In Space, No-One Everyone Can Hear You Scream
February 19th, 2008at 10:38pm Posted by Eli
…Or prattle about your personal problems:
Even in the cosmos there will be no escaping the ringtone as NASA and the British National Space Centre prepare to trial a mobile phone network for the moon.
Astronauts and robots exploring the moon’s surface will only be a text message away after the system goes live later this century.
The satellite system should ensure a full four-bar signal for lunar colonists living in the base NASA wants to build at the south pole of the moon after 2020.
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Phone calls and other information would be bounced off satellites orbiting the moon for communication between colonists, the moon base, and the Earth.
The joint NASA/BNSC MoonLite mission, due to be launched after 2012, will test a prototype version of the satellite phone network, similar to the Inmarsat network on Earth.
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The early lunar system will be comparable to the “satellite phone network of the 1980s and 1990s on Earth,” said David Parker, director of space science at the BNSC. “The robots and astronauts would be spread out from the base to do exploration and some sorts of comms infrastructure would be needed. MoonLite is taking the first step towards that network.”
The explorer will rely on the expertise of BNSC satellite specialists from Guildford, who have built 27 satellites to date, with NASA making the communications module.
The final system would initially be served by one or two satellites providing coverage of the south pole, with scope for more satellites to be added as a greater range is required.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=21lOpV5c2OQ
HELLO? I’M ON THE MOON! I SAID, I’M ON THE BLOODY MOON!!!
Entry Filed under: Technology,Weirdness
