By RT Watson
Compiled by: Kyle
Reviewer: Ayam Goreng
Source: Content Guild - Translation
Originally published on: The Block
Original link: https://www.theblock.co/post/334757/arweave-lunar-lander?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Arweave has grand goals. In addition to planning to create an archive to store all of human knowledge and history, it will also load encrypted data stored using synthetic DNA technology onto a lunar lander and send it to the moon, where it is planned to be preserved for thousands of years.
Arweave announced on January 15 that it had successfully sent the Genesis Block to the moon. The mission was completed with the help of molecular data storage technology based on synthetic DNA developed by California-based Iridia (which can significantly improve storage density and durability), and assisted by a lunar lander provided by space exploration company LifeShip.
“The Genesis Block is the starting point for Arweave to launch its mission to permanently store the world’s knowledge and history,” Arweave founder Sam Williams said in a statement. “In the first crowdsale in 2017, early backers had the opportunity to leave a message in the first block of the network.” He added: “The more important thing behind this idea is that Arweave is testing new storage technologies, especially molecular storage technology.”
While blockchain technology has always promised to provide a highly secure way to store data, ensuring that information cannot be altered and is end-to-end encrypted, Arweave is also working to reduce the cost of storing large amounts of data. "Lowering storage costs is critical to humanity because it improves access to information over time, and information accessibility is a key factor in improving social cognition," said Sam Williams.
Arweave officials said that the Genesis Block was launched to the moon via LifeShip's lunar lander on January 15 and will be deployed on the lunar surface after arrival. Since the lunar surface is more stable than the Earth, the Genesis Block will not be disturbed by weather and other natural phenomena and is expected to remain unchanged for thousands of years.
Last year, Arweave released a public testnet for AO, a scalable blockchain network based on its data storage platform. The AO network is said to be more scalable than any existing blockchain.
