[X] My Assistant

[Phil Naranjo]

A USC grad student is proposing that we build a supercomputer at one of the lunar poles:

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/...rcomputer-moon/

The idea is to alleviate data overload issues with NASA Deep Space Network. It's a creative idea, although his proposed time-frame is too ambitious. Also, wouldn't it be cheaper to orbit an array of spaceborne antennas (at a Lagrange point) to act as a front-end for the DSN?

[djellison]

It's crazy. Utterly crazy. The infrastructure required at a DSN site to succesfully receive those signals is enormous - utterly enormous. If you're going to upgrade the DSN, upgrade the DSN....you don't need to put any part of it on the moon to get the job done.