Those million dollar moon trips may prevent us from talking to E.T.
The moon is in jeopardy of high tech pollution that could harm finding alien life
If humans want to contact aliens, maybe they should stay out of space.
That’s according to new research from Space.com, which explains that the constant orbit of radio waves around the moon — a result of human expeditions — could interfere with vital signals researchers are looking for, like possible extraterrestrial communication.
In 2018 alone, there were more than 100 space launches from eight different countries. This year, there has been a launch nearly every month. And in 2020, even more launches are set for takeoff, including novel missions from NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
For its Big Falcon Rocket project where Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be Space X's first priv that project alone Musk said would cost $5 billion. Over the summer NASA said it would will need an estimated $20 billion to $30 billion over the next five years for its moon project, But the money isn't quite there as NASA woulld have to receive another $4 billion to $6 billion annually to the agency's budget.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has not put any figures against its "Blue Moon" landing mission yet but the safe money is it won't be an inexpesive proposition. But is this space race back to the moon hurting science?
The problem with trips to the moon, specifically, is that there is only a small portion of it that hasn’t yet been littered with human tech signals: the dark side. But scientists fear increased lunar activities could put that side in jeopardy of signal pollution.
Scientists searching for extraterrestrial intelligence often need the same radio signals that human activity interferes with, Claudio Maccone, director for scientific space exploration at the International Academy of Astronautics and chair of the group’s SETI committee, told Space.com. “All the radio astronomers, whether human or alien, certainly know about this basic frequency line,” he explained, calling the signals an imaginary “magic line.”
Michelle Hanlon, a lawyer at the University of Mississippi School of Law specializing in outer space, shared the same sentiment: “There's a new sense of urgency and I think much more because of the growth and the potential of the commercial sector,” she said in the report. “There's a fear on the part of scientists that everything's going to be exploited.”
This isn’t the first time researchers wagged a finger at humans impeding research. Earlier this year, a West Virginia town banned Wi-Fi because it could interfere with space signals.
THIS TOWN BANNED WI-FI BECAUSE IT COULD INTERFERE WITH ALIENS
And while much of space exploration is rooted in important causes, like searching for pockets of water on lunar surfaces, researchers interested in the moon are calling for certain protections. Maccone, for instance, wants to keep some of the moon untouched.
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Neither NASA or SpaceX, which both have big missions already in progress and slated for years to come, immediately responded to a request for comment from FOX Business.