In 2026, China plans to launch a lunar telescope.
lunar telescope
China to launch lunar telescope in 2026The experts working for China’s space agency believe that this endeavour will allow them to get a glimpse into the ancient past.At a time when most people thought there were already an adequate number of satellites in space, China made public its intentions to launch a satellite constellation that orbits the moon as early as 2026 in an effort to investigate the early moments of the cosmos.According to Space.com, the array would consist of one large satellite known as the “mother” and eight smaller satellites known as the “daughter” vessels.
Astronomy
At the Astronomy From the Moon conference that took place earlier this year in London, Xuelei Chen, an astronomer with the China National Space Administration (CNSA), stated that the mother would process information and communicate with Earth, and the daughters would detect radio signals from the farthest reaches of space.It would be technically more feasible to deploy such an array in orbit around the moon as opposed to erecting a telescope on the surface of the moon, which is one of the next large milestones in astronomy that NASA and other space agencies are exploring as one of the next significant leaps in the field.
NASA
During the meeting, Chen made the following statement: “There are a number of advantages to doing this in orbit rather than on the surface because it’s much simpler engineering-wise.”He also mentioned that because the orbital period of the moon is only two hours, it is possible to use solar power to view the lunar night. This is a more convenient option than having to provide energy for a period of 14 days on the lunar surface.”There is no need for landing and a deployment, and also because the lunar orbital period is two hours, we can use solar power, which is much simpler than doing it on the lunar surface, which, if you want to observe during the lunar night, then you have to provide the energy for almost 14 days,” said NASA.
lunar orbital
“The lunar orbital period is two hours, and also because of that, we can use solar power.”In addition to this, he stated that the Hongmeng Project, which is short for “Discovering Sky at the Longest Wavelength,” might be completed as early as the year 2026.The low-frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is of particular interest to astronomers. However, this portion of the spectrum is inaccessible to study from the surface of the Earth due to the substantial absorption that occurs in the atmosphere.They believe that by using a lunar telescope in conjunction with this radiation, it will be possible for them to see into the “Dark Ages,” which refers to the time when the universe was filled with hydrogen atoms and their light was unable to pass through.
