The Mount John observatory, which overlooks Lake Tekapo in the South Island of New Zealand, will be involved in a research collaboration with the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The observatory has the largest telescopes in New Zealand and is operated by the University of Canterbury. The research collaboration aims to create an approach to track spacecraft orbiting the moon, or travelling between high Earth orbit and the moon.
“This tracking will be increasingly important as more countries and private actors send spacecraft to the Moon,” a University of Canterbury press release says.
“At the most basic level, we are spotting spacecraft orbiting the moon using earth-based telescopes and new innovative methods,” said University of Canterbury Associate Professor Stephen Weddell, who is leading the program.
“This is a very, very early form of lunar traffic management which will become increasingly useful to help enable the safe coordination of multiple international missions focused on the sustainable exploration of the Moon.”
The research team, which is led by the University of Canterbury, also includes academics and students from the University of Auckland and the University of New South Wales in Australia.
