NASA scientists are aiming high with their latest idea. They want to build a huge radio telescope in a lunar crater. The plan may sound like science fiction, but early work has already begun. The project could launch in the 2030s if funding is approved.
The telescope, called the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT), would sit inside a crater nearly one mile wide. It would be built by robots using a wire mesh dish suspended by cables. The location on the moon’s far side would protect it from Earth’s noisy signals. This would make it ideal for observing the universe in radio silence.
Protecting radio astronomy from Earth-based interference
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California is leading the study. The team was first awarded $125,000 in 2020 through NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts. In 2021, they secured an extra $500,000 to develop the idea further. Now they’re preparing to apply for phase III funding next year.
Scientists are worried about rising radio interference from space. Large satellite networks, like SpaceX's Starlink, are leaking radiation. This affects sensitive Earth-based radio telescopes. LCRT could offer a backup plan by moving radio astronomy to the moon.
If approved, the telescope could cost $2.6 billion to build. NASA researchers admit the price may be a barrier. They have already picked a preferred crater in the moon’s Northern Hemisphere. The location is still secret for now. Plans call for a 350-metre wide mesh dish, larger than the collapsed Arecibo telescope but smaller than China’s FAST.
A telescope that listens to the universe’s quietest whispers
The moon's far side is shielded from both Earth and the sun. This makes it a perfect spot to detect ultra-long radio waves. These are blocked by Earth’s atmosphere and cannot be studied from the ground. LCRT would allow scientists to look back at the universe’s “dark ages”, a period before the first stars were born.
During that time, the cosmos was filled with neutral hydrogen and dark matter. Signals from that era have stretched over time, reaching us as long radio waves. These signals could help answer key questions about dark matter and the early universe. NASA believes the LCRT might offer new insight into physics and cosmology.
Radio signals from the sun also affect observations. The moon would shield the dish from this noise too. That would make the telescope even more useful for scanning faint, ancient signals from space.
Early steps already underway
The LCRT won’t be the first telescope on the moon, but it would be the largest. NASA’s ROLSES-1 telescope landed in 2024 with the Odysseus lander. But because it faced Earth, most signals it collected came from our planet. Scientists say this proved the need for a telescope on the far side.
Another mission, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost II, is expected to land later this year. It will carry LuSEE Night, a smaller radio telescope. This one will scan for ultra-long wavelengths from deep space. NASA says both these instruments will offer key data about the lunar environment.
LCRT remains in the planning phase. But if approved, it could be a lifeline for radio astronomy in an increasingly noisy space. Even if Earth’s skies become too cluttered, the moon may still offer a quiet place to listen.
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