Comments on: Astronomers demand more regulations to prevent industry from ruining the Moon’s “environment”

By: John Fisher

John Fisher — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 15:47:54 +0000

Astronomy currently functions by rationing access to sensors. The astronomy hierarchy doesn’t want to give that power up.

By: Nancy Reyes

Nancy Reyes — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 03:23:56 +0000

are these the same ones who love stealing land from indigenous people and building telescopes on the Holy mountains of the Apache and Hawaiian people? Just wondering…

By: Icepilot

Icepilot — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 02:55:07 +0000

Let’s scale up the easy way – Launch 4 radiotelescopes placed every 90 degrees (90/180/270/SunEarth L2) around Earth’s orbit. Let’s get a 186,000,000 mile antenna.

By: Edward

Edward — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 01:23:11 +0000

Ray Van Dune wrote: “… contrary to popular myth, the far side of the Moon is not always “dark”!”

The ground may not always be dark, but the sky is, 709 hours a day.

Telescopes of all wavelengths may do well on the Moon, and radio telescopes located at the bottom of craters may do very well, being protected from surface radio sources.

What the radio astronomers really need to worry about are the satellites orbiting the Moon, broadcasting all over the place. Maybe they actually need radio telescopes in heliocentric orbits away from the Earth-Moon system. These might be affordable, if only the astronomers would quit relying upon government money and government mismanagement of their projects. JWST would not have taken so long nor cost so much, if they had gone with commercial builders. Hopefully, this will become common in the near future, and we can get far more science for the bucks spent, and get it much sooner, too.

By: Dick Eagleson

Dick Eagleson — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:57:55 +0000

The arrogance and sense of entitlement of the academic left never fails to astonish.

By: GeorgeC

GeorgeC — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:54:05 +0000

The surface area of the far side of the moon is pretty big, and with a curvature much more than earths. Radius is 27% of earth and no Ionosphere to reflect radio waves. So radio telescopes have plenty of room for silent zone management. Like Mr Z said scientists just have to start building with a plan to draw some lines.
One problem might be that building on the moon needs to be trial and error at first. because of the surface unknowns. Not like the totally specified space deployment of JWebb where you can take 20 years of on earth spending followed by an all or nothing deployment.

By: Ray Van Dune

Ray Van Dune — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:12:29 +0000

A Starship might be suitable for deployment of an ultra-large optical reflecting telescope in deep space. While the motions of such a telescope could be damped out, it might prove much more difficult to dampen out the motion of the Moon, if that was the telescope base!

Besides, shielding from the emissions of the Earth is much more relevant to radio astronomy than to optical… contrary to popular myth, the far side of the Moon is not always “dark”!

By: Mike Borgelt

Mike Borgelt — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:10:26 +0000

The astronomers will have to just fit their hobby around other serious activities. Too bad.
DOGE is designed to stop fraud and waste of US taxpayers’ funds. There may then be money for things like lunar telescopes.
It is totally unrealistic to expect radio silence on lunar farside. There will be com sats and nav sats in lunar orbit supporting surface exploration.

By: Lee S

Lee S — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 18:33:51 +0000

Well said Bob…. I have been reading for decades about plans to build all sorts of telescopes on the far side of the moon… With nothing forthcoming other than PowerPoint presentations.

A few human outposts would certainly pollute the radio wavelengths, but I have read very convincing cases for lunar telescopes in the visible spectrum, of all sorts of design… Huge lightweight mirrors that could resolve exoplanets in enough detail to detect oceans and even artificial light during the night time.

It is no good in closing the stable door after the horse had bolted, the guys planning these potential projects have to deal with reality, and form there proposals accordingly.

( It gives me a slight headache thinking if such literal moonshot projects stand less chance under DOGE or more chance with SpaceX’s rapid development of Starship…)

By: Andi

Andi — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 16:59:27 +0000

So when he leaves the observatory, do they announce, “Elvis has left the building”?