Robot lays out an antenna on the lunar surface. Credit- Lunar Resources

Moon’s Far Side: New Observatories Proposed

Sept. 24, 2021

From Leonard David’s Inside Outer Space: Earth’s Moon is being eyed as an on-location locale for operating unique and novel observatories. The just-concluded NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) symposium was the setting for reviewing several NIAC-backed studies. One concept outlined at NIAC is the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) on...

The far side of the moon offers a unique opportunity to radio astronomers: an observatory built there could peer into the early universe, shielded from electromagnetic interference from Earth. Illustration: Peter Sanitra

Rovers Will Unroll a Telescope on the Moon’s Far Side

July 10, 2019

From IEEE Spectrum: For decades, astronomers have gazed up at the moon and dreamed about what they would do with its most unusual real estate. Because the moon is gravitationally locked to our planet, the same side of the moon always faces us. That means the lunar far side is...

The Race to Develop the Moon drawing

The Race to Develop the Moon - For science, profit, and pride, China, the U.S., and private companies are hunting for resources on the lunar surface.

April 29, 2019

From The New Yorker: In January, the China National Space Administration landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, the side we can’t see from Earth. Chang’e-4 was named for a goddess in Chinese mythology, who lives on the moon for reasons connected to her husband’s problematic immortality...

NASA Lunar Module Eagle

Seeking our Cosmic Origins on the Far Side of the Moon

July 10, 2018

From the Denver Post: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared his vision in late May of creating permanent colonies on the Moon. He isn’t alone: a new space race is taking shape as diverse companies and governments, including our own, have set their sights on putting boots on the Moon for...

Chinese Relay Satellite illustration by Cena Lau

Is China beating the US to the far side of the Moon?

May 21, 2018

From Science: China says it has launched a key satellite that will be crucial to the success of an unprecedented mission to the far side of the Moon later this year. The relay satellite, called the Queqiao, was launched at 5:28 am local time on Monday, atop a Long March-4C...