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Setting up Observatory on moon

Author : Mohan Sanjeevan

 Affiliation: Research Associate, Bellatrix aerospace Pvt. Ltd.,166, Phase II, Muthampalaam !ousin"

#nit, $rode%6&'((), mohansan*eevan"ee+"mail.com

Introduction

The concept of setting up observatory is not new but for anyone thinking of observing the sky

without atmospheric disturbances, with unobstructed view, the 15 day continuous night and

darkness such idea will spring to the mind. Though skeptically dismissed as prohibitive in cost

due to space flight with equipment payload, the 15 continuous day and 15 continuous night

cycle, it is vigorously pursued by organization like International lunar observatory association

which collaborated with hinese rover observatory installation and conducting observations.. It

also announced plans to send a shoe bo! sized telescope on e!perimental basis and radio,optical telescopes thereafter. "ven I#$% made an announcement in &''( to set up an

observatory on the moon in &'1(. The recent advances like )* printing, in situ use of materials

like lunar regolith, the ready to use inflatables have all brought this concept closer to reality. %f

course negotiating the e!treme temperatures of 1&' degrees of the day and freezing

temperatures of ++1' degree have to be kept in mind. %rbiting observatory around moon is

also ruled out due to instability of the orbit. -eeping these in mind, the mobile observatory on

rover and fi!ed observatory on the south pole of the moon is proposed

The advantages of an observatory on the moon

The unique environment on the moon enables observing the universe with absolute clarity.hen compared to other space telescopes in orbit the telescope on the moon, is free from

infrared red emission from the "arth in case of orbit around the "arth , gets a permanent

cryogenic environment in shadow at poles , gets more stability with seismicity being only 1' +

( times that on "arth , gets longer life time with scope for upgrades, gets longer

integration/e!posure0 time. In addition to these wide frequencies , better resolution of the

cosmic bodies images are available, the longer 1 day nights enables the longer time to view

the sky, the areas like craters make the fitting of antennas easier, in situ materials like lunar dust

usable for construction of buildings.

The challenges/problems in setting up observatory on the moon

 2 day on the moon is month+long with two weeks of scorching day temperatures rising above

1&' degrees elsius followed by two weeks of night temperatures below +1' degrees elsius.

"ngineering an observatory for such wide e!tremes would be a challenge, there is plenty of dust

mi!ed lunar regolith on the moon3s surface which tend to 4ump on it3s own accord due to lesser

gravity making it to float. The lunar dust is a fine powder produced by the relentless pounding of

the micrometeorites on the lunar rocks. The lunar soil or regolith6 as it is called is very

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dangerous sealing off, disupting equipments, sticking to the space suits and face plates of

space suits.It is abrasive like glass, electro statically charged. The space suits , rovers and

equipments have not been designed to cope with it during the 2pollo missions. The absence of

magnetic field around the moon also makes the observatory susceptible to interference by

charged particles in the form of cosmic radiation

Some of the challenges could be turned into advantages

The 1 day night may be used for taking up prolonged sky viewing in darkness enabling clear

vision of the stars, gala!ies etc., The study of irksome lunar dust revealed that the could be

melted by microwave oven very quickly making them insitu materials such as sintered rocket

landing pads, roads, bricks for habitats and radiation shielding. This will also serve to reduce the

lunar dust constantly floating around. )+d printing could come in handy in such use.e can see

from the pic here how the irksome lunar dust has been put to good use by employing )+*

printing of a habitat by robots. 7ere we are concerned about setting up the observatory on the

moon rather than the lunar base. The use of robots in setting up observatory too will avoid the

dangers to the human beings8astronauts.

