A Loooooong Distance IM

    Talk about a digital divide.  NASA is making plans to create an "Internet in space" so that space probes can more easily communicate with home base.
    Fascinating.

One thought on “A Loooooong Distance IM

  1. This is a great concept and actually, I saw Vinton Cerf talk about it in a Masters of Technology video I just bought to show computer science. It is a great video and he says that a new protocol is needed for space because of the distances that will be traveled.

    He says that TCP/IP is fine for milliseconds but that data leaving earth may take 5-20 minutes to reach even relatively near planets and spacecraft so he is designing a new protocol with that in mind. On the spacecraft and planets, he things TCP/IP is the way to go.

    We had a great discussion about this. I always tell my students “If nobody says it’s dumb, you’re too late and missed it.”

    This is a vital occurence and thank you for blogging about it!

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