We’ve already made it clear we want to go back to the Moon very soon, if not for more study then at least to eventually set up a launch base to propel us to Mars.
Now, a German space startup wants to set up a communication tower on the Moon to help us do just that.
The Audi quattro rover PTScientists will use on their Moon Mission - Audi
THE AUDI QUATTRO ROVER PTSCIENTISTS WILL USE ON THEIR MOON MISSION - AUDI
PTScientists, formerly known as Part Time Scientists, is looking to install a tower with the same cellular technology we use here on Earth, on the Moon. The tower network (provided by a tie up with Vodafone) will then be used by a rover co-designed with Audi called the Audi quattro lunar rover, to transmit data back home.
The rovers PTScientists plan to send to the moon have the capability to transmit data back to Earth themselves, just like NASA’s lunar probes. The problem is that these are very power-hungry machines, not to mention that the rovers need to stand still while transmitting. Instead, if they can piggyback on LTE connections provided by the planned cell tower, they could be more power-efficient, the startup’s CEO Robert Boehme told BloombergQuint.
To do that, PTScientists is now teaming up with SpaceX, securing a spot on the American space company’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket. The partnership would let the German startup launch their rovers, and construct their cell tower, on future missions with a much smaller budgetary requirement. They’re expected to get their chance to launch on the Falcon 9 in 2018.