Architectural Considerations in Design of Lunar-Based Astronomical Observatories

The Moon is an excellent site for astronomy. It lacks an appreciable atmosphere, has no wind, snow or rain, and rotates slowly. It is a stable platform with a very small amount of ground motion unlike the active geology of the Earth, and it is also very quiet on the farside away from the radio frequency background noises emitted from the Earth. Its 1/6th g gravity enables large lightweight structures to be built. It is still a very hostile place with high vacuum, thermal extremes, radiation, micrometeorites, and dust. This paper discusses the architectural considerations, namely, structural design, construction sequence and human factors, for various classes of astronomical structures which were evolved through several workshops and studies performed for NASA. These structures include the 100 m diameter radio-telescope, a large 16 m aperture infrared telescope and a Lunar Optical/Ultraviolet/Infrared Synthesis Array (LOUISA). Earlier instruments (e.g. for all-sky surveys in the ultra violet) which will be landed on the Moon to serve as test beds for the later larger telescopes are also discussed.