A preliminary study of Lunar astronomical observatories

The idea of Lunar-based observatories has been gaining popularity among the scientific community during the last decades. Placing a telescope on the Moon¿s surface not only would overcome all of the current shortcomings of Earth-based observatories, such as atmospheric absorption, astronomical seeing, light pollution or Earth¿s day-night cycle itself, but also would benefit from the exceptional observational conditions of natural satellite offers, like the lack of atmosphere, the possibility of using increased-diffractionlimited instruments or Moon¿s slow sidereal rotation. However, in order to safely operate Lunar astronomical observatories, all of the different effects the telescope would suffer due to the fact of staying at the Moon¿s surface must be considered in advance. Some of the most significant phenomena which may cause severe impact on the observatory will be covered in this project, such as the effects of being exposed to Lunar radiation and plasma environments and hazardous space weather events. This analysis will be carried out with the aim of studying the feasibility of manufacturing, launching, transporting, building, assembling, operating and maintaining an astronomical observatory placed on the Moon¿s surface and also defining some of the required upcoming future steps in the development of such an ambitious mission