Dropping Science: New Tech For A New Year : Deep Space Internet

By Kate Gammon , published on December 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM
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Need the Net when you’re far from home? So does NASA, apparently. NASA successfully tested the first forays into Internet for deep space and set the stage for more Internet ventures into the great beyond. Using software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, engineers from the Jet Propulsion Lab transmitted dozens of space images to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about more than 20 million miles from Earth. DTN works differently than mere Earth-bound Internet protocols–if a data packet can’t be delivered, it’s stored rather than discarded. That’s important because glitches happen all the time in space. So when a spacecraft moves behind a planet or when there is a solar storm, long communication delays occur. According to NASA, the delay in sending or receiving data from Mars takes between three-and-a-half to 20 minutes at the speed of light. What’s next? Testing the DTN software on board the International Space Station starting next summer.
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Comments
DGriffin 12/31/2008 8:59 AM
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What an idiotic idea!!! What if an other person in the car wants to use their cell phone???? What if there is an emergency!?!?!?!

zodiacfml 12/31/2008 10:40 AM
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i agree, no one will buy that car. hehe

Anonymous 12/31/2008 2:28 PM
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You can't be serious? If you can't tell a recorded disc from an original one with your bare eyes you need to check your glasses.

Anonymous 12/31/2008 2:39 PM
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Electronic gyros are nothing new, they've been around in r/c helis for several years. And they're not very expensive. Cheapest goes for 20 bucks.

Anonymous 12/31/2008 4:08 PM
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Umm.. the difference between a pressed(original) cd and a copy(burned) is that a pressed cd's data (0 and 1) are represented by physical pits and peaks whereas a burned cd's information is represented by burned (reflective and not reflective) marks on a flat plain. Make a system to differentiate peaks (which are reflective, but does not reflect into the target sensor) from non-reflective burn marks. Then you can tell which is a copy, and which is an original.

Balshoy 01/03/2009 1:15 AM
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Great another way to entice road rage... turn the mobile off while blocked in traffic.

Anonymous 01/06/2009 8:41 AM
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Robotic Clams...? Yes, finally! what we've all been waiting for!

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