NASA wants to install a wifi network on the moon - geeko

The agency studies how to resolve the digital terrestrial fracture by looking for a way to install a Wi-Fi network on the moon.

In a new study published by NASA, experts from the American space agency announce that they have started to study the possibility of installing a WiFi network on the moon.

"This project represents an excellent opportunity to develop solutions with challenges that we will face when we send astronauts on the Moon, with the Artemis mission", explains Mary Lobo, director of the Department of Incubation and Technological Innovation at Glenn ResearchCenter, one of the ten NASA space centers."At the same time it can help us overcome the problems of access to the network on Earth, in the most remote regions of the world.»»

A first test ground

To assess the possibility of the development of a WiFi network on the Moon, the authors of the study first simulated a portion of the lunar surface by comparing it to a small district of Cleveland.Researchers have shown that the installation of wifi mini routers on approximately 20,000 floor lamps would allow each home and resident of the area to easily access the network.

In addition, scientists calculated that if repeats could be placed less than 70 meters from each other, a house of four people could benefit from a connection of about 7.5 Mbit/s for download, or 0.875 Mo/s. If this speed is not sufficient to watch 4K videos, it does largely the case for the majority of standard uses, such as the search for online information or even communication.

For researchers, this study is a first step: "The results of this study can serve as a basis for planning a lunar WiFi network.Of course, there are other challenges to be met, including the adaptation of the equipment necessary for an extreme environment in terms of dust and temperatures. "

It is obviously a preliminary work and the concept of wifi on the moon is still only in a conceptual phase.NASA hopes, however, that the results of the study can be used in the near future to improve internet access in the least well served urban communities.The moon will come after.