NASA wants moon-based blockchain to store sensitive data

NASA scientists are trying to answer the question: Where’s the best place to store data? Servers can be hacked, and environmental disasters could destroy the server’s location. So, NASA thinks the best place to store the planet’s most sensitive information might not be on the Earth at all, but on the surface of the moon.

According to reporting by the BBC, NASA partnered with a company called Lonestar and the self-governing Isle of Man to create a lunar-based backup for data storage using blockchain technology. The Isle of Man is a British Crown Dependency located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.

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The scientists working on the project said by storing the data on the moon, it would be harder for hackers to get obtain. It’s a contested point though, because access to systems tends to matter more to hackers than physical proximity to the system being hacked. The data would be safe, however, in the event Earth becomes unlivable either because of a natural disaster or some sort of man-made catastrophe.

“In history, we’ve seen several circumstances where perceived bodies of knowledge have been lost or cultures have disappeared,” Kurt Roosen, head of innovation at Digital Isle of Man, told the BBC.

NASA’s mission to set up the moon-based data hub is scheduled to launch in February of 2024. At that time, the space agency will send a payload to the moon that includes a data cube built by Lonestar.

The cube will carry a terabyte of information and rely on the sun for its power source. The information included on the data cube will come from the Isle of Man’s post office. There are plans to digitize special stamps featuring the crew of Artemis II and storing those stamps on the data cube. However, King Charles will need to authorize the stamps creation.

The blockchain technology on the moon will help form the informational backbone of future Artemis missions. Blockchain is already in heavy use here on Earth. IBM defines it as a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets.

NASA, Lonestar and the Isle of Man want to put blockchain on the lunar surface to initially keep records of all moon missions from Earth. Eventually, the technology could be used to store all of humanity’s accumulated knowledge on the moon, but more international coordination and regulation needs to be put in place first.