Internet in space: Is there Net on Mars?

[harlan4096]

By now, the Internet has reached basically all corners of the Earth — and not just its surface. Being online onboard an airplane is already old hat, and even the International Space Station has a connection to the Web. Space exploration agencies are getting ready to move on and get other planets in our solar system connected. The space Web is not all about work, either; it helps people far away from mother Earth keep in touch with their homes. This post is about how it works now and how it will develop.

WWW on the ISS

The International Space Station crew accessed the Web for the first time back in 2010. The access service was provided by NASA. The astronauts use a satellite link to connect to a computer in Houston in remote desktop mode, and get online from there. It is safer that way: even if a malicious link or file is opened by an ISS crew member, only the ground computer will be compromised.

NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer honored the arrival of the Web on the ISS by posting the first ever unassisted tweet from space:

https://twitter.com/Astro_TJ/status/8062...8062317551&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kaspersky.com%2Fblog%2Finternet-in-space%2F28267%2F

Russian space Internet

It seems the ISS will soon have more than one Internet provider: Russia plans on getting its segment of the station hooked up soon enough, too. The task will be implemented using a network of Luch relay satellites, which is currently undergoing an upgrade.

Last year, cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov made an upgrade to the ISS antenna so it could receive large volumes of satellite data, while at the same time setting a Russian record for extravehicular work duration — 8 hours and 12 minutes.

According to Sergey Krikalev, cosmonaut and Roscosmos spokesperson, the new equipment has already been tested, so the ISS will soon get online through Luch satellites.

Satellite hitches

Of course, the Internet they have on the ISS is not nearly as fast and delay-free as what you have at home. Satellite communications have advantages over wired technologies — such as being available in places where cables cannot be used, obviously — but also challenges.
...

Continue Reading