A lunar habitat, printed by robots using Moon dust and a binding agent !ic credit" #SA

Addressing the other challenges in setting up the observatory also ans$ers the

%uestion $here to locate the observatory

hether for setting up lunar base or setting up obsevatory the south pole is the ideal spot where

telescopes can be placed in a place bathed in sun light for the solar panels providing power to

the observatory3s telescope and equipments with permanantly shadowed spot for the telescope

itself. #outh pole also offers the view of the universe is less e!plored from the southern

hemisphere and interesting places like the galactic center can be observed from that side. This

way the e!treme temperatures of 1 day day time and 1 day night is tackled to provide a more

comfortable +5' degree centigrade by suitably placing them on a crater. 9ermanent sun light

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provides power, permanent shadow offers shelter from scorching heat. #etting up the

observatory on the far side may provide more clear view of the universe free from interference

of the radio signals of the "arth it will need a relaying satellite to receive and send the signals to

"arth. Therefore setting up on a place having view of the "arth will provide a direct downlink to

"arth. The troublesome lunar dust can be cleared by giving it an electric charge. This fact is

kept in planning to generating electric charge to clear the lunar dust and it3s menace

The rovers can be mobile on the moon. :or fi!ed %bservatory, the #outh pole of the moon has

been chosen in view of the ;'< of sun light falling on it and providing relative warmth of +5'

degrees . =se of $adio Thermoelectric >enerator /$T>0 to provide power to and warmth to

the equipments is proposed. Though ?+ray, =@+ray, infra red, radio, visible light observatories

are possible, the observatory on rover and stationary, fi!ed observatory on a Aunar peak with

radio and telescope with provision for visible light, infra red are focused and proposed

Already one observatory on lunar lander $or&ed on the moon

hinese have already sent one chang3e +) space probe added with =@ light observatory to thelander portion of it. hile hang3e +) and the lunar rover Butu studied the lunar geology, the

observatory imaged gala!ies in the =@ . #ent in &'1) hina3s Butu rover and the hang3e )

stationary lander are still alive after two years on the lunar surface, waking up last week to mark

two full years spent surpassing their life e!pectancies so far.

  !I': The 'hang(e ") lander $ith it(s *+ observatory 'ourtesy: 'hinese space

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  Agency

  !ic : -egative image of a distant gala.y 'ourtesy: 'hinese Space Agency

hina is going to base it3s second =@ observatory for long term monitoring of the variable stars,

low altitudes of our milky way gala!y. The reason for this they are going to send hang3e +5

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space probe for a lunar sample mission in &'1. The cost of the observatory is taken care of by

adding it simply to the lander portion of the probe.

T$o private companies too pursuing vigorously the plans for setting up

observatory on the moon

International Aunar %bservatory 2ssociation /IA20 and the non+profit start up moon e!press

have teamed up with plans to set up a & metre radio antenna and a smaller telescope atop a

lunar 5 km high rim of the crater Calapert in #outh pole indicating the preference for the pole

with constant sun light and the relative permanent shadow for the solar panel and the

telescopes respectively.Coon "!press is providing e!pertise to the IA%2 on the lander,

machine architecture and engineering. Coon e!press aimed to send it3s initial probe by &'15 in

order to win >oogle Aunar ?+prize. #o far it has not been able to implement it3s plans. 2lso the

setting up of telescopes were planned for &'1( and the time is running out for them. 2n intial

shoe bo! sized telescope is proposed to be sent based on the success of which further

missions planned. 2ll these remain in the planning stage as &'1( has already arrived.

!ic: An artists rendering of the proposed telescope on the Malapert crater on the

moon Moon Express/ILOA

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O& no$ re%uirements for setting up observatory and methodology

The requirements will be the payload of the space probe to be launched by a rocket from the"arth.

Aander, rover, robots, telescope components,primary mirror, secondary mirror, mount, trackingsensor using guide stars, *s, instruments, computers, storage disk, clock to check time,receiving and transmission antennas, solar panel to provide power to the telescopes, antennas,rover, computers, )+* printers.

#eparate telescopes may be installed for visible, infra red, ultra violet light observations. %pticsfor ultra violet telescopes differ from those of ground+based telescopes in that they have beenoptimized to work at ultraviolet wavelengths. Decause =@ waves are three times shorter thanvisible waves, the optical tolerances for precisely focusing these waves are three times morestringent. 2lso, the primary and secondary mirrors have been specially coated to efficientlyreflect the incoming =@ light. The biggest differences are at the back end of the telescope.Instead of a visible+light camera /such as the charge+coupled devices, or E*sE now used onmany telescopes0, the back end contains two electronic =@+sensitive cameras+++one for the far+=@ /wavelengths between 1)'' and 1F'' 2ngstroms0 and one for the near+=@ /wavelengthsbetween 1F'' and )''' 2ngstroms0.

