NASA will test cell phone service on the moon in latest mission

Plan to place cell service on the moon

Cell service could be coming to the moon. New technology to test the possibility is on deck for liftoff this week at Kennedy Space Center. NASA and Intuitive Machines are gearing up for a Wednesday evening liftoff, and one of the payloads will test a moon-based cell network.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Cell service could be coming to the moon. New technology to test the possibility is on deck for liftoff this week at Kennedy Space Center.

Calling the man on the moon?

What we know:

NASA and Intuitive Machines are gearing up for a Wednesday evening liftoff, and one of the payloads will test a moon-based cell network. Researchers with Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research developed the network and say it’s the same tool that we use here on Earth when we pick up our phones and make a call. But they had to make a cell tower much smaller so it could fit in a rocket and land on the moon.

That payload is on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A, and it’s one of many experiments ready for liftoff. One day in the not-so-distant future, researchers want astronauts to use cell phones on the moon, and the day to test it is finally here.

What they're saying:

"We can take those same technologies, and we can adapt them for space missions," said Thierry Klein, who’s the president of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research.

When the lander reaches the moon, the network they created will activate.

"We miniaturize it into a single network in a box so all the functions are in an absolutely compact optimized network," said the president.

Since this isn’t a manned mission, robot landers will do the work.

"The lander functions like a tower. We put the antenna on the top of the lander," said Klein.

Other payloads on board will look for valuable resources on the moon’s surface.

"We’re looking for things like water or other volatiles that we might use for future missions," said Michael Johansen, who’s the flight demonstrations lead with NASA’s Game Changing Development.

Moon robots hopping instead of roving?

What's next:

Engineers are also testing a new method of movement with one of the robots. Instead of the robots roving across the moon, a payload will hop from location to location. This way, it can avoid craters and rocks as it moves.

This is Intuitive Machines’ second moon mission for NASA. It should take the Texas-based space company one week after liftoff to guide their lander through orbit and land all the payloads safely on the South Pole of the moon.