The use of a large telescope in high lunar orbit 4000 km above the Moon's equator is proposed. It is recognized that the Hubble Space Telescope (ST), will provide the necessary capabilities if it can be transferred to lunar orbit. The Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), will be able to scan the lunar surface, locate small outcrops of minerals important to base development, support early base operations and undertake detailed geophysical exploration of the whole lunar surface

Page, T.

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In  order  t o  support t h e  establishment of a lunar  base around AD 2000, t h i s  
paper proposes t h e  use of a l a r g e  te lescope i n  high luna r  o r b i t  4000 km (2500 m i )  
above the  Moon's equator. 
Acaclenj of Science Symposium on Iunar 3ases l a s t  Oct in dashington, DC, it was 
recognized t h a t  HASA's Hubblo Space Telescope (",), scheduled t o  be launched i n t o  
low a r t h  o r b i t  by Shu t t l e  i n  1986, w i l l  provide t h e  necessary capabilities i f  it 
car. be t r ans fe r r ed  t o  lunar  o rb i t .  
t o  be i n  service by t he  mid-l590s, w i l l  be able t o  make such a t ransfer .  
few :nodifications, ST w i l l  tneri be able t o  scan the  luna r  sur face ,  l oca t e  small 
outcrops of minerals important t o  base development, and support  e a r l y  base operations.  
It can then undertake de t a i l ed  geophysical explorat ion of t h e  whole lunar  sur face  
more expedi t iously than geologis t s  making long t raverses  on Lunar itovers. 
After t h i s  idea was first proposed a t  t h e  National 
The Orbi ta l  Transfer Vehicle (OTV), expected 
d i t h  a 
Space Telescope was designed for as t rophys ica l  observations from low Earth 
o r b i t  (LS) , but it is shown that high luna r  o r b i t  o f f e r s  severa l  loa j o r  advantages 
for t h i s  purpose as well as for t h e  proposed unconventional use t o  survey t h e  lunar  
surface.  
years '  use of 3T i n  LEO before t r a n s f e r  ' c c j  lunar  o rb i t .  
1 )  Absence (in lunar  o r b i t )  .) red "Shut t le  Glow" and t h e  foreground u l t r a v i o l e t  
l i b h t  of t h e  geocorona, both of which w i l l  tend t o  obscure f a i n t  astronomical 
sources' t o  be detected and analysed by ST, 
2) Lower o r b i t a l  ve loc i ty  (1 km/sec i n  luna r  orbit E 3 km/sec i n  LEO) which 
affects spectra  b) t h e  Doppler s h i f t ,  and g rea t e r  sky coverage (the 3arth blocks 
almost half the  sky from U O ) ,  and 
3) The a b i l i t y  t o  observe c lose  t o  t h e  5hn for seve ra l  minutes j u s t  before sun r i se  
and j u s t  after yunset i n  1unr.r o rb i t .  Preliminary operating r u l e s  forb id  point ing 
ST c lose r  than 45' fraq t h e  Sun, which rules out observations of Venus, Xercury, 
t h e  s o l a r  corona, comets, a s t e r o i d s ,  and o ther  celestial  objec ts  that happen t o  
be c lose  t o  t h e  Sm. ( In  LEO, tne i n t e r v a l s  before sunr i se  and a f te r  sunset  are 
much shor tor ,  a n i  the  Earth 's  atmosphere intervenes.) 
It is noted that these  advbntages can be thoroughly checked during 10 
They are: 
Although many astronomers oppose changes in plans  for ST, uhi i was designed 
for 15 years' use i n  LEO, it is emphasized that  t h i s  proposal 7c,11ves 1,' or more 
years  i n  L30 and w i l l  extend ST's later usefulness  i n  lunar  o rb i t .  Modifications 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19850018257 2020-03-22T19:06:59+00:00Z
Teleecope in  Lunar Orbit 69 
T.  Page 
t o  the six i n i t i a l  ST instruments -- cpmeras, spe~t rometen ,  polarimeters, 
photometer, and measurer of very accurate star positions 0- w i l l  undoubtedly be 
undertaken in LEO during the first 10 years, and sme upkeep (replacement of 
batteries and solar ce l l s )  w i l l  probably be necessary, a l l  accamplished by Shuttle 
astrorrauts on EVA, or  by returning ST t o  Ea..-th. 
use in lunar o rb i t  involve extending instrument Pensit ivity from deep red t o  
infrared wavelsngths (h.om 700 nm t o  3000 nm). For pointing a t  targets  on the 
Ijloon rather than  a t  s t a r s  and galaxies in the  sky, new computer mograms mast be 
