Telescopes on the Moon The Next Decades (Public Lecture)

Just over half a century since Neil Armstrong first stepped foot on the lunar surface, a new space race to the Moon is well underway and rapidly gaining momentum. NASA aims to build a habitable orbiting space station to coordinate lunar development and exploration, while European and Chinese space agencies are planning lunar villages and the mining of precious resources that are dwindling here on Earth. Powerful international and commercial interests are driving the race to revisit the Moon, but lunar infrastructures could also open breathtaking vistas of the cosmos. Over the next 50 years, I argue that we should put scientific discovery at the forefront of lunar exploration. Colonization of the Moon could usher in a thrilling new age of scientific research. With lunar telescopes of unprecedented size situated in permanently dark polar craters and on the far side of the Moon, we could finally be poised to answer some of the most profound questions confronting humankind, including what were our cosmic origins and whether we are alone in the Universe.