"2025 Moon Mission: Radio Telescope to Unveil Cosmic Dark Ages"

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy are funding the Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment-Night (LuSEE-Night), a small radio telescope that will be launched to the far side of the moon in 2025. LuSEE-Night aims to detect radio waves from the cosmic Dark Ages, a period after the Big Bang when the first stars and galaxies were forming. By going to the far side of the moon, where there is no atmospheric interference, LuSEE-Night will search for a dip in radio wave intensity caused by neutral hydrogen gas absorbing radiation from the cosmic microwave background. This mission will test technologies and pave the way for future lunar radio telescopes.