written for  ground-based computers a t  the ST Control Center a t  Goddard space 
Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. 
The modifications necessary for  
With these modifications, ST w i l l  be able t o  measure near-infrared colors 
and t h e  spectrum of sunlight reflected &om rocks and soil on the lunar surface 
a t  selected locations such as the Apollo landing sites, where 12 astronauts spent 
a t o t a l  of 81 hours collecting samples and doing experiments on EVA. Because of 
thece past explorations, these s i x  Apollo landing sites w i l l  certainly be 
coxidered as potext ia l locat ions fo r  a permanent Lunar Base. 
w i l l  probably be proposed. 
minerals such as ilmenite (titarlium-iron oxides) from which oxygen can eas i ly  be 
obtained by heating in a solar  ftwnace. 
ilmenite outcrops a s  smal l  as three t o  fi3,e meters (10 to. 16 ft) i n  extent, and 
give the  distance and direction from the  2ase. After assembly and construction 
a t  Space Station, metal habitats, radioactive electric generators, and supplies 
of Oxygen, water, food, etc. w i l l  be transferred t o  lunar orb i t  and landed a t  
the selected Ease s i te  along w i t h  three or  four astronauts and equipment t o  dig 
in t h e  habitats and cover them wi th  three t o  f ive  meters of soil .  
Other locations 
One important requirement w i l l  be easy access t o  
Scans by ST w i l l  show the location of 
If a l l  goes well in the f i r s t  year a t  Lunar Base (wfth crews rotated every 
three months), t h e  production of oxygen ami iron should Le w d e r k y ,  and 
gec@ysical research start.h-ie. ST in lunar orb i t  rill help the  research e f fo r t  
by scanning fo r  mineral content of s o i l  and rocks alor.. .esignated west-east 
traverses and across the layers exposed in crater  walls, detecting layers as t h i n  
as three meters. The resu l t s  should provide planetary sc ien t i s t s  w i t h  data t o  
improve t h e i r  theories of the  history of the lunar surface, including the back 
side, which even lunar-based geologists cannot easily reach. A l l  the  data gathered 
by ST are  radioed back t o  Earth by the TDiisS satellites, and a l so  t o  Iunar Base, 
In between these geophysical observations, ST w i l l  continue astrophysical 
otserva+,ions of galaxies, stars, planets, and objects close t o  the Sun -- her 
70 
Telescope, in Lunar Orbit 
T. Page 
its proposed w e ,  ~ophysico1-A8traphysiccrl Lunar Telescope (OALT) . 
As a fiMl service t o  planetary sc ien t i s t s ,  G.ALT/ST can monitor gasx¶ released 
fram bnar Bise that might contaminate the  prist4ntJ lunar surface which the 
geologists hops t o  smple and study f o r  evidence of events during the Moon'b 
4.sbillicm-year history. This can eas i ly  bo done by rocording the spectra of 
early-type (hot) stars along the l i n e  of sight from ST @ s t  above Lunar Base frm 
lunar dusk t o  dawn. (In lunar daythe, t h e  gases would undoubtedly escape t o  
space, but during the  night they can be blawn across the surface by the  solar  
uindj  If the stellar spectra show increasing amounts of gases l i k e  CO, C02 , 
E20, CH4 , O2 , metals, and metal oxides, the Iunar Base c m  must take steps t o  
prevent the release. 
,Wch of t h i s  may sound like science f ic t ion,  and it was, about 20 years ago, 
when ilobert A, Heinloin's book nThe Hoon as ir Harsh Mistressn was published by 
G. 3. Putnam, NY, 1966. Heinlein portrays lunar cities in t h e  year 2075, and 
has most of h i s  fac t s  s t ra ight  except fo r  the prevalence of water ice on the Moon. 
(There is no evidence of water on t h e  Moon, but spemlation that there  may be same 
ice in craters  near t h e  poles never reached by sunlight.) 
As the  abstract  indicates, idear f o r  t h i s  paper were contributed by 
planetologist Michael B. W e  of NASA 3SC (not by Heinlein). 
sunl ight  t o  detect  minerals on the  lunar surface was developed by severa. 
geophysicists including Carlo M. Pieters, now a t  B r m  University in Provrdence, 
RI, who reviewed the MS. Tile use (or misuse) of 3T as GALT was reviewed by 
C. i?. O'Dell, ST Principal Scientist ,  now at  Rice University in Houston. 
The use of r e r e c t e d  


Telescope in lunar orbit

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