The Moon Is Getting The Internet, Here’s How And Why
Nokia is planning to establish 4G Internet on the moon to facilitate real-time communication with astronauts.
Good news: astronauts no longer need to be bored on the Moon, because they will soon have the Internet. CNBC has confirmed that Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications and IT group is planning to launch 4G Internet on the Moon this year. While this news may immediately have you conjuring up the image of an astronaut mindlessly scrolling through TikTok and cat videos, the project has very real and important goals.
Firstly, NASA is aiming to send astronauts to the Moon’s surface once again, because the last time astronauts were on the Moon was in 1972, before the Internet even existed. This project is called Artemis 1 mission, and it will allow human deep space exploration to test the waters on whether or not humans can exist on the Moon and beyond. The first uncrewed Artemis I flight test proved successful earlier this year, which means they are most likely ready to send humans to the Moon once again.
While astronauts are on the Moon, they will be able to use the Internet to communicate with one another and mission control. They will also use the Internet to stream real-time video and pertinent data back to their team here on Earth. If all goes well, then this will prove that future space missions will be able to rely on terrestrial networks for their communication needs.
If we want there to be life on the Moon, then we also need water. An important mission for Nokia’s lunar network is to try and track down hidden ice craters in the Moon which, once properly treated and broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, can be used for rocket fuel and breathable oxygen for humans. This would have been really helpful for Matt Damon’s character Dr. Mark Watney in the movie The Martian.
We all know that setting up the Internet at our own homes can be tricky enough, so how will Nokia manage to set up the Internet on the Moon that’s 238,900 miles away? It’s going to take a lot of antennas, space stations, and deep breathing.
But really, Nokia is investing in the help of—you guessed it—Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch their network via a solar-powered rover and a Nova-C lunar lander. The rover will work together with the lander through an LTE connection once they both land on the Moon’s Shackleton crater. Once the infrastructure is in place later this year, it will provide 4G Internet to future astronauts on the Moon.
This may sound like a lot to handle for the company known for its indestructible cell phones that were widely used in the 1990s before the iPhone and Android came along. But the company has come a long way since it started back in 1865, earning a staggering $24.91 billion (EUR) last year. They have become a leader in the tech space, specializing in mobile, fixed, and cloud networks, and now Internet on the Moon.
Now that’s what we call one small step for man, and one giant technical leap for mankind.
