Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Representative pic/NASA
Hidden from Earth's noisy broadcast sprawl, a silent lunar crater may soon host the most pristine radio observatory humanity has ever built—poised to decode whispers from the cosmic dawn.
No satellites. No Wi-Fi. No chatter. The Moon's far side offers something Earth can’t anymore: radio silence. That’s why NASA’s eyeing it for a $2.6 billion telescope you’ll never hear coming.
Before the stars, there was hydrogen and mystery. NASA’s lunar telescope aims to eavesdrop on the universe’s adolescence—an era Earth-based scopes can’t touch due to atmospheric blackout.
Forget astronauts. This telescope will be spun into a 1,150-foot structure by machines alone—an autonomous marvel laid into an ancient lunar crater, untouched by human hands.
SpaceX’s satellites are revolutionizing the internet—and wrecking radio astronomy. With Earth’s skies buzzing, scientists say we’re losing our ears to the universe unless we go lunar.
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NASA picked the crater—but won’t say which. The exact lunar location of the future telescope remains classified, shielded from geopolitical heat and public interference.
NASA’s mini-mission LuSEE Night launches this year to prep for the big show. It’s tiny, experimental, and positioned perfectly: on the Moon’s far side, where the LCRT’s destiny lies.
Federico Di Vruno warns: unchecked satellite growth could blind radio telescopes permanently. The only escape? A $2.6B moonshot to save science from its own orbiting noise.
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After Arecibo’s tragic collapse, radio astronomers were left adrift. Now NASA plans a rebirth—in space, with AI and robots, in a place so quiet you can hear the Big Bang’s echo.