Exploring the Universe From the Moon

How researchers are able to explore the universe from the moon has changed dramatically since the end of NASA’s Apollo missions. Over the last decade, new spacecraft have orbited the Moon, gathered new data and provided insights into the origin of the Earth’s nearest neighbor. Water ice has been discovered inside craters at the poles of the Moon. This new information has re-established the Moon as a more important destination for space exploration and as a stepping stone to human missions to Mars. Professor Jack O. Burns, Ph.D will describe research on a new radio telescope for the radio-quiet lunar far side—operating at frequencies below the FM radio band—that will allow scientists to probe the birth of the first stars and galaxies in the early universe. The Moon holds the keys to understanding how the Earth-Moon system formed along with the origin of the first objects to “light up” the Universe.