Vodafone and Nokia have joined forces to bring 4G to a barren, characterless expanse (no, we don't mean Surrey suburbia). From 2019 LTE will be available on the moon.
The network is intended to support a mission by Berlin company PTScientists, along with Vodafone Germany and Audi, to achieve the first privately funded Moon landing.
Mission to the Moon is due to launch in 2019 from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Vodafone's network will be used to set up the Moon's first 4G network, connecting two Audi Lunar Quattro rovers to a base station in the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA).
The base station should be able to broadcast 4G using the 1800 MHz frequency band and send back live HD video feed of the Moon's surface, which will be broadcast to a global audience via a deep space link.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 28 2018, @01:03AM (3 children)
I need help driving back to base at night.
I wonder how much AT&T data charges apply on the moon, does it count as an outlying US Territory? :)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 28 2018, @02:15AM (1 child)
Watch out that your phone doesn't pick up a base station on the moon, lest you get charged for roaming.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Bot on Thursday March 01 2018, @12:00AM
Before enabling roaming you should also consider that 4g, due to the smaller mass of the moon, becomes a mere 0.64g...
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday February 28 2018, @04:08PM
Whatever the cost, it's sure to be out of this world.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday February 28 2018, @01:16AM (5 children)
It's not even 5G. Or 6G.
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(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday February 28 2018, @02:06AM
There was a surplus items clearance sale on a big pile of 4G gear. It turns out it would cost them more to recycle it on Earth, so...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 28 2018, @07:53AM (2 children)
With only two subscribers, I don't think it matters that much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Touché) by driverless on Wednesday February 28 2018, @11:28AM (1 child)
Unless Verizon is running the network, that is. I'm sure they can get congestion with just a single subscriber.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 28 2018, @11:50AM
Well, perhaps it's fortuitous that Vodafone Germany and Nokia takes care of the "network".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Wednesday February 28 2018, @09:32AM
It'll still have better connectivity per capita than the US.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by DECbot on Wednesday February 28 2018, @01:21AM (1 child)
So, it's official. We're deporting driverless cars back to where they came from. Let's hope Audi is sending electric version of the Quattro because the gas and diesel versions might have problems meeting emissions standards and the barren moon would require a bit more engineering for an air breathing engine than the Audi/VW engineers might be capable of conducting as the standard defeat device isn't going to work here.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 28 2018, @07:57AM
On the positive side, they can crank up the compression ratio to zillions to one without NOX emissions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 28 2018, @02:10AM
Bit far away for me. I'd be happy to get even 1G outside of this city.
(Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Wednesday February 28 2018, @03:40AM (2 children)
Am I alone in feeling very sad that god-damned cel phones are considered to be the first thing you need to colonize space?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by tftp on Wednesday February 28 2018, @03:58AM (1 child)
(Score: 4, Funny) by Arik on Wednesday February 28 2018, @04:44AM
And one of the things they do is accept broken-by-design trash hardware, ensuring that manufacturers see no need to produce anything else.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday February 28 2018, @03:52AM (7 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 28 2018, @04:07AM (6 children)
And to whom, exactly, are you referring?
I have no idea what you're going on about.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 28 2018, @09:59AM (5 children)
Note that while Arik is right to complain, the blame doesn't lie with the individuals who claim 3.75G (which some were calling it internally, as it was the next step forward from 3.5G, and we'd already had a "2.75G" stepping stone out of 2.5G, so it was following a pattern) is 4G, but with those that said it was OK to call 3.75G "4G", which was the whole standards body itself. (Which is of course comprises the companies who want to peddle their non-4G stuff as sexy new 4G.)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday February 28 2018, @10:28AM (1 child)
I can't bring myself to be angry about this. Sure, marketing got involved, but the standards are made in advance of the (practical) technology (demos have to make it out of the lab to mean anything for people).
The technologies are improving, and the real problem is not a few marketing tricks, but pricing, mergers between carriers, investment in new cell towers, etc.
We could also get mad about semiconductor process nodes being advertised as "14nm", "12nm", "10nm", "7nm", etc. Or we can just wait for the benchmarks and get on with our lives.
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(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 28 2018, @04:16PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday February 28 2018, @11:13AM (2 children)
Oh, ok. I get it now. Thanks!
I'm not really sure why (in the context of setting up a permanent communications network on the moon) marketing hype would really make a difference.
The subject line didn't tip me off to that, as I don't really see why (given the data transfer speeds provided by LTE) it would insufficient to meet the needs of a small number of robotic and/or human users. especially since additional capacity (even a fiber backbone) can be added as bandwith needs and traffic increases.
I suspect that as long as appropriate numbers of cell sites are set up in proximity to the area to be explored/exploited, workable levels of data/voice communications can be implemented -- whether it's 4G or LTE.
Either way, it certainly beats creating a one-off proprietary network for this mission.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:57AM (1 child)
I didn't say it wasn't sufficient. If the stupidity can be kept minimal it should be more than sufficient. That's not the point.
The point is they're lying. They're so used to lying they can't even remember what it's like to tell the truth.
And from your response, that may be true of you as well.
"Either way, it certainly beats creating a one-off proprietary network for this mission."
Ok.
Sure, it does, but what makes you think that's relevant to the observation that they're lying?
This is what it sounds like to me;
A. "This is pure gold."
B. "Are you sure? Why does this inscription say '10k filled?'
A. "It's gold! Why are you complaining?"
B. "You lied to me."
A. "It's got gold in it! What do you want? It's a lot better than the gold anodized aluminum I almost sold you instead!"
B. "Umm, ok, but you still lied to me."
A. "[...]"
B. "I'm going to go see if I can find someone that will sell me something without lying to me."
A. "ROFLMAO good luck with that!"
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by NotSanguine on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:16AM
I'm sorry the mean wireless telecom marketing people lied to you.
I'm sure that's a huge burden to bear. Come over here and I'll give you a hug!
Marketers always lie. Why should this be any different? And why single those folks out? Did the bad man from Nokia touch your "private" place?
No one is surprised, or very worked up about (well, except you apparently) their lies. Perhaps you should write your congressman? That will definitely make a difference!
That said, what difference does it make to the topic at hand whether these asshats lie or not? Will calling out the lying marketing people make the lunar cellular network better?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday February 28 2018, @11:12AM
The real story here is that the failure of the Google Lunar XPrize [wikipedia.org] hasn't killed off all of the plans to privately land on the Moon.
This is also the first Moon mission of any kind launched by SpaceX (Falcon Heavy will no longer carry two paying customers on a lunar orbit). And it's being done with Falcon 9 (Block 5?).
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