Do We Need a Super Computer on the Moon?

Posted by in Technology


When I first read about the proposal to build a supercomputer on the moon, I thought it must be some sort of joke. After all, didn't Kubrick teach us about the perils of space computers in 2001: A Space Odyssey? However, the more I learned about the plan, the more I began to wonder if perhaps it had some merit.

A University of Southern California graduate student, Ouilang Chang, presented his idea of building a lunar supercomputer at a recent space conference. His idea came as a possible solution to the coming deep space network congestion.

 

The problem with the current deep space network has been a concern for NASA scientists for some time. Currently, the Deep Space Network (DSN) consists of huge satellite dishes in Australia, Spain and the United States. The DSN is used to communicate with spacecraft, including the International Space Station. It also gathers and stores important spaceflight data to send back to Earth. Already, this network is showing signs of being overloaded and there is competition over bandwidth. For example, currently the NASA space probe, Voyager 1, which was launched 35 years ago still uses the DSN to communicate with Earth and send data back to the scientists who are analyzing the first data from interstellar flight.

 

Chang's solution is to build a large supercomputer deep inside a lunar crater. By using a crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, this nuclear-powered computer would be able to process data and serve as a hub for future space travel. The plan also calls for radio dishes that would be used in unison with ones on Earth through laser technology.

 

The idea is interesting, but it still has several problems. For example, how would a giant system like this be cooled? Chang proposed building the structure near one of the moon's poles, allowing the frigid temperatures to help dissipate the heat and he has plans for an additional water cooled system. Although it's unclear how much water there is to be had at the lunar poles, this type of structure could not only help ease congestion on the DSN, but also the logistics of future moon settlements.

 

Sound insane? Stephen Hawking, a world renowned cosmologist, has been calling for a huge investment in developing the means to create a colony on the moon. According to him, a settlement on the moon would serve as base for deeper space travel. Although it's not likely that the United States will be returning to the moon any time in the near future, there are many private companies that are prepared to travel to the moon. In fact, Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to launch a resupply mission to the International Space Station. As commercial flight to the moon grows, it may become more realistic to establish a base on the moon, and a computer hub would certainly make creating the technology easier. But how much would it cost?

 

First, we have to consider shipping costs. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime doesn't provide free shipping to the moon. Currently, it costs about $50,000 per pound to ship materials to the moon. Added to that, there is the cost of excavating the selected crater and building the supercomputer center and the nuclear power generator. The project could easily run into the $20 billion range, making it the most expensive supercomputer in history.

 

These costs don't include labor cost for the actual construction and maintenance of the system. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to house a construction crew during the build? Then, what about system admin? Although it's possible to do a great deal remotely over the network, there are still times when you have to physically be in front of the machine. Can you imagine the commute? Your job site would be cold, dark and extremely lonely but your office would have one heck of a view.

 

Image courtesy of NASA

Comment

Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.

