Why is India's 1st lunar mission, PRATUSH, going to Moon's far side
India's Raman Research Institute (RRI) has developed a conceptual mission called PRATUSH, which aims to send a tiny, credit card-sized computer to the far side of the Moon.
Why there? It's super quiet—no Earth radio noise—which is perfect for picking up faint signals from when the very first stars lit up the universe.
By tuning in to these 21-centimeter hydrogen signals, scientists hope to better understand how those early stars shaped everything we see today.
PRATUSH will use Raspberry Pi-based system
At the heart of PRATUSH is a Raspberry Pi-based system that keeps things small and energy-efficient while running a super-sensitive receiver.
This tech can catch whispers from space that regular Earth equipment would totally miss.
And if deployed on the Moon's hidden side, PRATUSH gets an uninterrupted view into cosmic history—helping researchers piece together what happened during our universe's "Cosmic Dawn."
Future upgrades are already planned to dig even deeper into these mysteries.