听From CU Boulder Today:听听of Houston, Texas, and the University of Colorado Boulder are launching a new research effort to lay the groundwork for a one-of-a-kind听鈥攁 network of hundreds of miles of antennas constructed on the far side of the moon using materials harvested from the lunar surface itself.
NASA recently awarded the team a $125,000 grant to complete a nine-month study on the project, called the Lunar Farside Radio Observatory, or FarView. The funding is part of the 2021 Phase I听听(NIAC) program. The program is highly competitive with less than 5% of proposals selected for an award.
The NIAC program selects novel concepts to transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs鈥攕uch as radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts鈥攚hile engaging America's innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey. Jack Burns, a professor in the departments of听Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences听and听Physics听at CU Boulder, developed the concept for the unprecedented observatory. Read more...