China plans moon telescope on far side with 7,200 antennas to explore early universe

China has proposed building a massive radio telescope array on the far side of the moon, featuring 7,200 butterfly-shaped antennas. The 30 km-wide array aims to capture ultra-long wavelength cosmic signals to study the early universe and discover exoplanets. Construction is planned within a decade, utilizing robotic and human lunar missions in three phases. The project faces challenges in finding flat terrain and deploying the full array, which could take years even with support from a future lunar research base.