Jani and A. Loeb contend conditions on Moon surface preferable to terrestrial and space for laser interferometry, propose <5 Hz instrument to validate general relativity / Lambda cold dark matter, observe type 1a supernovae; GLOC joins Artemis era radio astronomy from the Moon projects Farside Array for Radio Science Investigations of the Dark ages & Exoplanets (University of Colorado / JPL), FarView (Lunar Resources Inc) Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (NIAC); Optical astronomy underway includes Q1 2022 ILO-X (International Lunar Observatory) and Ultimately Large Telescope (University of Texas) study

Credits: Vanderbilt University, Karan Jani, John Templeton Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Tuesday / 6 Oct 2020

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USA To Explore Radio Astronomy From The Moon Starting 2021

Intent On Gathering Data Relevant To Primordial Cosmology, Future Lunar-Based Astronomy Missions Were Presented By CU Boulder Professor Jack Burns At LEAG 2020: ROLSES, Set To Land On Moon In Oct 2021 As Part Of CLPS Carrier Intuitive Machines Nova-C Science Payload, Will Monitor 10 kHz – 10 MHz Spectrum With Antennae At 1 & 2 m Above Lunar Surface, Testing Response; LuSEE In 2024 Will Measure Electromagnetic Fields On Farside; DAPPER Orbiter Aims For 2025 And 10-km Diameter FARSIDE In Planning Stages Would Have Major SETI Potential

Credits: CU, NASA, JPL, ESO, Jack Burns