The world is now facing a global crisis, and it’s up to us as individuals to act. We must take it upon ourselves to reduce our environmental footprint by making simple changes in our everyday lives. This could include things like reducing the amount of water we waste, or taking public transit instead of driving a car wherever possible. By doing this, we can make an impact and help protect the planet for future generations.
NASA and the Department of Energy have teamed up to build a special tool that can endure really tough conditions on the moon’s dark side. The tool is called LuSEE-Night and it was developed with help from scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory, UC Berkeley’s Space Science Lab, and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. LuSEE-Night will be used to measure things from the Universe that people have never seen before – this time period known as the ‘Dark Ages’.
LuSEE-Night is a tool to find out more information about the Moon’s radio atmosphere and get a first glimpse into parts of our universe that have never been seen before. NASA and the DOE are working together on this project, which will help us explore space in exciting new ways.
LuSEE is an opportunity to better understand the evolution of our Universe during its Dark Ages, which was between 380 thousand and 400 million years after the Big Bang. We measure radio waves from this time period as it’s the only signal available to us since there were no light-emitting stars or galaxies. The Dark Ages helps us find out how non-light emitting matter from those times eventually changed into bright stars and galaxies that we can see in the sky today.
We wouldn’t be able to measure radio wave signals from the time known as the Dark Ages on Earth since it’s surrounded by something called an ionosphere and filled with a lot of noise from other things in our Solar System. But, the Moon doesn’t have this same problem since it is shielded from outside sounds when it’s dark. LuSEE-Night, which will be sent to the far side of the Moon, will use radio receivers that can detect special radio waves from the Dark Ages. By being so close to the moon surface instead of near Earth, we don’t need to worry about interference from things like other planets or even our Sun.
“LuSEE-Night is a really cool experiment that will help us see something we haven’t been able to in the past – the ‘Dark Ages signal,’” explained Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, who works for the Department of Energy. “The Department and NASA are working together to create a better understanding about the Dark Ages cosmology in years to come!”
The biggest challenge is for the instrument to stay alive in the cold, dark environment on the back side of the Moon. During each day and night cycle, temperatures range from 120°C (250°F) during the day and -173°C (-280°F) at night. This makes it hard to capture data and keep instruments from freezing, which could end up stopping the mission early. So, we need special technology that can help robots survive those conditions if we want people to one day be able to live on the Moon.
NASA is working on a project called LuSEE-Night which would allow them to do science experiments during the 14 day period of the moon’s night, when there is no sunlight that can power and provide heat. Having this technology in place means they will be able to conduct important research from the moon’s surface.
LuSEE-Night may be able to measure radio frequencies that people cannot see. If it works, this could help scientist learn more about the beginning of the Universe and how it changed over time.
Stuart D. Bale, the lead on this project, said it’s very hard to measure something since the radio waves from a galaxy is super bright which makes it tough to find what we’re looking for. Anže Slosar added that every time astronomers look deeper into outer space, we learn new stuff about our universe and where we fit in.
NASA is sending LuSEE-Night to the Moon on a special flight called CLPS. NASA won’t provide any of the things needed for this mission, like the lander or lift-off services; they are buying these from commercial partners. Prof. Stuart D. Bale from UC Berkeley is leading the project for NASA, and Anže Slosar and Sven Herrmann from Brookhaven National Lab are taking charge from DOE (Department of Energy).
