Published: June 12, 2024 By

 Intuitive Machines via X)ÌýFrom Space.com:ÌýHuman technology like cell phones and broadcast towers constantly radiate radio waves intoÌýspace, and astronomers estimate this tell-tale signature of humanity has swept acrossÌý75 nearby star systems, signaling to any watchful alien civilization that Earth hosts a technologically advanced species. And, while scientists have listened to the incessant radio chatter from our planet for a long time, in late February, they heard it from the moon for the firstÌýtime.

A small radio telescope onboard the Odysseus spacecraft, the first commercial vehicle thatÌýsuccessfully landedÌýon the moon on Feb. 22, recorded radio waves beamed fromÌýEarthÌýfor 1.5 hours. The experiment, named ROLSES, made its observations from Odysseus' landing spot near the Malapert A crater, which sits roughly 185 miles (297 kilometers)Ìýaway from the moon's south pole.

Astrophysicist Jack Burns of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ, who is the co-investigator of ROLSES, described the moment as the "dawn of radioÌýastronomyÌýfrom the moon." By studying Earth as anÌýexoplanet, astronomers hope to search for similar fingerprints coming from planets around otherÌýstars, which would be a potential sign of intelligent life.