Building Earth's largest telescope on the far side of the moon - CBC.ca

NASA engineers are studying the feasibility of building a massive, kilometre-wide radio telescope on the moon that would dwarf anything we could build on Earth.

The telescope, which would be constructed by robots, would take the form of a huge, wire-mesh antenna in a dish shape that would hang suspended in a three-kilometre-wide crater on the far side of the moon. .

The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope would provide a unique perspective on the early universe, though it likely won't be built for decades, according to NASA robotics engineer Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, who is leading the project.

Standalone, self-supporting, dish-shaped radio telescopes can only get to a certain size, based on the strength of the materials they're made from and the need to resist wind loads.

To avoid these issues, the largest radio telescopes are built into natural features in the terrain.

Arecibo and FAST, for example, were built in natural, dish-shaped sinkholes. .

"These craters seem like natural places to put this dish-shaped telescope because the crater also looks like a bowl."  .

To find a crater candidate, Bandyopadhyay and his team combed over detailed pictures taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and discovered more than 80,000 suitable craters on the far side of the moon.

The antenna would be built on Earth in the form of a large, but extremely lightweight net-like structure made of conductive aluminum wire.

Once launched, the antenna would be carried to the moon and land on the floor of the crater into which it would be installed.

to the lander and then pull lift wires that will connect to the lander sitting at the crater floor," Bandyopadhyay said.

Ultimately the net-like antenna would be suspended over the crater floor, looking a little like a dish-shaped spider web.  .