Humanity’s curiosity about the Moon has continued for more than a century. As a result of the space race between the USA and the Soviet Union, 6 manned expeditions were organized to the Earth’s satellite between 1969 and 1972. A total of 18 astronauts participated in these expeditions under the Apollo mission. Years later, manned flights to the Moon begin again with the Artemis mission. However, this time blockchain technology will also be used in these voyages.
NASA’s Artemis mission will enter its second leg with the launch of the Artemis 2 spacecraft in November 2024. With this mission, the 4 astronauts on board will travel around the orbit of the Moon and then return to Earth. This mission will be the last test flight before the Artemis 3 expedition, in which a manned landing on the Moon is planned.
Moon mission with blockchain technology!
However, before the Artemis 3 mission, in February 2024, the US space and aviation agency NASA will send a payload to the Moon with its partner Lonestar. These payloads will contain data cubes that do not require any extra installation and are powered by solar energy. The data stored in these cubes can be verified from the Earth with blockchain technology.
The purpose of sending the cubes is to load the findings obtained by the astronauts on the Moon during the planned future manned landings on the Moon into these cubes. In this way, astronauts who go to the Moon or NASA will be able to check this data recorded on the blockchain. In addition to data exchange, this way it is also aimed to prevent conspiracy theories about ‘astronauts never going to the Moon’.
Of course, this is not the only Moon mission to use blockchain technology. For example, the DOGE-1 mission planned by Geometric Energy Corporation involves launching a 40-kilogram satellite to the Moon. This vehicle, which will be financed by Dogecoin, will scan the Moon’s surface.
Wallets are moving into space!
Studies are being carried out on the use of blockchain not only on the Moon but also in space. Crypto startup Cryptosat is working on a “space wallet” designed to secure crypto assets in space. Companies such as Blockstream, SpaceChain and Filecoin are also trying to integrate blockchains with space technology. Moreover, these companies are taking steps to secure decentralized ledgers.
Cryptosat sent two coffee cup-sized microsatellites into space in recent months. The purpose of both satellites, equipped with small computers, is to protect customers’ crypto assets in space. “Given the fact that satellites are physically inaccessible, this can protect against very sophisticated attacks, which are becoming especially important in the field of blockchain and Web3,” says Yan Michalevsky, one of the company’s founders.
Spacechain company, which carries out similar studies, has 7 satellites in space, each weighing 100 grams. Cliff Beek, the company’s CEO, stated that it would be very difficult to attack satellites orbiting the earth at a speed of 276 thousand kilometers per hour. There is also Blockstream, a Bitcoin-focused company founded by Adam Back.
Space is the safest place for crypto!
So why did the crypto world start to show interest in the space? One of the main reasons for this is security. Blockchain provides unmatched security. Information is randomly distributed throughout the network on the blockchain. That’s why hackers have to attack the entire network instead of a computer to obtain information. Let us also remind you that the Bitcoin blockchain has not been cracked so far. But technology is improving. Malicious individuals may develop new methods to attack blockchain and Web3-based technologies. Companies want to take precautions for this now. They use space for this.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Coindesk, Inverse