  • Melissa Kennedy
    Melissa Kennedy
    @Siegen - Thank you so much for your kind words - they mean a lot!@Frederick - I'm not sure. It would be interesting to find out.
  • Siegen-K
    Siegen-K
    Good site you have got here.. It's hard to find excellent writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! Take care!!
  • Frederick G
    Frederick G
    Great idea Do we still have the Apollo relay base on the moon.They were left in the Apollo base stands when they went to the moon.
  • Melissa Kennedy
    Melissa Kennedy
    Wow! Thanks for all the great comments. I don't think that this is the perfect solution, but it really gets people thinking. Because this was just a proposal, there isn't a clear plan for funding. Since the U.S has mostly pulled out of future moon missions, it would have to be privately funded. Also @Gregory, there's no clear evidence that Chang is Chinese. He is a graduate student at the University of Southern California and I'm assuming he's American. Stephen Hawking is British and although he is a genius, he is a college professor and while he earns a high salary, he's certainly not wealthy, especially considering the high cost of his medical care.
  •  Patricia R
    Patricia R
    It would be nice if they came back with a cure for Cancer Aids or something waste of money going to the moon
  • Danny M
    Danny M
    It's just a matter of time!
  • Gregory S
    Gregory S
    Oh, I'm all for it, building the Moon supercomputers, and cities on the Mars, and even a permanent inhabitable station on the surface of the Sun (with Ouilang Chang and Stephen Hawking as the resident astronauts), yet I'm for it as long as these projects are paid for from the Chinese budget (the country that produced the scientists of Ouilang Chang should be given the high honor to finance that great project) and the personal funds of Mr. Hawking that, I'm sure, are sufficient to build a couple of outer space cities. Just, please, do not give these ideas to our defense companies. The moon computer race and the fight for Mars superiority would consume everything that we still have...
  • Manny L
    Manny L
    This is an awesome article and one that holds my interest as I am a strong believer that space is "The Final Frontier" and the thought of men going to the moon and having all these technologies available to make this happen makes me wish I was younger again and have a much greater opportunity to be one of the first to go to the moon.Just the thought of being there is fantastic, then there is the chance to look at earth (“looking down to humans?") and the universe, that would make it worth it, even if there is cold and darkness .We need to provide more to the future generations.... America needs to maintain supremacy in the space race, for this is what
  • Jonathan y
    Jonathan y
    I would go in a heartbeat-either the Moon or the geo-sych option.
  • Louis C
    Louis C
    I have extensive Super computer Operations Experience !  Let me know if you need A Super-Computer Operator on The Moon ! I will go !
  • James G
    James G
    You don't need a "supercomputer" on the Moon.  You just need a web server cluster and an antenna farm.  What the DSN needs is bandwidth.  More antennas to listen to all the different spacecraft and when they are in positions and distances that the Earth based antennas can't "hear" them. The computer just acts like a router to send the data they get down to Earth.  No need for a supercomputer to do any processing on the Moon, because it might lose some of the information, or be wrong.  And the computer is the easy part.  It doesn't take much mass or volume for the computers or power.  The expensive/hard part will be replacing the synthetic aperture radio antennas.   These will be hundreds of small receivers that have to be precisely placed.  Either automated, or done by an astronaut, it will be expensive and time consuming.  But that is the advantage of putting it on the Moon, once they are set up, they "should be" low maintenance and stable, unlike an orbital platform that will have to be large and have a limited lifespan because of the fuel needed to maintain it's position. IMHO of course...  
  • Jim O
    Jim O
    Can you imagine how secure that would be? And talk about a DR site!
  • Paolo M
    Paolo M
    I think the idea is very good, but it's very expensive. Would the US invest in something like this? I don't think so yet! Need to fix economy issue first. But I always like the idea of space exploration, learning new findings. If the technology is there would it be nice to see people travel back in forth from site(moon). Private companies would invest and build factories by creating many jobs.   No one owns the moon? no taxes.
  • Robert M
    Robert M
    I am reading Freedom's Forge, a book about how William Knudsen, an auto manufacturer who had never built defense weapons, and Henry Kaiser, a construction executive who had never built ships or shipyards, together brought America's manufacturing capabilities from Great Depression era lows to the levels that won World War II, and did so in 18 months, when absolutely no one thought it possible, because there was a vital need. The American space program was a case of achieving new engineering capabilities to meet an unknown goal. The internet revolution of the late '90s and early '00s produced a host of companies that developed new IT capabilities never before imagined, just desired.The common spin-off of all of these was economic prosperity for America. Though some denigrate the spin-off of the space race as just Tang, the facts are that trying to solve a need through Science and Engineering (R&D) produces new technologies that make everyone's life better. Trickle down economics doesn't work. Trickle down R&D does. That's why we should go into space, whether to place a new compute farm in orbit or on the moon, or mine the asteroids, or whatever. It is impossible to predict the specific by-products of Science and Engineering; however, they have always come.
  • Cesareo R
    Cesareo R
    For 200 billion dollars there should be investment in a lazer guided communication up/down link.  Everything to be controlled from earth just like an observatory.
  • Kenneth C
    Kenneth C
    If the computer is on the moon, they don't have to worry about orbital decay and space junk. It can also be put in an artificial cave (with the radio dishes outside)  to protect it from solar flares and such.It would be cheaper to send components to the ISS. assemble the computer there, then ship it to the moon as a couple of units. The construction crew wouldn't have to be on the moon for as long. They can eliminate the need for a resident system admin to install updates, troubleshoot problems, and press the reset button by not using  Windows server.
  • Tod b
    Tod b
    Nuclear powered computer,  guy must be on drugs.The moon has an endless supply of sunlight, use solar power.  it's cheap, clean and doesn't produce any byproducts.
  • John L
    John L
    The answer to this is to produce as much of the required materials as possible on the moon or in lunar orbit.  So instead of building everything here and shipping it there we should build the machines to build the required infrastructure here and ship that there.  Then build the site there.  First thing should be something like the machine they used to drill the channel tunnel, operating by remote control have it drill out living quarters and factory space below the lunar surface.  This to be followed by other mobile and automated equipment to include:* small Reactor for power generation and heating* electric smelter* fabrication unit* water recycling* air recyclingFirst manned crews bring consumables (water, hydroponics, air) and light prefabbed airlocks.  They then begin the real building for local materials (aluminum, silicon).But a lunar orbital support base would be a nice precursor.
  • Larry T
    Larry T
    Build it. We have stagnated in space. Look at the technologies that became available from Apollo, SkyLab and the Space Station.
  • Jeff S
    Jeff S
    I propose building a "supercomputer" from a cluster of Mac Minis. They wouldn't take up as much space as a traditional supercomputer, and being a cluster, we could add more nodes over time to add to the cluster. We would still be faced with large costs but as years pass and we've added more nodes, the cluster would grow more powerful to meet those future needs.  A quad-core i7 Mac Mini would run $1200 or so with a couple of SSD's in RAID1, yet only weigh 3 pounds ($150,000 for shipping). That's cheaper than any Dell or HP. I also support the shipping of small nuclear power generators to the moon, although it would be better if we could install solar panels instead.
  • Cameron De S
    Cameron De S
    as an alternative, someone might want to R&D a orbiting computer  - perhaps a Geo-sychronous  'server farm' offering wireless data access, rather than the stationary model being considered.  Probably more versatility and faster deployment for the capital outlay.

Jobs to Watch