NASA is developing the concept of building an observatory on the moon.

NASA is developing the concept of building an observatory on the moon.

Research to create a distributed radio observatory on the lunar surface has been started on a grant basis under the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts program. Representatives of the company note that the construction of such an observatory on the Moon will improve the quality of observation compared to similar installations on Earth. The construction of a lunar observatory is supposed to be on the far side of the Moon, the distributed building will be inscribed in a square with a side of 20 kilometers.

The sensitivity available to such an observatory will make it possible to see the formation of the first stars.

“Not only will we be able to do unique astrophysics, but we will also be able to explore the interior of the Moon, develop detailed space weather forecasts, detect magnetic fields associated with potentially habitable planets around nearby stars, and even detect lightning and storms on Neptune,” said a Lunar spokesperson.