[extropy-chat] Does the Lunar Surface Still Offer Value for Astro Observatories?

[Amara Graps]

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0401274

From: Dan Lester <dfl at astro.as.utexas.edu>
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:11:53 GMT   (115kb)

Does the Lunar Surface Still Offer Value As a Site for Astronomical
Observatories?

Authors: Daniel F. Lester (1), Harold W. Yorke (2), John C. Mather (3) ((1)
Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory, University of Texas, (2)
Division of Earth and Space Science, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (3) Lab for
Astronomy and Solar Physics, Goddard Space Flight Center)
Comments: 14 pages, 1 figure; submitted to Space Policy

      Current thinking about the Moon as a destination has revitalized
      interest in lunar astronomical observatories. Once seen by a large
      scientific community as a highly enabling site, the dramatic
      improvement in capabilities for free-space observatories prompts
      reevaluation of this interest. Whereas the lunar surface offers
      huge performance advantages for astronomy over terrestrial sites,
      free-space locales such as Earth orbit or Lagrange points offer
      performance that is superior to what could be achieved on the
      Moon. While astronomy from the Moon may be cost effective once
      infrastructure is there, it is in many respects no longer clearly
      enabling compared to free-space.

Full-text: PDF only

-- 

Amara Graps, PhD
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI)
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF),
Adjunct Assistant Professor Astronomy, AUR,
Roma, ITALIA     Amara.Graps at ifsi.rm.cnr.it