Published: June 12, 2024 By

 Intuitive Machines via X)From Space.com:听Human technology like cell phones and broadcast towers constantly radiate radio waves into听space, and astronomers estimate this tell-tale signature of humanity has swept across听75 nearby star systems, signaling to any watchful alien civilization that Earth hosts a technologically advanced species. And, while scientists have listened to the incessant radio chatter from our planet for a long time, in late February, they heard it from the moon for the first听time.

A small radio telescope onboard the Odysseus spacecraft, the first commercial vehicle that听successfully landed听on the moon on Feb. 22, recorded radio waves beamed from听Earth听for 1.5 hours. The experiment, named ROLSES, made its observations from Odysseus' landing spot near the Malapert A crater, which sits roughly 185 miles (297 kilometers)听away from the moon's south pole.

Astrophysicist Jack Burns of the 澳门开奖结果2023开奖记录, who is the co-investigator of ROLSES, described the moment as the "dawn of radio听astronomy听from the moon." By studying Earth as an听exoplanet, astronomers hope to search for similar fingerprints coming from planets around other听stars, which would be a potential sign of intelligent life.