Science
The Moon offers extraordinary opportunities for scientific research based on radio astronomy techniques due to its inert nature, the absence of a magnetic field and atmosphere, and the possibility of achieving a complete shielding from terrestrial electromagnetic interference. Observations from the dark side or around the so-called L2 Lagrange point of the Earth-Moon system, where the satellite acts as a jammer, allow radio telescopes to operate at very low radio frequencies, something that is extremely difficult from Earth or a low lunar orbit.
Observations in the 30 to 300 MHz range, proposed for the current project, will allow discoveries related to:
- Jupiter’s radiation, the monitoring of which is a diagnostic element for the entire space weather of the Solar System, and Jupiter’s magnetic field.
- Solar activity and environ- mental disturbances in lunar orbit.
- Pulsed and transient sources such as Vela and Crab, and fast radio bursts in an under-explored frequency range.