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NASA Plans Lunar Mobile Phone Network
If NASA and the British National Space Centre succeed in their 'MoonLite mission' you won't be able to say, "In space no one can hear your ringtone." They plan on building a satellite system/phone network that would provide full four-bar signal coverage for colonists living in the base NASA wants to build at the south pole of the moon after 2020.
A couple of hundred thousand miles away is a lot of roaming.
Great. The Moon will have better coverage than my current Sprint plan. I bet their data plan will be cheaper too.
In an effort to conform with internet communication standards, please note that the above comment is 100% biased opinion
noone can hear you now!
Monstar L
There's only going to be four bars to provide coverage on the moon?
It had better be a small colony, then. Or they'd better be really big bars, hopefully without annoyingly trendy kitsch, and hopefully with some really good whiskey.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
Tell me the 60 min of "talk time" doesn't include the wasted time spent waiting for the message to reach the moon, get a response and head back.
I could see it as something of a quarky attraction "talk to the moon: call 2-XXX...) to help fund research. But really what colonist is going to want to be in the middle of digging up dirt only to stop and answer a phone with some silly questions like "what's the weather like up there?"
Demented But Determined.
"would there be an audible lag time for calls like this?"
Nope, the article says any lag time would fall either below 20 or above 20,000 Hz. If you were trying to talk to fido, he might notice a delay, however.
This is great, I'll be able to place a call on the moon but I still can't place one in my house.
Exactly what I was thinking. This is precisely why NASA is going down the drain. They can't even get full cellphone signal, let alone get their units right.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You seem to be having a problem with your keyboard.
Anyway, I corrected the text for you.
GPG 0x1B479C78
Now the Moon will another place I can't hide from the ex.
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
As soon as there's any hint of a mobile phone mast getting installed all the NIMBY's start moaning, writing to their MP's, holding protests and petitioning the phone company.
If there is life on other planets, all we have to do to find it is to announce that someone will errect a mobile mast - then just wait for the protests from the aliens. No protests means we are truly alone, afterall.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
It's a base station!
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Please mod up that AC above!
DANGER! Do Not Touch! 100,000,000 Ohms!
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
You seem to be having a problem with your keyboard.
Anyway, I corrected the text for you. Fixed again
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
NO, ITS SHIT!
Sorry, had to be done.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
I have the Ted Kennedy phone coverage plan... they claim "more bars everywhere".
4 bars on the moon?! somehow, I know I'm getting screwed when I would get better service on the moon than I would at my house.
First, NASA tricks AT&T in setting up a cell phone network on the moon, then, in order to recoup their investment, AT&T must somehow get the moon colonized.
My personal preference is to avoid using a speakerphone in my space suit.
"Guess where *I'm* calling from!"
...you won't be able to say, "In space no one can hear your ringtone." Well that's a damn shame, considering how everyone uses that phrase all the time./* No Comment */
Unfortunately, there's a lot of resistance to your idea.
o/~ Proud cascade keep on rollin'... o/~