Infrared telescopes contain an infrared camera with a special solid+state infrared detector whichmust be cooled to cryogenic temperatures

#ince the use of infra red telescopes will undergo heating and cryogenic cooling is needed this typeof telescope is installed but not kept operative but when upgradation to cryogenic cooling is possiblethis will be taken up too

:or getting an idea of various telescopes the diagram of India3s multi+wavelength space observatory 2#T$%#2T is shown here

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!ic: India(s Astrosat first multi"$avelength space observatory launched in September

012

*ltraviolet Imaging Telescope 3*+IT4 for high image resolution, 5arge 6"7ay !roportional'ounter 35A6!'4, Soft 6"7ay Telescope 3S6T4, 'admium 8inc Telluride Imager 3'8TI4

 2strosat performs multi+wavelength observations covering spectral bands from radio, optical, I$,=@, and ?+ray wavelengths. Doth individual studies of specific sources of interestand surveys are undertaken. hile radio, optical, and I$ observations would be coordinatedthrough ground+based telescopes, the high energy regions, i.e., =@, ?+ray and visiblewavelength, would be covered by the dedicated satellite+borne instrumentation of 2strosat

In our mission we are restricting ourselves to visible, ultraviolet and infrared telescopes,

choosing only visible and ultraviolet light observations first in view of the heating of infraredtelescope and the requirement of cryogenic cooling.

 2ll payload for the various telescopes are added to the list of payload shown alreadyaccordingly

It is to be noted that the size of the telescopes are small when compared to the gigantic onesseen on the "arth or space telescopes like 7ubble

 2 rocket launches the space probe with these payload and reaches moon with necessaryTra4ection orrection Canouvres on the chosen tra4ectory. The lander separates and lands onthe south pole of the moon on a crater with permanent shadow , permanent sun light for thetelescopes and solar panels respectively. The rover separates from the lander to take theantennas, telescopes components to the peak of the crater. $obots set up the telescopes usingthe )+printer and the in situ matetials lunar regolith

$adio and optical telescope have now come up to do astronomy in radio waves, visible, infrared light

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e have seen the telescope set up on the lander, there is scope for the mobile observatory onthe rover itself which will require suitable modifications.though the components are the same asthat on the lander

'onclusion

%bservatory on the moon will be set up solving the challenges and turning some of thechallenges into opportunities. 7ere is a poem to sum up

Setting up observatory on moon

ant to set up observatory on moon

To see the stars, gala!ies, universe in clarity

:ree from atmospheric disturbances

hallenges ly in store

7arsh e!tremes of temperatures of 1 day Gday3 1 day Gnight

The ill+behaving lunar dust aided by low gravity

The cosmic radiation

There ly advantages too

1 day continous night for prolonged observation

The low seismicity rendering stability

Celting of lunar dust by microwave

Turning into insitu material for construction

The advent of )+* printing

The emergence of robots avoiding dangers to astronauts

9ayloads for visible, infrared, violet light telescopes,solar panels

"quipments listed and included

 2 rocket launches the space probe with lander rover thereafter 

Aander touching down on the moon on reaching

$over separating, robots set to work

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 2ssembling, setting up telescopes, solar panels in the south pole

%bservatory will be borneH

7eferences

1  http://ancientsolarsystemblogspotin/012/09/an"observatory"on"

moonhtml

  http://$$$ugcscaltechedu/yu&imoon/MoonTelescope/

)  http://$$$$iredcom/01)/0;/moon"e."iloa"telescope/

<  http://$$$thehinducom/todays"paper/tp"national/tp"andhrapradesh/india"

to"set"up"observatory"on"moon"by"019/article)1;29=>ece

2  https://archivestsciedu/uit/project/Astro1/Astro1?pictureshtml

9  https://en$i&ipediaorg/$i&i/Infrared?telescope