The International Lunar Observatory (ILO) is a private scientific and commercial lunar mission by International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) of Kamuela, Hawaii to place a small observatory near the South Pole of the Moon to conduct astrophysical studies using an optical telescope.
[Accessible Lunar Exploration: Science & Communications from the Moon](_blank)
. Canadyensis Aerospace. 2018. The mission, planned for launch in 2022 or 2023, aims to prove a conceptual design for a lunar observatory that would be reliable, low cost, and fast to implement. A precursor mission, ILO-X consisting of two small imagers (totaling less than 0.6 kg), is set to launch in 2022 aboard the
Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines, LLC is a private American company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian, Tim Crain. Intuitive Machines is completing its lunar program which will provide lunar surface access ...
IM-1 mission to Vallis Schröteri on the Moon's near side.
It is hoped to be a technology precursor to a future observatories on the Moon, and other commercial initiatives.
[ILOA details its ILO-X lunar telescope, wants it on the Moon in 2015](_blank)
Jon Fingas, ''Engadget''. 28 May 2013.
The ILO-1 mission, announced in July 2017, is being organized by the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) and the Space Age Publishing Company. The prime contractors originally were
Moon Express
Moon Express (MoonEx; vehicle model prefix: MX) is an American privately held early-stage company formed in 2010 by a group of Silicon Valley and space entrepreneurs. It had the goal of winning the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, and of ultimatel ...
, providing the MX-1E lander,
[International Lunar Observatory to be Established at Moon’s South Pole in 2019](_blank)
. Moon Express- Press Release. 21 July 2017. and Canadensys Aerospace, providing the optical telescope system.
. ILOS, 20 January 2018. The estimated cost in 2004 was of US$50 million.
Overview
The ILO-1 mission, first planned to be launched in 2008,
ILO Home Site. was later scheduled to be launched in July 2020 with an
Electron rocket
Electron is a two-stage, partially recoverable orbital launch vehicle developed by Rocket Lab, an American aerospace company with a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary. Electron was developed to service the commercial small satellite launch mar ...
from New Zealand.
The mission was called ''Moon Express Lunar Scout'', and it would have used the
MX-1E lander to deliver the observatory on top of the
Malapert Mountain, a 5 km tall peak in the
Aitken Basin Aitken may refer to:
* Aitken (crater), a crater on the Moon, named after Robert Grant Aitken (1864–1951), an American astronomer
* South Pole–Aitken basin, an immense impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly in diameter and dee ...
region that has an uninterrupted direct line of sight to Earth, which facilitates communications any time.
[Internatioinal Lunar Observatory to offer a new astrophysical perspective](_blank)
''Spaceflight Insider''. Tonasz Nowakowski. 12 August 2017. The original launch of the MX-1E lander with an Electron rocket was cancelled sometime before February 2020; no launch date or launch rocket for the MX-1E has been since announced, leaving the status of it unknown.
The ILO-1 flagship payload, and its back up ILO-2, is still being advanced through work by Canadensys Aerospace Corporation (April 2022) while ILOA seeks a different landing provider and partner to land on Malapert Mountain. ILO-1 or ILO-2 may fly with Intuitive Machines to the Moon South Pole region in December 2022 / 2023 aboard IM-2, or fly with other international or national lunar missions currently under development.
The small robotic ILO-1 observatory is designed to withstand the long lunar nights so it is expected to operate for a few years.
Moon Express would have also utilized the mission to explore the Moon's South Pole for mineral resources including water ice.
The original plan for the ILO-1 included an optical portion of the system is a
Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope
The Schmidt–Cassegrain is a catadioptric telescope that combines a Cassegrain reflector's optical path with a Schmidt corrector plate to make a compact astronomical instrument that uses simple spherical surfaces.
Invention and design
The A ...
. The optical system uses a 7 cm diameter lens, with an 18 cm focal plane, a 13 cm f/5.6 aperture,
[Moon Express-built Telescope To Provide Lunar Perspective of Earth](_blank)
Debra Werner, ''Space News'' 3 June 2013. and 6.4-megapixel resolution.
The telescope system would have been "about the size of a shoe-box" with a mass of approximately 2 kg.
Some collaborators include the
National Astronomical Observatory of China
The National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC, ) is an astronomical research institute operated by Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Purple Mountain Observatory and National Ti ...
(NAOC),
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the newly formed Southeast Asia Principal Operating Partnership, and others.
['Maunakea World Park' Advanced by Hawaii Mayor Kim at ILOA Galaxy Forum Kona]
PR Newswire. 13 April 2017.
Objective
The mission's objective is to conduct astrophysical observations from the surface of the Moon, whose lack of atmosphere eliminates much of the need for costly adaptive optics technology.
Space Age Pub. 2017. Also, since the Moon's days (about fourteen Earth days) have a dark sky, it allows for nonstop astronomical observations.
[ Disadvantages include micrometeorite impacts, cosmic and solar radiation, lunar dust, and temperature shifts as large as 350° Celsius.][ The mission aims to acquire images of galaxies, stars, planets, the Moon and Earth. The project will promote commercial access to the telescope use to schools, scientists and the public at large through the Internet.]
See also
*List of artificial objects on the Moon
This is a partial list of artificial materials left on the Moon, many during the missions of the Apollo program. The table below does not include lesser Apollo mission artificial objects, such as a hammer and other tools, List of retroreflectors o ...
*List of missions to the Moon
As part of human exploration of the Moon, numerous space missions have been undertaken to study Earth's natural satellite. Of the Moon landings, Luna 2 of the Soviet Union was the first spacecraft to reach its surface successfully, intentionall ...
*Lunar Ultraviolet Cosmic Imager
Lunar Ultraviolet Cosmic Imager (LUCI) is a small planned telescope that will be landed on the Moon to scan the sky in near UV wavelengths. It is a technology demonstrator developed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics,"Prospect for UV observat ...
, a proposed lunar-based telescope
References
External links
ILO-X and ILO-X Commercial Missions
at Canadyensis Aerospace
Photo of the telescope
at Space Age Publishing Co.
{{Moon spacecraft
Missions to the Moon
Space telescopes
Spacecraft instruments
2020s in spaceflight