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Moon Communications Space

Lockheed Martin Is Building a Moon-To-Earth Satellite Communications Network (engadget.com) 31

Posted by BeauHD from the can-you-hear-me-now? dept.
Lockheed Martin has created a spinoff devoted to lunar infrastructure, Crescent Space, whose first project is a Moon-to-Earth satellite network. Engadget reports: Parsec, as it's called, uses a constellation of small lunar satellites to provide a non-stop connection between astronauts, their equipment and the people back home. The system will also provide navigation help. The technology should help explorers keep in touch, and assist with spacecraft course changes. As Lockheed Martin explains, though, it could prove vital to those on lunar soil. Parsec's nodes create a lunar equivalent to GPS, giving astronauts their exact positions and directions back to base. A rover crew might know how to return home without driving into a dangerous crater, for instance.

Crescent's first Parsec nodes should be operational by 2025, with Lockheed Martin providing the satellites. And before you ask: yes, the company is clearly hoping for some big customers. CEO Joe Landon (formerly a Lockheed Martin Space VP) claims Crescent is "well positioned" to support NASA's Artemis Moon landings and other exploratory missions.
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Lockheed Martin Is Building a Moon-To-Earth Satellite Communications Network More

Lockheed Martin Is Building a Moon-To-Earth Satellite Communications Network

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  • That We Humans get to visit the place first ffs... /s

    • There is no reason to go to the moon AGAIN, so a permanent presence has become one of the top excuses and that needs a permanent communications system and most importantly a GPS since multiple nations are going with the likely intent of slicing up new territory and there are no natural borders -- so an invisible fence system should be put into place now so all the dogs can mark and defend their territory.

      • Oh, and this time there are no natives to object and no protestors who can get in the way of your industrial equipment as we slowly change the mass of both bodies from mining whatever useful minerals we discover. I can hear it already, "but the moon is so huge, man will never alter it's orbit!" Who cares, this time i'll take 1000 years before any remaining humans have to deal with saving the moon's orbit; and they'll likely say "don't look up" since that will be a very slow process until the collision and

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Zak3056 ( 69287 )

          until the collision and find some way to ignore the wild tidal changes

          Err... the math of this isn't my strong suit, but wouldn't removing mass from the moon result in smaller tidal forces (and also cause the moon to move further away from the earth?)

          • lol. yes; however, when the moon's orbit changes, part of the time it will be closer and then exert more force. Distance is a bigger factor in the force than mass so being close is a bigger problem. Assuming it doesn't end up crashing into earth or shooting out of orbit into space.

  • LPS (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Wednesday March 29, 2023 @07:05AM (#63408290)

    A lunar positioning system is an interesting tool for enhancing lunar exploration, but it does seem a little like building a platinum sledge for something a common wooden mallet could do.

    Is there really anything going to happen on the Moon any time soon that will have such a large range and dynamic locations that it won't be fully planned out before the mission rocket leaves Earth?

    The comm link is more useful, I doubt mission controllers like having blackouts whenever their orbiter isn't over the landing site.

    • but it does seem a little like building a platinum sledge for something a common wooden mallet could do.

      Indeed. The simplest and least unreliable way of being confident that your rover is not going to fall into a crevasse (well, lava cave, by overloading the weak roof), be unable to get sufficient traction on loose soil ("regolith"), get caught on a hidden boulder ... the myriad of pains rovers are heir to ... on the way back to your origin is (this is complex) to follow your wheel tracks back the way you c

    • As nerds we have always wondered how the Parsec became a unit of time. And this explains it. By becoming a celestial navigation system, the ideas of time and space become intertwined. And this is how Hans managed the run in under three parsecs

      • Turn in your nerd card. Solo made the Kessel run in under twelve parsecs. The film "Solo" showed how he shortened the *distance* by taking a shortcut.

        But I still wonder if Lockheed-Martin can build the satellite network with less than twelve Parsec satellites :-)

  • Do you want Moon COVID? (Score:4, Funny)

    by chas.williams ( 6256556 ) on Wednesday March 29, 2023 @07:32AM (#63408338)
    Because this is how you get Moon COVID.

    • Don't most of the same people who say 5G causes covid also say that it's a mild fever? Yeah so it's just a mild fever, just a flesh wound. In other words, Moon COVID is no big deal. I need my lunar tiktok.

  • If you are on the moon then you have been shunned and don't need to communicate with anyone.

  • From the Kessel Crater all the way back to Alpha Base, prior to the entire constellation of Parsec LPS were operational!

  • What they are building is a business development and Congress lobbying machine so that they can get Federal funds for this spinoff. Right now they have no real plans to build anything materiel.

  • You're gonna get some guy in the raid with a 5000+ ping.

    "Sor----guys--n--the---uckin--moon"

  • Isn't this just a preemptive strike before Elon can deliver a load of Starlink Luna sats via Spaceship?

    I'm expecting a Twitter announcement from him in 3..2.1..

  • with the Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor.
  • China is gonna try to hack the communication network.

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