Australia’s famous Parkes radio telescope will be part of one of the first commercial lunar landings, probably later this year.
The CSIRO, which operates the telescope, said it has a five-year agreement with US-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines to support multiple lunar missions, including their first flight under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
The 64m telescope in New South Wales will be the largest and most sensitive receiving ground station for Intuitive Machines’ upcoming missions.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the mission.
CSIRO said the Parkes telescope, also known as Murriyang, is valuable for spacecraft tracking due to its large dish surface and advanced data receiving systems, which are mostly used for astronomy research.
CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall said the partnership is an exciting new chapter for the Dish.
“It was 50 years ago that Australia played a critical* role in the original Moon mission, but innovation* never sleeps, so we’re proud to support the latest innovations heading to the Moon’s surface,” Dr Marshall said.
CSIRO’s acting chief scientist Sarah Pearce said CSIRO is proud to have its world-class scientific facilities be part of the global team that will help Intuitive Machines and NASA deliver science instruments to the Moon.
“Along with NASA’s Honeysuckle Creek station near Canberra, the Parkes radio telescope helped share the Apollo 11 Moon landing with more than 600 million people around the world. And now we are proud to support the first companies extending their reach to the Moon’s surface, advancing knowledge that can benefit life both on Earth and, one day, on the Moon,” said Dr Pearce.
CSIRO said Intuitive Machines will launch its Nova-C Moon lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket probably towards the end of 2021, depending on conditions, delivering commercial cargo and five NASA experiments to investigate the local geography and test technology required for future human exploration.
NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative companies are responsible for delivering their cargo to the Moon, including spacecraft tracking and communication.
NASA has urged CLPS providers to use ground station support other than NASA’s Deep Space Network, the ground station network supporting the Agency’s many interplanetary space missions.
Intuitive Machines vice president for control centres Troy LeBlanc said being the first commercial company to land on the Moon is a huge communications challenge. “We require the technical support and expertise* of the team at CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope to provide mission tracking and data downlink* services,“ Dr LeBlanc said.
In addition to the 1969 Moon landing, Parkes supported the first interplanetary space mission, Mariner 2, in 1962, as it flew past Venus. Recently, Parkes received data from Voyager 2 as it entered interstellar space.
GLOSSARY
- critical: essential
- innovation: new idea
- expertise: specialist knowledge or skills
- downlink: the link from one or more satellites down to a ground receiver
EXTRA READING
The Aussies, the Dish and a TV world first
Chirps from space reach Earth again
Astronauts into orbit on history-making space flight
Space race to return to the Moon is heating up
QUICK QUIZ
- Where is the Parkes telescope?
- What is the famous event of 1969?
- How big is this telescope?
- What is the Parkes telescope about to do now?
- What is Falcon 9?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Mind mapping
This news story about the Parkes radio telescope mentions many different people, organisations, places, events (past and future) and relationships. As you read through the article, take notes, arranging them into a “mind map” to help you better understand how different pieces of information link to each other.
Your mind map doesn’t need to be perfectly presented or look the same as anyone else’s, as long as it is arranged in a way that adds to your comprehension of the story.
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
What is the Parkes radio telescope also known as? Find out how it got this name and what it means.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
VCOP ACTIVITY
Proper Noun Police
A proper noun is a noun that names a particular person, place or thing. It always has a capital letter.
How many proper nouns can you find within this article? Find them all and sort them into the category of name, place, time (date/month).
Can you find any proper nouns included in your writing? What are they? Can you sort them into their categories?
