BIG-designed hard drive launches to the moon on SpaceX rocket

A lunar lander designed by space exploration company Intuitive Machines began a mission to the moon, carrying objects such as a BIG-designed data centre and a protective material by sportswear company Columbia for testing.

Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission launched aboard a SpaceX rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 26 February.

It is scheduled to land on the moon's south pole with a bevy of objects for testing, including a 3D-printed data centre by BIG and Texas company Lonestar Data Holdings (Lonestar).

Athena contains a number of "payloads", or objects, that clients such as NASA, Nokia, Lonestar, and Columbia Sportswear have paid to be delivered to the moon on what Intuitive Machines describes as a "rideshare" service.

One such object is the Freedom Data Center (Freedom) designed by BIG for data company Lonestar, a 6 x 17 cm prototype shaped to resemble the silhouette of US astronauts Charlie Duke and Nicole Stott.

Freedom can store up to eight terabytes of data according to BIG and was created to test the capability of data storage on the moon.

According to Lonestar CEO Chris Stott, this provides a "global backup" in case of catastrophic data loss. Stott also anticipates large-scale data centres eventually being built on the moon.

"No modern versions of the Library of Alexandria," Stott said. "It will backup our most critical data, especially during climate change and all the problems we're having, and do it somewhere off planet where we've got clean, free energy and we've got natural cooling."

Other payloads on the lunar lander include Columbia's Omni-Heat Infinity and Omni-Shade Sun Deflector technologies, which are integrated into insulation to protect the lander from the moon's freezing temperatures and harsh sunlight.

Nokia will also test its Lunar Surface Communication System (LSCS) cellular network via a rover and drone that will use the network to communicate between each other, Athena and Earth.

This is an anticipation of the network, which uses a moon-ready version of 4G/LTE technology, being used for future missions to the moon or Mars.

"Cellular technology has irrevocably transformed the way we communicate on Earth," said Nokia president of Bell Labs Solutions Research Thierry E Klein. "There's no reason it can’t do the same for communications on other worlds."

The IM-2 mission follows the previous IM-1 mission by Intuitive Machines launched in February 2024, which came to an abrupt end after its lander tipped over shortly after landing. It was the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since the 1972 Apollo mission.

The primary mission of IM-2 is to probe up to one metre beneath the surface of the moon using a NASA-created drill in the search for compounds such as water.

Intuitive Machines is also the first commercial-sector company to land a spacecraft on the moon.

Athena is currently on its way to its surface, with touchdown scheduled for 6 March.

Recently, construction on a one-kilometre-wide solar-farm to be launched to space began in China and NASA architecture strategist Nujoud Merancy discussed the commercialisation of the moon as the agency prepares to send astronauts back to its surface.

The photography is by SpaceX unless otherwise stated 

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