Explanation:
The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) and the returns to the Moon by robotic and human explorers will provide the opportunity to make use of the Moon’s location and the unique perspective that this location provides to carry out research in several fields of science. In this chapter the committee considers the potential benefits for various disciplines—astrophysics, gravitational physics, cosmic-ray physics, astrobiology, earth sciences, heliophysics, and magnetospheric and ionospheric physics—from of emplacing experimental apparatus on the Moon.
This committee was not constituted to recommend priorities for research in these diverse disciplines. The committee believes that the appropriate standing committees of the Space Studies Board are better able to judge the scientific priorities of research within their disciplines in the context of such research conducted from other locations in space, as well as the Moon.
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
The lunar surface has historically been seen as a possible site for telescopes operating panchromatically and at the highest resolution, without an intervening absorbing and distorting atmosphere. In the early years of space astronomy, the stability of the lunar surface and large reaction mass were considered highly advantageous for telescope pointing and tracking, and the long diurnal cycle was considered advantageous, at least relative to low-Earth orbit (LEO), for thermal equilibration of large optical instruments. In addition, hypothetical future human visits to the Moon ensured some level of accessibility for service, maintenance, and upgrades.
The full costs of construction, deployment, and operation of telescopes on the lunar surface can reasonably be assumed to be larger than the costs for comparable equipment operating in free space, however. This cost difference arises, at minimum, from added propulsion requirements and the mitigation of added risks from landings. The issue then becomes a question of what features the lunar surface uniquely offers astronomical telescopes that free space does not.
The lunar surface offers, at least in the early stages of lunar development, extraordinarily radio-quiet sites on the lunar farside that could enable a highly sensitive low-frequency radio telescope.1 Such a telescope would be a
1
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), through its Radiocommunication Sector, has formally recognized the scientific importance of lunar radio astronomy, especially below 30 MHz, in its recommendation ITU-RA.479 “Protection of frequencies for radioastronomical measurements in the shielded zone of the Moon.” The committee notes, however, that that the low level of radio interference in this zone could be compromised by noncompliant development on the farside surface, telecommunication and research spacecraft in lunar orbit (including reflections), or science missions elsewhere, notably at the Earth-Sun Lagrange points.
