CosmoCube: Moon’s Far Side Mission to Study the Early Universe

Subject: GS 3: Science and Technology

Context: Scientists from the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) plan to send a small satellite named CosmoCube to the far side of the Moon to study the early universe.

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About Cosmocube

• CosmoCube is a proposed small satellite to be sent to the far side of the Moon to detect the 21-cm radio signal from neutral hydrogen from the Cosmic Dark Ages and probe the early universe.
  • Cosmic Dark Ages are the period after the Big Bang when the universe was largely filled with neutral hydrogen and the first stars and galaxies had not yet formed.
• Developed by: It is being developed by a team of scientists led by the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
• Mission Duration: 2 years; around 40 minutes of observation during each 2-hour lunar orbit. 
• Communication Strategy: The satellite will remain radio-silent during scientific observations behind the Moon and transmit recorded data during another part of its orbit.
• Instrument: Carries a highly sensitive and accurately calibrated radio receiver (radiometer) operating at 10–100 MHz.
  • The radiometer will separate incoming radio waves into many frequency channels to search for the characteristic fingerprint of early hydrogen.
• Hubble Tension: CosmoCube will also examine the largely unexplored period between the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and the formation of the first stars, providing an independent probe of the early universe. 
  • The Hubble tension is the discrepancy in the measured value of the Hubble constant (H₀) between observations of the nearby universe and estimates based on the CMB (early universe).
  • CMB is the relic radiation from the Big Bang and the oldest light observable in the Universe. It was released after the Big Bang, when the expanding Universe cooled enough for atoms to form and became transparent to light.

About 21-cm Signal

• 21-cm Signal: In 1944, Hendrik van de Hulst predicted that neutral hydrogen could emit a faint signal through a spin-flip transition, at a wavelength of 21 cm.
• Rest Frequency: The 21-cm radiation corresponds to a frequency of 1,420 MHz, which is redshifted to lower frequencies as the universe expands.
• First Detection: In 1951, Harold Ewen and Edward Purcell observed the 21-cm radiation for the first time.
• Significance: Provides a means to study the Cosmic Dark Ages, Cosmic Dawn, and formation of the first stars and galaxies. 

About PRATUSH (Probing ReionisATion of the Universe using Signal from Hydrogen)

• PRATUSH is a proposed Indian space-based radiometer designed to detect the global redshifted 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionisation.
• Developed By: Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru.
• Location: Planned to operate in lunar orbit, with scientific observations from the radio-quiet far side of the Moon.
• Frequency Range: Baseline design is optimised for 55–110 MHz.

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