Spatiotemporal characteristics of near-earth object monitoring from a moon-based station: case from 1962 to 2020 in CNEOS

Numerous discovered and undiscovered near-Earth objects (NEOs), celestial bodies from outer space with diverse physical properties, have ensued major potential impact threats to the Earth. For a timely and accurate response in monitoring NEOs entering Earth’s orbit, the future applied Moon-based monitoring platform (MBMP) will fully utilize the vast flat Moon’s surface, along with low thermal noise in the prospective permanent shadow area, low gravity and vacuum environment, and special space relation, among other advantages over the established ground-based monitoring platform (GBMP) and space-based monitoring platform (SBMP). Future single or clustered platforms might indeed survey space with limited solar influence involved. Through downloaded data from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, this study analysed MBMP performance and studied the commonly visible ratio (VR) based on the overall geometry of Sun–Moon–Earth and NEOs. Results from the average near-side MBMP VR outperformed the far side GBMP, and other satellites even by 0.4. This provides locations with a high probability for monitoring platforms among the downloaded NEOs, while the rest of the Moon’s surface can serve as crucial underlying support for timely NEO monitoring and a valuable complement for GBMP and SBMP.