The forthcoming decades will see a rapid development of space programs aiming at the implementation of habitats on our satellite. Therefore it makes sense to evaluate the feasibility of a permanent cosmic-ray (CR) observatory on the Moon. Its large sensitive area would allow to carry out a very rich observational program over a time span of a few decades with an unprecedented energy reach. A thorough exploration of the energy region around the CR spectral anomaly located at a few PeV, also known as the “knee”, will become possible.

In this paper we propose an innovative concept of a modular lunar observatory designed to overcome the limitations of the present generation of cosmic-ray telescopes in Low Earth Orbit. It consists of an array of fully independent modules with limited individual size and weight. This would allow an ample flexibility in the gradual deployment of a progressively larger active volume, while ensuring the collection of meaningful scientific data during the intermediate stages of its implementation. Each independent module consists of three main instruments: a combined Charge and Time-of-Flight detector to identify individual elements from proton to nickel (and beyond), a tracker providing the direction and impact point of the incident particle, and a calorimeter to measure its kinetic energy. The design of each instrument contains innovative solutions that are well within the reach of the present technology.

未来几十年，旨在在我们的卫星上建立栖息地的太空计划将迅速发展。因此，评估在月球上建立永久性宇宙射线（CR）观测站的可行性是有意义的。其巨大的敏感区域将允许在几十年的时间跨度内以前所未有的能量范围开展非常丰富的观测计划。对位于几个 PeV 的 CR 光谱异常（也称为“拐点”）周围的能量区域进行彻底探索将成为可能。

在本文中，我们提出了模块化的创新概念月球天文台旨在克服当前一代近地轨道宇宙射线望远镜的局限性。它由一系列完全独立的模块组成，单个模块的尺寸和重量有限。这将为逐渐部署越来越大的活动量提供足够的灵活性，同时确保在其实施的中间阶段收集有意义的科学数据。每个独立模块由三个主要仪器组成：一个组合的电荷和飞行时间探测器，用于识别从质子到镍（及其他）的各个元素，一个跟踪器，提供入射粒子的方向和撞击点，以及一个用于测量的热量计它的动能。每台仪器的设计都包含现有技术完全可以达到的创新解决方案。