The Daily Telegraph reports that several space agencies around the world have announced plans to send radio telescopes to the moon. As the edition notes, the isolated reverse side of the moon could become an ideal place for research and even the search for extraterrestrial civilizations.
The scientists believe that the telescopes located on the far side of the moon will be able to register the first signs of extraterrestrial intelligent life, and also to see the universe before the world appeared, writes The Daily Telegraph. As the publication notes, NASA, the European Space Agency (Esa) and China’s National Astronomical Observatory have plans to install their radio telescopes on the far side of the moon.
According to Esa scientist James Carpenter, the first time in history the idea of placing telescopes on the moon finds a real basis. The publication recalls that such an idea first appeared in the ’60s, but it was abandoned after the termination of the Apollo program. Now, after the successful first launch of the Artemis program, it is expected that humans will soon return to the moon.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the back side of the Moon is always turned away from Earth. As a consequence, radio telescopes placed there will be so isolated that they will be able to pick up the faintest, most subtle radio waves left over from the beginning of the universe.
According to Esa plans, sending the first radio telescope to the moon could take place in the mid-2030s, writes the publication. At the same time, the National Astronomical Observatory in Beijing said it plans to launch a radio telescope by 2026, noting that the reverse side of the moon has great potential for scientific discovery.
In addition, some scientists believe that radio telescopes on the moon will be able to detect signs of an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization, writes The Daily Telegraph. According to researcher Andrew Simon, the idea that the Moon could become a base for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, appeared long ago. On the reverse side of the Moon, radio signals and other impulses coming from outside the solar system could be picked up more efficiently.