We’re all comfortable using the world wide web nowadays…but why limit it to one world?
In a bid to improve communication with (and to) space vehicles, a new internet protocol is being prepared and tested. They’re calling it the interplanetary internet.
The formal name is DTN or Delay Tolerant Networking. Although the existing internet technology (a protocol called TCP/IP) is great for communications on the planet, space communications face different challenges.
One big difference is that, in space, communication interruptions are unavoidable. You can’t always send data because the recipient may not be ready to receive. For example, a probe currently on the far side of the moon won’t be reachable from earth until it comes back around to the side facing the earth.
DTN has a solution: store the data until the receiving point is ready to receive. Under this system, although delays may still be long (the speed of light is still a limit), data communications are more dependable. At least, that’s the plan.
The new interplanetary internet is currently being tested. Just recently, the International Space Station has become the first “node” of DTN in space. The goal is to have the network operational by sometime in 2011.
