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While I pine for a dark sky, it makes sense that these operations should move in the same way century old optical telescopes in cities are no longer used for cu
by ccamrobertson 24d ago
While I pine for a dark sky, it makes sense that these operations should move in the same way century old optical telescopes in cities are no longer used for cutting edge science.
The far side of the moon seems like an increasingly viable option.
- cozzyd 24d agoJust wait until wireless networks on the moon ruin that too.
- dylan604 24d agoYou do realize that the far side of the moon is in direct sunlight for 2 weeks, right?
- stackghost 24d agoIt’s also in darkness for 2 weeks. Terrestrial radio telescopes experience sunlight too. That would seem to be a solved problem.
- dylan604 24d agoand the moon is over 200°F in that sunlight.
- ffsm8 24d agoThere is no atmosphere to speak of, so only if directly exposed. Hence that's a solvable issue. The whole thing is incredibly expensive though, while it may be doable with current technology, the amount of money they'd have to set aside may be a hard sell for the miniscule potential of this research - at least from the lens of 2026... So the original position of the article makes sense, it may become functionally impossible, even if technically possible
- stackghost 24d agoSo, less than the boiling temp of water. That is not outside the realm of solvable problems
- isodev 24d agoOr Space Karen can fix his space junk... Maybe even start paying for the toxic waste he is landing when his junk continuously fails to stay up and re-enters the atmosphere.
- Dlemlo 24d agoSo because 10 Million people want to have internet, 8 Billion people no longer get acccess to that resource? That sounds like a nice attitude from you.
- JuniperMesos 24d agoThere's a lot fewer than 8 billion people who have access to the resource of "radio astronomy". I suspect it is in fact less than the 10 million figure of people who might want to use satellite-provided internet.
- michaelmrose 23d ago[dead]
- ungreased0675 23d agoExponentially more people benefit from Starlink than from radio astronomy. It doesn’t need to be a one or the other conversation though.
- Dlemlo 23d agoIts not just radio astronomy, its also optical. And no i don't think so. Radio astronomies research results are fundamental for all of us, our understanding and for modern technology. This makes it nescsaary that you have to send something away out of earth. Is Spacex sponsoring this type of research? No. So who has the researcher go to? To someone with money.
- beloch 24d agoPeople need light to see in cities. This light serves a function. Starlink satellites are emitting unintended and useless EMR that serves no function. It is not necessary for the function of these satellites. This is a money issue. The question you should ask is whether it will cost more for SpaceX to fix their satellites than it will to build radio telescopes (which are not small devices) in space. Personally, I suspect launching radio telescopes into space will not be the cheaper solution.
- throw0101a 23d ago> People need light to see in cities. This light serves a function. Street lights with (full) cutoff will still provide light for people: * https://www.blancocountynightsky.org/guidelines.php https://www.blancocountynightsky.org/guidelines.php * https://highways.dot.gov/safety/other/visibility/fhwa-lighting-handbook-august-2012/5-considerations-concerning-lighting https://highways.dot.gov/safety/other/visibility/fhwa-lighti... * https://www.zgsm-china.com/blog/light-distribution-of-outdoor-luminaire-and-their-applications.html https://www.zgsm-china.com/blog/light-distribution-of-outdoo... In fact it will improve the situations as all the light will be directed down, and so you'll need fewer lumens/lux/candela since half won't be waste going up (saving electricity), less glare on the roads after rain, and folks won't have street light blasting through their windows.
- ButlerianJihad 24d agoInstruments on the far side of the Moon will need some communication with Earth. While you can fantasize about running very long surface cables, the common solution consists of orbiting communications satellites. There are currently at least 8 satellites orbiting the Moon. We can expect that number to increase. Also to add to the excitement, when a satellite deorbits there, it will never slow down, burn, fall into water, or disintegrate. Just one big hunk of equipment impacting at full speed. Enjoy your craters.
- m4rtink 23d agoAnd ? You are just describing how the lunar environment works. There are more peculiarities, like most orbits being long term unstable, abrasive dust, etc. But nothing that can't be habdled with good engineering.