India Plans To Put A Remote Control Telescope On The Moon
The India Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced its plans to put a remotely controlled telescope on the surface of the moon to improve its scientific observation capacity.
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CrazyNeutrino said:
India Plans To Put A Remote Control Telescope On The MoonThe India Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced its plans to put a remotely controlled telescope on the surface of the moon to improve its scientific observation capacity.
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“Technology in Madras this weekend, ISRO Chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar told the New Indian Express the mission to the moon will take place by the end of 2017.”
Heck, that’s soon. Good.
“Astrosat”.
That’s up there already? Great. The specs for Astrosat were such as to make it a really top class space telescope.
mollwollfumble said:
CrazyNeutrino said:
India Plans To Put A Remote Control Telescope On The MoonThe India Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced its plans to put a remotely controlled telescope on the surface of the moon to improve its scientific observation capacity.
More…
“Technology in Madras this weekend, ISRO Chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar told the New Indian Express the mission to the moon will take place by the end of 2017.”
Heck, that’s soon. Good.
“Astrosat”.
That’s up there already? Great. The specs for Astrosat were such as to make it a really top class space telescope.
India’s space telescope Astrosat went up a year ago, on 28 Sep 2015.
Astrosat is a proposal-driven general purpose observatory, with main scientific focus on:
. Simultaneous multi-wavelength monitoring of intensity variations in a broad range of cosmic sources
. Monitoring the X-ray sky for new transients
. Sky surveys in the hard X-ray and UV bands
. Broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies, and stellar coronae
. Studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources
Astrosat performs multi-wavelength observations covering spectral bands from radio, optical, IR, UV, and X-ray wavelengths. Both individual studies of specific sources of interest and surveys are undertaken.
After the demise of Hubble, Astrosat will be the only space telescope for visible + UV astronomy. Astrosat’s wide wavelength range all the way from Radio at one end to X-rays at the other end is totally unprecedented.
(Let’s see how this forum handles Sanskrit)
Chandrayaan-2 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-२) will be India’s mission to the Moon which will include an orbiter and lander-rover module. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-MkII) around 2016–2017.
Unlike Chandrayaan-1’s Moon Impact Probe, which impacted the Moon’s surface, the lander will make a soft landing to then deploy the rover. The approximate mass of the lander and rover is 1,250 kg.
The research team identified methods for a soft landing on the lunar surface, as well as the associated technologies that would be needed for such an event. Amongst these technologies are a high resolution camera, navigation camera, hazard avoidance camera, an 800 N throttleable liquid main engine and attitude thrusters, altimeter, velocity meter, accelerometer, and the software needed to run these components. The lander’s main engine has successfully undergone a high altitude test.
The rover’s mass will be about 20 kg and will operate on solar power. The rover will move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, perform on-site chemical analysis and send the data to the orbiter above, which will relay it to the Earth station. Payloads of the three separate components (orbiter, lander and rover) include spectroscopes/spectrometer, seismometer, thermal probe and others.
Um, no telescope.
Except for the peculiar statement “discussions are in progress with an international body regarding setting up of a telescope on moon”.
Have the stories here got mixed up?
The only problem I can see is the moon dust getting on stuff and wrecking the sensors
wookiemeister said:
The only problem I can see is the moon dust getting on stuff and wrecking the sensors
Well dust is a bigger problem on earth than on the moon.
dv said:
wookiemeister said:
The only problem I can see is the moon dust getting on stuff and wrecking the sensors
Well dust is a bigger problem on earth than on the moon.
wookiemeister said:
dv said:
wookiemeister said:
The only problem I can see is the moon dust getting on stuff and wrecking the sensors
Well dust is a bigger problem on earth than on the moon.
Easier to clean on earth
Earth has wind.
Too much protein?
dv said:
wookiemeister said:
dv said:Well dust is a bigger problem on earth than on the moon.
Easier to clean on earthEarth has wind.
wookiemeister said:
The only problem I can see is the moon dust getting on stuff and wrecking the sensors
—-
Hasn’t affected the lunar ranging projects in the last 50 years.
I’d go for a manned base to run a telescope so the thing can be maintained
wookiemeister said:
dv said:
wookiemeister said:
The only problem I can see is the moon dust getting on stuff and wrecking the sensors
Well dust is a bigger problem on earth than on the moon.
Easier to clean on earth
yeah. Bye bye love.
Easier to have a large telescope in orbit
wookiemeister said:
Easier to have a large telescope in orbit
Well we have a couple of those.
The advantage to a lunar scope is that it is shielded from the earth’s radio transmissions and is more stable.
dv said:
wookiemeister said:
Easier to have a large telescope in orbit
Well we have a couple of those.
The advantage to a lunar scope is that it is shielded from the earth’s radio transmissions and is more stable.
also, some of the superstructure ca be built from local materials.
tauto said:
Dust hasn’t affected the lunar ranging projects in the last 50 years.
wookiemeister said:
Easier to have a large telescope in orbit
dv said:
The advantage to a lunar scope is that it is shielded from the earth’s radio transmissions and is more stable.also, some of the superstructure can be built from local materials.
That’s four very good points. I’ve always been a fan of the lunar telescope idea. The original idea back in the 1970s was to put a telescope in Tsiolkovskiy Crater, which is one of the largest flat areas on the far side of the Moon. Being there it would be shielded from every stray signal generated on Earth. Communication with Earth would be via lunar satellite which is not a problem. There’s also an advantage in being outside influence of the van Allen Belts. Moonquakes are so small and rare that they can be safely ignored.
Since that time, improvements in pointing and shielding have made large space telescopes a very real success. And the Delta V of 1.6 km/s down from lunar orbit to lunar surface, while a lot less than the 9.3 km/s form Earth to LEO, is still substantial for heavy payloads.
I guess all you’d need is for nothing to go wrong
When Hubble goes wrong they fly to earth orbit
A moon telescope would require a moon mission , more expensive , time consuming and laden with risk , humans don’t do well for long periods from earth without adequate shielding
If the yanks had continued their moon missions , say one every 6 months I’d say no problem.
Good fantasy though
There is some evidence that the Moon may have a tenuous atmosphere of moving dust particles constantly leaping up from and falling back to the Moon’s surface, giving rise to a “dust atmosphere” that looks static but is composed of dust particles in constant motion. The term “Moon fountain” has been used to describe this effect by analogy with the stream of molecules of water in a fountain following a ballistic trajectory while appearing static due to the constancy of the stream. According to a model proposed in 2005 by the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, this is caused by electrostatic levitation. On the daylit side of the Moon, solar ultraviolet and X-ray radiation is energetic enough to knock electrons out of atoms and molecules in the lunar soil. Positive charges build up until the tiniest particles of lunar dust (measuring 1 micrometre and smaller) are repelled from the surface and lofted anywhere from metres to kilometres high, with the smallest particles reaching the highest altitudes. Eventually they fall back toward the surface where the process is repeated. On the night side, the dust is negatively charged by electrons in the solar wind. Indeed, the fountain model suggests that the night side would charge up to higher voltages than the day side, possibly launching dust particles to higher velocities and altitudes. This effect could be further enhanced during the portion of the Moon’s orbit where it passes through Earth’s magnetotail; see Magnetic field of the Moon for more detail. On the terminator there could be significant horizontal electric fields forming between the day and night areas, resulting in horizontal dust transport – a form of “moon storm”.