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makes sense... as secure as co-location complexes are, they're still not as secure as the moon. i don't know how they'd hope to do it, though. the hardware that is used on satellites is hardened so that they can endure solar flares, radiation, and the like. this makes everything pretty expensive and extremely specialized. the shuttle's computers are 20 years old because of this. it's not worth the expense to upgrade. (though, after columbia, new computers have been suggested as part of the forthcoming refit.)
to put something akin to a colo facility on the moon would be quite difficult. your average server is meant for an airconditioned room, with a constant power supply and the earth's magnetosphere to protect it.
on the moon you have extreme temperature ranges from boiling hot, to well below arctic temps.
as well, the mentioned radiation risk and the subsequent hardening of the hardware.
more so, this lulo (lunar location. tehee.) has to be powered for 14 days at a time when it's facing away from the sun. it'll likely draw a lot of juice. batteries might be able to provide this, but they're extremely heavy. this is not a good thing when you're thinking about getting off the earth. a nuclear reactor, using the heat from decaying cesium to provide electricity could be used. they've been used successfully on numerous space missions and even in a lighthouse on chesepeake bay. however, as this is a private company, i doubt this would go over too well.
the idea is possible, and it certainly makes sense. it's just going to be mind-numbingly expensive... which sort of misses the point of commercial space exploration.
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Jul 23, 03
