INTERPLANETARY INTERNET

INTERPLANETARY NETWORK Ten years ago few people had heard of the Internet. Even 5 years ago it was viewed by many as a technological curiosity - some thought it to be a passing fad. Ten years from now the Internet could be a phenomenon that has expanded beyond Earth to form an interplanetary network of Internets reaching to Mars and beyond. That is the vision of Vint Cerf and his colleagues at the Interplanetary Internet (IPN) team Cerf co-invented TCP/IP in 1973 and is often called a \"father of the Internet.\" He got the idea for an interplanetary extension of the Internet in 1997 and is now working with engineers at NASA\'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, to make it real. IPN is a communication system to provide Internet-like services across interplanetary distances in support of deep space exploration. It will be required for communication among planets, satellites, asteroids, robotic spacecraft and crewed vehicles. There are three main objectives of this project. v The first is to be able to lower the cost of space exploration in general by adopting communications techniques that are closely related to those used on Earth and are highly standardized. Standard systems are inherently lower cost and, properly implemented, they can bring maturity and reliability to the deep space enterprise. v Secondly, we want to use the harsh environment of space exploration to research new communications techniques, some of which may spin-off into new Earth capabilities. v Thirdly, we want to make it easier for the general public - via the World Wide Web - to be able to participate in the excitement of exploring space \"in person\". To say the least, the Interplanetary Internet is a formidable project, but one with countless possibilities for the future. Deep space exploration will involve much more complex exploration CHARACTERISTICS Communication in outer space is done by the modulation of radiated energy, and sometimes a planet will be between the source and the destination. Therefore we cannot rely on end-to-end connectivity at any time, for the universe does not work that way. The communication medium used is not copper cable and optical fiber like in wired internets. The medium associated with IPN is free-space RF In the wired Internets routing infrastructure is fixed. But in IPN the infrastructure is deployable and mobile. We cannot rely on ample bandwidth because power is scarce out there and the bit error rates are high. Launching mass into interplanetary trajectories, injecting mass into orbit, and landing mass into the gravity well of another planet is currently very expensive