NASA Backs Lunar Wi-Fi Project To Connect Astronauts and Rovers On the Moon (nerds.xyz) 22
BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: NASA has awarded Solstar Space a $150,000 SBIR Phase I contract to develop a Lunar Wi-Fi Access Point (LWIFI-AP). The system is designed to provide wireless connectivity for astronauts, rovers, and orbiting spacecraft as part of the Artemis and Commercial Lunar Payload Services programs. Solstar's goal is to build a space-rated, multi-band, multi-protocol access point that can survive radiation, extreme lunar temperatures, and other harsh conditions. NASA has identified Wi-Fi and 3GPP standards as core communication needs across mission systems ranging from the Human Landing System and Lunar Terrain Vehicle to the Lunar Gateway.
Although this is only an early-stage contract, Solstar's proposal addresses a clear gap in space-qualified networking hardware. The company says that just as Wi-Fi transformed daily life on Earth, it will be equally important for living and working on the Moon. If the project advances, astronauts could soon be relying on familiar wireless technology that has been adapted for one of the most challenging environments in existence.
Although this is only an early-stage contract, Solstar's proposal addresses a clear gap in space-qualified networking hardware. The company says that just as Wi-Fi transformed daily life on Earth, it will be equally important for living and working on the Moon. If the project advances, astronauts could soon be relying on familiar wireless technology that has been adapted for one of the most challenging environments in existence.
Space qualified? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Space qualified? (Score:5, Informative)
Being radiation hardened and able to operate in a vacuum where there is no air to assist with cooling. It may also need to deal with heating from direct sunlight.
It also needs to be extensively tested to make sure it doesn't interfere with any other equipment used on the same mission. The firmware might need to be validated to make sure it can't glitch and start transmitting on the wrong frequency, or above a certain power limit.
They will also want to characterize its performance and resilience to interference, and its power consumption. Many space systems are power constrained.
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Yep.
"Surviving in space more than a few years" is basically one definition, which almost all consumer kit would fail.
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Don't forget periods in complete darkness, plunging down to -133 C [-210 F].
You'll experience about 13 of these thermal cycles each year. Most equipment wouldn't survive one.
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Are they expecting it to survive the lunar night? I think all the missions planned so far are just for daytime, with any equipment surviving the night as a mere bonus.
Not sure about the Chinese. They are planning a lunar base and because it's them it might actually happen, in which case surviving the night will be necessary unless they plan to replace it every time.
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Are they expecting it to survive the lunar night? I think all the missions planned so far are just for daytime, with any equipment surviving the night as a mere bonus.
I guess it depends on whose plans you are watching, and how likely you think they are to come to fruition. In the near-term, Artemis only has plans for flags-and-footprints missions: short stays during daytime. However, the eventual goal is lunar colonies, so dealing with lunar nighttime will have to be tackled eventually. Even before we get to permanent colonies, though, there are plans to explore in the south polar craters - spots that are perpetually shadowed and chilling at -250 C. That's not a ther
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It think it really depends on China. If China go ahead with a base then the US will try to do one too. If China gets samples back from Mars first, the US will want boots up there. If China doesn't do those things, I imagine the US will lose interest pretty quickly again.
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It think it really depends on China. If China go ahead with a base then the US will try to do one too. If China gets samples back from Mars first, the US will want boots up there. If China doesn't do those things, I imagine the US will lose interest pretty quickly again.
I would hope this is true. However, with the current US leadership, I'm not sure that a Sputnik event today would trigger anything more than a few "patriotic" utterances. The current strategy is cutting back on things that don't "align with the President's priorities." Space, science, and research not currently politically expedient.
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Strange. None of the cameras sent during the original Apollo mission were hardened at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
There's a big difference between a vidicon tube and a silicon image sensor. There's a big difference between an analog signal transmission path and digital data storage on an SD card or SSD. There's a big difference between a mission that lasts for days and a system designed to stay up there for years.
NASA... (Score:5, Funny)
"... We're not super sure we can make it back to the moon but by God we're going to have wifi if we do!"
Moon (Score:2)
Imagine being the first moon-resident and before any of that equipment arrives, you switch on your wifi and see a wireless SSID being broadcast...
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Wi-Fi, there is no such thing as wifi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Sadly, there IS such a thing as pedantry.
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There's no such things as "Wi-Fi" either because it's a nonsense made up name with no actual relevance to the technology is applies to.
It's a play on "High Fidelity" that sounds cute.
It's like correcting someone's pronuncation of Google or X.
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Looking forward (Score:2)
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Yeah, for what they're charging, they can afford to go the extra mile and have the wifi offer a default route to the internet!
3GPP? (Score:2)
Try WiMax (Score:2)